March Reading

GROWN-UP READS:

📖 Bible study: Nothing specific other than what I was covering through church, Becoming a Girl of Grace, and my (not finished) morning read, Hidden Mysteries and the Bible. 

📖 Always On my Mind (Christian, fiction, book 4 in the Christiansen Family series)... l was really looking forward to this one (so much DRAMA!!) and it did not disappoint!
📖 Make Your Own (secular, nonfiction, cookbook)... We've been looking forward to this cookbook for so long! We are all very happy with it. The first thing we made was chili cheese fries using this cheese sauce and everyone loved it. 
📖 Pearl in the Sand (Christian, Biblical fiction)... I read this biblical fiction about Rahab of Jericho with my church book club. I wouldn't have chosen this for myself and didn't like it very much. This is the 4th Biblical fiction book I've tried and it's the 3rd that felt to sexual for a Christian novel! Is that a fluke or is this a thing? Would love your thoughts if you're a Biblical fiction reader. 
📖 Relationships 101 (Christian, nonfiction)... My focus this year is love, you know? This short, powerful book gave me a lot of inspiration in this area! 
📖 Restoration series: #1 Last Light, #2 Night Light (Christian, fiction)... This EMP aftermath/survival series was on a list of great books for Christian teens so I wanted to give it a try. It is a murder mystery (not super graphic though) and does talk about edgier subjects (teens getting drunk and high, a man selling pornography) but through a Christian lens. I'll finish the series before deciding if I'll give it to my teens someday.

📚 Plus applicable sections of Mom Heart Moments and The Wonder Weeks

YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS...

📖 The Blossoming Summer (secular by a Christian author, middle grade, fiction)... I liked this WWII home front family story- a great one for Indigenous Peoples Month, too!
📖  A Boy and a Bear in a Boat (secular, middle grade, fiction)... I read this one because one of my children picked it as their library book. I didn't love it and neither did the kiddo.
📖 The Castle in the Attic (secular, middle grade, fiction)... Not my very favorite but overall fine. Reminds me of a less rude Indian in the Cupboard.
📖 The Children of Willow Farm (secular, middle grade, fiction, The Good and the Beautiful Book list selection)... One of my kids has been excited about this out-of-print pig book for years and my dad finallyfound a copy! The pigs don't come in until pretty far into the book but I still think it'll be a hit.
📖 Freedom Train (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... This Harriet Tubman book was a quick skim for me. I appreciated the Faith content.
📖 In 27 Days (secular, YA, fiction)... I did like this creative YA novel but don't plan to add it to our lists. Parents will want to know there's a lot of kissing and a few minor language issues like "BS," the acronym not the full word.
📖 Nicki: My Journal (secular, middle grade, fiction)... I enjoyed this 1999 American Girl story and will try the longer Nicki story, too.
📖 The Scourge (secular, middle grade, Speculative fiction)... I liked this middle grade dystopian/epidemic kinda book. It had the caste system, friendship, and adventure of The Hunger Games but without the violence. There's also a kiss. I'm putting it on our 8th grade list.
📖 The Secret Keepers (secular, middle grade, fiction)... This 15-hour-long audio book is by the author the Mysterious Benedict Society series we love. The first three chapters I was not feeling it but then I loved it to the end and couldn'twait to listenagain! My oldest loved it, too.
📖 Summerhill Secrets #1: Whispers Down the Lane  (Christian, YA, Amish fiction)... This was the exact dramatic YA novel I would have loved as a teen. This was intense subject matter (a friend's alcoholic father has been beating her and the teenage MC is trying to figure out how to handle the situationwith integrity) but I felt it was handled well, from a realistic Christian teen perspective. I will try book 2, too.
📖 Who Was Harry Houdini? (Secular, middle grade, nonfiction)... I was glad one of my children chose this library book because I had fun learning about Houdini. 

📚 PICTURE BOOKS WE LOVED: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom // Eric Carle's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 

Favorite read this month: Always On My Mind or The Secret Keepers 

*I used Amazon Affiliates links in this post. If you make an Amazon purchase I make a small referral commission at no additional cost to you. 

Kindred & Co

We recently went to an event in Post Falls, Idaho and ended the event with a stop in Kindred & Co. 

This was such a cool, quirky bookstore! Even the light fixtures were unique and fascinating. I really appreciate that in our sea of blank rectangles these days. There were also a few beautiful workspaces and reading areas I didn't photograph. 

 

There was a pretty standard curation of secular titles but we were happy to see a small faith-based fiction shelf! I even learned about a new book in the Deep Haven series which I plan to continue the Christiansen Family series with! The Fox Family?! You know I love a family saga. 

I almost got a peppermint tea in the café but decided I probably shouldn't drink tea before starting the drive back home.

My husband did find the finance section disappointing but we were all quite enchanted by the children's section! 

