The Best Books I Read All Year

If you read my post on the CollegePlus blog, you know that reading is AWESOME for you. Maybe you even decided to up your game and read more in 2015 than you did last year – way to go!

I love hearing book recommendations from others. My to-read shelf on Goodreads is growing faster than I can devour the books, but each one looks too good to pass up when someone else recommends it!

Good thing cyber-shelves don’t gather dust.

I’m going to let you in on my five favorite books (in no special order) from 2014 so you* can stuff your to-read shelf like mine!

1.       Counted Worthy. I wish it was longer. It's a dystopian novel with scripture woven beautifully throughout. It kept me glued to the pages and thinking about my commitment to Christ.

2.      Folks, This Ain’t Normal. Don’t open this book until you understand that Joel Salatin, the author, is very opinionated, blunt and committed. He is funny and you’ll learn a lot about the crazy state of our food and our farms, but don’t take anything too personally. He’s a character. ;)

3.      Leadership and Dedication. It’s written by a former Communist who becomes a Christian. But guess what? He’s humble enough to see the tactics of the Communists that worked – things that kept their followers loyal and motivated. A neat perspective, and I learned a bunch from it.

4.       Desiring God. All right friends. If you want to think deeply, see God more clearly, and change your life… read this book. But take your time, because you probably won’t be able to digest it in a rush – it’s that rich.

5.      The Circle Series by Ted Dekker. It’s technically four books, but I didn’t want to bore you listing each one - because I loved all four. These had a great impact on my spiritual life, plus I was blown away by the plot. Great stuff.

What were your favorite books of 2014? Let me know in the comments!

*For any young readers out there, please understand that I am 17 years old, and the content of these books reflect that (besides Counted Worthy, which I believe is appropriate for young teens). Please ask your parents before reading them! Something special just for you young girls is coming on Monday – I’ll not keep you in the dark about awesome books! Stay tuned!