26 Books We Loved in 2021

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
​- C.S. Lewis

Books make excellent gifts! You can never have too many, right?

​At the end of each year, we enjoy putting together a roundup post of all the wonderful books we have loved on and shared about during the year here at InstaEncouragements.

You can always just click the Books We Love link under categories in the sidebar, but this post puts them all in one place for you.

I hope you enjoy our 26 Books We Loved in 2021 post!

​Be sure to pin it and save it for later!

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I couldn't help but to begin this post with some of my own books. Please forgive the shameless, self-promotion. You can read more about The Heart Than Heals: Healing Our Brokenness Through The Promises of God here. It's my book baby, released about two years ago, and if you have a hurting friend, or, if you are in a hurting season of life yourself, this book is for them, or you!

This year, I launched my second book--Sweeter Than Honey: A 365-Day Devotional Journey, and I am super excited to see what God is doing through this book already!! If you've ever wanted to read through God's Word in a year, but you've struggled as I did, this book is your friend! Plus, come and join us over in the private, Sweeter Than Honey, Facebook group. We will be reding through God's Word and Sweeter Than Honey TOGETHER in 2022!! We're waiting for you over there!

Between these two books, I also published two Bible studies--She Loves Truth is a 10-week study of the book of Proverbs and Hey Mama! PRAY is all about praying Proverbs over your children.

And then, we come to the very special, very unique, The ABCs of God's Love Letter Bible study. I've truly never seen anything like this! Back in August of 2020, we began a series of blog posts here at InstaEncouragements entitled The ABCs of God's Love Letter. You can read the first post here—The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Abide. Over the course of 25 weeks, 25 different writers with different writing styles, chose a word from the Bible (Abide-Zeal) and wrote a brief devotional around that word and 5 verses from Scripture that support the word. It's an AMAZING, truly unique, Bible study!!

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I love this Small Book series! They are so well written, to the point, and easy reads. We've written book reviews over the past couple of years on all four. (These make great stocking stuffers too!!)

You can read more about them here:

• A Small Book About a Big Problem
• A Small Book for the Anxious Heart
• A Small Book for the Hurting Heart
• A Small Book About Why We Hide

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The Gospel by Devon Provencher is just one of five lovely books for your kiddos that our guest blogger, Elisabeth, recommends and reviews in her post ​5 Gospel-Centered Books For Little Hearts & Minds.

This book is part of a three-book series, called Big Theology for Little Hearts, that also includes God and Jesus. Each two-page spread covers a word relating to the Gospel along with a short explanation. Each page also features pictures that are simple yet vivid illustrations of the concept. This book explains who God is, the sinful state of every person, how Jesus is our perfect substitute, and it also lays out our necessary response to Christ’s sacrifice. 

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Here are four books you're going to love for a very different reason. In a recent blog post, Biblical Version of Captain Small Pig, I wrote of how this past Summer, my friend Joy introduced me to the blog Joyfully Thriving. Kristen, over at Joyfully Thriving has personalized Oh, the Places You’ll Go, Guess How Much I Love You, and I Wish You More with Scripture. It's a beautiful thing!

Kristen writes meaningful, thought-provoking, Scripture in the pages of these books, and she has a free printable you can download here for Oh, the Places You’ll Go. You can buy the printable in her Etsy shop for Guess How Much I Love You. She also sells all three books—with Scripture writing in them—in her Etsy shop.

In the blog post, Biblical Version of Captain Small Pig, I show you how you can do this too with the book Captain Small Pig. I even offer a free download to get you started. These make awesome gifts!

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Two books we have loved this year from The Daily Grace Co. are The Bible Handbook and the all new Theology Handbook.

The Bible Handbook is a reference book to help you approach the Bible. This resource includes background and contextual information for every book of the Bible, including literary genre, historical context, purpose, themes, and more. The handbook is complete with summaries of every book of the Bible, maps, and other beautiful graphics and illustrations to enhance your understanding of Scripture.

The Theology Handbook is a reference book that covers a wide variety of topics within systematic theology. It covers doctrines about God, Christ, the Bible, salvation, humanity, angels and demons, the Church, and the end times. Each theological concept is presented in a way that is accessible and easy to understand, and also includes practical implications for our everyday lives. ​The handbook is full of beautiful infographics and designs to help you grasp theological concepts easily.

​These stunning resources are the perfect coffee table books and excellent tools to reach for whenever you study the Bible. The beautiful design makes The Bible Handbook and The Theology Handbook the perfect set.

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From our Summer Book Club-Style Bible Study the book Seeking Him definitely tops our list of favorite reads of 2021! It's a Bible study that leads the reader to seek personal revival that will change their life forever! I have done this study three times now, friend, and let me tell you, it is life changing! You can read Seeking Him Week One—Revival: Who Needs It? here.

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Our guest blogger, Amanda, recently wrote a three-part, thought provoking, post on 7 Things God is Not. You can read part one here.

Amanda writes, "I have spent countless hours studying what the Bible says God is and how His character is revealed through His Word, but I had never considered the clear statements that declare what God is not." I love this series!

Amanda uses The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures in her studies. This is an excellent resource for students of the Bible. Know a college student who would love this?

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In a blog post, Tips For Choosing Your Word of the Year, our guest blogger, Christine, recommends the book Do Hard Things by Alex Harris. This is a great one for the teens in your home!

​She writes, "Sometimes, our teens have to do hard things. This book is an excellent resource for doing hard things for the glory of God! There is a movement out there of Christian young people who are rebelling against the low expectations of our culture by choosing to “do hard things” for Christ. This book celebrates that!"

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Our guest blogger, Debbie, writes of her cancer journey  in a three-part series--The Unexpected Journey. You can read part one here. In the series, she suggests this book for those who hear the C-word from their doctor.

She writes, "I never blamed God for my cancer, but I never dreamed I would be a cancer patient. Hours, days, and months were spent on a pallet on the couch. Although I did not always have concentration ability, I read devotionals and stayed in the Word. It seemed I prayed continually. I was encouraged by the love and support of my family, my church people, and other friends."

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​This past Spring, I wrote a blog post about 7 Great Books For Your Summer Reading List, highlighting seven books we loved in 2020. Of the seven, wonderful, books mentioned there, only one is referenced here. But I couldn't leave you without talking about one of those from my friend, Patricia Holbrook's, and that's her new book Twelve Inches.

The ultimate objective of Twelve Inches is to take the reader from a life of little consequence for God’s Kingdom to one that shines brightly for Jesus in action, faith, and testimony.

​​“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

"This verse prompted a revolution in my spiritual life. After being a Christian for several years, I was confronted with the truth about my spiritual life. While meditating on that verse, I realized my life was not spiritually abundant at all. What followed was a deliberate pursuit of the abundant life that Jesus promised His followers.

My story is similar to many other Christians’, who know what the Bible says about their God, but have a hard time applying His Truth to their lives. I realized that there were habits, attitudes and people in my life that were preventing me from fulfilling my full potential. These issues needed to be addressed if I were to achieve fulfillment in life." —Patricia Holbrook

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Be sure to check out 7 Great Books For Your Summer Reading to discover five additional books to add to your Christian library that are not listed here.

Looking or more?

• 17 Books We Loved in 2018
• 22 Books We Loved in 2019

Tell us what you have been reading in 2021, and what we should put on our 2022 reading list.