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The 7th Annual Book Review

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” James 1:19

For writing, last year was a dismal year. I can make all kinds of excuses, but the reality is, it was easier to scroll than to process. I thought my November Formations series would help, but I forgot that December is a crazy month in the non-profit world. Therefore, my Christmas Genes series will be postponed till 2026 Christmas.

My reading life also took a bit of a hit, but again, I am not going to bemoan this. I still managed to read 43 books. Looking over my Year in Books on Goodreads, I read over 13,235 pages. I indulged in poetry, reading poems aloud with my husband at night. I immersed myself in fiction that helped me escape some of the tough situations I was navigating. And I read books that made me laugh, despite the tough topics they addressed.

This is my 7th Annual Book Review List, and looking back over past years, I see a list of books that still impact my life and that I continually recommend to others. I always evaluate my choices with Terry, partly because he is my favorite person to talk with about books. The other part is that he helps me keep the list diverse. He also reminds me of my reading experience. For example, he mentioned a book I finished earlier in the year that I repeatedly discussed with him.

I did something this year that I won’t do again. I finished a book I hated. It was lent to me by a friend, and I felt an obligation to complete it. The book was fiction and was written from a Christian point of view. I found the themes of misogyny and abuse being justified by the author, elevating the trope of the pious, long-suffering Christian woman. I kept hoping the book would redeem itself. Instead, I finished the book disappointed and will never recommend this author to anyone.

So here is the list: -drumroll, confetti fall, and I wish I had a red carpet where the books could display themselves in their full glory. I hope my words entice you to pick up one or two of these titles.

Poetry was a theme this year, with Terry and me completing 5 poetry books together.  Although we both love Mary Oliver, A Bit Much by Lindsay Rush (#maryoliversdrunkcousin) took the lead. Her poem “She’s a Bit Much” affirmed me in ways that I had attempted to express in prose. Throughout the book, she takes insults or put-downs and turns them around to frame them in a positive way. The poems made me laugh, smile, and increase my wonder at the beauty of women and the way we live. Additionally, reading Maggie Smith’s Dear Writer also encouraged me to dabble in writing my own poetry.

My second book was the last fiction book I completed among all the great fiction I read this year, including Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere, Kiran Desai’s highly acclaimed The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, and Amor Towles’ The Lincoln Highway. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans is a bittersweet story written in letters by Sybil, an older woman in her third act of life. You uncover what life events have shaped her and how, even in your last days, you can rewrite your story. It is filled with hope, tragedy, and old-fashioned piety. I love how she nails all mother/daughter conflicts with this statement “I know you think of me as your mother only, but please remember, inside I am also just a girl.”

My third book recommendation is Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand by Jeff Chu. Chu leaves his profession to enter a theology program at Princeton, which happens to have a working farm that theology students help tend and learn from. He tackles topics like forgiveness, love, and hope. It challenged some of my theology regarding the meaning of the parable of the good soil. Chu says, “What if the parable wasn’t about categorizing good versus bad, healthy versus unhealthy, sinners versus saints? What if the parable were understood less as a prescription—you need to be the good soil—and more of a description of what was actually happening, both in the ecosystem around us and in our own lives? What if Jesus was describing the realities of both soil and soul, which were ever-changing and subject to outside forces?” Chu intertwines nature, his Chinese heritage, and his own unique Christian faith. Although I may not agree with all his conclusions, I can still glean from some of the truths he illuminates.

I read quite a few memoirs that dealt with some tough issues, including Tyler Merritt’s This Changes Everything, which deals with cancer, and Melinda Gates’ The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward, which grappled with the ending of her marriage and pulling out of the Gates Foundation. But Jen Hatmaker’s Awake (who happens to be Tyler Merritt’s girlfriend) was everything I hoped it would be and more. Just as with Chu, I don’t draw the same conclusions Jen draws, nor would she want me to. Instead, her vignettes of the end of her 26-year marriage, along with the unraveling of patriarchy, purity culture, and misogyny, echoed my own thoughts of the last few years. She articulates how purity culture produced “a crop of women who hated their bodies.” She talks about how “the church that raised me bears almost no resemblance to the one dehumanizing refugees.” Jen also defines and addresses codependency in ways that felt all too familiar. Although Jen has chosen to stop attending church while still believing in God, I continue to attend. I also hope to be a voice in the church that offers a Biblical way to support those who are marginalized.

Finally, my last book is Meg Najera’s Overflow: The Fine Art of Cultivating Joy in Sorrow. This book kept me grounded when life was swirling around me. Meg’s faith is imprinted on the pages in her beautiful words, intertwined with scripture. She unpacks principles such as prayer and repentance and explains how they will help us cultivate joy.  She then shares a journal entry she has written that applies to the principle. In Entry 15, Meg shares, “Gratitude is a pathway to contentment and helps guard against the sin of covetousness.” Her writing is poetic, thoughtful, and practical. This book makes an excellent devotion that I intend to reread.

I am also a bit of a podcast junkie and like to include a podcast or two that have inspired me. This year, I am including two political podcasts. Phil Visher, of Veggie Tales fame, has created a media company that addresses political issues from a Christian perspective. Along with Skye Jethani, Kaitlyn Schiess, and sometimes Esau McCaulley, Phil hosts a weekly podcast called The Holy Post. It addresses hard issues like the death of Charlie Kirk, RFK’s vaccine standards, and ICE enforcement from a theological point of view. These thoughtful commentators interview other thinkers and authors to examine politics and foreign policy through a Christian lens. And it doesn’t hurt that the theme song reminds me of my children singing along with Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber.

