June reads

GROWN-UP READS:

📖 Bible study: I did a lot of floundering again this month. We've made some changes with my baby's sleep routines and I let my morning time be the casualty. Better in July! 

📖 Hidden Mysteries and the Bible (Christian, nonfiction)... This was my morning read for quite a while and I've been talking about it so much over the last two months. There were parts I didn't enjoy reading about and/or didn't agree with based on other teachings, parts that made me squirm, and parts I thought were so cool/exciting in my nerdy way. It was free on Kindle, at least at the time I got it. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you ever try it!  

📖 Love Like a Mother (Christian, nonfiction)... I posted a full review of this one here. 

📖 To Love a Lady (Christian, historical fiction)... My Fair Lady (based on Pygmalion) was one of my favorite movies in middle and high school so my mom and I recently read this together as a buddy read. We both thought it was fun. 

📖 Twenty Something-Else (Christian, fiction)... I was so excited about the Itsa Wonderful Life-esque premise of this one and listened to the audio version of this one. It took me a while to finish because I didn't feel comfortable listening to it when my children might walk up and overhear. I overall liked it but was definitely very bothered by relationship choices Sutton made in her do-over timeline.  

📖 The Wonder Weeks (secular, nonfiction, parenting)... Finished it! I'm forever grateful for this book, goodness. I am pretty sure I've now read it with every baby? Most, if not all! Insanely helpful. 

 YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS

📖 Andi Saddles Up (Christian, chapter book, fiction)... This was a cute one I added to our 3rd grade shelf.
📖 The Birthday Castle- Fort Builders Inc #1 (secular, chapter book, fiction, TGTB book list)... This was cute. I'll try book 2 if my 2nd grader likes this one.
📖 Blades of Eternity and the Keeper of Peace (Christian, upper middle grade, fantasy, fiction)... I'm not a fantasy fan but I liked this author's mission and could tell this was well-written and would be a hot with my 7th grader. I was right. FYI, there's a lot of rudeness depicted.
📖 Donavan's Word Jar (secular, chapter book, fiction, TGTB Book list)... This was sweet. I don't think any of my kids would have been interested to pick it out on their own so I'm glad we learned about it from TGTB's book list.
📖 Dragon Seed (Christian, YA, fiction)... I saw this on a list of great Christian books for teen boys. I would agree. I put it in our 9th grade shelf.
📖 Far Side of the Sea (Christian, late middle grade/early YA, historical fiction)... This was a quick skim read I got for free because of the TGTB summer reading program but I was impressed! I will be curious to see if my oldest requests the next books in the series or not.
📖 Freaking Out: The Science of the Teenage Brain (secular,YA, nonfiction, Science/health)... This was a very short but fun snd informative read, perfect for about 7th grade.
📖 Guns for General Washington (secular, YA, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... My 7th grader and I both liked this Revolutionary War story a lot more than we expected to.
📖 Lightseekers #1: A Kingdom of Shadows (Christian, middle grade, fiction, fantasy)... Fantasy is never my favorite but I do think this will be a hit for my oldest. It was engaging and I read the first 3/4 but skimmed the end. I imagine we'll be excited for book 2.
📖 Lisa of Willesden Lane (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I always love a good WWII story, particularly one that feels hopeful. One of my kids is very excited for this book.
📖 S.A.V.E. Squad #1: Dog Daze (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... This was cute for my dog-lovers but I'm not interested in book 2 unless they are. Quite a lot of "stupid" If that's a no for you. 
📖 The School For Whatnots (secular, middle grade, fiction)... I loved this story! Margaret Peterson Haddix is becoming a secular favorite for me. 
📖 Secrets in the Mist (Christian, YA, Speculative fiction)... This is zombie fiction and there is definitely violence against zombies. I don't know how I feel about it, honestly. It was well-done but not for me, I guess. That probably sums it up well enough.
📖 Shades of Truth: From Sadie's Sketchbook #1 (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... I like this first book if another Faithgirlz series and will try book 2 soon! 

Favorite read this month: To Love a Lady, I think? But The School For Whatnots was good, too. 

* I received a free copy of Love Like a Mother in exchange for an honest review. 

Hand Lettering God's Word for Girls

I was so excited to be offered a wonderful devotional resource for tween girls, Hand Lettering God's Word for Girls.

Not only does this book teach basic cursive and hand lettering skills (and provide supply recommendations), it also includes devotionals perfect for a young girl. 

I appreciate that this melds creative expression with treasuring the word and I am excited to see all the lovely new scripture art my loves create! I do believe scripture memorization to be powerful and important, and I also find a lot of value in displaying scripture in my home. This will be a wonderful resource for both! 

