Summer is the perfect time for a new book (or three).

I love having a book with me when I fly or hop in the car for a long road trip, but also the everyday times like sitting by the pool or lake on a hot summer day or curled up in the sunroom on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that I make a book list at the beginning of every year (here’s what I plan to read in 2019, in case you’re curious, like me).

This list will often change a little as I go through the year and pick up books here and there - from the used bookshop on the corner or the annual church rummage sale - or come across a newly-released book that I really want to read; but, I like to begin the year with a list of books (two per month, or so) already picked out so I have some direction.

Looking for a few books to add to your summer reading list? Here are a few of my favorites (+ a couple I’m planning to read myself!):

It’s that time of year: full schedules, full to-do lists; trying to keep up, show up, live up to expectations; rushing a little more, relaxing a little less. 

You know the feeling.

Often, they’re subtle changes—choices we don’t even realize we’re making until we find ourselves here: a little more anxious, a little less rested, a little more curt, a little less kind.

Maybe this is the week we give ourselves and those around us an extra measure of grace.

Maybe now is the time to step back, slow down, eliminate the nonessentials and simplify our schedules and hearts and minds.

Because teaching and leading and working from a place of stress doesn’t serve anyone.