For The Love Of Books

Wow, wow, wow! I absolutely loved the theme woven throughout this book!! Suzanne Woods Fisher has taken us back to Stoney Ridge and woven another tale that resounds with a storyline that left me feeling as if I’ve been in church! I love the fact that we get to see Luke and Izzy’s relationship further, while also getting introduced to new characters. Mollie is a new, main character, and while I had a hard time at first with her voice, a few chapters in, I was hooked. I think it’s just because I’m not that peppy! She has become a favorite throughout this book, and I am excited to read future books after this cliffhanger! The Good Shepherd theme is outstanding. I had a few times I would stop and tell my husband, “here is a good sermon topic!”, “did you know THIS about sheep???!” I am fascinated with how God called us His sheep and He is the Good Shepherd, and I feel like this book did a good job at paralleling that symbolism in Scripture with real life situations. I receive...

I received a copy of the second book in this series, Stitches in Time, so I had to rush out and get book number 1, Mending Fences. I am so glad I did!! I had only read one book by Suzanne Woods Fisher previously, but now I’m planning on working her previous books into my lineup. In Mending Fences, Luke comes back and has a list of people he needs to “mend fences” with. This book should be required reading for everyone entering adolescence! I was amazed at the way that Fisher was able to wrap life lesson situations into a light hearted but serious storyline, keeping my attention throughout the entire book!  I plan on going back through and visiting Fisher’s previous books and getting to know the people of Stoney Ridge even more!

I’ll be honest here: when I first started reading the book, I thought it would be a Robin Hood type of retelling because I did not look at the picture closely or read the description. Completely my fault!!  This was my first book by Mary Connealy, and I have found a new favorite author! In Aiming for Love we are transported back in time to an era when anything could happen. Jo seems a little rough around the edges at first, but as the story progresses, she quickly became a favorite. I love how Mary Connealy touched on subjects and did not make them out to be just any old mountain people. Instead she opened our eyes to a possibility of why people were the way they were in that time period.  From the first time Jo sneaked around to the very last line, I loved this story! I am very excited to see that she will be making this into a trilogy and will be touching on each of the sisters because I want to see how their stories unfold as well! I was provided a copy of this boo...

I’ve partially read The Power of a Praying Wife before, but never in its’ entirety. Not due to the author or content, but just because I have a hard time finishing books like that sometimes. I finally made it all the way through! Although it took me much longer than the intended month to read.  I enjoyed the fact that it pointed out different areas of my husband’s life to pray for. Some I had never considered before. I am not a big fan of praying the prayers typed out in a book, but I did appreciate reading them and being pointed in the right direction.  I mentioned earlier that I had started and stopped before. I think the main reason for that was because I was trying to stick to a daily thing. Once I let that expectation go, I was able to finish. 

I’ll be honest - I wasn’t too interested in Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes at first. It just didn’t look like my “cup of tea”. I saw Up From the Sea for free on kindle and decided to download it just in case.  Well, on a whim, I had some time to kill and decided to give it a go. Am I ever glad I did!! I don’t think I stopped reading until I was done with the book. This story takes us back over 100 years ago to a time when things were still undiscovered. Amanda Dykes inserts enough history to keep it interesting and make me want to google while reading. The characters she creates are fabulous, and the storyline has me coming back for more! I can’t wait to read Whose Waves These Are next!

Surprisingly I had not read any of Angela Hunt’s books before I read Egypt’s Sister. I am a Biblical Fiction lover, and get all giddy when I find a new to me author that takes the time to research in depth to provide the reader with an exceptional experience. Angela Hunt is this kind of author!  I had not previously dove deep into Cleopatra’s story. I know she was a female pharaoh and that she was neat to dress up as. As far as actual history? I hadn’t a clue. Angela Hunt wove an amazing tale of Cleopatra and her fictional “blood sister of her heart”. It was so inspiring that I googled and researched Cleopatra’s life when I was done with the book! (I could not do it during the book in case I uncovered spoilers!).  Angela Hunt is an author that I will come back to. I am looking forward to the other books in this series!!

