Christy List 2026

I like to update my Christy Award list after the finalists are announced. I'm usually excited about many finalists and would miss out if I only checked out the winners! The 2026 winners were announced here. 

Here's an update to my list of winners + finalists I most want to read, mostly for my own reference! This is only a list of the ones that interest me, not an exhaustive list.  Asterisks are just for myself to see which list items I already own on my TBR shelf. 

✔ 12 Days at Bleakly Manor by Michelle Griep 

✔ Aftermath by Terri Blackstock 

✔ All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes 

All That is Secret by Patricia Raybon 

✔All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese 

All We Thought We Knew* 

✔ The Alliance by Jolina Petersheim 

All That it Takes by Nicole Deese 

Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry

✔ The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starks Clark and Leslie Gould 

The Art of Losing Yourself by Katie Ganshert 

✔ The Barrister and the Letter of Marque by Todd M Johnson  

Ben Washington is the Newbie on the Block 

Between the Sound and Sea 

✔Bitter and Sweet 

✔ Bookshop by the Sea by Denise Hunter 

✔ Borders of the Heart by Chris Fabry 

Born of Gilded Mountains 

A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert 

By Reason of Insanity by Randy Singer 

Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin 

✔ Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock 

✔ Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson 

✔ The Chair by James L Rubart 

Chaos Grid 

✔ Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin 

Child of the Mountains by Marilyn Sue Shank 

The Color of Justice by Ace Collins 

✔ Dark Justice by Brandilyn Collins 

Darkfell 

✔ By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson 

✔ The Day the Angels Fell by Shawn Smucker 

✔ Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay 

✔ The Delusion by Laura Gallier 

✔ Dust by Kara Swanson 

Echo Nova 

✔ The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox 

✔ Eli by Bill Myers 

Extinction Island by Janice Boekhoff 

False Pretense by Heather Day Gilbert 

The Filling Station

Firefly Island by Lisa Wingate

Forbidden by Ted Dekker 

Freedom's Ring by Heidi Chiavaroli 

A Gentle Tyranny by Jess Corban 

✔ The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert 

The Great Divide by T Davis Bunn  

✔ The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson 

Hidden Current by Sharon Hinck  

Hope Between the Pages by Pepper Basham 

The Hope of Refuge by Cindy Woodsmall 

✔ If I Run by Terri Blackstock  

Illuminary 

Indigo Isle by TI Lowe 

✔ The Italian Ballerina by Kristy Cambron 

Jake Rogers' Planet 

Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate 

The Last Exchange by Charles Martin 

The Last Plea Bargain by Randy Singer 

The Lawyer and the Laundress 

The Letter Keeper by Charles Martin 

✔ Life After by Katie Ganshert 

✔ A Long Time Comin' by Robin W Pearson 

✔ Long Way Gone by Charles Martin 

Lowcountry Lost 

The Man He Never Was by James L Rubart 

Many Sparrows by Lori Benton 

The Means That Make Us Strangers by Christine Kindberg 

✔ The Medallion by Cathy Gohlke 

✔ The Meeting Place by Janette Oke 

✔ The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson 

✔ Missing Isaac by Valerie Fraser Luesse 

✔ The Mitford series by Jan Karon 

✔ Mr. Nicholas by Christopher de Vinck 

No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert*

A Noble Calling by Rhona Weaver 

✔ North! Or be Eaten by Andrew Peterson 

Not in the Heart by Chris Fabry 

On Moonberry Lake by Holly Varni 

✔ Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur 

✔ Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins 

✔ The Pawn by Steven James- DNF, too much for me!  

