Nightstand (March 2013)

Changing jobs has a way of interrupting routines. So does moving. So does planning a wedding. For that matter, so does honeymooning.

Which is probably why my reading routines have been drastically off-kilter for the last several months.

But now that I’m settled into my new job, moved into my new home, and done with the wedding and honeymoon, I’m ready to settle into some new routines–ones that I certainly hope include reading some more.

With all the busyness of the past couple of months, I read:

  • Communication: Key to Your Marriage by H. Norman Wright (My review here)
    A truly excellent book that Daniel and I read for premarital counseling. We’ll be re-reading this one and working through it at a later date, since our premarital time frame left us with less time than we desired to discuss all the rich ideas found within.
  • Sheet Music by Kevin Leman
    This book was highly recommended by a number of our newly married friends as being a great resource. I read the “premarital” portion before we got married and then read the same portion out loud to Daniel on our way up to Lincoln for our wedding. I read (or scanned) the rest during our little getaway immediately after the wedding. We’ll likely revisit this one again later on in our marriage–but the chapter on honeymoon sex for virgins was great. Even if that’s the only chapter that ends up being useful, it was worth the price of the book. I definitely recommend it for virgins preparing for their wedding.
  • Intended for Pleasure by Ed Wheat
    This is another book on sex, this time recommended by the pastor who married us. Intended for Pleasure is pretty technical and often includes more information than is needed in order to have sex (for instance, it explains menstruation and the woman’s cycle in detail), but overall, it’s a pretty solid book (written by an MD) about sex. I didn’t read the whole book on this one since it includes chapters on sex in mid- and late-life, erectile dysfunction, etc.
  • Scripture
    I was trying to do the Horner plan, which involves reading ten chapters of Scripture a day from ten different places in Scripture, but this turned out to be too much. Because my bookmarks were in my big study Bible, it was hard for me to keep up with the reading as I ran errands, moved, worked on wedding stuff, etc. I didn’t have any big chunks of time to read, and it was hard to just read a few verses or a chapter at a time when I had to lug around my big Bible. So I switched over to the Discipleship Journal Book-at-a-Time plan using YouVersion on my phone. This has done wonders, both because it’s generally only 4-5 chapters per day and because my phone is small enough that I can whip it out and read a bit when I’m between clients or waiting at a checkout or in the bathroom or any of those other little moments of unavoidable delay.

In addition to the above completed books, I have started the following:

  • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
    A re-read intended to be done in conjunction with the Reading to Know Bookclub. It was February’s selection. I am maybe halfway through. Oh well.
  • Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes
    I bought this book at a conference last fall–and then promptly got engaged, which threw my reading way off-kilter. I’m excited to work my way through this (so far) solid book.
  • The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller
    I’ve liked almost everything I’ve read by Keller, so when his The Meaning of Marriage showed up free for Kindle, I downloaded it. I started the first couple of chapters on the flight home from our honeymoon. So far, so good.

We arrived home from our honeymoon to find our marriage license in the mailbox (Woohoo!), so now I can begin the process of changing my name and GETTING A WICHITA LIBRARY CARD!!!!!!!

I can’t wait to see what my new local library has in store :-)

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

What's on Your Nightstand?

Oh yes. I almost forgot. Daniel and I are also working on getting some Nightstands that will fit into the relatively small space we have. My number one objective is sufficient space for books. We just may have found something that might work last night–so maybe by next month I’ll actually have a nightstand of books to show off!)

9 thoughts on “Nightstand (March 2013)”

  1. THE POST-WEDDING NIGHTSTAND!!

    And it’s definitely post-wedding! :D ha!

    Congrats on being able to change your name. That’s pretty fun. And weird for a little bit (but mostly exciting).

    Glad you are back around to some degree or another!

    Reply
  2. So you’re already married??? Somehow I missed the date. I’m sure you were a lovely bride. And I’ll say congratulations to both of you! :-)

    I’ve never read Communication but sounds like a good one for any stage of life. I read Sheet Music a few years ago and it was also a good read for any stage.

    Get that Wichita Library card soon! And bookshelves. Important priorities for heavy readers. :-)

    Reply
  3. Congratulations! What lovely news. I’m not a regular reader, mostly just a nightstand visitor, so I’ve wondered where you’ve been. Happy to hear your news, best wishes for your new life together, and enjoy your new books! I love that you deal with a new life situation by reading all about it ;) I’m the same way, and can still cite statistics about women who conceive twins “spontaneously” (i.e. w/o fertility treatment), from when I found myself pg with twins and read all I could about it.
    I haven’t read any of your books but I adore Tim Keller and have read a lot of his other works.

    Reply
  4. The wedding is DONE?! I was just thinking about that yesterday or this morning and wondering when it was coming up. Well, congratulations! And I hope we get to see a photo of both of you from the wedding!

    I somehow didn’t think about getting my name changed on my Social Security card until we filed out taxes and I got a notice from the IRS that my name didn’t match up with their records. Oops!

    A book recommended to us before our wedding was The Act of Marriage by Tim LaHaye and his wife. Funny story — our Christian college had a “social parlor” (basically a big room with sofas and loveseats) where dating couples could go to talk or a student could meet with a group, like when a group from their church visited). My husband-to-be and I decided we’d read The Act of Marriage together there — and just a few sentences in realized that wasn’t the time or place, and we probably shouldn’t read it together until after we were married! It did help, though, as we had the basic idea but not some of the specifics.

    I haven’t read anything of Keller’s but have heard good things about him and have one of his shorter books on my list for this month.

    Have fun settling in and exploring a new library!

    Reply
  5. Congratulations! Here’s something funny: I was just writing a draft post waxing poetic on libraries of all things but I included a mention of me eagerly awaiting my new driver’s license after we got married because then I could go get a LIBRARY CARD! Woo hoo!

    May the Lord richly bless your new life together!

    Reply
  6. Congratulations!!! I agree with you on Sheet Music…excellent book! I have Disciplines of a Godly Woman on my Kindle and really want to get to it. And HOW did I miss Keller’s Meaning of Marriage free for Kindle?!?! I’ve been dying to read that ever since it came out!!

    Reply

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