October - December 2020 Reading List

Well I'm a month behind on posting this, but goodness it's been a tough month.  There has just been not as much time to read, and when I do have time I'm so tired and basically just sit and veg in front of the tv.  Hopefully that will change with November around the bend.  New month, new beginnings.    It's also Non-fiction November (NF) which I like to participate in because it helps knock off my non-fiction books and I enjoy doing it.  And then there is Christmas and there are some Christmas themed books I want to get out of my piles too.  And all these added into my goals that I set at the beginning of the year.  So who knows where this will go.  But here are my probable choices:

(NF = non-fiction for Non-Fiction November)

GOAL:  One book a month from my longest owned and unread books:

          -The Scroll by Grant R. Jeffrey & Alton L. Gansky

           -Here's The Story by Maureen McCormick (NF)

          -The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (carried over)

         

GOAL:  2 Books per month from my own more recent unread piles:

          -Dangerous Depths (#3 Aloha Reef Series) by Colleen Coble

          -Midnight Sea (#4 Aloha Reef Series) by Colleen Coble

          -The Christmas Train by David Baldacci

          -Keeping My Sister's Secrets by Beezy Marsh (NF)

          -All My Mother's Secrets by Beezy Marsh (NF)

          -The Complicated Heart by Sarah Mae (NF)

          -Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (NF)

          -EXTRAS: -What Happens At Christmas by Victoria Alexander

                              -Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler

                              -All I Have to Give: A Christmas Love Story by Melody Carlson

GOAL:  1 Book per month from my Library TBR

          -The Engineer's Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood

          -The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

          -The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (carried over)  DNF'd

GOAL:  Finish 1 audiobook

          -Risen by Angela Hunt

GOAL:  1 Novella from Lineage of Grace Series  (personal study)

          -Unspoken (Bathsheba) by Francine Rivers

           

2016 Reading Challenges

Yet another bookish post.  Sorry I will get them out of the road an be done real quick here.  I do like to have a record for myself so that is why I am posting all this and it just is coming all in this week.  So after a real challenging challenge (ha) in 2015, I am ready for one that is a bit more easy going.  I liked how last years challenge forced me to get out of some comfort zones, though I did find I left quite a few of the uneasier ones for last anyway and never did get to them because time ran out.  Categories such as "a book set in the future", "a book more than a hundred years old", "a book with magic", and"a graphic novel" were not anywhere near my interest radar so it was really hard to motivate myself to get to them.   I couldn't always find a book I wanted to read to fit a certain category and at the end I found I was cramming in a book not because I wanted to read it but because it fulfilled three categories.

With that in mind the challenge I have chosen to do  year is:

Perfectly simple.  Right? The time frame given is books purchased from June 2015 - December 2016.  I can't emphasize how perfect this is for me right now.  I have a huge back log of books to June of last year (and even farther back than that but those won't count) that I purchased which is around the time I discovered BookOutlet.ca.  And some of those orders did not fit into the categories of last year, so I'm looking forward to getting into these purchases!  I also got several book store gift cards for Christmas so this challenge will fit like a glove.  For this challenge, hosted by The Book Date, she wants us to choose one of the percentage goals from the list below that we want to accomplish reading out of the books purchased, list the books we purchase in a post and then cross them off as we read them.  There will be a couple link up posts in the year, I believe, where we can share how we are progressing.  You can read the full rules at her link.

20% or less      Money Sitting on the Shelf.

20 - 40%          Making Inroads.

40 - 60 %         Moderately Successful

60 - 80 %        Maximising  Returns

80 - 100%       Mission Accomplished

 I am going to choose the 60-80% category.  Hopefully I can get that many of the books purchased in the stated time frame of June 2015 - December 2016 read and enjoyed.  So here we go with my list so far:

Purchased June - December 2015

Bathseba:  Reluctant Beauty by Angela Hunt 

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

The Titanic Enigma by Tom West

The Curiosity by Stephen P. Kiernan

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen

Man Alive by Mary Kay Zuravleff

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin

Where the River Ends by Charles Martin

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Chatharina Ingelman-Sundberg

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline

The Offering by Angela Hunt

The Truth Teller by Angela Hunt

The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler

The Aloha Reef Series (4 Books) by Colleen Coble

One Good Thing by Kevin Alan Milne

Recipes for a Perfect Marriage by Morag Prunty

The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

**new additions for 2016 will be added at the end of the post**

I know!!!!  Don't even talk to me!  And these are all just ones  that I've bought since June of 2015 and haven't yet read.  Addiction much?!    And those gift cards are seriously burning a hole in my pocket but I'm going to try really hard to not use them till the last half of the year.