Plague Maker by Tim Downs 

✔ The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate 

Predator by Teri Blackstock 

✔ The Promise of Jesse Woods by Chris Fabry 

Protector

Recorder by Cathy McCrumb 

✔️ The Roads We Follow 

✔ Roots of Wood and Stone by Amanda Wen 

Rule of Law by Randy Singer 

✔ The Seakeeper's Daughters by Lisa Wingate 

✔ The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck 

Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke 

✔ Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes 

✔ Shadow by Kara Swanson 

✔ Shadows of Swanford Abbey by Julie Klassen 

Shadowcast by Crystal D Grant 

Sky of Seven Colors by Rachelle Nelson 

Soon by Jerry B Jenkins 

The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin 

South of Somewhere*

The Space Between Words by Michele Phoenix 

The Story Peddler by Lindsay A Franklin 

✔ The Storykeeper by Lisa Wingate 

Sugar Birds by Cheryl Gray Bostrom 

✔ A Texas Christmas Carol by Karen Witemeyer 

The Thing About Home by Rhonda McKnight 

✔ A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes 

A Time to Seek by Tracy Higley 

✔A Time to Stand by Robert Whitlow 

The Trial by Robert Whitlow 

True to You by Becky Wade 

Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe 

✔ Under the Tulip Tree by Michelle Shocklee 

✔ Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin 

Vanish by Tom Pawlik 

The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt 

Washington's Lady by Nancy Moser 

The Way Back 

Wedded to War by Jocelyn Green 

The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck 

✔ When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin 

The White Rose Resists by Amanda Barratt 

✔ Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes 

Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert 

Wishtress by Nadine Brandes 

The Wonderland Trials by Sara Ella 

Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin 

The Year of Jubilee by Cindy Morgan 

You Don't Know Me by Susan May Warren  

Yours is the Night by Amanda Dykes 

Christian resources for your homeschool Morning Basket

If you aren't familiar with the term morning basket, it's my very favorite part of homeschool. This is where you curl up with your kids and some good books of all different subjects, some of which are not your traditional subjects. We've read books on home ec, life skills, and communication skills, for example. None of those subjects are of great interest to my children for an entire elective but they're important enough to me that I wanted to incorporate the information into their education. We've used vocabulary word books/cards, poetry books, you name it. I could list all kinds of secular resources but I wanted to specifically focus today on the Christian resources we've used. 

First, of course, fiction read-alouds! There are lots of great ones in my middle grade book lists. 

Atlas Adventures... This is a really fun social studies/geography resource. We just read about one country at a time, usually one or two a week, and usually had things to look up and learn more about afterwards. I appreciated learning about each country's languages, religions, nature, food, clothing, inspiring religious figures, and more. 

Bible storybooks/ the Bible itself as they got older... This one doesn't need any explanation but it looks silly to not format it the same way as the others =D

Everyone a Child Should Know... We loved this book of I think 50 Christian heroes. I think we probably read two or three a week until we had finished it. Each one is just about a page, very short-but-sweet, so we didn't get a huge overview but I read this one to my kids when they were little and this was about all they could handle anyway. 

Heroes in Black History... I have enjoyed a few of the Trailblazers books by Dave & Neta Jackson and enjoyed this one, too. This was a great read in February (Black history month) but it was a lot longer and more in-depth than the previous book so probably needs to be for more of that middle grade range. 

Hymns... These are a great thing to memorize and study together. 

Indescribable, How Great is Our God, and The Wonder of Creation... My kids and I loved these science devotions! I can't tell you how many times we ended up researching something more because Louie Giglio wrote about it in a way that just fascinated and inspired us. We have read straight-through at times and we've also cherry-picked the subjects that matched our current science unit lessons.   

Marvel at the Moon... I'm not personally very into space science (human anatomy is my personal passion subject) but I still enjoyed this book of devotions centered around space science. 

Missionary biographies... After learning that Sonlight incorporates so much of this into their school I was inspired to do the same. Some of these have been more interesting to my kids than others and we certainly haven't read all of them. We've also enjoyed a few from the Trail Blazers series. 

Not Consumed Bible studies... A friend of mine told us about their favorite Bible study company having a holiday sale so we tried the Christmas hymn Bible study and loved it! Now we're fans and I have so many of their studies on our wish list!  

Soaring Through the Bible... This is a fantastic resource for understanding Bible basics, broken down by chapter. I have been learning a lot, too. In spite of an entire lifetime growing up in the church I felt like I understood so little about the Bible itself (and the history during the time periods in each book) and thought this would be good to do together. I still have a lot to learn (and probably always will!) but I at least know more than I did before we started it! 

The Ology... This is a good, basic breakdown of theology. Something I really appreciated about this one is the fact that it's so easily geared toward multiple age groups. There's a basic start with extra scripture for older kids to look up and study further. 

