September was a big month for me with travel + moving. I finished a few books started in August near the beginning of the month.
GROWN-UP READS
📖 Bible study: Philippians. Part of Romans... Really slumped in my Bible study this month, just wasn't feeling it. It was strange because I felt close to God and deeply spiritual, yet wildly uninterested in self-directed Bible study. I'm ready to find a guided Bible study again.
📖 Cottagecore Simplified (secular, nonfiction)... It was recently brought to my attention that "cottagecore" describes me just as well as "hygge." Some of my girls and I enjoyed this book and the one listed below, but I admit I'm a bit confused... I like these things because I already AM these things. But why do other people feel the need to read a book that teaches them to be someone they aren't? It makes me a bit sad to imagine.
📖 Fierce Hearted (Christian, nonfiction)... I started this book strong, slumped a little, then finished strong. I think Holley Gerth is an author for me to keep watching.
📖 From the Start (Christian, fiction)... I wanted an autumnal read and this one's cover sold it to me. This is the first book in another family series, The Walker Family. I didn't realize that's what I was getting myself into but I'm so happy to have discovered it! It feels very similar to the Christiansen family books though so I may wait to revisit the Walkers after I've finished all the Christiansen Family novels. I did enjoy this one which felt like a combo of Baxters and Christiansens to me.
📖 The Little Book of Cottagecore (secular, nonfiction)... We enjoyed this cottagecore book, too. I don't think any of us liked one more than the other.
📖 The Lost Manuscript (Christian, fiction)... This was such a great read! It felt a lot like a cozy mystery, but with depth. I really liked it but I do want to warn that there's an off-page miscarriage before the book begins and it comes back up pretty constantly, all the way to the end.
📖 To Love a Beast (Christian, historical fiction)... I picked this one because it's set in Texas and I traveled to Texas this month. It's not my normal style but I do enjoy a fairytale retelling from time to time so I enjoyed it.
📚 Plus applicable sections of The No-Cry Nap Solution // What to Expect: The First Year // The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding // The Wonder Weeks
📖 I did also spend a good chunk of the month on Echoes Among the Stones (Christian, time slip, fiction) but it was ultimately a DNF for me. She's a great writer and it was very well done but, alas, a bit too well done for my sensitive heart. I picked it up for the dollhouse element but gosh, dollhouses are cozy and the pain of a beloved sister's unsolved murder is not.
YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS
📖 Cress Watercress (secular, middle grade, fiction)... I recently realized I love anthropomorphic middle grade novels (EB White books are probably what kicked it off) and especially those of cute woodland creatures. I love the cover of this one so thought I'd give it a try. I liked it fine but it wasn't a favorite.
📖 Mars Diaries: Oxygen Level Zero (Christian, middle grade, science fiction)... I was fully prepared to hate this book because it's not my normal genre preference but foind myself surprisingly into it. My oldest is going to love this one!
📖 The Princess, the Knight, and the Lost God (secular, middle grade, fantasy)... I never feel great about books featuring gods and goddesses but this was overall fine. I appreciated that overall rudeness from one character was redeemed in the end.
📖 There's a Spaceship in my Tree (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... I didn't love s smidgen of brattiness at the beginning of this lower middle grade read but it ended up fine in the end. I don't plan to read book 2.
*I also did a Harry Potter buddy read with two of my kids and we worked through The Ology, Atlas Adventures, and Home Ec for Everyone in homeschool (along with our regular subjects).
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