But you know what else I love about being a part of a hosted challenge once again?  Going and reading the participant's reading lists! Although that can create a conundrum because I'll want to add a whole bunch more to my tbr list.  LOL.  Ahhh, the dilemma's of a book lover.

I'm also joining in on Carrie's (Reading to Know) Lucy Maud Montgomery Challenge.  The rule: Read as much Montgomery as you can during the month of January.  Another perfect one.  I had purchased the whole set of "Anne of Green Gables" from Costco, 8 books, after Christmas last year and still haven't got to them.  But Carrie does this as a yearly challenge so I'm going to try to knock a couple of those off this month.  

**new additions**

January 2016

-The Lake House by Kate Morton

-Remember Mia by Alexandra Burt

Are you doing any reading  challenges this year?

2015 Reading Challenge Category List

Semicolon is hosting a book list link up on Saturday so I thought I'd join in with a list of the how I fared with 2015's Reading Challenge.  I thought it would be interesting to list the books as they fit into each of the categories.  Don't know if that will interest any of you but it does me so that's how I will roll on this one.  Now most of the books I read can fit into more than one category so I tried to choose one category for them each but for a few I had to use one title several times.   On the other side of the coin, there were some books that didn't make the list because I already filled the category with another book.   Some of the books I read intentionally to fit the categories and some I read for my own choice of pleasure and then fit them into the appropriate category.  If in multiple categories the author is only mentioned once.  In A book set in a different country category that to me meant other than Canada or USA, otherwise I would have been able to list pretty much all of the books.

1) A Book with More than 500 pages:  Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (I cheated a bit with this one - It came in at 474.

2) A Classic Romance:

3) A Book That Became A Movie:  "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova

4) A Book Published This Year:  "A House Divided" by Robert Whitlow

5) A Book With a Number in the Title:  "The Hundred Foot Journey" by Richard C. Morais

6) A Book Written By Someone Under 30:  "Miracle on Voodoo Mountain" by Megan Boudreaux

7) A Book with Non-Human Characters:  "Life Of Pi" by Yann Martel

8) A Funny Book:  "Invisible Ellen" by Shari Shattuck

9) A Book by a Female Author:  "Girl Runner" by Carrie Snyder;

10) A Mystery or Thriller:  "Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

11) A Book with a One Word Title:  "Betrayed" by Lisa Scottoline

12) A Book of Short Stories:  "Wicked Women of the Bible" by Ann Spangler

13) A Book Set in a Different Country:  "Hansi-The Girl Who Loved the Swastika" by Maria Ann Hirschmann (Germany); "Miracle on Voodoo Mountain" (Haiti); "How to Be An American Housewife" (Japan); A Man Called Ove (Sweden)

14) A Non-Fiction Book:  "Laura Ingalls Wilder Country - the people and places behind Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and books" by William Anderson

15)  A Popular Author's First Book:  "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

16)  A Book From a Favourite Author You Haven't Read Yet:  "Water From My Heart" by Charles Martin

17)  A Pulitzer Prize Winning Book:  "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

18)  A Book based on a True Story:  "GI Brides-the wartime girls who crossed the Atlantic for love" by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi

19) A Book from the Bottom of Your To Read List:  "The Sweet By and By" by Sara Evans and  Rachel Hauck

20) A Book Your Mom Loves:

21) A Book That Scares You:  "Inside the O'Briens"  by Lisa Genova

22) A Book More Than a 100 years Old:

23) A Book Based Entirely on It's Cover:  "How to Be an American Housewife" by Margaret Dilloway

24) A Book You Were Supposed to Read in School but Didn't:

25) A Memoir:  "Hansi-The Girl Who Loved the Swastika" by Maria Ann Hirschmann

26) A Book you can finish in a day:  "You are Here-Around the World in 92 Minutes" by Chris Hadfield

