books of 2017 | 005
present over perfect (shauna niequist)
shauna niequist is one of those writers whose words make me feel alive on the inside. her stories, her voice, her way of wrapping words around a particular feeling that i want to write on a piece of paper to keep in my back pocket so i can pull it out when i'm trying to explain something. it's like this.
this book is no different. there are elements of her life that i cannot relate to, of course. i am not a wife or a mom or an enneagram 7. but she is a woman and a writer and a human being. i still find myself lingering on certain passages, gasping at the way she reveals what's true for me too.
nothing to prove (jennie allen)
i kept hearing about this book and went back and forth, trying to figure out if i just know a lot of people who know and support jennie allen or if it was that and really a book i needed to read.
i was pleasantly surprised, and a little taken back, by how life-giving this book was for me. chapter after chapter, she digs deep into the book of john, offering a fresh perspective on the gospel, and challenges us to breathe in the truth and let go of that backpack we're convinced we need to carry. more than once i let out an audible, "oh" after reading her words.