I really, really (like REALLY) love to read, but it hasn’t always been this way. When I was in middle school, I was that girl who said reading was boring, and I had zero interest in it. I still remember my experience learning to love to read. It was in 9th grade Bible class. Every Friday, we were required to bring a book to read the entire class time. It couldn’t be a book for school, it couldn’t be a magazine. It had to be a novel. The first book I read in that class was the classic “Go Ask Alice” by Beatrice Sparks. I quickly fell in love and started reading book after book after book. The rest is history.
As you’ll be able to tell from this list, fiction is still my favorite genre (by a lot) and I specifically love suspenseful mysteries! My husband jokes that I only read books with the words “girl” or “lies” in the title. And ironically, out of the 12 fiction books on this list, 5 titles contain those words...
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Keep scrolling to see the books I read in 2017, and my favorites from the bunch! Plus, the books that have already made my 2018 list!
What I Read in 2017
Faith:
The Dawning of Indestructible Joy (advent book) by John Piper
Redefined Study by Gretchen Saffles (Well Watered Women)
Captivating by Stasi Eldredge
Personal Development:
Food Freedom Forever by Melissa Hartwig
Do More Better by Tim Challies
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Business:
Small Time Operator by Bernard Kamoroff
Purple Cow by Seth Godin
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dan Carnegie
She Means Business by Carrie Green
High-Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard
Fiction:
(The stared titles are ones I would recommend.)
The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh *
The Dinner by Herman Koch *
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware *
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena *
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas *
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart*
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins *
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn *
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty *
The Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena *
Still Reading:
The Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena *
The Dawning of Indestructible Joy (advent book) by John Piper
High-Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard
My Favorite Reads from Each Category
Favorite of Faith: Captivating by Stasi Eldredge
My goal for 2018 is to read more books about Jesus, but at the same time, I’m happy that I tend to just read the Bible more than I do books about the Bible. Captivating was a life-changing read for me.
Favorite of Personal Development: Food Freedom Forever by Melissa Hartwig
Y’all if I could hug one person I’ve never met, I think it would be Melissa Hartwig. Although, I’m not a 100% paleo/Whole30 eater whatsoever (I love cheese too much), Whole30 and it’s message have truly changed my relationship to food. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who’s interested in healthy living, even if you think you don’t need it. I’ll be doing my second Whole30 this January, and I’m excited to have Melissa’s new books to accompany me on that journey!
Favorite of Business: Purple Cow by Seth Godin
This book will change the way you think about marketing your business! I wrote an entire post reviewing this book and sharing my top takeaways, so read that post here if you’re interested!
Favorites in Fiction: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn and The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
Since obviously, I read A LOT of fiction (and I totally think I’m forgetting some on this list), it’s hard to pick just one! So, I’m picking two. Both of these titles were crazy fast reads (even though they are larger books) because I simply could not put them down! Dark Places is a novel by Gillian Flynn, the author of Gone Girl. And, even though Gone Girl is much more widely known, I enjoyed this book EVEN MORE than I did Gone Girl!
On my Reading List (so far) for 2018:
GraceLaced by Ruth Chou Simons
Savor by Shauna Niequist
A Simplified Life by Emily Ley
Whole30 Day by Day by Melissa Hartwig
Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google by Scott Galloway
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (and all of her other books as well!)
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
What’s on your reading list for 2018? Do you have any favorite reads to recommend?
