Monday, May 26, 2025

If You Liked That, Try This!


I used to have a Christian book podcast and my most popular episode was called If You Liked That, Try This! I got a lot of comments and emails because of that episode and I thought I'd bring the idea back via blog! I'll share more from time to time. 😊

If you like The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, try The Christian Mama's Guide to Having a Baby. There are a lot of pregnancy books I liked more than these but so many women seem to love the Girlfriends books so I wanted to share it here! The playful-yet-informative tone felt very similar to me. Both books are followed up by more books about baby's first year, toddler/preschool ages, etc. 

If you like Divergent (or Hunger Games), try the Out of Time trilogy. I really enjoyed Nadine Brandes' gripping dystopian thriller but I'll warn you that much like its secular twins this one does contain a good bit of violence.

If you liked Jane Green, try Bethany Turner. The secular author's books are very sex-heavy but I unfortunately loved them when I was in high school. I liked the fun and compelling characters and I like that Bethany Turner can write similarly fun and compelling characters but without the sex scenes. I particularly enjoyed Plot Twist

Friday, May 23, 2025

Christian fiction about writers


It's been harder for me to write as much over the last few years but I still enjoy it when I can. I've always enjoyed encountering other writers in fiction and this list is full of fun reads that made me want to write!

Dear Mr. Knightley (romance)... This fun epistolary novel is a modern twist on Daddy Long Legs, a journalism major required to write letters to her mysterious benefactor. So fun!

Left Behind (thriller)... There are several characters shari g the spotlight in this series about the rapture but Buck is a journalist!

Meet Me in the Margins (romance)... I really enjoyed this one... Our main character secretly writes a romance novel while working for a high-brow publishing house and ends up falling for her anonymous editor. This one was clean but didn't have much if any faith content.

Plot Twist (romance)... Th unique structure of this one made me smile. Each chapter takes place on the same day, different year. This one was clean but didn't have much if any faith content.

The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck (romance)... A steamy romance writer finds faith and suddenly isn't so sure about her genre of choice. Particularly fun because it reminded me of dear Shoshana Gabriel's story.

Shadows of Swanford Abbey (historical fiction)... This murder mystery is a fun one... In this case, the writer is the dead guy.

The Story Keeper (general fiction)... In this one, an editor is searching for the writer of a great manuscript deep in Appalachia.

The Summer of Yes (romance)... Kelsey is roadtripping with a closed-off celebrity in hopes of ghostwriting her memoir... But of course there's much more to the story! I was delighted to find much more depth in this romance than its fun cover led me to expect. This one was clean but didn't have much if any faith content.

Truth Stained Lies (suspense)... Our writer in this fast-paced page-turner is a true crime blogger!

Under the Tulip Tree (historical fiction)... In this one we have a wannabe writer interviewing former slaves in the 1930s. So well-done! I really loved this one. 

When Twilight Breaks (historical fiction)... This one is about a foreign war correspondent in WWII Germany. I always love a good WWII novel! 

The Words We Lost // The Roads We Follow (romance)... Nicole Deese has such a way with words! I loved both of these stories and look forward to reading the third soon! 

Monday, May 19, 2025

Last week's menu


I recently shared a list of books that have revolutionized my health. Now I want to start sharing the occasional weekly menu to show you how we eat after reading (and being inspired by) those books.

When I first started making meal changes for my health I had a hard time figuring out what to eat. Eventually I realized that habits are everything and created a simple framework for us so I never have to wonder what I'll cook. If it's Monday I'm making chili. If it's Wednesday I'm making pasta. Etc. There's variety within the theme (pasta can be various shapes and topped with various sauces and veggies, for example). 

This week we deviated from our menu a bit because of Mother's Day (Sandwich Sunday and pasta Wednesday were swapped) and a birthday. I hope this will help even one person figure out a simple meal routine that nourishes their temple and makes them feel great! 

