September Reads

 

GROWN-UP READS:

📖 Bible study: Slowly studying Ezekiel with my husband. What a wild journey! 

📖 Authentically, Izzy (Christian, fiction)... This was a cute You've Got Mail vibes rom-com written mostly as a modern-day epistolary novel (texts, emails, and messages on a dating website). I don't think I'll necessarily seek out the next two, since my library doesn't have them, but if I ever spot them in the wild I'll be happy. 

📖 Borders of the Heart (Christian, fiction)... I listened to this one because I saw it on a list of good Christian fiction for high school boys. It's about a man old enough to have been married and have a three-year-old child, and it contains a lot of violence performed by a cartel member, but I do think a young man would enjoy the action and rescue elements. Racism against undocumented Mexicans is depicted here which does include some racial slurs. 

📖 God So Close (Christian, nonfiction)... I enjoyed this book on the Holy Spirit and was inspired by it multiple times- just what you want out of a read like this! 

📖 The Lost Story of Via Belle (Christian, historical fiction, timeslip)... This was my church book club's pick for September and it got mixed reviews. Only four of us read this month's book. I loved it, as did another friend, but the other two were not fans. It took me a few chapters to get into our modern character's story but I was interested in the 1940s storyline right away. Definitely not squeaky clean and not one I'll be adding to my kids' high school shelves but I still enjoyed it. 

📖 A Rumored Fortune (Christian, historical fiction)... This was not my usual style but I did mostly enjoy it. I am interested in a few others by the author too so we shall see what I think of those! 

📖Start With the Heart (Christian, nonfiction, parenting)... I loved this author's book 8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers and really love her heart for parenting. It came as no surprise at all to me that I loved this one too and can't recommend it enough, especially for someone who is having behavioral struggles with one of their children. My biggest takeaway was something I had already taken away from 8GS though, which is that it is just so important to love, support, and respect our children for exactly who God designed them to be (not who we parents maybe might think they ought to be, for example!) and that COMMUNICATION IS KING!!!

📖You're the One That I Want (Christian, fiction)... This was book six in the series and it felt so different from the others! To me, anyway. I really enjoyed it though and I'm looking forward to the final book, the Christmas book! I do plan to then read the other Deep Haven books but I don't expect them to contain much if any mentions of the Christiansen family. I guess we'll see! 

YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS 

📖 The Disappearing Seat (Christian, middle grade, fiction, book 2 in series)... Five stars, absolutely loving this series! I've got it in seventh grade and can't wait for one of my girls in particular to read this one. 

📖 Dragons of Starlight #1: Starlighter (Christian, YA, fantasy fiction)... More violence/gore than I want to see but overall fine. 

📖 The Elite Seat (Christian, middle grade, fiction, book 3 in series)... I really liked this third book, though admittedly slightly less than the first two. But I ADORED the first two so it's still high praise and I'm excited to try out the fourth! 

📖 Freedom Seekers #2 Race for Freedom (Christian, middle grade, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I liked this one fine, will try book 3. 

📖 Hiding Edith (secular, fictionalized biography, TGTB book list)... I think this is my 5th Kathy Kacer book and I've really liked all of them. She's great at writing a powerful WWII story for kids that's still full of hope and not just darkness. 

📖 Lines of Courage (secular, middle grade, historical fiction)... I really enjoyed this WWI novel and can't wait to hear my 8th grader's thoughts! I think she's our favorite middle grade historical fiction author. 

📖 The Lost Puppy (secular, chapter book, fiction)... These books mostly feel the same but they've been a hit for us in the 2nd/3rd grade shelf. 

📖 Mark of the Thief (secular, historical fiction, fantasy)... There was more violence and injury description in this book than I like but my oldest is excited about it and I'm going to go ahead and let him try it. We can't get book two from our library so we'll see if he likes it enough to add it to our used book watch-for list or not. 

📖 The Messengers (Greystone Secrets #3) (secular, middle grade, fiction)... I thought this was a great end to a great series. 

📖Son of Charlemagne (secular, historical fiction, TGTB Book List)... This is not my personal preferred time period but I was pleasantly surprised anyway. I shouldn't have been, though. It's on basically every list of good homeschool reads. =]

📖 Spying on Spies (secular, middle grade, nonfiction, history)... This was a great nonfiction about a famous female code breaker of WWII which I happily added to our 8th grade book list. 

📖 Zoey and Sassafras #4 and #5: The Pod and the Bog (secular, chapter book, fiction, TGTB book list)... This is just a cute, playful series. Random science facts do show up. We did add these to our 3rd grade shelf. 

