What is your husband’s greatest need? According to the book Love & Respect by Emerson Eggerichs, a man’s greatest need is respect while a woman’s is love.

Everyday Greatness: Inspiration for a Meaningful Lifewith Insights and Commentary by Stephen R. Covey is an encouraging and thought-provoking read. It presents stories, anecdotes and quotes that are divided into seven categories, each containing three principles. These include such topics as responsibility, courage, discipline, integrity, humility and gratitude.

This is a great reference book to have in your collection and can be read straight through from beginning to end or in random order by subject matter. Some of the stories would also be great as read-alouds when you are teaching certain principles or character traits to your children. A couple of my favorites were Mike and Me and the Cake by Michael A. Andrews (I cried through it!) and Johnny Lingo’s Eight-Cow Wife by Patricia McGerr.

The end of each section contains a “Reflections” page with questions that challenge you to examine your own self in regards to the particular subject that was covered. I enjoyed reading this book and gained some food for thought in certain areas of my own life. Seeing obstacles that others have overcome and realizing how many “ordinary” heroes are all around us can be inspiring to us all.

If you’ve been married any length of time, you can certainly verify the premise of this book: men and women shop differently. In The X and Y of Buy: Sell More and Market Better by Knowing How the Sexes Shop by Elizabeth Pace, the factors causing those differences are explored.

What am I as a Christian doing to live out my faith by ministering to the needs of others? That is the question asked by Richard Stearns in his book The Hole in Our Gospel. He lays a foundation for the responsibility we have as believers in Christ to “show our faith by our works” and then goes on to present the overwhelming needs – physical, emotional and financial – of people around the world. The book concludes with an evaluation of how the church as a whole and people as individuals can respond to this call.

The most enjoyable part of the book for me was when the author shared his personal testimony of salvation and the ways that God worked in his life to bring him to his current position. He does present a compelling case for the underprivileged around the world and it is convicting to realize the personal responsibility I have to share with others the things with which I have been blessed. While in some ways this book may appear to present a reinvention of the social gospel, it is always good to be challenged to use every opportunity to serve Christ by serving others and seeking to meet their needs.

I just finished reading the book The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Bewritten by Andy Stanley, published by Thomas Nelson publishers.

I like reading books that challenge me to think, and this one did so. Andy Stanley takes the idea of a road, which always leads you somewhere, and applies it to our lives.

The main premise of the path principle is that direction, not intentions, is the key to where we end up in life. While we all desire certain outcomes in our relationships, careers and finances, we have to make decisions today that will lead us to those ends. He delves into the emotions that tend to distract us and our tendency to give attention to things that don’t coincide with the path we should be taking. The author also encourages readers to seek wisdom from others who have traveled the path before them.

The book contains many current cultural references and personal stories and is written in an easy-to-read style. I am only slightly familiar with the author and doubt that I would agree with him on all issues, but feel that I can nearly always learn something from others.

There were two thoughts that most resonated with me. The first was the admonition that we never accomplish the will of God by violating the principles of God. Secondly, near the conclusion of the book, he asks what story you would like to tell with your life. What a great reminder, that every day we are adding pages to the volume that we will look back on one day as the story of our life.

When I first began the book, I wondered how Andy Stanley could possibly write an entire book on such a simple principle. I think he did a fine job of explaining and developing the principle of the path.

We took a brief break from the library for a couple of weeks, but made a stop there on Tuesday to get some new reading material.

My girls are in an American Girl mood at the moment and got the following books from that series, most of which they have read before and enjoyed:

Addy’s Short Story Collection
A Molly Mystery: The Light in the Cellar
Brave Emily
Meet Felicity
Happy Birthday, Molly
Really Truly Ruthie

They also checked out these books from other series they like to read:
A to Z Mysteries: The X’ed-Out X-Ray
The Cul-de-sac Kids: The Upside-Down Day

We had previously checked out A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I want my girls to develop an appreciation for good poetry, so was happy when my older daughter requested that we get this book again. I’m hoping to find a used copy of it that I can purchase for ourselves.

A couple that were new to us this time were The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern and The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. I skimmed both of these; the latter is a Newbery Honor book and looks quite entertaining and age-appropriate.

As for myself, the bookshelf located by the library exit that contains used books for sale got me again! Here’s what I bought for my own reading:

If Mama Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy by Lindsey O’Connor

The Birth Order Book by Kevin Leman. I have actually read this one before, but wanted to re-read it and add it to my own collection.

The Perfect Wife: The Life and Choices of Laura Bush by Ann Gerhart

Ronald Reagan in Private: A Memoir of My Years in the White House by Jim Kuhn. Ronald Reagan is one of my favorite Presidents and I enjoy reading books about him.

I’m also currently reading The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley. Look for a review of that book coming up soon!

See what others’ have in their book basket by visiting The Happy Housewife today.

I write often about reading and the importance that good books play in our lives. Thanks to a challenge from The Happy Housewife to share some books we are currently reading, I made my Thursday Thirteen a list of thirteen books that our family is reading this month.

1. Hans Brinker by Mary Maples Dodge. It has been years since I read this book and I am enjoying going back through it as I read it aloud to my younger daughter.
2. Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This is the book I am currently reading aloud to my older daughter at bedtime. We love the fact that while Anne has gotten older, she still manages to have quite a few adventures.
3. Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight. This is the next book on the list for reading aloud with my oldest. Another one that I haven’t read in years, I only remember that I didn’t read it too often as a child because it always made me cry!
4. Wisdom and the Millers by Mildred A. Martin. This is a brand new book for us and a great find! We are currently reading it for our family Bible time after supper. It has short chapters that each contain a story illustrating a verse from Proverbs.
5. Three Cousins Detective Club series by Elspeth Campbell Murphy. Both girls are reading some of these books; we have purchased several and have also found them at our library.
6. Treasures from Grandma by Arleta Richardson. We have several of the books from the Grandma’s Attic series, but this one is new for us.
7. The Case of the Sassy Parrot by Milly Howard. My older daughter is into mysteries; she just finished this book and really seemed to enjoy it.
8. Clara Barton by Mary Catherine Rose. This book is actually for a school book report.
9. The Middle Moffatt by Eleanor Estes. A book that I enjoyed reading as a child, I was able to purchase this at a used bookstore to add to our personal library.
10. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. My eight-year-old is almost done reading this one.
11. Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace. We have enjoyed all of the Betsy-Tacy books!
12. Depend on Katie John by Mary Calhoun. I just pulled this one out of storage and gave it to my older daughter to read.
13. Those Kids in Proverbsville by Elizabeth Rice Handford. We’ve read this book many times before, but have been revisiting some of the chapters lately.

I’m always looking for resources to help me find good books for my children to read. Please let me know in the comments section if there are books or series that your family enjoys and that you recommend.

This post is linked to

• The Happy Housewife
• Thursday 13
• Happy to Be at Home