Sunday- cherry-berry green smoothie // Mother's Day brunch at a health-focused restaurant where I had potato-veggie breakfast bowl // timing was off because of brunch so I had a mandarin orange + a strawberry in the afternoon // baked ziti with broccoli + mushrooms + crushed Brazil nuts & walnuts // dessert was Tastes Like a Frozen Snickers Bar Pie from this cookbook 

Monday- cherry-berry green smoothie. + overnight oats // salad + lasagna soup (I make it slightly different) (+ bean-topped baked potato for my growing kids) // chili sin carne from this cookbook, served with cashew sour cream + crackers (with a side of green beans for me) + half a Brazil nut each

Tuesday- cherry-berry green smoothie + carrot cake oatmeal // salad + vegetable soup (garlic, onion, mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, kale, black beans, seasoning) (plus bean-topped baked potato/sweet potato for my growing kids) // burrito bowls... Base of rice + quinoa + riced cauliflower with "refried" pinto beans and a variety of toppings- cashew cream, salsa, red onion, green onion, romaine lettuce, red cabbage, mushrooms, avocado + a few walnuts since we didn't have any omega3s on our lunch salads

Wednesday- cherry-berry green smoothie + banana bread // salad + sore throat soup (I use brown rice stelline pasta and always add black pepper + cayenne. One of my kids likes peas added to this, the rest like canned garbanzo beans added) (+ bean-topped baked potato/sweet potato for my growing kids // breastfeeding makes me ravenous and there were no satisfying beans in my lunch so I ended up having a mint Only Bar snack in the afternoon // Black bean burgers (topped with a cashew cream-salsa sauce, Microgreens, and red onions) + fruits of choice (I had the best mandarin orange ever)

Thursday- cherry-berry green smoothie + carrot cake oats // salad + vegetable soup mentioned Tuesday (+ fruit for my growing kids) // leftovers + steamed broccoli + half a Brazil nut + a few walnuts

Friday- cherry-berry green smoothie + baked oatmeal // salad + taco soup (black beans + pinto beans + rice-quinoa-riced cauliflower mixture + salsa mixed into a blended up soup base. Base - boiled garlic, onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes, ancho pepper, seasonings) + baked sweet potato for two of my kids) // hashbrown tacos (hashbrowns + kidney beans + mushrooms + onions + salsa)  + hot mango // We normally have a dessert on Fridays but we skipped it since the next day was a birthday

Saturday (birthday)- tropical green smoothie + raspberry pancakes // my version of this lasagna soup + bday celebration platter (olives + various raw veggies with hummus) // broccoli rice with salad + great northern beans // strawberry chocolate "cheesecake" from this cookbook as the birthday dessert

Snacks: I don't snack much but my kids have fruit/veggie focused snacks... Veggies with hummus (or hummus veggie wraps), apples with nut butter/dessert hummus, chia seed pudding with berries, fruit by itself, etc

Supplements: we currently only take B12 + Brazil nuts a few times a week.  

Friday, May 16, 2025

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

Saturday, May 10, 2025

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! 

Friday, May 9, 2025

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. 

Monday, May 5, 2025

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! 


Saturday, May 3, 2025

Bookish links- May 2025

You'll want to double check that the price hasn't changed but I was excited to get this Christian Kindle book free recently, a contemporary Little Women retelling! 

What your favorite literary genres say about your personality 

I've been posting YouTube shorts again 😊 

30+ books for Narnia fans

I haven't browsed the A Fine Quotation shop in a while. Cute- Mitford mug // It is Well With My Soul wall hanging // The cutest Winnie the Pooh sticker. 

Must-read literature for middle school students 

Most Americans want to read more books... Yet don't. 

5 Must-see Christian movies for 2025 

Fans of Christian fantasy, this one's for you! 

6 sports romances you'll love 

Super cute (and 100% cotton) girls pajamas- cats reading books! 

Cathy Gohlke on Writing Fiction

Plant-Based Pros on the Books They Recommend Again and Again 

What to read after the Mitford series 

My kids love the Green Ember series and are so excited for the new book and video game

Moms, have you signed your kids up for the Good and the Beautiful summer reading program