I have the privilege of being on the launch team for the All is Bright Christmas Novella Collection!  All is Bright is comprised of four short stories from Kari Trumbo, Toni Shiloh, Cathe Swanson, and Chautona Havig. In Merry and Dashing, Kari Trumbo brings us a tale of a reverse Scrooge. Typically, we have Scrooge as being a male role, but this time the Scrooge personality is taken over by a female! Kari takes us on a story of Merry having her heart and life changed as she opens up and helps others with the help of Dashing. I will definitely be checking out Kari Trumbo’s stories in the future! In Toni Shiloh’s I’ll Be Home, we get to visit with a family for the holidays. As Starr is battling with a lot of personal let-downs, we see her persevere and find her purpose in life. I loved the name choices for the characters in this story, especially the main family! It is a little steamy (but not in a bad way or too severe!), so use personal discretion if letting your pre-t...

Here’s a fun fact about me: I am a scaredy-cat when it comes to scary/suspenseful books and movies!!! However, I love being scared (as long as it’s not demonic or gory!).  In Jamie Jo Wright’s The Reckoning At Gossamer Pond, I had a chance to read a book that was my favorite type of suspense. In this time-split book, we are transported from current times back to over 100 years ago in a race to solve 2 different mysteries that are connected.  It took me three days to read this book because we have been so busy lately, and each night I fought sleep because I *needed* to finish!  I’m not quite sure which author to compare this to as I believe this is my first time-split suspense novel. This was my first book by Jamie Jo Wright, and if all of her other novels are like this one, I will enjoy them! With a light on, of course!! 

I’m a bit behind on reviewing, so I am going to review this Tales of Faith trilogy as a whole. These were my first reads by Amanda Tero, and I’ve found a new favorite author! I love fairy tale retellings, and when they have a Christian spin on them, they’re even better to me! These books are lighter on the romance spectrum and instead focus on God’s love. In Befriending the Beast, Amanda changes the roles up a bit. Instead of having Belle fall in love with a beast, she makes the beast the father. This was an interesting twist I never would have been able to create!  In The Secret Slipper, we once again have the roles changed up with the father being the one to seek the daughter with the slipper. This one also handles physical disabilities tactfully and ties it in well. In Protecting the Poor, I loved how all three novellas were tied together to come up with an amazing ending.  These novellas remind me of Meanie Dickerson’s Hagenheim series without as much romance an...

This book was absolutely, completely phenomenal!! I have not underlined this much in a very, very long time!! From the opening scenario that many of who homeschool have either been in or fear being in, I was hooked! Jamie Erickson touches on so many pertinent and relevant things to homeschoolers today that I just kept underlining and highlighting.  The book is neither too lengthy nor too short, but, just as the baby bear’s possessions, just right!  Reading this book was like sitting with a friend and drinking a wonderful cup of coffee (or tea for you tea drinkers!). I look forward to any future books written by Jamie!

This book is packed with phenomenal advice regarding field trips and the power of learning through experience! I enjoyed it.

This was my first book by Tina Nahid, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! These short devotional are just the right length to get me going in the mornings ❤️ at the time of posting, this book is available on Kindle Unlimited!

I love this cover! It may be my favorite from the series (my favorites color is blue, so maybe that plays a part 🤷🏻‍♀️). A wonderful storyline following Aladdin. I love that Melanie Dickerson was able to weave a believable Abu character in as well ❤️

This book is shorter than the others in the series, but just because it is shorter DOES NOT mean it is lacking anything! This is my favorite cover of the series and I especially love love love the epilogue!! A wonderful way to wrap up the series!

This one was fantastic and honestly had me worried for a bit. No spoilers here, but I was on the edge of my seat for a bit and stayed up past midnight to finish! Wonderfully done!

I absolutely adored the split timeline in this one! Rachel Hauck has a knack for being able to weave tales between two eras and tie them in to one fabulous storyline. I had been going through a dry spell for reading fiction and this one had me “chomping at the bit” to get back in the fiction ring. Reggie is such a likable character and very down to earth.