Christian Bookstores I Have Loved

I always love a good bookstore. New or used- I don't discriminate! At times I've thought it would be fun to run a mobile Christian bookstore, to fill up a bus with used Christian books and travel to different small towns in my area so everyone has the opportunity to enjoy good Christian messages at affordable prices! (Now that I'm typing this, I'm back to thinking about it!) I wanted to start a list here of Christian-specific bookstores I have loved. When we start traveling more again I'll keep growing the list. Maybe in the meantime somebody will find a great Christian bookstore full of books that will move and inspire them! 

ARIZONA

- Flagstaff: The Lion and the Lamb (now closed) 

IDAHO

- Coeur d'Alene: The Sower

- Idaho Falls: Seagull Book 

MINNESOTA 

- St. Cloud: Christian Corner Book & Gifts (in the mall)

TEXAS

- Cedar Park: Mardel

- Lubbock: Mardel (I posted about this trip here) 

UTAH

- Ogden: Seagull Book 

WASHINGTON

- Spokane: Faithful Christian Bookstore 

Today I...

Added... these 100% cotton capris to our Amazon cart. We'll see if I actually order them!

Coughed... so many times! I thought I was sick, then I decided it's seasonal allergies even though I never get them. Today I had to accept that I am indeed sick.

Made... A sweet dip (basically dessert hummus) for my kids to dip their apples into.

Planned... Some (low-key) birthday fun with one of my loves. I sure love celebrating my precious people!

Read... Exodus, Mom Heart Moments, and Sacred Slow during my morning time // homeschool books during our school day // Baby's Special Bible at bedtime // Now we're watching a show so I'll skim a few potential kid books while we watch and I'll probably read a chapter of It Had to be You before I go to sleep!

Sipped... Nettle tea out of the mug my sweet family gave me for mother's day 💙

Taught... Math, language arts, Spanish, history, and geography.

Walked... in the rain! I was so happy to get some rain on my skin

Wore... A hoodie all day! We're moving into the warmer months when I always hate my clothes so I am savoring every last cozy day I get!

Wrote... A postcard to my niece. 

Birthday, 2025 Edition

We recently celebrated my birthday and I wanted to document the day! 

I have always decorated the house (simply) after my kids went to bed on the night before their birthday. They so sweetly decorated for me this time! There were multiple signs and a sweet display. 

We went for a family walk on my husband's lunch break and Jesus loves me so the sky was beautifully cloudy. We even got a little rain! 😍 

The baby was very fussy for most of the day but finally napped in the afternoon so I was able to squeeze in a short reading break! 📖 

My family made me lasagna + salad for dinner and prayed for my next year + shared things they loved about me. I opened sweet gifts, we had a mint chocolate pie dessert (YouTube short here), and then hubby and I watched an episode of a show +I read a few more chapters! 

Middle grade novels in verse

One of my kids absolutely adores a good novel in verse, one loathes them, and the others are cheerfully ambivalent. I know these aren't for everyone but here are our favorites if they're a hit with one of the kids in your life. 

Brown Girl Dreaming (secular, nonfiction)... This is a memoir, set in the 60s. I enjoyed it and added it to our 8th Grade book list. 

Emmy in the Key of Code (secular, fiction)... This one is a little unique in that it's focused on a coding class (and family, friendship, music, insecurity...) so is at times written in code. Some of my kids are really into Scratch and HTML coding so this one is fun for that reason. I added this to our 7th grade list. 

Enemies in the Orchard (Christian, historical fiction)... This one is from a Christian publishing house but wasn't super faith-focused. This WWII book is likely to be a bit much for younger readers. I added it to our 8th Grade list. 

Heartbeat (secular, fiction)... This main character has a pregnant mom so my kids enjoyed reading this one during my pregnancy. It's also about art, running, friendship, and a grandparent with dementia.  I added this to our 6th grade list. 

Little Dog Lost // Little Cat's Luck (secular, fiction)... These are fun for animal lovers. I added these to our 4th Grade book lists. 

May B (secular, historical fiction)... This a story about May and her grit as she's left alone in a cabin for an extended period of time. May also deals with dyslexia. This is on our 4th Grade list. 

On the Horizon (secular, historical fiction)... This WWII book is less intense than the one listed above. It's on our 5th grade list. 

The One Thing You'd Save (secular, fiction)... This is a class discussing the one thing they'd save if they could only save one thing from a house fire. I added it to our 5th grade list. 

Salt (secular, historical fiction)... This is a friendship story from the war of 1812. I added this one to our 7th grade list. 

What I read in April

First, grown-up reads...

📖 Bible study: My husband and I have been studying something together and would happily take any and all resources you've got! We've been studying the laws of Moses and trying to understand how/why they aren't a part of most modern Christian denominations' practices.

📖 Eat to Live (secular, nonfiction, health, science)... This one has me so fired up! I am breastfeeding a baby so my focus is health and living a long + vibrant life raising this kiddo rather than weight loss. There is definitely a ton of weight loss talk but lots and lots of disease-prevention nd cancer-prevention talk I was focused on.

📖 The Huckleberry Patch (Christian, fiction, short story)... This was a good, tiny burst of inspiration that was free for Kindle, at least when I got it. I think it probably only took about ten minutes to read

📖 Stories for Your Soul (Christian, nonfiction)... I really enjoyed these short inspirational stories by Max Lucado. A couple really moved me and got me crying.

📖 Things I Never Told You (Christian, fiction)... I very much enjoyed this first book in the Thatcher Sisters series. It had faith, deep character development, and a strong exploration of family relationships/dynamics. All things needed to make my favorite kind of book! I definitely want to read book 2. (YouTube short here) 

📖 Plus the designated chapters of my ongoing baby reads this year, What to Expect: The First Year // The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding // The Wonder Weeks

And for my kids' shelves...

📖 Biddy Mason Speaks Up (secular, nonfiction, history)... I actually found this book in my library's catalog by searching for midwives' birth stories but wasn't expecting so much rich black history! Be warned, there is one sentence that says some slave women were raped by their masters. I added this to our 7th grade list. 

📖 The High Cheese (secular, middle grade, fiction, TGTB book list)... This was a good baseball story. My oldest asked me to request book 2 (a basketball story) from our library as well.

📖 Jack Staples and the Ring of Time (Christian, middle grade, fantasy)... Another hit with my oldest. We'll definitely try the next in the series.

📖 Leif the Lucky (secular, fictionalized biography)... It seems like homeschoolers just love these d'Aulere books. I like this Viking book fine but it wasn't a new favorite or anything.

📖 May the Best Player Win (secular, middle grade, fantasy)... This chess-focused story was a fun read but it did take the Lord's name in vain multiple times. 

📖 Sleuth Family Robinson (Christian, middle grade, fiction, graphic novel)... This is such a fun read featuring "a family that actually likes each other!" Big hit for my kids. (YouTube short here)

📖 Starla Jean series 1-3 (secular, chapter books, fiction, TGTB book list)... Starla Jean is cute and quirky. My seven-year-old loved these books! 

📖 Wild Buildings and Bridges (secular, middle grade, nonfiction)... I love architecture so my nature-smart kid and I really enjoyed this one.

📖 Wind Riders books 1-3 (secular, fiction, chapter books, TGTB book list)... My seven-year-old loved this series! 

Picture books we enjoyed this month: The Brilliant Brain // Bunny's Book Club Goes to School // Ella Of Course // How Science Saved The Eiffel Tower // The Sleeping Rose // The Smallest Spot of a Dot // The Snatchabook