Bookish links- February 2026

February new releases I'm excited about: Mists Over the Channel Islands // Oscar and the Mystery of the Glowing Orbs 

My Black History Month recs and Valentines Day picture book recs 

Valentines Day gifts from Christianbook.com 

Bookish art for over your bathtub: Elegant Woman // Winnie the Pooh // Bubble Bath // // Cat Reading Book in Bathtub // Woman Reading in Jungle Tub // Cozy Cat // Cute Rabbit in a Bathtub // Reading Girl in Bathtub // Home Alone postcard 

4 books to read for motherhood 

Raggedy Ann book + doll

Ooooh, speaking my language- 34 novels with family dramas and hopeful Christian themes 

My husband and I can very much relate about these Biblical lineage lists. 😂 We're aware that they're important. Still, sigh. 

I know some of you adore Francine Rivers so maybe you'd like this FR book club. 

The books children read matter! 

I'm so interested in this book, Embodied Holiness! I have so many big, spiritually motivated reasons for healthy eating and I know this book will probably fascinate me and make me think! 

Love this shirt! Every good story whispers His name 

This blog is so cool- The Bible Cookbook! (Daniel's Veggie Platter and Jacob's Red Lentil Birthright Stew very much appeal to me) 

9 novels with strong female characters 

This Paddington Bear tea set is so adorable! 

Have you ever read books via Open Library? I never knew about it before last week! 

Loved Courtney Walsh's thoughts on you not liking her books. 

This is a lovely image for a lovely Charles Spurgeon quote! 

15 Christian historical fiction recommendations 

5 Fascinating New Releases for February

I was given five new releases from David C Cook this month and I'm pretty excited about them! If you check these out I'd love to know what you think! 

📖 Even If (Christian, nonfiction, memoir)... I enjoyed I Can Only Imagine but I liked Even If even more, probably because of the family element. As a wife, I also really appreciated Shannon's perspective. I will definitely watch the upcoming movie! 

📖  Every Neighbor: Greeting Everyone With God's Love (Christian, picture book, nonfiction)... This picture book is a fun look at God's children all over the globe (learning to say hello in various languages was of course fun) that combines world culture with a gentle reminder of the call to love our neighbor. We'll re-read this one often, I'm sure! 

📖 Fake ID (Christian, nonfiction)... I've been thinking A LOT over the past few months about technology, especially AI, both as a parent and as a person, and specifically as a Christian. I still have a lot of questions and unknowns but this book came to me at just the right time and has me thinking so much. You should know that gender dysphoria is discussed in the beginning so be aware of that if you'replanningto hand it to your teens. 

📖  The Heart Who Wanted to Lasso Thoughts (Christian, picture book, fiction)... This was a cute picture book to illustrate the concept of monitoring our thought life. It's not my favorite style but it's a good message we'll probably revisit often over the years. 

📖 A Journey With Jesus (Christian, nonfiction)... Okay if you've ever wondered about those tours of Biblical places but also had no desire to travel overseas, this one is for you. Bob Goff created a really cool, immersion experience with this one as it also includes videos. I did enjoy quickly working through it on my own for this review but I'm so excited to do this one with my husband and really discuss and dissect it all together! 

* I received a free copy of each of these books in exchange for my honest opinion. 

5-Star Reads of 2016

I'm seeing so much 2016 nostalgia online and I thought I'd share my book-specific version.  

At the start of 2016 I was pregnant with my third baby, then parenting 3 under 4. I was writing at naptime every day and still blogging for income. I was incredibly busy but still had time to read and write a fair amount, I think because I still used a flip phone! These were my 5-star reads that year.

- Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson
- One Born Every Minute by Maria Dore
- Miracles From Heaven by Christy Beam
- Hope Unfolding by Becky Thompson
- The Midwife's Here by Linda Farley
- Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis
- Braving It All by James Campbell
- Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist
- The Mother Letters by Amber C Haines
- Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
- Love Unending by Becky Thompson
- Operation Christmas Child by Franklin Graham 

Winter activities we love

I'm starting to hear rumblings from family and friends who are growing weary of winter weather. Winter is my personal favorite so I thought I'd share things we love about it in hopes of helping! (I have to do the same thing for myself in the summer)

- Reading, of course. Bonus points if this includes a favorite blanket and a mug of tea or cocoa
- Bundling up for chilly walks (snow crunching under my boots is one of my favorite sensory experiences) or snowplay
- Soup for every lunch + quite a lot of dinners
- Wearing the coziest hoodies, flannels, sweatshirts, sweaters, and socks! 
- Cozy hobbies (puzzles, sewing, knitting, drawing, painting, etc) with music or an audio book in the background
- Board game / movie nights with the people we love
- Baking
- Writing
- Learning about a subject that fascinates us 
- Warm baths

December Reading

This was a great reading month for me, I guess because we were on a school break the whole time.

GROWN-UP READS:

📖 Bespoke: A Tiny Christmas Tale (Christian, historical fiction, 🎄)... I love Amanda Dykes' lovely writing style! This one was very short but it was a good one.
📖 The Christmas Book Flood (Christian, historical fiction, 🎄)... This sweet, bookish Christmas novela was set in WWII Iceland. I enjoyed it- it felt so incredibly cozy!
📖 Evergreen (Christian, fiction, 🎄)... This was book 3.5 in the Christiansen Family series and it was focused on parents John and Ingrid in their first Christmas as empty nesters. It was of course a little sad in some ways but I loved it!
📖 Marley Madison short mysteries 1-3 (Christian,  fiction, mystery)... This is Christina Suzann Nelson's new mystery series. The deaths were a bit much but they were not shown on-page. I am more sensitive to suspense these days and probably won't read the next set (but ill still read her main body of work.
📖 Mr. Nicholas (Christian, fiction, 🎄)... This was sweet, about a man kind of getting to know his son with Down Syndrome for the first time- of course duringthe Christmas season. This had some depth and richness to it I really loved. I can see why it was a Christy Award winner!
📖 Tidings of Comfort and Joy (Christian, fiction, 🎄, historical fiction)... I liked this grandmother-grandmother Christmas novela. This was my second Davis Bunn Christmas story and I'll absolutely try more in the future!
📖 Unwrapping the Names of Jesus (Christian, nonfiction, 🎄)... I read this one with my church book club. It wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was still a good read.

* My mom and I abandoned our buddy read, The Gift of Christmas Present, this year, because of a rape storyline we weren't expecting in a Christmas novela.

📚 Plus applicable sections of The Wonder Weeks

YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS

📖 Arcade and the Triple T Token (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... I didn't expect this book to have so many lovely messages and moments! I enjoyed it and know some of my kids will really enjoy it, too. I'll definitely try book two.
📖 The Case for Heaven (Christian, middle grade, nonfiction)... This was such a great book! I really love books about Heaven and this one was quite moving. 
📖 I Saw Three Ships (secular,  middle grade, fiction, 🎄)... I've been curious about this one for years because Sarah Clarkson recommends the author for fans of Anne of Green Gables. I did enjoy this very short Christmas read and added it to my kids' shelves.
📖 The Trees Kneel at Christmas (Christian, chapter book)... This was a short, sweet Christmas story by the author of the Betsy Tacy stories.
📖 A Weird and Wild Beauty: The Story of Yellowstone,  the World's First National Park (secular, middle grade, nonfiction, history)... This was a great nonfiction, full of details + color photos, and now I hope we can take our kidsto Yellowstone one day soon!
📖 Who Were the Beatles? (Secular, middle grade, nonfiction, history)... One of my kids is taking a music appreciation course and is really into music history in general right now. The history of rock n roll gets talked about in this one and we had some great conversation about the various changes in music over the years.

*I also read part of Stella by Starlight as a buddy read with one of my kids and The Angel Tree & Adoration at the Manger as read-alouds all together.

PICTURE BOOKS WE LOVED: God's Animals, my baby's current favorite// The Golden Hour // The Wonderful Book // all of these Christmas picture books

Favorite reads this month: Evergreen and The Case for Heaven