Kristin Hill Taylor

The Books of 2019 (so far)

July 8, 2019 by Kristin Leave a Comment

This year has been so full and noisy. The world around me is noisy with lots of people wanting to use social media and their platforms to convince people of various things. My kids are noisy and in seasons that have required much of me. Plus there’s been so much to process in my own head.

So I’ve been reading a lot of fiction. Twenty-one fiction books so far this year and just eight non-fiction. I do read essays from two devotionals regularly that aren’t officially included in the list. But they’re “New Morning Mercies” by Paul David Tripp and “Keep a Quiet Heart” by Elisabeth Elliot. They both quiet my soul and help me refocus on what truly matters.

Fiction

“The Forgotten Hours” by Katrin Schumann
“The Secret Mother” by Shalini Boland
“Since You’ve Been Gone” by Christa Allen
“The Secret Orphan” by Glynis Peters
“Good As Gone” by Amy Gentry
“When We Were Worthy” by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
“He Said / She Said” by Erin Kelly
“Say You’re Sorry” (Morgan Dane #1) by Melinda Leigh
“Her Last Goodbye” (Morgan Dane #2) by Melinda Leigh
“Bones Don’t Lie” (Morgan Dane #3) by Melinda Leigh
“Those Who Save Us” by Jenna Blum
“After Anna” by Lisa Scottoline
“What I’ve Done” (Morgan Dane #4) by Melinda Leigh
“Secrets Never Die” (Morgan Dane #5) by Melinda Leigh
“The Orphan Daughter” by Cari Noga
“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens
“Only Ever Her” by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
“It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover
“The Stormchasers” by Jenna Blum
“We Were the Lucky Ones” by Georgia Hunter
“High Water” by Lynn Hightower

Memoirs

“Rock Needs River: A Memoir About a Very Open Adoption” by Vanessa McGrady
“It’s A Love Story: From Happily to Ever After” by Lincee Ray {Review}
“The Middle Matters: Why That (Extra)Ordinary Life Looks Really Good on You” by Lisa-Jo Baker {Review}

Non-fiction

“The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth” by Christopher Heuertz
“Letters to the Church” by Francis Chan {Book / Study / Videos}
“If God Is For Us: The Everlasting Truth of Our Great Salvation” by Trillia Newbell {Review}
“Joyful Surrender” by Elisabeth Elliot {Review}
“The Very Best, Hands-On, Kinda Dangerous Family Devotions: 52 Activities Yours Kids Will Never Forget” by Tim Shoemaker {Review}

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I keep lists of recommended reads on Amazon and I offered some tips on how to read more here. Plus I often talk books on Facebook and Instagram, so be sure to follow along there. Of course, I’d love to hear what you’re reading because I could always use additions for my to-read list.

On learning and following Jesus together

July 1, 2019 by Kristin Leave a Comment

As a 40-year-old woman, I really love reading devotions. I like hearing stories that help bring scriptures to life. I like themes that apply to my life.

But gathering my family for devotion time often seems stressful to me, especially after we’ve had full days and are spending time together after dinner.

We talk about Jesus often. We serve together. We are involved in church together. Yet my momma ears totally perked up when I heard about a new family devotional: “The Very Best, Hands-On Kinda Dangerous Family Devotions: 52 Activities Your Kids Will Never Forget” by Tim Shoemaker.

After flipping through the book without my kids present, I get excited about the word “activities.” Doing something with my kids comes more naturally than sitting around the table trying to teach and lecture them.

I immediately noticed a few things about the table of contents: The activities are titled, but the themes are also noted immediately after. Some activities that may require extra supervision and precaution – like one involving a potato gun, chemistry experiment, or make-shift balance beam – are noted with one symbol while themes more appropriate for children 12 years and older are marked with another.

Like Shoemaker says in the introduction, parents are supposed to protect their children, provide for them, and prepare them for their futures. All of that is best built on a spiritual foundation and resources like this creative family devotional book are wonderful guides.

I appreciate how Shoemaker offers fourteen tips to making devotions work for your family. It’s good to be reminded these are object lessons, not drawn out lectures that bore the kids. He encourages parents to focus on doing weekly devotions and creating a habit that works best for their schedules.

Stay tuned because I’ll be back with more glimpses as my family moves into our backyard and living room to learn more about what following Jesus is about together.

About the book

The remedy to ho-hum, not-again, “Do we have to?” family devotions. Regular family devotions are important. Unfortunately, they’re often . . . boring. But what if devotions looked less like sitting still and listening to someone read and more like, say, electrocuting a pickle? Or converting a leaf blower into a toilet paper launcher? Or lighting toothpaste on fire?

“The Very Best, Hands-On, Kinda Dangerous Family Devotions” is a 304-page paperback book published by Revell (May 21, 2019).

About the author

Tim Shoemaker is the author of fourteen books. He has worked as a volunteer with youth at his local church for more than twenty-five years and speaks to thousands of students at public schools. He’s a popular workshop speaker at Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conferences, Moody Pastor’s Conference, Focus on the Family, and GREAT Homeschool Conventions. He lives in Illinois. Learn more about him and his books at his website.

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review as part of the Revell Reads program. These opinions are my own.

