One of my goals for 2020 is to read 45 books this year. That equals 3.75 books per month. Some months might have two books, others five, others four or one or whatever. But either way I’m confident in my goal and excited to share what I read. Here’s what I read in August:

1. Inspired by Rachel Held Evans. I continued on my journey of reading books about reading the Bible with this one and while drastically different than Wilkin’s, I’m thankful for Evans’ writing and ability to take space as a female Christian writer without qualifying her work for just women. If you’re unfamiliar with Evans, I’d suggest starting here. Many people, specifically Evangelical Christians, have much to say about Evans and I’m frankly not here for that. I will say, this book challenged me in the best kind of ways. It poked at things I’d always assumed to be true and taught me, once again, to really know what I believe and why I believe it. Which, is a journey I’ve been on since God used Elisabeth Elliot to open my eyes. Inspired, is essentially Evans’ personal journey with the Bible and her interpretation of it. While I may have disagreed with much, ultimately, I agreed with her overarching argument which is: “I am a Christian,” I concluded, “because the story of Jesus is still the story I’m willing to risk being wrong about.” Because, while I may have faith that it is true, the reality is, faith is trusting in something we cannot see. I cannot know it is true, in the same way that I can know I have blue eyes, but at the end of the day, I’d risk my life for Gospel and that is what really matters. Plus, hearing alternative perspectives can only help us grow as we wrestle with and read around them.
   Rating: 3.5/5
   Pages: 236
   Genre: Nonfiction - Christian

2. How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry was absolutely the most charming beach read, I’ve ever encountered. Is it one of my dreams to visit this Airbnb and run my own bookshop? And in my original dream, did I also fall madly in love with a local? Yes and Yes. Is that at all what this book is about? Not really. It’s more Love, Actually meets You’ve Got Mail! (Because of the books, that’s the only reason) and it’s full of English charm. It’s set in the location of my dream honeymoon Airbnb so while I wasn’t able to make it to England for real, it was delightful to dream and pretend via this fun book!

   Rating: 4/5
   Pages: 352
   Genre: Fiction