Our Reading List - Last Quarter 2017

Theo and I both love reading. On this post, I would be listing the books that we are reading for the last quarter of 2017.

Theo's Regulars

Although Theo loves fiction, most especially books by Rick Riordan, I always recommend to him an inspirational or motivational non-fiction book that he could read at least one chapter each day, along with one chapter from the Holy Bible. Previously, he has finished "Steve Jobs Thinking Differently: A Biography by Patricia Lakin" and Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad Poor Dad."

Presently, he is reading Sean Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens," which I also enjoy reading.   The book is a more entertaining version of the bestselling book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change" written by Sean's father, Stephen R. Covey. Teens and even younger kids like Theo would find it easy to read and understand because it was written, specially for them, in a very light manner and is specifically applicable to their lives and situations.

Sometimes, I read with Theo - I read aloud while he listens and follows with his eyes on the pages of the book. I consider these reading sessions as some of our most precious mother and son bonding moments. It's like reliving those times when he was still a toddler and just learning how to read. It gives us a happy feeling that those many years have not changed us and our relationship.

Theo's (completed) Bible readings, so far, include:

• The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
• The Acts of the Apostles
• Paul's Letter to the Romans
• Paul's First and Second Letters to the Corinthians
• Paul's First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians

Now he is reading The Book of Genesis from the Old Testament.  We are using the Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha (The Bible in Today's English Version) published by the American Bible Society with Imprimatur by John Francis Whealon, Archbishop of Hartford.

Theo's Books-for-Pleasure

As for Theo's favorite ... fiction, of course!

Last week, we were able to get a paperback copy of his most awaited third installment of Rick Riordan's "Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard" book series, "The Ship of the Dead." He finished reading the 410-page novel in less than three days.

Rick Riordan's next book (The Trials of Apollo 3: The Burning Maze) will not be out till Theo's birthday next year, so he would have to wait for quite sometime. While waiting, he would have to settle with what's here. We've bought three (February, March and April) of the "Conspiracy 365" book series by Gabrielle Lord since last August and he has not touched any one of them. I'm not sure yet when he plans to start reading them. (Update: I removed the book's plastic seal and showed it to Theo. He grabbed it from me and started reading it, at last! I think it's beneficial for him as a budding writer when he reads books written by various authors, and not just one.)

My Reading List

Since I do not have the luxury of reading as much as I can because of time constraints and the gargantuan tasks that I face each day, I do not really aim to finish all of these books one by one. I am just happy that they are available whenever I find at least half an hour of free time before I sleep or while drinking coffee in the morning.  Two to five pages of any of them at one sitting are enough food for the brain and soul that can inspire and refresh a usually tired and burned out mama.

So here are those inspiring books ...

• Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Engineer (Follow Elon Musk on a Journey from South Africa to Mars) by Erik Nordeus
• Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
• The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
• Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino (re-read)