2015 Book Wrap-up

This year I kept track of all the books that I read and wrote down my favorite quotes from them. I did this same thing last year and it brought me so much joy to look back at all the books I read that year and all the things they taught me. This year I read 121 books, and that seems like a lot but most of them were required as part of my weekly assignments for my library science classes. A lot of them were also children's and young adult books, not that I'm complaining because children's books are my favorite to read. I took a young adult literature class this year and I read more young adult books in a semester than I have in my entire life. I felt very angsty by the end of the semester. When I went through all the books, I realized that I really don't read a lot of regular fiction. And the ones I do read normally aren't my favorite. These books usually just remind me how icky being an adult is. Never grow up, never surrender! So that is why there is only one regular fiction book on my list...my bad. 

This year I tried to pick my favorites in each category that I read a lot of (fiction, nonfiction, children's, young adult, and Christian living), as well as my favorite quotes from them. I also included some of my favorite quotes from books I've read that weren't necessarily my favorite books, but that had certain ideas that really stuck with me. Then I made a list of the books that were my ultimate favorites of the year. Looking back, I probably went a little overboard with the lists because, let's be honest, nobody cares but me. But lists are wonderful and books are wonderful, so why the heck not. 

Best Children’s Books

·      The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat- “And together they did the unimaginable.”

·      The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet

·      The Biggest Story by Kevin DeYoung, Illustrated by Don Clark- “Death had no claim on him. The Devil had no case against him. And sin had no wages for him that he couldn’t pay.”

·      How the Sun Got to Coco’s House by Bob Graham- “The sun tumbled end over end. It was caught briefly in the eye of a whale.” “Then the sun leaped whole countries, chasing the night.”

·      Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan- “‘Music does not have a race or a disposition!...Every instrument has a voice that contributes. Music is a universal language. A universal religion of sorts…. Music surpasses all distinctions between people.’”

·      An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpugo- “When you are sixteen you feel things very immediately, very strongly, very certainly.”

·      The Marvels by Brian Selznick- “That’s what life is, Joseph realized, miracles and sadness, side by side.”

·      The Librarian’s Adventure by Allison Bass J

·      Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty- “everyone knew something. And everyone was a little different…. It made her think that maybe God intended for them to all fit together, like a puzzle made whole.” “Our character isn’t defined by the battles we win or lose, but by the battles we dare to fight.”

·      Greenglass House by Kate Milford- “He was just a kid who didn’t know where he came from and hadn’t had any say in where he’d ended up. But, he told himself, he did get to decide what he was going to do from here….He got to choose who and what he was going to be from now on.”

·      Nest by Esther Ehrlich- “‘Mmmm, you smell like fresh air. You smell like stars.’”  “‘Let’s put peanut butter on his head and see what the squirrels do.’”

·      Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling- “Alas! Earwax!” “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” “To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”

·      Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling- Of all the trees we could’ve hit, we had to get one that hits back.” “What exactly is the function of a rubber duck?”

·      Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling- “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” “Mischief managed.” “Don’t let the muggles get you down.”

·      Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling- “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”

·      Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling- “‘You’re a prefect? Oh Ronnie! That’s everyone in the family!’ ‘What are Fred and I? Next door neighbors?’” “‘Don’t worry. You’re just as sane as I am.’”

·      Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling- “‘Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.’” “‘I am not worried, Harry,’ said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger, despite the freezing water, ‘I am with you.’”

·      Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling- “‘Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?’” “‘Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.’” “‘After all this time?’ ‘Always…’” 

Best Young Adult Books

·      Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly- “There is only one thing I fear now-love. For I have seen it and I have felt it and I know that it is love, not death, that undoes us.”

·      Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

·      I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson- “I’m over being a coward. I’m sick of being on pause, of being buried and hidden, of being petrified…. I don’t want to imagine meadows, I want to run through them.”

·      Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

·      The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson- “All her knowledge is gone now. Everything she ever learned, or heard, or saw…. I heard this expression once: Each time someone dies, a library burns.”

·      Matched by Allie Condie 

Best Nonfiction Books

·      The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman- “Love makes requests, not demands.”

·      Rising Strong by Brené Brown- “The most dangerous stories we make up are the narratives that diminish our inherent worthiness. We must reclaim the truth about our lovability, divinity, and creativity.” “To love with any level of intensity and honesty is to be vulnerable…to love is to know the loss of love. Heartbreak is unavoidable unless we choose not to love at all.” Empathy is the antidote to shame and it is the heart of connection.”

·      I Work at the Public Library by Gina Sheridan- “The circus only comes to town once a year, but the library is always there to amaze and entertain.”

·      Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan- “I wouldn’t trust them skinnies with food advice.” “When I talk about bacon, I’m talking about the American version of bacon, which is pork belly bacon, the kind Jesus ate.” “If I went to a shaman for help with this problem, he would never tell me what my spirit animal was for fear I would eat it.”

·      If You Find This Letter by Hannah Brencher- “‘Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’ I loved that. I loved knowing a restless heart wasn’t an accident. I loved the idea of finding the sort of God who would just let you rest in Him.”  “And if you’ve ever loved someone in a way where it seems the oxygen is rushing out of the room when they walk in, then you know certain truths. Certain unchangeable truths about love: You want to give them everything in your world…everything outside of your orbit. And if they need the morning to come, you want to be that morning for them. And if they need the stars, you want to be those fragments of light too. And you just want to sit by them. And you just want to know they’re doing well. And you just want to witness their greatness, the moment they’re finally shining out. You want to be right there next to them for that. And you want that honor of being in their life.” 

Best Christian Living Books

·      How to Worship a King by Zach Neese- “Your Father is your audience. And He just loves to hear you sing.” “A worshiper comes because of love. When love is the motivation of your heart, everything you do becomes worship.”

