GROWN-UP READS:
📖 Bible study: 2 Peter // Ephesians using Worthy // Slowly studying Ezekiel with my husband.
🌟 An observation: I love taking notes and thoroughly studying but I'm realizing that it's not necessarily a good season for that. I am skipping Bible study often right now because the baby wakes up early and I can't pull out all my note stuff. I need to shift to just reading my Bible again. Better to get the Word in me than wait wait wait until I can more deeply study it.
📖 Brain Rules for Baby (secular, nonfiction, Science, health, parenting)... This is a re-read for me, one I first read and loved almost 14 years ago. I loved it again this time!
📖 The Deep End of Love (Christian, fiction)... I really enjoy Christina Suzann Nelson's Deep writing and was so excited to win this one in a Goodreads giveaway! I did enjoy it but whew, not an easy read! Unplanned teen pregnancy, grief, past abortion hurt, infertility, marriage strain, the works! I absolutely cried during this one. But also so much love, strength, tenacity, resilience, growth... I will be thinking for a long time about this one and about the hard-but-beautiful lessons it gave me.
📖 Letters From My Sister (Christian, fiction)... This was a great book that kept making me feel hopeful and then sad. I don't have any sisters but seeing my own daughters' bonds shows me I'm missing out in that area. This book did, too!
📖 One Life (secular, nonfiction, history)... This was my church book club's pick for the month after I read about Sir Nicholas Winton. It's a wonderful story but we all agreed that the backstory was a bit dry.
📖 William Henry is a Fine Name (Christian, historical fiction)... This was a good, enjoyable Underground Railroad story I added to our 9th grade shelf. I look forward to hearing what my son thinks.
I also worked through quite a few new releases and reviewed those here.
YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS
📖 Brain Rules for Baby (secular, nonfiction, Science, health, parenting)... This is a re-read for me, one I first read and loved almost 14 years ago. I loved it again this time!
📖 The Deep End of Love (Christian, fiction)... I really enjoy Christina Suzann Nelson's Deep writing and was so excited to win this one in a Goodreads giveaway! I did enjoy it but whew, not an easy read! Unplanned teen pregnancy, grief, past abortion hurt, infertility, marriage strain, the works! I absolutely cried during this one. But also so much love, strength, tenacity, resilience, growth... I will be thinking for a long time about this one and about the hard-but-beautiful lessons it gave me.
📖 Letters From My Sister (Christian, fiction)... This was a great book that kept making me feel hopeful and then sad. I don't have any sisters but seeing my own daughters' bonds shows me I'm missing out in that area. This book did, too!
📖 One Life (secular, nonfiction, history)... This was my church book club's pick for the month after I read about Sir Nicholas Winton. It's a wonderful story but we all agreed that the backstory was a bit dry.
📖 William Henry is a Fine Name (Christian, historical fiction)... This was a good, enjoyable Underground Railroad story I added to our 9th grade shelf. I look forward to hearing what my son thinks.
I also worked through quite a few new releases and reviewed those here.
YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS
📖 The Day the Angels Fell (Christian, YA, fiction)... This one is a kind of spiritual world-themed fantasy involving the tree of life. It had more blood than I like but I put it on our 9th grade okay list.
📖 The Edge of Over There (Christian, YA, fiction)... This is the sequel to The Day the Angels Fell. Same basic review as before. Not a fan of blood, know my oldest will like it next year.
📖 Eliza's Freedom Road (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I'm prone to loving books written as diary entries. I would have loved this Underground Railroad story as a kid!
📖 Freedom Seekers #1: Escape Into the Night (Christian, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... This is a good Underground Railroad story but those who are sensitive to eye-dialect might find it offensive.
📖 Freedom Seekers #1: Escape Into the Night (Christian, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... This is a good Underground Railroad story but those who are sensitive to eye-dialect might find it offensive.
📖 Greystone Secrets #1 The Strangers and #2 The Deceivers (secular, middle grade, fiction)... Yet another exciting Margaret Peterson Haddix story I couldn't get enough of! This one is a trilogy and I'm very excited for book 3.