📚 PICTURE BOOKS WE LOVED: Amazing Grace // Holy Holy Holy // If You Give a Pig a Pancake // 

Favorite read this month: Probably the two Elita Brown books I read! I can't wait for book 4! 

New Releases I've Been Enjoying

I had such an exciting bunch of review books lately! I know what I like and have time for so I've learned (in my DECADE as a Christian book reviewer!) to say no to the books I'm not excited about and even the ones I'm excited about but don't have time for. Because of that, it's pretty rare for me to fully dislike a review book. But it's also pretty rare for me to have so many great homeruns in a row! Here are the new releases (or coming-soon releases) I've been enjoying lately. 

Exploring Psalms and Proverbs (Nonfiction, devotional)... This is a great morning devotional option for those of you who enjoy an artistic start to your day. I love the pre-made scripture art but there are also journal prompts and sections where you create your own art. Some coloring journals/devotionals feel a bit disjointed but this one doesn't at all since it's specifically focused on Psalms and then Proverbs. One of my daughters is incredibly excited to add this to her morning time routine. 

Irreplaceable (nonfiction)... This book is focused on the intersection of technology and our Christian vocations with a specific emphasis on work, family, church, and societal vocations. My goodness! I admittedly skipped the workplace chapter since I am not currently in the traditional workforce but I read the rest and loved it! I've been recommending it to everyone and thinking about it constantly. The footnotes were spectacular, too. I've got a huge list of books and articles to read now and right away borrowed one of the mentioned books from the library. 

Theology for Life (nonfiction)... This book is a slower read for me, as in I keep re-reading sentences more slowly to really take them in. I have thought and discussed a lot while reading this one and will go back to it again and again as I'm continuing to learn and process theology. There's a lot to it, isn't there? I do want to clarify that the joy mentioned on the cover is referring to your internal joy about Jesus, not that this is a playful, joyful book. That should be obvious but for some reason I was expecting something really light-hearted in tone where it is of course more serious and educational. 

Where Wonder Leads (fiction with lots of nonfiction inserts, middle grade, nature/science, great homeschool resource)... I really loved this book and can't wait to share it with my kids! Because it is kind of business-parable in nature, a nature study book written as a fictional story where a young girl is learning about nature with nonfiction inserts, I am excited to use this as a homeschool resource for our morning reading time! It would also make for a great book for a middle grade reader to read on his/her own and I am confident at least two of my children will read this on their own once I'm done reading it with everyone. 

*I received a free copy of each of these books from their respective publishers in exchange for my honest reviews. 

Christian fiction featuring 30-something main characters

I repeatedly notice how often the main character of my fiction ends up being a twenty-something. I think it's helpful and important to read about people in a different place in life than me, but that does not only mean people in their 20s! I have been keeping count for quite some time now and my lists of characters in their 40s and older are still so tiny! They grow at a snail's pace, but at least they grow! Today I want to share my list of main characters in their 30s. 

Authentically, Izzy... Either I didn't catch Izzy's age or it wasn't specified, but I do assume she's in her 30s. Our mail main character (Brodie), however, is most definitely age 34. This book was epistolary until about page 250. That did throw me off a bit but I quickly recovered and just enjoyed this fun rom-com. 

Baxter family books... Because these books are about various family members they span a large age range. These are not for everyone as they're very dramatic but I really did enjoy them. I would say they're like a (conservative Christian) book version of Parenthood or This is Us. They get very heavy and almost always make me cry. I've linked the first five-book series but the Baxters series really contains 30-ish books, some spread out through different four or five book series, some as stand-alones.

Christiansen family books... Because these books are about various family members they span a large age range. I love them. They might be my favorite series. 

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley... Isadora's thirtieth birthday is the kick-off of this book. After reading an article about ways to be happy, she decides to conduct an experiment on herself. She'll try each of these things and probably not end up any happier. Right? 

The Heart Between Us... The cover of this book about twin sisters made me think it was going to be all playful fluff but that is very misleading! It had a lot more depth and heaviness (and, bear with me, heart) than I would ever have expected from the cover. Also, twins, so two thirty-somethings for the price of one. Sexual assault is briefly mentioned multiple times in this book.

The Lost Story of Via Belle... This time-slip covers several ages but a main male character, Simon, is 33 at the start of the book. Simon is not telling the story from his perspective but we definitely get to know him quite well. 

