I Read 15 Books This Year - Here Are My Takeaways (From my Favorites)
​​
December 23, 2025
Captivating
​
This has to be one of my favorite books! I was looking for a book on biblical womanhood and femininity and my small group leader from my women's group recommended this!
​
​The essence of a woman is her beauty. It is given to her by God. She needs to set aside her survival mode. Striving gets in the way of beauty. Offering beauty means offering your heart. Not your works or usefulness (think about Martha vs. Mary story).
​
True femininity arouses true masculinity.
​
All women are called to mother - we mother in the way we offer car, concern and comfort. All women are also called to give birth - not only to children, but to all things like ideas, books, movements, businesses.
Towards Rest
​
One of my favorite books on rest. This year, I found freedom in rest. I was able to let go of the productivity mindset and having my brain be constantly all the time.​​
​
Rest is necessary. It is not something we do when we are tired. We rest because we are called too. When we rest, we participate in something sacred. Rest is not merely about relaxing or refuelling — it is about remembering our dependence on God. It is an act of release — letting go of the bondage of our daily labor, worries, idols, and burdens.
For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men
​
My client, who is also a Christian, lent this book to me! I had read this a decade ago, but decided this would be a good year to read it again.​​
​
The read was so smooth and easy, I couldn't put the book down. The book helps women decode men’s inner thoughts, needs, and emotional patterns to improve connection and trust.
​
My favorite chapters were: a) Men Want to Provide and Protect and b) Men Need Respect More Than Love.
Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You ​
​
My friend, Rebecca, gifted me this! A great book that dives deep into 12 women in the bible and their remarkable faith, courage and devotion to God. God uses ordinary women in extraordinary ways to accomplish His purposes! ​​
​
I love that the book included study guide questions for each chapter.
​
I am especially intrigued by Lydia in the bible - a successful business woman who displayed a heart for God and hospitality.
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry​
​
One of my intentions this year was to slow down. To eliminate the hurry. I defintiely accomplished that this year!​ This book is perfect for you if you are a busy bee, always in a hurry and want to know how to applicably slow down.
​
This book taught me how to steward my time more intentionally—not just to create a calendar that looked less busy, but to build a life that actually felt slower, more present, and more peaceful in my heart and mind.
​
The 4 ways to unhurry your life include: 1) silence and solitude, 2) sabbath, 3) simplicity, and 4) slow.
Practicing the Way ​
​
A great book on how to build a lifestyle that follows Jesus. Comer discusses the 6 stages of the spiritual journey: 1) recognition of God, 2) life of discipleship, 3) the productive life, 4) journey inward, 5) journey outward, and 6) life of love. For the longest time, I felt I was stuck in stage 3 - just going through the motions. I felt I was doing the right things, but did not feel an inward, genuine, and natural desire for the Lord. With 2025 closing, I can confidently say I have moved past stage 3, sat through a lot of inner emotions, trauma and baggage (stage 4) and moving into stage 5 and 6!
Garden City: Work, Rest and the Art of Being Human​
​
This has to be one of my favorite books on finding your God-given calling. Here are a few takeaways I had:
​
Your job and career come and go, but your calling stays the same. We are all in full-time ministry, whether we are serving inside or outside the church.
​
Signs of life without rest include burnout, anxiety, stress, anger, tension, emptiness, confusion, low energy, busyness, starved relationships, feeling worn down, and fatigue.
​
The Sabbath reminds us that we are not god and that the world gets along just fine without us. It is a way to celebrate our limits. It is an expression of our faith, to stop, release self control and trust in Him.
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How it can Help You Find - and Keep - Love​
​
This book discusses 3 different adult attachment styles: secure, anxious and avoidant. I thought this book was helpful because it provided an outline of how to determine your own attachment style and how to navigate/deal with people with a different attachment style than your own!
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It's Impossible to be Spiritually Mature While Remaining Emotionally Immature​
​
One of my favorite books of all time! This book resonated with me because for so long, I would suppress my feelings and emotions, thinking I could just "get through it" and "spiritually bypass" the "sitting with it" process. But validating my own feelings, emotions, trauma helped me grow closer to God. Sitting in the valley and climbing the mountain are both equally important!
It talks about how awareness of yourself and your relationship with God are intricately related. Ephesians 4:22 says to "put off your old self and to put on your new self." But how can you draw close to God if you don't know your [old] self? Almost all problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self-awareness and self-knowledge.
​
​To be spiritually mature starts with allowing yourself to feel. You are a human being made in God’s likeness. We are called to experience our feelings, reflect on our feelings and do something about it under the Lord.
All That is Made: A Guide to Faith and the Creative Life​
​
This book sparked the creative in me! Here are a few takeaways.
​
Collaboration is a spiritual practice - we are called to create in community. To labor together. To share with each other. To help one another. To love one another. To need one another. And to suffer together!
​
When we start a business, we reimagine the marketplace as a place of generosity, rather than self-gain. When we create, it connects communities - people to people, people to earth, people to God. This resonated with me and has transformed how I approach my work as a business owner and healthcare provider.
​
Not everything we create needs to have a practical purpose. Life is more than a series of accomplishments. Creating can just be for leisure, fun, and play.
​
"Creatives are called to be people for others. Our art, our ideas, our creating should always be in the service of others. Creativitiy that looks like the life of Jesus also looks like his death: sacrificial, vulnerable and mysterious."