27) A Book with Antonyms in the Title:  "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

28) A Book Set Somewhere You've Always Wanted to Visit:  "The Boston Girl" by Anita Diamont

29) A Book That Came Out the Year You Were Born:  "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

30) A Book with Bad Reviews:  "the Bookseller" by Cynthia Swanson (it had mixed reviews)

31) A Trilogy:  (I cheated on this because book #3 is not yet realeased) Mercy Medallion Trilogy books 1 and 2:  Traces of Mercy and Finding Mercy by Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Kelley

32) A Book From Your Childhood:  "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

33) A Book with a Love Triangle:  "Lethal Beauty" by Lis Wiehl

34) A Book Set in the Future

35) A Book Set in High School:  "Wonders Never Cease" by Phil Calloway

36) A Book with a Color in the Title

37) A Book that Made You Cry:  "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman

38) A Book with Magic

39) A Graphic Novel

40) A Book by an Author You've Never Read Before:  "Girl Runner" by Carrie Snyder

41) A Book you Own But Have Never Read:  "Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill

42) A Book that Takes Place in Your Hometown

43) A Book that Was Originally Written in a Different Language:  "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman

44) A Book Set During Christmas:  "52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol" by Bob Welch; "A Quilt for Christmas" by Sandra Dallas

45) A Book by An Author with Your Same Initials: "Invisible Ellen" by Shari Shattuck

46) A Play

47) A Banned Book:  "To Kill a Mockingbird"

48) A Book Based On or Turned Into a TV Show:  Little House In the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder turned into Little House on the Prairie TV series

49) A Book You Started but Never Finished

50) A Book a Friend Recommended:  "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova


So out of 50 catagories I missed 11.  Too bad some of the books I read that I didn't list didn't fit into these empty categories.  A Play, a book set in the future, a book with magic and a graphic novel were so out of my usual reads that they sorta got left to the end and ultimately left behind.  I tried to get some kind of book set in my hometown but my brain was stuck in a fiction novel and I couldn't find one but I probably could have gone non-fiction had I thought of that...though rumor around these parts is that Frank Perretti's "This Present Darkness" was written with my hometown in mind but who knows for sure.  And as far as A book I started but never finished...well there must have been a reason I didn't finish it so why would I waste my time picking it up again when there are so many other books I want to read?  All in all I think I did not too shabby for a tough challenge.

My Top Ten Reads for 2015

Happy New Year everyone!  Well, I'm finally back after a bit of an extended holiday from all things routine including blogging.  I can't believe I have hardly been on the computer at all since before Christmas but it was well worth it to spend the time with my family, all of which gathered in my humble abode this season.  Yes, all my kids made it home and it was wonderful.  But 2016 has begun, and Semicolon is hosting a Special Edition Book List Link Up where we can share any kind of lists that have to do with books and reading, so I am all over that as it encompasses two of my favourite things.  Love lists and love books!

So for my first list, yes I will do a couple of them, I wanted to do a wrap up list to how my Reading Challenge of 2015 went but found it was getting way too long for this kind of a post so I'll save that for another day. Today I'm going to do a list of my Top 10 reads of 2015.  There were some good ones to choose from.  I really did enjoy this reading year and branched out a bit with some new kinds of reads for me and some new authors.  But my faves in descending order down to my absolute hands down favourite for the year were:

10)  A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner 

A historical novel set on Ellis Island.  Loved the setting and the story of coping and recovering from tragedy.

 9)  Esther - Royal Beauty by Angela Hunt

A very interesting look at the story of Esther that tried to remain as biblically and historically accurate as possible while fleshing out the characters of this biblical story

 8)  Traces of Mercy & Finding Mercy by Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Kelley

Historical fiction at it's best for me so I listed the two together.  Set in the war time between the North and the South it was an interesting read of a young woman who loses her memory and then must reconcile the sweet person she thinks she is with the person someone else is telling her she is and must make the decision to go on with life as the person she is now or try to pick up the pieces and return to who she was.

7)  Invisible Ellen by Shari Shartuck

A sweet story of how friendship and acceptance can change a life.

 6)  Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Such a beautiful, sensitive, heartbreaking, informative and compassionate story from the viewpoint of a person suffering from alzheimer's disease.  I learned so much.