I also enjoy Pantsuit Politics hosted by Sara Beth Silverman and Beth Silvers. These women offer thoughtful commentary on political issues. They may lean in one direction, but work hard to provide balanced views. Both have a legal background and offer both a historical and legal perspective. They also end the news with something that is on their mind outside of politics, ranging from books they are reading to thoughts on how to raise children. They are widely regarded for keeping us “informed without the overwhelm or anxiety.”

I want to acknowledge that some of my recommendations are not for everyone. Nor do I endorse every single thought the authors put on paper. But reading outside your comfort zone about other viewpoints is a good thing. For me, it has opened my mind up to new ideas, increased my empathy, and challenged me to draw closer to Jesus.

I also want to share a new project that could take me years to complete. I am going to read a book set in each of the 50 states, and eventually every country in the world. I know this is ambitious, but I think it would help me see more of the world from my armchair. Also, I find it fun to set goals and work towards something.

I would love to know what you read in 2025, and if you didn’t read anything, there is no better time than 2026.

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Monica L. and Hyde

“Judge not, that you be not judged.” Matthew 7:1 ESV

During my junior year of college, I had a full schedule. Along with being promoted to a new role as a Program Assistant and other extracurricular activities, I had the toughest class of my psychology major: a research and methods course. Often when I moved around my small campus, my head was down, thinking about the list of things I still needed to accomplish before the day ended. At the end of the school year, I met a freshman with whom I would be working in a summer program for underprivileged high school students. We quickly became friends, and she introduced me to a new, up-and-coming store: Bath & Body Works. Later that summer, she shared how she had tried to make my acquaintance before and, after being ignored a few times, she thought I was pretentious. I was taken aback by this assessment, and it was the first time I realized that I didn’t always appear warm and friendly. I quickly apologized, remembering how often my head was down and my list was long. Unfortunately, at the time, I was not mature enough to recognize that I needed to find healthier ways to deal with my stress and to avoid alienating people.

Since then, I have learned that when I am busy, I tend to have a Jekyll and Hyde transformation, shifting from the warm, friendly Sherry to busy, task-oriented Sherry. Even how I move about my world is different. I go from engaging in conversation with total strangers and inviting people into my home for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (this was when my children were little) to being laser focused on what needs to be done and barking orders at others. This Mr. Hyde conversion is not my best side, and the various members of my immediate family have often been the ones who faced the brunt of this ugliness. And if you meet me at this time, you might not be enticed enough by the peanut butter jelly sandwiches to come over and visit with me.

Despite being busy with a newborn, I remember the1998 Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal blowing up across the different broadcast and cable news networks. Before social media platforms existed, we still managed to be inundated with images of the infamous blue dress and clips of her phone conversations with a so-called friend. Next, we watched as President Clinton denied any sexual relationship, later apologized, and then faced impeachment. For years afterwards, every comedian and talk show host had a joke about Monica Lewinsky, criticizing her body, intelligence, and character. I laughed at some of the jokes and formed my own opinions of her.

But in 1998, we had no common language for the concepts of power differential, body shaming, or trauma. We didn’t understand that critical thinking is not yet fully developed in young adults, resulting in one intern’s naïve idea of love turning into the biggest mistake of her life. Today, I listened to Lewinsky tell her own story on her new podcast, Reclaiming by Monica Lewinsky. My views of Monica Lewinsky had been shifting for the last few years, and I knew I had misjudged her. But it was devastating hearing how hard it has been for her to move forward in her life, find a career, or even be in a healthy relationship because of a mistake she made when her impulse control was not yet fully developed. What was even harder to face was my culpability in her demise. I, along with the rest of the public, had misjudged and mischaracterized her.

This Saturday is International Women’s Day, a day with its roots in women protesting to receive better pay and improved working conditions. It started in the United States and moved across Europe as more women protested poor working conditions, wage gaps, and the inability to vote. In 1975, it was recognized by the United Nations as a day to support gender equality. The theme this year is #AccelerateAction, engaging in concrete ways to improve gender equality. There are still nations like Iran and Afghanistan where girls can’t receive education beyond elementary school, women are not allowed to own businesses, and women can’t leave their homes to have lunch with a friend. I can’t do much about those problems, except bring awareness of those human rights violations, support organizations that are trying to make a change, and vote in ways that address these issues. But I can do one thing that is noted on the International Women’s Day website: I can “call out stereotypes, challenge discrimination, question bias, celebrate women’s success…and share our knowledge and encouragement with others.” But to do this well, I need to recognize my own biases and the ways I need to change to address these issues.

Over the next three weeks, in honor of International Women’s Day, I am going to address issues of body image/body shaming, labeling, and judging women’s paths in life. I have touched on these areas in the past, but I am hoping to examine them from a fresh perspective with some personal anecdotes, pop cultural references, and Biblical principles. I also want to highlight why I, as a Christian, should and can do better about these issues. I hope you will join me in this series and hear how I am evolving.

I am so glad my friend in college laid aside her preconceived notions about me to become my friend. Her friendship, as brief as it was, enriched my life beyond fruity smelling lotions. I know how it feels to be misjudged, and I need to remind myself not to make judgments of others based on my own limited information about that person. My participation in shaming Monica Lewinsky certainly didn’t embody Christian principles and exacerbated her future struggles. But I know better now, and I want to continue to accelerate action to help move the dial forward in treating all women with equality.