I’m maybe kinda just a little bit obsessed with books… and there are so many great books releasing in 2017 that you won’t want to miss! One of my most popular posts – ever – is 12 Can’t-Miss Books Coming in 2016. And so here we are, Round Two. And 2017? It’s gonna be real good.

I’ve listed many books below – in order of release date – and they would make the perfect gift to yourself or a loved one. It’s such a nice surprise when you forget you’ve ordered something and then it magically appears on your doorstep or in your mailbox!

(Preordering a book is also a really great way to get a Christmas gift for someone still on your list because, well, you don’t have to worry about it arriving in time! Just print out a piece of paper with the book cover and tell them it’s already taken care of! You aren’t charged until the book releases and you’re guaranteed to pay the lowest price the book is advertised at — which means you often pay less then the release day price. #winning)

I’ve included a blurb about the book and, when applicable, the book cover. At the end, I’ve listed three coloring books and Bibles I think you’ll want to know about, as well as a special “stay tuned” section. The authors listed there have books coming out in 2017 but the titles haven’t been officially announced yet. Just consider it an extra-special preview!

13 Can’t-Miss Books Coming in 2017

 

Nothing to Prove: Why We Can Stop Trying So Hard :: Jennie Allen

No more pretending. No more performing. No more fighting to prove yourself. In Nothing to Prove Jennie calls us to…

Find freedom from self-induced pressure by admitting we’re not enough (but Jesus is), stop doing things for God and instead start doing things with Him, and admit our greatest needs only to watch them be filled by the only One who can meet them. She also calls us to discover how God moves wildly through those who have nothing to protect and nothing to prove, while making it our goal to know and love Jesus, then watch what He does in and through us.

As you wade into the refreshing truth of the more-than-enough life Jesus offers, you’ll experience the joyous freedom that comes to those who are determined to discover what God can do through a soul completely in love with Him.

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The Heart of Marriage: Stories That Celebrate the Adventure of Life Together :: Dawn Camp

The best marriages are not necessarily the most perfect and picturesque. Marriage is about walking together through all of life’s ups and downs, its challenges and triumphs. And no relationship offers more chances for personal and spiritual growth, love and support, and just plain fun.

Collecting true stories from some of today’s best writers, Dawn Camp invites you to reflect on the heart of marriage. With beautiful photographs and poignant prose, this collection is perfect for the good days, the hard days, and all the days in between. Contributors include Crystal Paine, Lisa-Jo Baker, Alexandra Kuykendall, Holley Gerth, Renee Swope, Kristen Welch and many more.

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You Are Free: Be Who You Already Are :: Rebekah Lyons

Have you bought the lie? Many of us do. We measure our worth by what others think of us. We compare and strive, existing mostly for the approval of others. Pressure rises, anxiety creeps in and we hustle to keep up.

Jesus whispers, I gave my life to set you free. I gave you purpose. I called you to live in freedom in that purpose. Yet we still hobble through life, afraid to confess all the ways we push against this truth, because we can’t even believe it. Christ doesn’t say you can be or may be or will be free. He says you are free.

In You Are Free, Rebekah invites you to overcome the exhaustion of trying to meet the expectations of others and rest in the joy God’s freedom brings, as well as release stress, anxiety and worry, so that you can uncover the peace that comes from abiding in His presence. You Are Free will help you find permission to grieve past experiences, confess areas of brokenness, and receive strength in your journey towards healing, all while discovering the courage to begin again and use your newfound freedom to set others free.

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Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want :: Maria Goff

This is a book about discovering what we really need. There are a lot of second-best options, but we weren’t made to live a second-best life. Finding what we actually need is different than what we are often offered. There are many books full of opinions, steps and programs. This isn’t one of them. This is about craving the things that matter. Things that don’t just work, but last.

In a life that may seem to be all fun and games with an endless supply of balloons, author Maria Goff shows how this life is also lived with intentionality, passionate purpose, and a little planning – all of which make a life rich in legacy.

Love Lives Here is a collection of stories that include the ways Maria and her husband, Bob, navigated family their way, without clear instructions or a road map. It’s about what they learned to make their lives meaningful and whimsical and how they created a space for their family to grow together while they reached outward.

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Simple Decorating: 50 Ways to Inspire Your Home (Inspired Ideas) :: Melissa Michaels

Forget the renovation – just add inspiration. If you want to jump-start your style and refresh your home without needing power tools and a winning lottery ticket, make Simple Decorating your go-to resource for can-do decor.

Spark your makeover momentum with 50 no-fuss tips and discover how to get unstuck by embracing a style that is your very own, turn hard-to-love areas into favorite destinations with creative concealments, and highlight your family’s story and lifestyle with accessories. Melissa will show you how to layer in personality and warmth with texture and patterns that will transform your spaces with simple color, window treatments, and furniture choices.

