I seriously deviated from the reading plan that I set at the beginning of the year. The books I read outside my reading plan are imperative, because I have found inspirations about the most important things in life. Of course, I’ve read more than six books, but this 6 books are my pick of the most powerful books I’ve read in the past six months. Powerful because the authors lived what they wrote, in short, integrity. The order is the chronological order of my reading process.
- A Matter of Death and Life: Love, Loss and What Matters in the End by Irvin and Marilyn Yalom
The internationally renowned psychiatrist Irvin Yalom and his esteemed writer wife Marilyn wrote this book together, to record their life as they age and facing death. An honest book about their struggles, what made their lives beautiful and less regret. The book started with Marilyn was diagnosed with cancer and ended with Irvin’s grief journal.
It is a beautiful book and it is as true as their lives.
I’ve mentioned this book in my several blog posts if you would like to read more:
A Coffin for Two
https://thejourney-writing.com/2023/01/a-coffin-for-two.html
“Farewell!“ – How can you speak so lightly about this?
https://thejourney-writing.com/2023/01/farewell-how-can-you-speak-so-lightly-about-this.html
New Year‘s Days 2023
https://thejourney-writing.com/2023/01/new-years-days-2023.html
- Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
I love this book because I felt like this book knows me well and speaks to my heart, especially when I read about Maia and Miss Minton. The story revolved around the friendship between Maia, Clovis and Finn. True friendship. Eva Ibbotson wrote this book to mourn her late husband, he was a naturalist, I guess he would be Bernard Taverner in the book.
Visit the blog post below for my book review:
https://thejourney-writing.com/2023/01/book-review-journey-to-the-river-sea.html
- The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis
This book is like X-rays, examines what is genuine love and its source. I want to love people well, to be exact, genuinely. And if I want to do something well I need to learn it and practice it, just like language, sport, music and whatever. This book is a great textbook on the subject LOVE. No matter how deep the hurt, I need to always choose to love (not the same with the blind love), because …
The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is HELL.
- Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller
True freedom is when I am able to say no to counterfeit gods. In order to say no to them, I first need to know how they look like. This book help me to define and detect counterfeit gods, so everyday, with God’s help, I can live a liberated life.
In this blog post, I shared some quotes from this book:
Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller – Current Read
https://thejourney-writing.com/2023/05/counterfeit-gods-by-timothy-keller-current-read.html
This sermon from Timothy Keller is helping me now at my current uncertain situation:
Your Plans: God’s Plans – Timothy Keller [Sermon]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OXaJPiov5E&list=PPSV
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
After reading the book, I was very dissatisfied with Disney’s version. The book is a great look at medieval Paris, offering a vast range of perspectives and coverage, and the literary style is superb. I’ll talk more about what I like about the book later, and I’ve shared some of it on Instagram, so look me up on Instagram if you’re interested. Here I’ll share with you one of my favorites, about the bells of Notre Dame performance in Paris.
My Book Guide on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thejourney_writer/guides/
- The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
The book title sounds like a self-help book, but it’s not, it’s a true life story of Eddie Jaku, his journey from a concentration camp survivor to the happiest man on earth. Don’t waste Jaku’s suffering in concentration camp during World War II, just pick up the book and learn from him. I highlighted almost every sentence in this book and I do not know which to share with you. So many wisdoms can be found in this book. Just get the book and be transformed by it.
I bought this book at normal price but just now I found out on Kindle, it is €1,69 (2.7.2023) now. I am not sure if the reduced price only for Europe this week.
PS No partnership, no collaboration, a very truly sincere book recommendation.
Reading Plan July and August
July and August I will be reading Noel Streatfeild books. I started reading Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, I enjoy it very much! If you have girls between 7-13 years old, this is a wonderful book for them! Alongside the good storytelling, this book is so good in building character, relationship between sisters and healthy image of being beautiful.
“Have you pretty feet, Nana?” She looked down at Nana’s square -toed black shoes which she always wore.
“I have what God gave me,” Nana said reverently “and they’re all I need, never having thoughts to dance in a Ballet.”
This was written in 1936, when Queen Elizabeth II was still Princess Elizabeth.
Note:
- I bought and read the books, share my insights with you on my blog. So that you only need to spend less than 10 minutes on my blog post and know about 7 books for free! If you think my book review has some values to you, you can consider to make a donation via:
https://ko-fi.com/thejourneywriter - My latest travel vlog: Regensburg
A living fairytale book – My Regensburg Diary | 一本活生生的童话书 – 我的雷根斯堡日志
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7ESbq7Wws