 5)  How to Be An American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

Loved this Mother/Daughter story of love, forgiveness, immigration, prejudice and survival.  And the cover is beautiful.

 4)  52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol by Bob Welch

An easy to read, thoroughly enjoyable deeper look into what can be gleaned and put into practice in our own lives from the Charles Dickens classic.  Loved it.

 3)  A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Bachman

This story was just a charming, enjoyable read about looking beyond first impressions and how living life is so much better when we allow others in.  It made me laugh and cry sometimes at the same time so it made my top ten.

 2)  Miracle on Voodoo Mountain by Megan Boudreaux

This true story of how a young woman dropped her whole life in America and went to Haiti not knowing anyone or the language, not knowing exactly what she was supposed to do once there,  all because she felt God was calling her there is one of the most inspirational books I've ever read.  What God has done there through her willingness is truly a miracle.

 1)  And drumroll please.......my absolute favourite read for 2015 is Water From My Heart by Charles Martin.  

No surprise there!  Charles Martin is one of my favourite authors and this book is truly one of his best ever!  It had everything...great characters, a story that was rich with heartbreak and triumph, true love and redemption, indifference and passion for life, a story that makes me take a good hard look at my own life and my own indifferences to the needs of others.  And of course the writing itself was nothing less that what I expect from this author.

My reviews and full thoughts on all of these plus 32 others I read last year can be found HERE

So what were your favourite reads from last year?

Thoughts on Last Year's Reads and a Reading Challenge for 2015

I spent the last couple of weeks during Christmas vacation trying to read as much as I could to get some books squeezed into 2014.  In looking back over the year of reading and comparing it to other years, I was behind.  Way behind.  As in a dozen or more books behind.  And this was bugging me.  Really bugging me.  I kept telling myself that numbers didn't matter.  But all of a sudden in my mind they did so in the midst of being sick and Christmas I was cramming in as much reading as I could get in to add a few more books in there.  And as a result, I missed posting the reviews of the last 4 books of 2014 that I read.  And now I'm not only bummed about not reading as much but also about not staying on top of my reviews.  I like to have record of the books I read and what I thought about them.  So was it worth getting the extra numbers in at the expense of missing reviews?  The jury is still out on that one.

I'm still pondering a bit on why I got so behind in the first place.  As I look back it was a bit of an odd reading year for me.  There were many books which I absolutely loved, some that were alright, a study book that though I didn't really enjoy had to finish because it was done in a group and I sorta had to read it as I was leading the group.   And there were actually 3 or 4 which I set aside because I just couldn't get into them.  I think that was a huge part on why I didn't read quite as many books.  I tried to give these books a good chance before I put them down and that took reading time out of ones that I actually liked.   And when all is said and done I really, really miss the spring and fall reading challenge that a lot of us used to participate in.  I used to to love those and always looked forward to picking my books and setting that bar a little higher in my intentional reading for 2 seasons of the year.  This year I tried to put a spring goal out but doing it by myself was just no fun and not nearly as challenging!

So for this year I found this little challenge for the whole year on Pinterest here.  You'll have to click on over because for some reason I cannot make this any bigger no matter what avenue I take.

I have no delusions that I'll be able to do all of those books within the year but I also want to challenge myself to read as many books out of own piles that I can this year.  I have got to chip away at my stockpile.  I won't even tell you how many I have in my closet and in a box under the bed.  Suffice it to say it's a lot!  Like, lots and lots.  So I was thinking I could accomplish reading quite a few of those and knocking some of these off this challenge with the same read.  

I've started the year well by just today completing The Book of Negroes.  (I believe in the States it's called Someone Knows My Name and it has a different cover). It's out of my closet and at 474 pages including the author's notes I'm going to cheat a bit, call it good and check off the first one:  a book over 500 pages.  Actually I could cross off quite a few off with this one book, now that I look at the list...a book that made me cry, a book by an author I've never read before, a book based on or turned into a tv show, a book I own but have never read.  In fact, that is one of the reasons I wanted to get to this book and finish it right off the bat this year because the tv mini series started last week in Canada (and in the next couple weeks in the States, I believe)  and I didn't want the show to ruin the book for me.  I've watched two episodes now and though a valiant effort is made the book is sooo much better.  While based on actual historical occurrence and an actual Book of Negroes penned after the Revolutionary War,  the story built around it is fictional so I guess I can't check off a book based on a true story but I am tempted.  So all that to say I am done book 1 of this year and will have a review up soon.  I am bound and determined to stay on top of those reviews this year.

