Summer Reading List 2014

I am a total bookworm. I learned to read when I was four and have been reading ever since. Not just reading really, more like devouring books.  Certain books and book series define entire seasons of my life. When friends were complaining about not being able to read books in college because of all the required reading they had to do, I was still reading books. When the librarian knows your name and probably had your phone number memorized growing up, I think it's safe to wear the bookworm title proudly.

An afternoon in Barnes and Noble is my happy place. Getting a box full of new books in the mail makes my day. Smelling a new book...ahhhh-mazing! Don't knock it before you try it...if you have never sniffed a book, you don't know what you are missing! Books have enriched my life in countless ways. Fiction, nonfiction, different authors and genres. Who am I kidding...give me a newspaper and I'll be happy to read it. Some books are life changing. Some encourage me. Some challenge me. Some are just fun and entertaining. Even when I don't agree with the concepts or dislike characters in a book, it can sharpen my thinking and teach me something new. If nothing else, books reveal layers of humanity in characters and the authors themselves. I just love to read.

I have a running list of books to read at all times. I pull names from best seller lists, friends' recommendations, blogs, the library...I'm always gathering new information about books. My list for the summer might seem long to some, but the looks of a long book list excite me. I'm ready to create a little more space and time to read books in the sunshine or in my hammock. So, what better way to start the summer then to share some of the books that have peaked my interest and made their way onto my list?

• The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful by Myquilyn Smith 
•  Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need for Approval and Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes by Jennifer Lee Dukes
• The One and Only by Emily Giffin
• Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple
• What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
• Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff 
• Delicious: A Novel by Ruth Reichl 
• The Garden of Burning Sand by Corban Addison 
• Speak Love: Making Your Words Matter by Annie Downs 
• Packing Light: Thoughts on Living Life with Less Baggage by Allison Vesterfelt
• Still Alice by Lisa Genova
• Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus by John Eldredge
• The Emotionally Healthy Woman: Eight Things You Have to Quit to Change Your Life by Geri Scazzero
  

I might even share my thoughts on some of them as I read them!

What books are you reading this summer?