Stories from the Porch in June

June 26, 2019 by Kristin 7 Comments

I’m going to live in denial that the summer – and the year! – is halfway over. Somebody posted yesterday we were six months from Christmas, so I think I’m going to ignore that countdown for now too. Goodness, I love this time of the year and I want to soak it in. For me, part of soaking it in is remembering what has happened, so that’s what’s happening here. Thanks for joining me on the porch.

Highlights

We started the month with a trip. I know, that’s a nutty plan given how our May was, but I gave Greg tickets to the Cardinals versus Cubs baseball game in St. Louis way back in April before my life turned extra crazy. So we spent two days in St. Louis, and it was really fun. We ate at Fitz’s, where they also bottle delicious soda. We went to the first half of the game that then included a 3 1/2-hour rain delay that sent us back to the hotel and into bed. The next day we went to Grant’s Farm for the first time and really enjoyed it. We ended the weekend by eating at the Boathouse at Forest Park, another favorite STL restaurant.

We were happy to return home and have a stretch of “normal” days that involved inviting friends over to swim, exploring our creeks and land, and being together without an agenda. (I’m also a little obsessed with that field of amber waves of grain in the picture above that we happened upon!)

My sister, Cassie, know lives just four hours away. Considering for the majority of her adulthood and marriage, she’s lived across the world in New Zealand, a dozen hours away in Dallas, and about 11 hours away in Buffalo, NY, I’ll take four hours! She moved to Bloomington, Indiana, this month with her husband and their three kids and after a couple of weeks decided to capitalize on our closeness. She and her kids (and our mom) came to visit and swim. I love watching our kids be together and I love being grownup sisters.

Then last weekend five of my favorite writer friends gathered at my lake house for a retreat. It didn’t really end up feeling like a retreat.

We all came with ideas and disappointments and full schedules and emotions. People had trouble getting here and one of us from the usual group couldn’t be here. We moved locations because my lake house was without power for 18 hours.

But we laughed (and cried), ate several meals together, brainstormed and encouraged one another to work on new projects, watched two movies, and are thankful our usual Voxer conversations came to life around tables and in living rooms. God sure has been teaching me this year about surrendering expectations and holding plans loosely, and I’m thankful to have these friends alongside me – even fro our scattered physical locations for the most of the year.

Favorite Things

Writers’ Retreat – While it didn’t feel like much of a retreat, I’m glad we did it. I call it a writers’ retreat, but it’s about so much more than that. We do talk about our writing – whether that’s actually blogging, book writing, podcasting, or creating products. But we also talk about our ministries and motherhood and marriage and all sorts of other things that don’t have to begin with M. At our retreat, each of us brought our favorite things for each other, so that was fun to share.

And, yes, here are links to all their websites: Mary Carver. Anna Rendell. Amanda Conquers. Kayse Pratt from Anchored Women. Erika Dawson from Faithful Moms. Christen Price.

Yes to Cucumbers Face Wipes – I included these in my gifts to my friends. And I use them every day, usually on my face but also sometimes on my feet.

Burt’s Bees lip balm – I especially like the coconut & pair and mango flavors, but I bought an assorted pack to share with my friends.

(I’m sharing a favorite Summer Not-To-Do List and playlist to my email #PorchStories friends, so be sure you’re signed up. If you’re not already, you can join in the fun here.)

From the bookshelf

“Only Ever Her” by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen – I really loved how this story was told from how it affected different characters. There were lots of relationships and connections intertwined with the suspense of what happened. This was one I didn’t want to put down.

“It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover – It’s been a while since I read a whole book in a day, but that’s what happened with this one. The characters are dealing with lots of heavy subjects, such as abuse, heartbreak, and death, but the writing also includes some sweet, funny details.

“The Middle Matters: Why That (Extra)Ordinary Life Looks Really Good On You” by Lisa-Jo Baker – I actually read this one in my crazy May days, but I wrote a review and shared about the fun preorder bonuses this month, so I wanted to make sure y’all knew about it before it officially releases July 23.

“Britfield & the Lost Crown” by C.R. Stewart – Cate reviewed this adventure book for elementary and middle school readers on the blog this month. She has read it multiple times, so be sure to check out her review if the kids in your life are looking for a book recommendation. It’s the first in what’s expected to be a series. My girl is ready for the next one, that’s for sure!

Stay tuned because on Friday I’ll have a complete list of all the books I’ve read so far this year with links to any reviews I’ve written. Of course, here are some tips on how I manage to read several books a month.

On the screen

“Aladdin” – I really loved Will Smith as the genie and loved seeing this classic Disney story truly brought to life. We’ve loved the theatrical version of Aladdin we’ve seen on the Disney cruises, so our expectations were pretty high, but my kids and I all give this one all the thumbs up. Plus I love that there are good family movies in the theater this summer. Greg took the kids to see “Toy Story 4” last weekend while I was retreating with my blogger friends.

“Second Act” – This movie had more substance and emotions than I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it. I hadn’t heard of it, but my pop culture expert friend Mary Carver brought it to our retreat and we stayed up way too late watching it one night.

“Isn’t It Romantic?” – Again, I hadn’t heard of this one, but Mary came through with more movie goodness. I literally laughed out loud multiple times and Rebel Wilson wasn’t as crass as I thought she might be.

“Designated Survivor” – I am so glad Netflix picked up this show to continue with season three, but a new character is crasser than the original ones. Somebody told the whole show gets edgier, so I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I’m a couple of episodes in and want to keep watching at this point.

How’s your June been? What stories would you bring to the porch?

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