How did you all do with reading last year?  What was your favorite read of the year and what's on the reading horizon for this year for you?

Fall Into Reading 2011

It's here.  Fall Into Reading 2011 is kicking off.  Tomorrow is the official kickoff day over at Callapider Days but I've put mine up today because tomorrow is Friday Fave Five day.  (Everyone is welcome to come back here for that and please join in for that too if you'd like!)  So this fall I had a really tough time deciding.  Too many books I want to read and not enough time in the day.  I made sure to pick some for each category I seem to draw my books from:  review books, browsing the library shelves books, "my shelves" from the library website books (where books that I want to read are listed), my overflowing book basket, recommendations from other bloggers and friends.  I added one more that I thought I could comfortably do to challenge myself so we'll see what happens with that.  In no particular reading order, ta daaaa, here's my list:

1.  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by  Rebecca Skloot.    From "my shelves" at my library's website.  
" Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells-taken without her knowledge in 1951-became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. 


2.  Sunrise on the Battery by Beth Webb Hart.    Review Book.  
"At last, Mary Lynn and Jackson Scoville are living the life they’ve dreamed of. Two self-described “small town bumpkins” from Round O, South Carolina, they made a small fortune selling the little gems of lowcountry real estate Jackson inherited and now they are living in the heart of Charleston, South Carolina, carefully working their way up the social ladder in hopes of meeting their ultimate goal:  to give their three daughters the life they themselves never had.  But the long-forgotten God of Mary Lynn’s childhood seems to be trying to get her attention in clear and unusual ways.   So clear and strange she can no longer deny it.  When Mary Lynn prays for Jackson to open his mind and heart to God, her prayers are answered beyond her wildest imaginings.  Now Jackson’s dramatic conversion (which includes street witnessing, giving away a lot of money, and inviting poor, desperate and marginalized people into their home) is threatening their social status as well as their family mission statement.  Is she willing to go along with him? What would it be like to go “all out” for God?  Jackson, a sharp and focused Type A man, is unafraid and willing to go all the way.  Mary Lynn has her doubts.


3.  Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.  From the book basket.  Heard lots of good things about this one.  
"The title expresses a radical thought for today's marriages! Chapter by chapter, discover how marriage works to develop Christlike character - forgiveness, love, respect, perseverance - in each of you. This book will enrich your marriage in unexpected ways. A Focus on the Family recommendation."

4.  Possession by Rene Gutteridge.  From the book basket.  "Police detective Vance Graegan quits the force in an attempt to save his marriage. During his family's cross-country relocation, the movers hold his belongings for ransom. He's determined not to let this stunt ruin his family's new beginning, but soon everything begins to unravel in the hands of Vance's past. Will a little boy's innocent faith bring the hope they desperately need?"


5.  The Bait of Satan by John Bevere.  Study Group book.  
"Are you ensnared by bitterness, seized by anger, held captive by resentment because someone has offended you? Bevere shows you how to escape Satan's grip, avoid a victim mentality, practice forgiveness, experience reconciliation, and remain free in Christ."


6.  Angel Sister by Ann H. Gabhart.   A library find. 
 "It is 1936 and Kate Merritt, the middle child of Victor and Nadine, works hard to keep her family together. Her father slowly slips into alcoholism and his business suffers during the Great Depression. As her mother tries to come to grips with their situation and her sisters seem to remain blissfully oblivious to it, it is Kate who must shoulder the emotional load. Who could imagine that a dirty, abandoned little girl named Lorena Birdsong would be just what the Merritts need?  In this richly textured novel, award-winning author Ann H. Gabhart reveals the power of true love, the freedom of forgiveness, and the strength to persevere through troubled times."


