Let's Look linkup (a day late)

I'm a day late to the linkup party, but better late than never!  I meant to write this on Tuesday night, but life just happens, and I forget all the things.  I'm joining these two ladies whose blogs are listed above for this linkup.  Here's the Mix and Match Mama blog for you, if you've never checked her website out, you should.  Some of our favorite recipes that I make today are from her. 

I love to read.  You know that by now, even if you're new here.  I first fell in love with reading when I was seven years old and in the last half of my first grade year.  I had this incredible teacher, Mrs. Shaw, who encouraged us to pick books we loved and to read as often as we could.  My first book that I ever read was a Garfield book, and then I was hooked forever.  When I was young, my favorites were Nancy Drew books, The Babysitter's Club books (I had all of both series), and Sweet Valley Twins. 

In high school, my book choices grew up a little, and my favorite books were the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn, Sweet Valley High by Francine Paschal, Goosebumps by R.L. Stine, anything and everything by Judy Blume, all of the Christopher Pike books, and Mary Higgins Clark books.  By the time I graduated, my mom and I were sharing all the books we read and to this day, are still continuing in that tradition.  I love all the books. 

I remember when I was a teenager and with my dad on Saturdays, before I drove myself, he would drop me off at my favorite used bookstore in Germantown, The Book Depot, at ten or eleven and pick me up four hours later.  I would get lost in the shelves and would read anything and everything I could get my hands on.  Nowadays, most of my books come from my happy place, a.k.a. the local library.  Here I was just Tuesday, with my latest book haul.  Sometimes I buy books I know I will love from Amazon or Costco.  (I just bought one at Costco last Friday.)

If I could do two things over, in the raising of my children, it would be to homeschool them from the start of their school career and to teach them to love to read.  By the time they were doing book reports in public school on books they hated, it ruined their love of reading.  They will read the required reading for schoolwork, but that's about it for them.  I won't say they HATE reading, because they've all read books for pleasure, but they definitely do not share my love.  That breaks my heart.  This is why, when asked about homeschooling, I tell people to read all they can with their kids, from early on and to never stop.  Kids are smart and understand far more than what we give them credit for, in my opinion, and if you make it a habit early on, they'll never depart from it.

Here is a bit of what I love to read, and some of my favorite books of all time. 

First off, this is what I love to read the most.

The living, active word of God.  This is the one book I will read over and over and over again until the day Jesus calls me to His side in heaven, and it is the one thing I memorize and study and write out.  Talk about teaching them when they're young and them not departing from it, THIS is what I taught my kids with.  They've all grown up in a home that loves and lives for Jesus.  They've been taught from birth, practically, to walk in His ways, and I pray and trust in Him that they will never stray from Him.  Even if they do stray from Him, I pray it's not for too long a time, and that the Lord would keep them all on a short tether.

I read my bible everyday, almost.  (Sundays are the days I almost always skip, but I'm getting the word from our preacher on that day, so I am still "reading" it, even on off days.)  Sometimes I do this in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon (like yesterday), and sometimes I do this at night.  God is not legalistic about the time I spend with Him, and when it is, just so long as I spend time with Him. 

Along with this, I am always in a bible study of some sort, so I will add that to things I read.  My current study is called Mirror Image, and it's a study on the book of Malachi.  It was written by a good friend of mine, Amy Dobson, who goes to the same church as me and is the women's ministry leader at Collierville First Baptist Church. 

On a lighter note, here are a couple of my favorite recent reads from December. 

This book was SO GOOD. 

And so was this one.

(I miss Christmas.)

I haven't had as much reading success in February so far, but I'm still hopeful that one of the ones I picked up on Tuesday will be great and that I'll be unable to put them down.  That is my favorite!

If I had to pick my favorite book(s) of all time, it would be a tie between two series.  I love them equally and I have read both series at least five times.  I read them over again every other year.

This is one book from the Yada Yada series by Neta Jackson.

These books inspire me in my prayer life.  Any book that does that is a win for me.  These are the books that made me want to find a prayer partner, or group. 

I love them all and cannot say enough about them.  If you've not read these, give them a try! 

And my other favorite series of books of all time are from Robin Jones Gunn.

These are the Sisterchicks series of books by the same author I loved as a teenager.  I love all of her books, but this series wins the title of first place tie in my heart.  These are Christian fiction, and they inspire me to never put anything or anyone above God's place in my heart, and they also inspire me to be a good friend to the ones God has given me. 

These are the ones that I would call "comfort books" (better than comfort food), and my go to, if I ever get in a reading rut.  Don't take my word for it.  Give these a try for yourself! 

What are some of your favorite books and authors?  I would love to hear from you.  Thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all.