📖 Growing Up With Aloha: American Girl Nanea #1 (secular, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I enjoyed this this American Girl novel, this one a WWII home front story set in Hawaii, and I think my girls will all love it, too. (More American Girl reviews here)
📖 Hudson Taylor: Deep in the Heart of China (Christian, fictionalized biography)... This was a great biography of missionary Hudson Taylor. I particularly loved the fact that he got a horrible infection and was told he'd die but his response was that God had called him to China and he hadn't gone yet so he would not die.
📖 Riley Mae and the Rock Shocker Treks // Riley Mae and the Ready Eddy Rapids (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... This is another Faithgirlz series, this one about a seventh grader in California who becomes a shoe model/spokesperson. They're a lot more of an action-adventure story than the cover implies! I liked them and will try book 3, too. (More Faithgirlz reviews here)
📖 Growing Up With Aloha: American Girl Nanea #1 (secular, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I enjoyed this this American Girl novel, this one a WWII home front story set in Hawaii, and I think my girls will all love it, too. (More American Girl reviews here)
📖 Hudson Taylor: Deep in the Heart of China (Christian, fictionalized biography)... This was a great biography of missionary Hudson Taylor. I particularly loved the fact that he got a horrible infection and was told he'd die but his response was that God had called him to China and he hadn't gone yet so he would not die.
📖 Riley Mae and the Rock Shocker Treks // Riley Mae and the Ready Eddy Rapids (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... This is another Faithgirlz series, this one about a seventh grader in California who becomes a shoe model/spokesperson. They're a lot more of an action-adventure story than the cover implies! I liked them and will try book 3, too. (More Faithgirlz reviews here)
📖 Stealing Home (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, graphic novel)... I really enjoyed this Japanese internment camp story and teared up at the end.
📖 Tales of Buttercup Grove* (Christian, early chapter book, fiction)... This early reader book was so cute! I loved both the sweet animal illustrations and the sweet kindness/ friendship stories. There are four seasonal stories (which reminded me of Brambly Hedge!) and they each begin with a Bible verse. I happily added this one to our second grade shelf.
📖 This Seat's Saved (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... I loved this book so much! The first chapter or two made me think this would essentially be a secular, very worldly book with a lot of negativity towards parents and the occasional prayer. NO!!! It was amazing. The character has some tension with her mother and intense middle school girl friend conflicts along with the pains that come with growing up and not quite fitting in. There is so much beautiful faith-focused reflection and growth here, and I'm so happy it's a four-book series! I immediately added book 2 to our Amazon cart. I'm very happy to have this one for our 7th grade bookshelf. I wish every Christian middle grade novel would leave me feeling the way this one did.
📖 The Ugly One (secular, middle grade, fiction, TGTB book list)... I didn't love this one but thought it was overall fine. I was not comfortable with all the negative body image talk at the start but that did die down.
📖 You Have a Brain (Christian, YA, nonfiction)... As far as I can recall, this is basically Gifted Hands but a slightly more mature version. I loved Gifted Hands and loved this one, too!
* I received a free copy of Tales of Buttercup Grove in exchange for an honest review.
📚 PICTURE BOOKS WE LOVED: Bedtime, Here I Come! (Our last Imagination Library book) // Charlie Goes to School (over and over and over again! 😊) // Loved by God (full review here)
Favorite read this month: This Seat's Saved! 🥰
📖 The Ugly One (secular, middle grade, fiction, TGTB book list)... I didn't love this one but thought it was overall fine. I was not comfortable with all the negative body image talk at the start but that did die down.
📖 You Have a Brain (Christian, YA, nonfiction)... As far as I can recall, this is basically Gifted Hands but a slightly more mature version. I loved Gifted Hands and loved this one, too!
* I received a free copy of Tales of Buttercup Grove in exchange for an honest review.
📚 PICTURE BOOKS WE LOVED: Bedtime, Here I Come! (Our last Imagination Library book) // Charlie Goes to School (over and over and over again! 😊) // Loved by God (full review here)
Favorite read this month: This Seat's Saved! 🥰
