Recent reads 2026.

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis- This was an interesting pick up for me because I was waiting for some books I had on hold to become available but needed something in the meantime and I was looking at what was available now and this popped up. I do not follow Rachel Hollis, know anything about her, and have never read any of her work until now, but I heard so many people talking about this book back when it came out in 2018. It has definitely received it's share of controversial reviews, which made me intrigued to hear what she actually said. It was an interesting read, and I appreciated her honesty in talking about many personal topics, but I felt there were only snippets of talking about God and a lot of references to working harder to succeed, dream big and you can do it, you determine your own happiness, etc. I would not recommend this book as a solid Biblical resource.

My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney- Wow, how does Alice come up with her ideas? The plot twists are mind blowing to me and I would be the worst thriller writer. This was the second book I have read by her and I don't know if I can read more? I ended both of my reads by her astonished and confused. Like not confused as in I didn't actually understand it, but confused as in what on earth just happened and that was so many things and that was really the ending? This story was about Eden Fox, who goes for a run and comes home and it locked out and there is another woman in her house who looks similar to her and claims to be her. Then Eden disappears, but which Eden and who is who? Birdy, a detective, comes to investigate the case along with the local police officer, and the discoveries they made and connections revealed are deep and crazy.

A Million Tiny Moments: Reflections to Refresh A Mom's Spirit by Emily A. Jensen and Laura Wifler-I have several books written by these authors and I love them all! They had a podcast called Risen Motherhood for about a decade that I loved, but that ministry recently sunset and is no longer, but both are still active in other types of authorship and ministry now. This book was kind of a compilation of different blog posts, articles, etc. from the Risen Motherhood ministry archives before it ended to have many of those things published in one place, and it's a good read! This is a different type of book because it's definitely Christian, but not set up for a Bible study, and it's written in brief segments that aren't linear, so you could pick it up when you have a couple minutes and read any short portion of the book as a quick devotional and encouraging read. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- I read this when I was younger (it came out in 2008), and just listened to it again. I remembered big points from it, but it was wild to read it again! The premise of this story is so mind boggling! It's set in the nation of Panem, which is the ruins of what used to be North America. The Capital runs all of the 12 outlying districts, and annually they hold the Hunger Games, where one girl and one boy aged 12-18 from each district is chosen to compete in a televised fight to the death and the last one living wins. Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take the place of her younger sister who was chosen, and she competes in the Hunger Games. I feel like you can't help but be drawn to Katniss, her story, and who she is as a main character.

Homeschooled by Stefan Merrill Block- I found this as one of the new books at our local library. He talks about his entire life, but spends the majority of time on his childhood, where his mom pulled him out of school at age 9 and was homeschooled until high school. His mom taught him in math, but other than that he was basically left alone to pursue his passions, educate himself, and grow to the genius he was and would be, as his mother said. She said school was stifling him and he was a brilliant genius who would do amazing things. Their relationship was very dysfunctional and his mother was sad he was growing up and wanted him to stay young and be with him forever (like he went through a period where his mother forced him to crawl around the house like a baby). When he returned to school in high school, the bullying he endured was so difficult and sad. He overcame a lot and is a father himself now, and his resilience was powerful to read and he talks about how there should be more regulations in homeschooling to make sure kids are learning and not falling through the cracks.