Reading List for 2012 & A Book Recommendation

The beginning of a new year is one of my favorite times.  I feel invigorated, driven, motivated, and excited for all that is in store.  This year has been a bit different, as we've been sick, my husband has been on a new schedule, and I'm already feeling VERY pregnant {still have 14 weeks to go!}.  However, even in the midst of all of that I've tried to carve out some time to think about this coming year and be more purposeful in how I spend my time.  It's so easy to get on the computer and get lost on Facebook, my blog list, Pinterest, or even just sit and do things that don't really achieve any real purpose in my day, or in the greater scheme of my life.  This year, I've decided to try and work against this struggle of wasting time and energy; instead, I'd like to set goals in various areas of my life that I hope will enable me to be more organized, more productive, and more importantly, more fruitful for the Lord.

One of the ways I've decided to work on this is to make a reading list for my year.  I always loved the beginning of a new semester in college when I could place my syllabi next to each other and make a list of all the reading required for each class that semester.  It was fun to map out how I would finish it all and make it to the end!  Now, I get to make my own reading list, based upon the things that I feel I need to change in my life, truth on which I need to reflect, or subjects in which I need to educate myself.

So, here's my stack thus far:
 

 They're not stacked in any particular order, and I haven't really decided which ones I'm going to delve into first.  One of my goals in reading this year is to keep a Book Journal.  I always underline, highlight and mark up my books, which I'm sure I will continue to do, but this year, I'm going to add a separate journal that will be for specific lessons, thoughts, or ideas that I take away from the books I read.  Hopefully, this will help me as I go back through the year to remind myself of what I've learned.  {I don't have said journal yet, but it's on my list to buy tomorrow when we run errands!}.

Now, for my recommendation.  The wee little book at the top of this stack is a gem, for all of you moms who might be reading this that have little children.  It's called Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches.

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches

My sister-in-law gave this to me for Christmas and I picked it up to read the other night after the kids were in bed.  An hour later, I had finished it--it was THAT good!  I'm sure it helped that I had a pretty exhausting day parenting my toddlers {correction, dealing with whining, sitting at the table for an hour to finish dinner, pooping in the panties, etc., etc., etc.} but even without that, her insights and real-life examples, combined with truth from God's Word were an excellent encouragement and gentle rebuke to me as a mom.  I plan to read back through it once I have my book journal so I can make some notes of specific things I learned. {Perhaps I'll post some more on this book later...}  If you're mothering children in the little years right now, this would be a great book to read!  

{You can simply click on the link of the book title above and it will take you right to Amazon to order}.

I realize this is a big list right now, but it's my goal and I'm hoping to finish these {some I've started several times, just not finished, so I hope to read them all the way through this time!}.

In case you can't read the titles, here they are:

Don't Make Me Count to Three
Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment
The Marriage Builder
War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (Resources for Changing Lives)
Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting
Shepherding a Child's Heart
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (A Study Guide to the DVD Featuring John Piper) (John Piper Small Group)
Large Family Logistics

I'm looking forward to all that I will learn from these books this year.

What's on your list?