7.  The Wishing Trees by John Shors.  A library find. 
 "Almost a year after the death of his wife, Kate, former high-tech executive Ian finds a letter that will change his life. It contains Kate’s final wish – a plea for him to take their ten-year-old daughter, Mattie, on a trip across Asia, through all the countries they had planned to visit to celebrate their fifteenth anniversary.Eager to honor the wife and mother they loved, Ian and Mattie embark on an epic journey that retraces the early days of Ian’s relationship with Kate. Along the way, Ian and Mattie leave paper “wishes” in ancient trees as symbols of their connection to Kate and their dreams for the future. Through incredible landscapes and inspiring people, Ian and Mattie are greeted with miracles large and small. And as they celebrate what Kate meant to them, they begin to find their way back to each other, discovering that healing is possible and that love endures – lessons that Kate hoped to show them all along."

8.  How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal.  A library find.

In a novel as warm and embracing as a family kitchen, Barbara O’Neal explores the poignant, sometimes complex relationships between mothers and daughters-and the healing magic of homemade bread.   Professional baker Ramona Gallagher is a master of an art that has sustained her through the most turbulent times, including a baby at fifteen and an endless family feud. But now Ramona’s bakery threatens to crumble around her. Literally. She’s one water-heater disaster away from losing her grandmother’s rambling Victorian and everything she’s worked so hard to build. When Ramona’s soldier son-in-law is wounded in Afghanistan, her daughter, Sophia, races overseas to be at his side, leaving Ramona as the only suitable guardian for Sophia’s thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, Katie. Heartbroken, Katie feels that she’s being dumped again-this time on the doorstep of a woman out of practice with mothering. Ramona relies upon a special set of tools-patience, persistence, and the reliability of a good recipe-when rebellious Katie arrives. And as she relives her own history of difficult choices, Ramona shares her love of baking with the troubled girl. Slowly, Katie begins to find self-acceptance and a place to call home. And when a man from her past returns to offer a second chance at love, Ramona discovers that even the best recipe tastes better when you add time, care, and a few secret ingredients of your own.

9.  The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.  From the book basket.

" Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964,The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love--a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come."

10.  The Orchard by Jeffrey Stepakoff.  A library find.  

"The passionate new novel by the author of FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA. Grace Lyndon is a rising ingenue in the world of perfumes and flavors; a stiletto-wearing, work-a-holic in Atlanta, she develops aromas and tastes to enthrall the senses. Dylan Jackson is a widowed single father whose heart and hands have been calloused in the fields of his North Georgia apple farm. When Grace happens to taste an apple picked from Dylan’s trees, it changes both their lives forever.  Determined to track down the apple’s origin, Grace sets off in the middle of the night where she finds not only a beautiful mountain orchard in the clouds, but the mysterious man who owns it. In Stepakoff’s heartbreaking eloquence, their sudden yet undeniable attraction is threatened—leaving readers with a momentous finale that proves Jeffrey Stepakoff is a master craftsman of the heart." 


11.  Faithful by Kim Cash Tate.   A blog find from Barbara.
"Cydney Sanders thought she knew God's plan for her life. She'd marry, have kids, and then snap her body back into shape by doing Tae Bo. But she's celebrating her fortieth birthday as the maid of honor at her little sister's wedding...and still single. Now her life is suddenly complicated by the best man. He's the opposite of what she wants in a husband...and yet, he keeps defying her expectations. Starting with a lavendar rose--symbolizing enchantment--each rose he sends her reflects his growing love for her.  Cydney's best friend Dana appears to have the perfect marriage--until she discovers her husband's affair and her world goes into a tailspin. Then there is Phyllis--who is out of hope and out of prayers after asking God for six long years to help her husband find faith. When she runs into an old friend who is the Christian man she longs for, she's faced with an overwhelming choice.

Life-long friends with life-altering struggles. Will they trust God's faithfulness...and find strength to be faithful to Him?"

There we have it.  What are you reading this fall?

Spring Reading Thing 2011

Today is the first day of spring and that means the Spring Reading Thing of 2011 is underway!  It's a fun, low-key challenge to get some reading done!  You can go here for some of the details.  Again this spring my choices are going to be a bit of a mish mash of goals.  I have some that will be review books, some non-fiction which is always a challenge for me, and I'm adding some out of my book basket because it is starting to overflow and then, of course, I will have some from the library that I just couldn't leave behind.  As always there will be a couple of spaces to add review books as I get the requests.  So far this year I am reading at a slower pace than last year so I'm hoping I get through this list.  So many books I want to read and I have so much less time than I would like.  Looking forward to reading all your lists too, and I'm sure I will be adding to my want to read list as I do that.  But here's my choices for this spring:

1.  "Lazarus Awakening" by Joanna Weaver - (for review).  Finding your place in the heart of God.