Whether you start with one tip or take these on as a challenge for the month, it’s never been more fun (or possible) to create a home you can’t wait to come home to.

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Never Unfriended: The Secret to Finding & Keeping Lasting Friendships :: Lisa-Jo Baker

In a world where women can unfriend each other with the swipe of a finger, how do we find friendships that we can trust to last? Maybe by first becoming those kinds of lasting friends ourselves.

While we are all hungry for friendship, it’s the fear of feeling awkward and being rejected, left out, or hurt (again) that often keep us from connecting. But what if we knew we could never be unfriended? Would we risk friendship then?

Starting with that guarantee from the most faithful friend who ever lived – Jesus – this book is a step-by-step guide to friendships you can trust. It answers the questions that lurk under the surface of every friendship – with personal stories and practical tips to help you make the friends, and be the friend, that lasts.

 

 

One: Unity in a Divided World :: Deidra Riggs

Jesus didn’t say that the world would know we are his followers by our biting rhetoric, our political leanings, our charity work, or even by our knowledge of Scripture. He said the world would know us by our love for one another. Yet it’s so easy to put others at arm’s length, to lash out, to put up walls. Deidra Riggs wants us to put our focus on self-preservation aside and, like Jesus, make the first move toward reconciliation.

In One, Riggs shows readers that when Jesus offered himself up in our place, he was not only purchasing our salvation but also setting an example for us to follow. She helps readers understand they are secure in God’s inexhaustible love, making them free to love others lavishly – not just in what they do but in what they say, what they don’t say, what they will endure, and what they will forgive.

Anyone who longs for unity in the church, in their family, and in their community will find in this book both inspiring examples of loving done well and encouragement to begin the often unnoticed hard work of building bridges with those around them.

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At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe :: Tsh Oxenreider

As Oxenreider chronicles her family’s adventure around the world – seeing, smelling, and tasting the widely varying cultures along the way – she discovers what it truly means to be at home.

In her late thirties and as a mom to three kids under age ten, Tsh and her husband decided to spend a rather ordinary nine months in an extraordinary way: traveling the corners of the earth to see the places they’ve always wanted to explore. This book chronicles their global journey from China to Thailand to Australia, Sri Lanka, Uganda, France, Croatia, and beyond, as they fill their days with train schedules, world-schooling the kids, and working from anywhere. Told with wit and candor, Oxenreider invites us on a worldwide adventure without the cost of a ticket; to discover people, places, and stories worth knowing about; to find peace in the places we call home; and to learn that, as the Thai say, in the end, we are all “same same but different.”

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A Family Shaped by Grace: How to Get Along with the People Who Matter Most :: Gary Morland

As a teenager, Gary Morland lived in an unhappy, dysfunctional family characterized by addiction and disharmony. When he started a family of his own, he brought with him those same destructive patterns. Yet he sensed there must be a way to have a family shaped by acceptance and grace, a family that was loving, whole, and at peace with one another. The problem was, he didn’t know how.

In this life-giving book, Morland shares his journey of discovering the timeless tools of family peace that transformed him and his family. He shows how these tools broke the unhealthy patterns of the family he grew up in and saved his relationship with his wife and two daughters. With refreshing honesty and humility, he helps readers believe that they too can start from where they are right now – no matter how broken – to transform their family culture and their family legacy and to generously offer grace to the people who matter most in their lives.

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Cultivate: A Grace-Filled Guide to Growing an Intentional Life :: Lara Casey

“The secret to living a flourishing life isn’t in engineering the perfect circumstances or having it all together. The secret is in the small,” says author and speaker Lara Casey. “It’s easier than you think to cultivate what matters. It all starts with a tiny seed.”

Welcome to the journey of getting messy in the rich soil of possibility – embracing imperfect, grace-filled progress to grow a life of joy.

Written as part encouragement anthem and part practical guide, Cultivate equips women to uncover and take action on goals that simplify life. Readers will walk through each season, finding balance as they interact in fresh ways with their current life scenarios, with God, and in the communities where they are planted. “You don’t have to be perfect; you just have to plant! As you open this book, you are making a decision to leave the dry soil behind. You will lean in and unrush your life. And in the process you will unearth your purpose.”

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All in All Journaling Devotional: Living a Life That’s Whole and Free :: Sophie Hudson

Written by popular author and blogger Sophie Hudson, this beautiful devotional journal for teens and young women reminds you that Jesus is your All in All – over all, through all, and in all that you do.

As you dig in to Sophie’s words and wit, you’ll better understand the wholeness and freedom that come from a life filled with Jesus. Each of the 100 devotions is followed by journaling prompts that will get you writing, keep you thinking, and help you grab all the goodness He has waiting for you.

