Welcome back, friends! If you’re wondering what I’m welcoming you back from, check out my part 1 post from earlier this week with the beginning of my top book picks that should be under the Christmas tree this year!
To wrap up this short series, I’m offering a cool giveaway too! Stay tuned to find out how to enter. Here are the rest of the book favorites.
The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker is much different than the other books. It’s serious but intensely interesting. I first heard about this book when DeBecker was on Oprah years ago. He works in threat assessment, domestic violence and bullying prevention, and this book was his first book and it became a New York Times bestseller. Through both his personal experiences and those of clients, he shares about intuition and other things that tell us if a person or situation is a threat. I purchased this book years ago, read it, lost it in a move, and recently purchased and read it again. It is so important, valuable, and you will probably be like me and say, “Wow” a lot while reading it. I personally think this is important for everyone to read. After all, the full title is The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence.” And boldly says on the cover “This Book Can Save Your Life.” Seriously, read it. Gift it.
As a writer, I like to find books that help me write. Stephen King’s On Writing is a good one, of course, and so is this one: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. With such chapter titles as False Starts, Broccoli, Finding Your Voice, and Publication, this is a helpful book for folks writing their own! Or writing anything. Or hoping to write. As a writer, let me tell you how validating and encouraging it is when someone gives me a gift that supports my writing.
My friend Susie Finkbeiner is an incredible writer. If you read some of her other titles like My Mother’s Chamomile or A Cup of Dust, you will love A Trail of Crumbs: A Novel of the Great Depression. Here’s a description from the book itself: “Pearl Spence has been through more in her young life than most folks could handle. But through it all, her family has been by her side. They may not be perfect, but they love her and they all love each other, come what may. That’s one thing Pearl no longer questions. But then a devastating tragedy throws the whole family into a tailspin and signals the beginning of the end of her secure life…” The family finds itself fleeing Oklahoma into the unknown during the Depression-era Michigan.
Now how about that for intrigue? Susie’s writing is beautiful. You will be happy you introduced someone to her writing this Christmas.
Helicopter Mom: Stop Hovering Over Your Kids and Lift by Bethany L. Douglas really hit home for me as a mom who really wants to hover and protect my children at all times. Let me drop this right here, a quote from the book’s description:
“I’ve seen things, bad things. Things that make mothers grip their children tighter and awaken with nightmares in their beds. I know fear- at 3000 feet and going 150 mph- I stand in its face and say “no!” I’ve learned to take fear by the horns and wrestle it to the ground; will you join me and learn how to as well?”
The author is a flight nurse. She knows fear and deals in worst-case scenarios on a regular basis. And she’s a mother. Bethany has been married to her best friend Gabe for 16 years. They live in SW Missouri with their 3 young children, a dog, various pets their kids “adopt”, and a whole lot of grace. Bethany is a nurse and mom by day and a writer by night. Because I think Helicopter Mom is so good, useful, and inspiring, I’m offering a FREE, new, SIGNED copy of this book! Merry Christmas to one lucky winner!
Bethany is also a contributor to the upcoming devotional Holy Beautiful!
All you have to do is comment on this post. Share something book related like your favorite book, the first book you remember reading, what was your least favorite or favorite book to gift. Anything about books! Just comment and you will be entered to win! Winner will be announced next week.
I hope you enjoyed this book roundup. They’re all so different but so very delightful in their own way. Please check them out and let me know if you’ve read any of them or if you decide to purchase one for yourself or as a gift.
Be blessed!
