The best 3 books I've read this year so far

The Red Head over at theredheadriter.blogspot.com says I'm a book worm. The truth is that she's right about that. It goes back to that Proverbs 27:17 thing about as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another; for me reading books are one of the ways that happens.

So, when I say a book is really good, it's being compared to a lot of other books. But hands down, the three best books I've read so far this year are: The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning, Daily Readings from Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen, and Calm my Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow.

The Ragamuffin Gospel could sound elementary when I tell you what it is about - God's love for us. But this book has helped me grow in my heart understanding, my experience, of God's love for me and has freed me to love others.

I hesitate to mention a book by Joel Osteen since, for some goofy reason, so many Christians write awful stuff about this guy. As a basic rule, I try not to say bad stuff about people; if there's some preacher or writer or musician or whatever who is trying to do something for the Lord, I try to say good stuff about him or her. We're all in process (not to mention the whole thing about the log in our own eye mentioned in Matthew 7:3). There are a few reasons I liked Osteen's devotional book Daily Readings from Your Best Life Now; there is not only one short scripture reference utilized each day but there is a group of verses or a chapter listed to read as well, it tends to be very focused on a positive thing you can practice every day, it is encouraging. For someone like me who, as I've mentioned before, can have a tendency toward being negative, I benefit from feeding positive thoughts into my brain each morning. Now please do not think that by positive I mean sentimental or just-think-and-you-are kind of stuff. I mean positive in terms of our-God-is-great-and-let's-trust-Him-and-His-word.

Calm my Anxious Heart has had a dramatic effect on me this year. It's so good that it's one of those books I didn't want to stop reading. It's even got a companion Bible study with it that I was blessed to be able to participate in with a small group of women in my home. That experience has helped us all as we've gone through various things this year and drawn us closer together.

What are some of the best books you've read so far this year?