Category Archives: Books

Books I Have Loved (in honor of World Book Day which is today, April 23)

  • Death to Deconstruction
  • The Time Traveler’s Wife
  • The Post Birthday World
  • The Westing Game
  • Open Heart, Open Home
  • Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better
  • Me, Myself & Bob: A True Story About God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables
  • Seriously… I’m Kidding
  • Love You Forever
  • On The Day You Were Born
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
  • Tom’s Midnight Garden
  • Glass Castle
  • Giraffes? Giraffes!
  • Juicing the Orange: How to Turn Creativity into a Powerful Business Advantage

Books I’ve Read So Far This Year

  • Death to Deconstruction | Joshua S Porter
  • The Practice of the Presence of God | Brother Lawrence
  • The Thursday Murder Club | Richard Osman
  • The Pursuit of God | AW Tozer
  • Unoffendable | Brant Hansen
  • The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief | Francis Collins
  • Becoming Free Indeed | Jinger Duggar Vuolo
  • Tropic of Stupid | Tim Dorsey
  • The Man Who Died Twice | Richard Osman

Non-Fiction Books I Have Read and Recommend (Which you can also find on my Goodreads account)

  • Death to Deconstruction: Reclaiming Faithfulness as an Act of Rebellion | Joshua S. Porter
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft | Stephen King
  • Open Heart, Open Home: The Hospitable Way to Make Others Feel Welcome & Wanted | Karen Burton Mains
  • Me, Myself & Bob: A True Story about God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables | Phil Vischer
  • Unoffended |
  • Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best… and Learn from the Worst | Robert I. Sutton
  • How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them – A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide | Howard Mittelmark, Sandra Newman
  • The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence | Gaven deBecker
  • Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers: Ministry Anytime, Anywhere, by Anyone | William M. Easum
  • Not So Big House | Sarah Susanka
  • Untamed | Glennon Doyle
  • Juicing the Orange: How to Turn Creativity into a Powerful Business Advantage | Pat Fallon, Fred Senn
  • Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go To Work | Paul Babiak
  • The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry | Jon Ronson
  • I Watched a Wild Hog Eat My Baby: A Colorful History of Tabloids and Their Cultural Impact | Bill Sloan
  • The Glass Castle | Jeannette Walls
  • The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales | Oliver Sacks

Surprising Things I’ve Accomplished This Year (specifically given that it’s been a corona-year)

  • Checked two new states (North Carolina, Mississippi) off my list
  • Missions trip to Haiti
    • Three “airports” in one day
    • Landing & taking off on a dirt runway
    • Attending/walking in a Haitian funeral processional
    • Ate goat for the first time
  • Iguanas in the wild (in Miami… they chased me away from my lunch)
  • Finished unpacking all boxes from moving end of 2019
  • Started packing up to move again
  • Attended nephew’s high school graduation
  • Vacation to San Diego
    • Lodging at the fabulous beachfront Tower23
    • Riding bicycles to Mission Beach
  • Completed “Visual Communications” course through Sophia Learning
  • Put more than 10,000 miles on my car
  • Ran three trivia nights before the world shut down
  • Read 29 books
  • Successfully began intermittent fasting (lost 8 pounds and dropped my A1C from 6.1 to 5.4!)
  • Watched multiple full series on Hulu and Amazon Prime
  • Achieved level 40 and then level 41 on Pokemon Go
  • Applied for 66 jobs
  • Got hired for exciting new position with city of Clinton, Iowa!
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Books I’ve Read Since COVID Started (in the order I read them)

  • Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators | Ronan Farrow
  • Pineapple Grenade | Tim Dorsey
  • My Husband’s Wife | Jane Corry
  • The Riptide Ultra-Glide | Tim Dorsey
  • Tiger Shrimp Tango | Tim Dorsey
  • Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys | Eric Garcia
  • It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) | Nora McInerny
  • Red, White & Royal Blue | Casey McQuiston
  • Shark Skin Suite | Tim Dorsey
  • Untamed | Glennon Doyle
  • Fast, Feast, Repeat: The Comprehensive Guide to Delay, Don’t Deny(R) Intermittent Fasting | Gin Stephens
  • Coconut Cowboy | Tim Dorsey
  • She Went All the Way | Meg Cabot
  • Maestra | L.S. Hinton
  • What to Say Next | Julie Buxbaum
  • No Happy Endings | Nora McInerny Purmort
  • Clownfish Blues | Tim Dorsey
  • A Map of Days | Ransom Riggs
  • The Conference of the Birds | Ransom Riggs
  • The First Time She Drowned | Kerry Kletter
  • One to Watch | Kate Stayman-London
  • The Pope of Palm Beach | Tim Dorsey
Book covers from TimDorsey.com
http://timdorsey.com/books.html

Cookbooks on my Bookshelf (As proof that at one time in my life I actually did cook on a regular basis.)

  • Lickety Split Meals for Health Conscious People on the Go (Seriously the best, go buy it.)
  • Oh Deer! The Venison Cookbook for Beginners
  • Sunset Wok Cookbook
  • Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook / Feasting with your Slow Cooker
  • 4 Ingredient Recipes for 30 Minute Meals
  • Three Ingredient Cookbook Volume II
  • Fat Free Living Cookbook
  • Miserly Meals
  • Pampered Chef All the Best
  • Low Fat Mexican Recipes
  • Betty Crocker Great Pasta
  • Food for the body and for the soul
  • Treasured Recipes / Far & Near Missionary Fellowship
  • Magazine issues: Taste of Home’s Quick Cooking
  • Magazine issues: Kraft Food & Family
Lickety Split Meals for Health Conscious People on the Go — I am not a paid representative, just a person who used this book every single day for years. By far the best cookbook I’ve ever owned in both the way it functioned and the recipes it provides. Do yourself a favor and go buy this right now!

Things I Would Rather Be Doing (Assuming the Weather Was Nice Enough for Weather Dependent Activities)

  • Reading a good book
  • Visiting family
  • Watching Survivor
  • Sitting around a campfire
  • Making s’mores
  • Eating s’mores
  • Walking in the sunshine along the river
  • Wilderness camping
  • Writing & editing a novel
  • Binge-watching home shows like Flip or Flop, Love It or List It, Desert Flippers
  • Getting a pedicure
  • Getting a massage
  • Decorating a Christmas tree
  • Planning parties
  • Eating stuffed crust pizza

September Shaping Up (The month in movies, music, & literature)

Movies

  • Come September
  • See You in September
  • Septembers of Shiraz
  • Until September

Music

  • It Might As Well Rain Until September
  • A Lonely September
  • Blue September
  • The Late September Dogs
  • Maybe September
  • Pale September
  • September Morn
  • September Song
  • September When It Comes
  • The 12th of September
  • Wake Me Up When September Ends