2.  "Feed Your Pet Right" by Marion Nestle (finishing).  Because we're trying to make up our minds about the commercial dog food industry.

3.  "How to Raise the Perfect Dog Through Puppyhood and Beyond" by Cesar Millan - I wanted some specific suggestions for certain things and I like his show, so the book seemed the obvious choice.

4.  "God's Guest List - Welcoming Those Who Influence Our Lives" by Debbie Macomber - I'm pretty sure my friend Faith reviewed and recommended this one, but I couldn't find the post to link to.  Okay, so Faith just let me know it wasn't her.  Well, I have no idea then where I saw this but I know they said it was good.  LOL.

5.  "The Kitchen Boy - A Novel of the Last Tsar" by Robert Alexander- reviewed by Carrie and it sounded like something I would really like.

6.  "Undressing the Moon" by T. Greenwood - looked interesting on the library shelf so into the bag it went

7.  "Secrets" by Robin Jones Gunn - choice from my book basket

8.  "Standing in the Rainbow" by Fannie Flagg - choice from the book basket.  I think it was on the fall into reading list too.  Oh well.

9.  "The Midwife of St. Petersburg" by Linda Lee Chaikin - from my book basket

10.  "Unlocked" by Karen Kingsbury (finishing from my book basket)

 11.  "The Purple Book" by Rice Broocks & Steve Murrell - study in discipleship that my ladies group is doing

12.  "Experiencing the Ressurection" by Henry & Mel Blackaby - getting myself focused on the meaning of Easter

So there you have it.  I better get to it.  If you'd like to join the challenge or find some great reads, check out the link at Callapider Days, our hostess.

Fall Into Reading 2008

What would fall be without Callipider Days Fall Into Reading. And here we are at the first day of fall so that means we are onto the FIR 2008. I always look forward to this each spring and fall and this year is no expception. So here we go:

"Going for Gold" by Catriona Le May Doan

"A Time To Mend" by Gary Smalley and Sally John

"Snitch" by Rene Gutteridge

"My Heart Remembers" by Kim Vogel Sawyer

"The Wednesday Letters" by Jason F. Wright

"Straight Up" by Lisa Samson

"The Applause of Heaven" by Max Lucado


And book tours for (not pictured because they haven't arrived yet):

"Forsaken" by James David Jordan

"For Young Men Only" by Jeff Feldhahn and Eric Rice with Shanti Feldhahn

"The Shape of Mercy" by Susan Meissner

And for ladies group study:

"I Second That Emotion" by Patsy Clairmont


So what are you reading this fall?

2007 Want To Reads

~Come Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine

~Violet Dawn, Coral Moon, Crimson Eve by Brandilyn Collins

~ The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

~Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

~Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

~Radical Gratitude by Ellen Vaughn

~Smart Women Keep It Simple by Annie Chapman

~Winter Birds by Jamie Langston Turner

~Sacred Influences by Gary L. Thomas

~One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind for a Round the World Journey by David Elliott Cohen

~A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

~Trusting God in a Twisted World by Elisabeth Elliot

~Painted Shadow: The Life of Vivienne Eliot by Caorl Seymore-Jones

~Ever After by Wendy Loggia

~Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

~The Beast that God has Kissed-Songs from Birch Lake Road by Charlie Smith

~Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado

~The 10 Commandments of Marriage by Ed Young

~The Character & Greatness of Winston Churchill by Stephen Mansfield

~My Father the President

~The Faith of George W. Bush by Stephen Mansfield

~The Bishop's Daughter by Wanda Brunstetter

~The Unusual Suspect by Stephen Baldwin

~Rachel's Prayer by Leisha Kelly

~Feminist Fantisies by Phyllis Schlafly

~Jewel by Bret Lott

~The Birth Order Book by Kevin Leman

~The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

~Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury

~Hearts of Gold by Lorne Zeiler

~Crystals Lies by Melody Carlson