* I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review 

A New Endeavor

I am so excited today! We have officially launched a homeschool curriculum focused on personal finance! You likely know that my husband's big passion subject is finance and one of mine is homeschool. It's been so much fun to merge the two to create Teach Homeschool Finance. 

My husband and I made lots of costly mistakes when we were first starting out and risked even more. There was so much we didn't understand about money, debt, insurance, and investing. We were handed a diploma and told we were ready for the real world because we'd used Bunsen burners correctly and could find the area of a triangle, yet we weren't even remotely ready to actually manage our finances and lives.

We didn't want the same struggles and frustrations for our children. This curriculum was created for our own children and because we truly believe it'll help others we wanted to put it out into the world, too.

The introductory course is completely free and we believe the full set is very modestly priced for the information it provides. The entire course is available in two formats, fully online or printable to be fully analog. Why? Because we know that most people prefer digital but I prefer analog 😉 We printed our copies and put them in a three-ring binder for our almost-8th grader. 

We hope you'll all check it out and share it with any homeschool families you know- though of course non-homeschool teens can use it and benefit from it, too! 

Can I also just say thank you in advance? Truly. You all have been so supportive over the years with my books, my podcast, my old children's book website back in the day... my people truly are the best people. God has blessed me greatly through all of you. 💙

Bookish links- July 2026

Happy July! I hope this is a good month for you- health, growth, learning, feeling God's presence and love.

July New releases I'm excited about: Bookmarked for Love // The Spy Keeper of Marseille 

There's a 5 Love Languages card game! I don't actually remember where we saw this but the barcode situation has me pretty confident that's a Walmart? 

If you struggle to find time to read your Bible, maybe one of these ideas will help! 

I was looking for a zippered pouch last month and Amazon tried to trap me with this cute number! But I am smarter than the algorithm so I didn't buy it! (Clap, please) 

How to make a mini book... cute doll project :)

12 Christian fiction beach reads for your summer 

I think all children's librarians should wear this fairytale dress on the first day of school 

Neuroscience proves that this Biblical habit rewired your brain 

Ooooh, this might be fun... Popular Christian fiction from the 1990s and 2000s 

14 must-read Christian books for teens and 30+ Christian fiction suggestions for your 10-15 year old boys 

This artist makes it look so easy to quickly create some lovely bookworm art. 

Mother child reading art print- lovely! 

9 audio books that will immerse you in the story 

How singing in class may support early reading skills and brain development 

14 of Crystal's favorite nonfiction books  

Cozy summer reading corner reset guide 

LOTR fans, how cute are these (expensive) Hobbit playhouses? 

8 Christian books every faith-filled family needs 

Emily Lex says these 10 commandments podcasts by The Bible Project were fantastic 

I really enjoyed this video and its comments talking about Christian fiction and why it gets labeled "cringe" or "preachy."

If any of you have PureFlix on Prime, Meet Me in the Margins was a fun book and will probably be a fun movie, too! 

I loved this post- Unsung elements in Christian fiction 

If you're looking for a book to match your travels or to let you explore a new place from the comfort of your own home, check out my location-themed book lists! Adult fiction  // YA // Middle Grade // Picture Books 

Non-book things I loved in June: planning and booking a fun trip for later this year // our 16th wedding anniversary  // starting summer break // listening to my kids giggle as they run through the sprinklers // butternut squash and red lentil curry... we are huge fans of Indian food around here! // legs up the wall (I want to be clear that I'm recommending laying on the ground with your legs up becauseit has benefited my lymphedema problems, NOT religious yoga practices) // walking every chance I get because it's about to be too hot and sunny for two months! 

Love Like a Mother

I've been reading a new nonfiction in the mornings recently, Love Like a Mother: How the Sacred Work of Motherhood Reveals the Maternal Heart of God. Right off the bat, I very much appreciated the short snippet sections that made it easy for me, as a mom, to read in the short bits of time I had available and then pick it back up at a convenient time.

This is not my first time encountering writing that shows the way God mothers us and highlights the way we mother as a result of being made in His image. I strive to be more like Jesus in my life here as a human, wife, and mother so this makes sense in a lot of ways.

However. I did grow up in a conservative Baptist church and occasionally bristled so I'm sure some of you will, too. I agree with the reality that God is a spirit rather than a y-chromosomed human male... but I guess my mind is like, "Right, exactly! A y-chromosomed SPIRIT male!" She does choose to use the he pronoun for God and only to show mothering traits, not to call Him "the divine earth mother' or something, too.

This was my first time encountering this author and I thoroughly enjoyed her lovely writing style. She paints some gorgeous word pictures! I immediately found her Coffee + Crumbs essays, too. I felt touched and moved by her imagery many times. I love motherhood and I appreciate her love for it, too.

I'll be very curious to hear your thoughts if any of you try this one.

* I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.