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Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life :: Jen Hatmaker

With playful hilarity, shameless honesty, and refreshing insight, Jen assures readers they have all the pluck they need for vibrant, courageous, grace-filled lives. She believes backbone is the birthright of every woman, but that somehow women have gotten the message that pain and failure mean they must be doing things wrong, that they messed up the rules or tricks for a seamless life. As it turns out, every last woman faces confusion and loss, missteps and catastrophic malfunctions, no matter how much she is doing “right.” Struggle doesn’t mean they’re weak; it means they’re alive.

Jen offers another round of hilarious tales, frank honesty, and hope for the woman who has forgotten her moxie. Whether discussing the grapple with change (“Everyone, be into this thing I’m into! Except when I’m not. Then everyone be cool.”) or the time she drove to the wrong city for a fourth-grade field trip (“Why are we in San Antonio?”), Jen parlays her own triumphs and tragedies into a sigh of relief for all normal, fierce women everywhere who, like her, sometimes hide in the car eating crackers but also want to get back up and get back out, to live undaunted “in the moment” no matter what the moments hold.

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GraceLaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart :: Ruth Chou Simons

In every part of your life journey – be it motherhood, education, a career, healthier living, or your walk with the Lord – seasons alternately difficult or full of joy arise.

Let this gorgeous book encourage you through each one. Layered words, visual imagery, and grounding verses direct your heart to unshakeable, enduring truths as you rest in God’s character in times of hardship, rehearse God’s truth in times of renewal, respond in faith in times of growth and remember God’s provision in times of abundance or need.

Each page offers your soul space to drink in God’s loving care. Return again and again to reflect on the ribbon of grace that runs through every part of your life.

Bibles and Coloring Books…

I couldn’t help but include these three as an “extra” to the list!

 

Sweeter Than Honey: A Coloring Book to Nourish Your Soul :: Lindsay Sherbondy

Nourishment is a funny word to find on a coloring book. But as Lindsay Sherbondy prayerfully thought about what the Lord was leading her to say through these lettered love notes, it was this: You are worthy of nourishment. All too often, we take the time to nourish others – with our words, with our time, with our energy – while neglecting to receive it for ourselves. But as we read scripture, we see the Lord desires more for us.

Sweeter Than Honey invites you to slow down, take a moment for yourself, and bask in the soul-nourishment that comes from being creative and letting God’s Word soak into your heart. This book includes never-before-seen prints from Lindsay Sherbondy, artist and owner of the online shop Lindsay Letters, as well as a few favorites, alongside devotionals and quotes that lead you to reflect upon the sweet and beautiful nourishment God offers.” As a bonus, each perforated page becomes its own 8×10 art print!

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It’s Simply Tuesday: An Adult Coloring Book :: Emily P. Freeman and Jennifer Tucker

Coloring art offers a timely respite for a generation held hostage by hustle, and millions have rediscovered its simple pleasure and restorative power. For the thousands of devoted readers in Emily P. Freeman’s community who gather virtually each Tuesday using #itssimplytuesday, this book offers another way to document small and sacred moments.

Her popular books have invited a generation of women to believe that the work of Christ happens in the secret, invisible place within. Coloring is a simple, artful way for women to embrace a few quiet moments to listen, to breathe, and to consider life’s daily gifts. With meaningful quotes from Simply Tuesday as well as Scripture and gorgeous art by Jennifer Tucker, It’s Simply Tuesday encourages women to learn to breathe in a breathless world by slowing down in the midst of the everyday hustle.

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She Reads Truth Bible :: Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams

The She Reads Truth Bible aims to live at the intersection of beauty, goodness, and Truth. Featuring devotionals by the She Reads Truth team and Scripture reading plans that include supplemental passages for deeper understanding, this Bible invites every woman to count themselves among the She Reads Truth community of “Women in the Word of God every day.” The She Reads Truth Bible also features 66 key verses, artfully lettered to aid in Scripture memorization.

Features include: almost 200 devotionals, 66 artist-designed key verses, 35 full-color timelines, 20 full-color maps, 11 full-color charts, reading plans for every book of the Bible, one-year Bible reading plan, detailed book introductions, key verse list, carefully curated topical index, smyth-sewn binding, and wide margins for journaling and note-taking. It will come in poppy linen, gray linen, navy leather, brown genuine leather, and there will also be a hardcover edition.

Stay Tuned…

I can’t spill too much information since the books aren’t yet listed online, but be on the lookout for books coming from Kristin Schell, Melanie Shankle, the (in)courage community (May and September), Jess Connolly (October), and Holley Gerth (October). Trust me, you aren’t going to want to miss any of these!

6 Ways to Read More Books Every Month ::

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