The pirate ship chandelier among cloud lights! The dollhouse bookshelves! Peter Pan, right? 😍

We purcased a lovely new copy of King Arthur, a nonfiction on the history and breeding of dogs, and the first Nancy Drew book... but I was hoping one of my kids would choose this beautiful Peter Pan since the cover was so pretty and the room was so inspiring! 

As is the case in so many modern bookstores, we did see a few book covers we didn't love. We didn't see any in the children's section though and I very much appreciated that. Overall it would be a fun visit for most. 

Bookish links- April 2026

April new releases I'm excited about: The Bookshop of 99 Doors // Capable // The Girl Upstairs // The Lost Story of Via Belle // The Lumber Barron's Wife // Raising Gen Alpha // Witness Protection // The secular book Yesteryear sounds so good if reviews tell me it's clean! 

7 scintillating Amnesia romances 

Why is it so hard to find Christian books for teens? 

Things that caught my eye in the Christianbook.com Easter mailer: Women of the Bible cover // Wonder Bible audio player... what a wonderful gift for, say, a not-so-techy grandmother with poor eyesight // this lovely pallet art // Bible memory verse coloring cards 

Easy book sleeve sewing tutorial 

I'm currently making my way through the Christiansen Family series and then I'll start the accompanying Deep Haven series. I was so excited to see that the later Deep Have books start a new family, the Fox family! 

I also want to read the Timeless series. 

I always love seeing Amy's books-and-coffee dates with her sister! I need a bookstore date, too. 

Where to get free books // Where to buy cheap books 

My list of Christian fiction books by year has already grown so much as I've been prioritizing historical fiction in 2026. 

Clean rom-com books 

Have any of you tried any of these bookish games? 

Fantastic graphic novels your children will love 

Adorable bookish mugs 

Crystal's favorite devotionals and Christian books for women // for teens 

The best Biblical fiction according to Goodreads 

Janssen's favorite books on home organization 

Okay where are you, adults who loved the American Girl Samantha books? They're releasing an adult version in October! Samantha: The Next Chapter. I hope they do this with all my old favorite girls! 

This Kindle case is so delightfully spring-y!

Christian fiction exploring sister dynamics

All That We Carried... This one is a very character-driven novel. We see two sisters (who couldn't be more different) hiking to commemorate their parents' death and working through years of relationship strain together.

The Baxter Family... This series makes it onto nearly every list but that's only because it's such a long drama series that it tackles nearly every topic! There are four sisters in this series and the books mostly cover all kinds of dynamics and dramas but the sisters' relationships with each other do take center stage from time to time.

Bitter and Sweet... This one features a very painful, bitter sister relationship in relation to a family business.

The Heart Between Us... Two sisters on an international adventure, one as she learns to live again post-heart-transplant, one in an attempt to keep her life from falling apart.

House of Secrets... Three sisters, together in their family's summer house, unraveling the events of a serious childhood trauma.

I'll Be Seeing You... In this time slip we see two sisters who love the same boy and the painful decisions made as a result.

The Roads We Follow... This second novel, about a mother and her daughters on a road trip, works just fine as a stand-alone novel. We see sisters supporting each other through hard times, resenting each other for the roles they all live in, hiding things from each other, and of course having a bit of fun, too.

The Spice King... This book's heroine is the primary caregiver for her blind sister, although that isn't the primary focus of the book. I really enjoyed their relationship. We saw quite a bit of it and I would happily have read about it even more.

Things I Never Told You... I heard the author describe her Thatcher Sisters novel as "Little Women gone wrong" and I can see it. The sisters in this one are so dysfunctional!

The Way It Should Be... In this one, one sister takes kinship care custody of her addict sister's children during rehabilitation. There's a lot to unpack in this one, as you can imagine, and I thought it was very well-done. 

Name a great (middle grade) book about...

Art: The Restorationists series (Christian) for fiction, The Mona Lisa Has Vanished (secular) for nonfiction. Both!!

Books: The Edge of Everywhen (Christian)
Cooking: Help Yourself Cookbook for Kids (secular)
Dance: Shadow of His Hand (Christian)
Education: Rosa Takes a Chance (Christian)
Fire: The Angel Tree (one character's family's house just burned down pre-book) (secular)
Grandmother: Life Behind the Wall (Christian)
Home: Key House (Christian)
Influencer: I don't know of any... but I love this subject and will happily take recommendations! 
Japanese internment: Sylvia and Aki (secular)
Kidnapping: Vanished (Christian)
Libraries:  Lumber Camp Library (secular)
Moving: Best Family Ever (Christian)
New baby: Heartbeat (secular)
Ocean: Iceberg (secular)
Paris: The Family Under the Bridge (secular)
Quilting: Canada Goose Quilt (secular)
Road trip: Road Trip Rescue (Christian)
Sickness: Small Steps (secular)
Theft: Escape at 10,000 Feet (secular)
University:
Vikings: Guts & Glory, Vikings edition (secular)
WWII: Hunger Winter (Christian)
Xenophobia: Echo (secular)
Yellow cover:  The Tanglewood 's Secret (Christian)
Zoo: The Elephant in the Garden (secular)