·      For the Love by Jen Hatmaker- “God created an entire package. It all counts. There are no throwaway qualities…. Nothing is wasted; not a characteristic, preference, experience, tragedy, quirk, nothing. It is all you and it is all purpose and it can be used for great and glorious good.” “Condemnation is a trick of the enemy, no the language of the heavens.”

·      Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans- “We all long for someone to tell us who we are. The great struggle of the Christian life is to take God’s name for us, to believe we are beloved, and to believe that is enough.”

·      An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor- “Test the premise that you are worth more than what you can produce- that even if you spent one whole day being good for nothing you could still be precious in God’s sight.”

·      Nobody’s Cuter Than You by Melanie Shankle- “A person who loves us for exactly who we are, yet teaches us to be better because of who they are…” “It was a proud moment for me to realize that my best friend has a two-whoopee cushion home. I mean, anyone can have one whoopee cushion, but to have a spare? That’s just dedication to a lost art form.” “And that’s the key that makes certain friendships deeper than others-when those friendships are formed in God’s name. There are those people God brings into our lives and uses as iron sharpens iron to refine us and shape us and help us become more like the person he created us to be.”

·      Simply Tuesday by Emily P. Freeman- “We need a rescuer to come and save us from the bondage of the lie that whispers we have to build and grow and be known by all. The good news is we have one. The better news is he’s already come. And the best news is he keeps showing up on our everyday Tuesdays…” “Celebrate your smallness.”

·      Longing for Paris by Sarah Mae- “When we are fully ourselves, He is fully glorified.” “‘Life doesn’t justify living. Only eternity does.’… I feel like eternity has to shape our dailiness.” “Even if I never have my longings fulfilled on this earth, He is good.”

·      Wild in the Hollow by Amber C. Haines- “God is everywhere. Yoga poses and Gregorian chant, buttermilk cornbread, the Grand Canyon, and the picture of a rainbow drawn by the hand of my two-year-old all speak of him if we’re looking.”

·      Introverts in the Church by Adam S. McHugh- “When she was young, she was surprised to hear her mother describe her as ‘quiet’ because ‘it was never quiet in my head.’” “Solitude is a way of creating space for the presence of Another, the voice of the One who called the world and us into existence.”

·      Scary Close by Donald Miller- “The more fully we live into ourselves, the more impact we will have.” “Souls of men will be healed and perhaps even made complete once we are united with God and not a second before…Jesus never offers that completion here on earth. He only asks us to trust him and follow him to the metaphorical wedding we will experience in heaven.”

·      Praying God’s Word by Beth Moore- “No love of the natural heart is safe unless the human heart has been satisfied by God first.” “Help me not have the sin of unbelief after all you’ve done to tell me you love me and demonstrate your love for me.” “You are defined by the love and acceptance of the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. He happens to think you are worth loving… and keeping. Find your identity in Him.” 

Best Fiction Books

·      The Lake House by Kate Morton-“She remembered love, all-encompassing, young-people love, even though it had been a long time since she’d felt it. There was beauty in love like that, just as certainly as there was danger. Love like that made the rest of the world disappear.” “Love….We do not always have a choice in where and how and whom, and love gives us the courage to withstand that which we never thought we could.”

Other great books and quotes

·      Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale- “Think of learning as storing up supplies you may need for a harsh winter.”

·      Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman- “Life is a game, and books are the tokens.”

·      The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier- “Don’t confuse what you do with who you are.”  “There’s no better place for writing than a rooftop- the fresh air makes your words come out like songs.”

·      Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse- “I know now that all the time I was trying to get out of the dust, the fact is, what I am, I am because of the dust. And what I am is good enough. Even for me.”

·      Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff- “I know, at least I think I do, maybe, sometimes, definitely, what I’m worth. I know what I’m worth. I absolutely almost do.”

·      Abundant Simplicity by Jan Johnson- “Fall in love with God and let that decide everything…”

·      Jesus the One and Only by Beth Moore- “I trust who He is even when I have no idea what He’s doing.”

·      The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill- “Family. The word had weight and heft, like an anchor in a stormy sea.”  “A word, after all, is a kind of magic. It locks the substance of a thing in sound or symbol, and affixes it to the ear, or paper, or stone. Words call the world into being.”

·      Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott- “I guess it’s like discovering you’re on the shelf of a pawnshop, dusty, and forgotten and maybe not worth very much. But Jesus comes in and tells the pawnbroker, ‘I’ll take her place on the shelf. Let her go outside again.’”  “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”

·      Why Not Me? By Mindy Kaling- “even though I wish I could be thin, I don’t wish for it with all of my heart. Because my heart is reserved for way more important things.”  “People who say breakfast should be the biggest meal are insane. You can’t have dessert at breakfast.”

·      Believing Jesus by Lisa Harper- “We must make Him the main source we draw from, because our Creator Redeemer is the only one with inexhaustible resources. He’s the only one who has the capacity to be our power grid. When we plug ourselves into anyone else, there’s bound to be a lost connection or a complete blackout.”   
·      The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin- “We agree to be disappointed sometimes so that we can be exhilarated every now and again.”  “We aren’t the things we collect, acquire, read. We are, for as long as we are here, only love. The things we loved. The people we loved.”  “My life is in these books…read these and know my heart.”

Best Overall Books of 2015

·      An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpugo

·      For the Love by Jen Hatmaker

·      Nobody’s Cuter Than You by Melanie Shankle

·      Simply Tuesday by Emily P. Freeman

·      The Lake House by Kate Morton

·      I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

·      I Work at the Public Library by Gina Sheridan

·      Rising Strong by Brené Brown

·      Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan

·      If You Find This Letter by Hannah Brencher

·      All the Harry Potter books…they somehow keep getting better