The Printed Letter Bookshop... This story, which takes place primarily in a bookshop, is about multiple women of different ages/ life stations. One is in her 30s so here we are. Again, the cover made this seem like a playful fluff book to me but it had a lot more substance to it than that. I prefer my books full of depth and substance so that didn't bother me in the slightest! 

The Summer of Yes... This was a story about a 30-something writer who is road-tripping with a dying older woman and writing her biography. They're both learning that good things can happen if they only choose to say yes.  

These Tangled Threads... The first thing I want to warn you of is that I started this book as an audio book and struggled with the multiple timelines. I had to switch to a physical version but I know some people handle audio better than I do. This book is all over the place time-wise but at some point Arthur was said to be 37 years old so here it is! 

Twenty Something Else... This book was an interesting one for me. I love a fun time-bending story and this one did deliver on that front but sometimes I was very bothered by the main character's views/choices. Sutton is on her last day of age 39 on page one and then various twenty-something ages throughout the book. This one is said to be great for fans of Courtney Walsh and I think I would overall agree. 

Bookish Links- October 2026

Do you recognize these cuties? Little Critter and Arthur, two characters my mom was constantly reading to me as a kid! (Although Arthur looked a little less, erm, cute, when we first started reading about him!)

New releases I'm excited about this month: The Dogwood Gospel // Kwan and the Armor of Light // The Resurrection of Evania James // The Sedalia Code // The Sisterhood of Unlikely Friends // The Undercover Bookshop 

Favorite Native American History Month reads 

I recently stumbled upon this- Baking Through the Bible at Christmas. I have zero desire to try this out myself but I know some of you are baking enthusiasts so I thought I'd share! 

Bookish autumn art I love- Cozy Autumn // Autumn Lovers // Pumpkin Spice- I love this one so much, it made me cry and I put it on my Christmas wishlist 🥰 

Rebecca's favorite Christian fantasy and sci-fi books 

My husband and I watched Meet Me in the Margins on Pureflix this month. The book was of course better (it always is, isn't it?) but it was cute and one I'll definitely recommend to anyone who likes a clean romance movie with a Hallmark kind of feel to it. 

Two ways to quickly check the content of a book... and a new-to-me website that quickly scans every review for content you may not like! 

Wow, Paris libraries are so lovely! 

Bible journaling for beginners 

7 tips for homeschooling with littles around 

This was interesting- what scientists found about audio books 

11 must-read historical novels set in iconic locations 

Did you check out the Christy finalists for this year? :) 

Cute DIY bookmarks by Emily Lex 

Would you do me a favor today? Would you kindly please share our homeschool curriculum, Teach Homeschool Finance, on your favorite social media platform? Or pin it on Pinterest? The more links it gets, the better it performs in search engines and such. I appreciate it! 

This mug makes me smile 

I always love seeing Amy's cookbook club posts. This one was all about pies. The next one is all about soup & bread, which you know will be my favorite! 

10 griping novels and series for fans of medical dramas (that's me!) 

Helping kids move from Bible storybooks to Bibles 

I love this sweet Hundred Acre Woods conservatory feature in Alberta!

Non-book things I loved in September- Cooler weather! // These JJ Heller hymns // Average Joe with my oldest and House of David with my husband // Not having a browser or any distracting anything on my phone (but still maps, Libby, and Hoopla lol) thanks to this great tutorial! I did the O Launcher part as well and my husband loved the look so put it on his phone, too // this adorable wreath craft my aunt sent (still have yet to make it though) // These pumpkin cookies my daughter baked // this jacket my mom sent my toddler... such a perfect thin-but-warm-and cozy little thing! 

Hymns for Little Ones- O Holy Night!

 

We have been loving these board book hymns since my toddler was itty-bitty. There is something very sweet about an 18 month-old sitting on a blanket in the living room, flipping through a board book shouting "Ho-lee, ho-leeeeeee, ho-leeeeeeeeeee!" 

We purchased those first three with our own money and then I was so excited when Harvest House offered a copy of O Holy Night in exchange for an honest review. 

My review is, unsurprisingly, that we love it! I of course loved the words because the words are simply the lyrics to old favorite hymns, which I think are so important to keep alive and well, but the illustrations are also so cozy and sweet to me. We have read this one a few times now just because it was new and exciting but I really look forward to ramping it up at Christmastime. 

If you are looking for a Christmassy board book, for your own little one or for gifting, I genuinely recommend this one for both fun and for easy learning of a beautiful, classic hymn! 

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