Where Wonder Leads... This has been our most recent delight! I wrote about this one more here but it's a fantastic nature study written in story form. I immediately added it to our morning basket and it's been just the hit I suspected it would be <3 

Bookish stuff, lately

I just wanted to share a bunch of really random bookish things that have been hanging around in my phone recently. 

I reviewed Where Wonder Leads recently but I wanted to say I've been reading it with my kids as part of our morning basket routine (nature study) and it's been such a hit! Not so much with my young teenage son, admittedly, but my girls are fans. 

 

Cute, spotted at Walmart 

Also cute, also spotted at Walmart 

 

Why am I so obsessed with dollhouse miniatures? This one is an advent calendar. Every day before Christmas you open up a new mini book for your dollhouse! Fun, but not something I need. Or that anyone needs, technically. 

Living in my car most afternoons right now, in that season with older kids and their activities. On this particular day I finished my grading/prepwork for the next day's school early and it was so dreamy to just sit and savor a couple of chapters of Lightborn while the rain fell! 

And, on this day, I snuck in another chapter of Lightborn while eating my rushed 3pm car lunch (pineapple-mango smoothie, avocado toast with hemp hearts and Everything Bagel seasoning, and these tasty little protein bites I ate too fast to photograph) before tackling that bag of school grading/prepwork you see in the bag. =] 

Cute bookish stickers found in a printing store

Bookish links- November 2026

 

November new releases I'm excited about: Clothed in the Word 

16 easy Thanksgiving living room decor ideas for book lovers 

Are you a mug person? I have a few and that's already more than I need. I try not to buy any more, but I still enjoy looking at them! Bookish autumn mugs that make me smile: Reading window // All booked for fall // window nook // book pumpkin // autumn book stack 

If you have a Facebook account, will you please follow our Homeschool Finance page? And, if you're so inclined, please also share it with family and friends! 

Intense (devastating) Christian fiction recommendations 

Autumn Christian fiction I've read, autumn picture books I love 

If you haven't already watched Little House on the Prairie but want to, this watch party post has a couple of cute ideas. 

Cozy autumn bookworm shirt 

10 cozy Christian romances perfect for fall reading 

Another of Amy's sister coffee shop + bookstore date posts- these always make me smile! 

This Little Red Riding Hood play set made me smile. 

Look at this adorable bookish luminary decoration! There's a Christmas version, too! 

Are board books a tool or a toy? (Full video here) 

What happens when I die? Resources on eternity 

I'm still having fun making the occasional bookish YouTube short if you're a fan of shorts! 

I used my Tyndale Reader Reward Points (We both get 15 points if you sign up using my link) to get a free copy of Elsewhere in Odyssey this month. I have been using this program since 2018 and have gotten 12 free books from the program in general now, plus recently won four more in a giveaway they held!  

14 tips for when your child reads TOO much

Have you ever heard of a silent book club? The idea is interesting. I've been invited to one before. I politely declined and thought to my introverted little self, "If I'm just going to be reading silently, I'd rather do it at home in my pajamas and not have to talk to any strangers about it afterwards" :D But I do absolutely love my in-person book club through my church! 

We've got a new post up on our finance curriculum site which I think will be very helpful not just to homeschool families but honestly to any family! I wish I'd had more of this education before I moved out and started my own financial life! It was also be very helpful if you'd pin this pin =] 

Popular young adult books from a Christian point of view (I have not read all of these and the ones I have read were so long ago that I truly can't confirm either way) 

I read and loved Imagine Heaven and The Case for Heaven for Kids a while back. My husband and I watched The Case for Heaven one weekend and really enjoyed it! 

I've read several fantastic articles from For the Gospel this month and can't help but want to share it! I found it by Googling something I didn't understand from one of our Sunday sermons this month and now I'll always check there if I don't understand something! 

Have you ever felt conflicted about reading/watching Harry Potter as a Christian? Here are just two of many opinions. 

Christian graphic novels! 

Holiday homeschooling- adding curriculum to the mix 

Non-book things I loved in October: fall leaves! // this 100% cotton duster cardigan- I have it in navy but wear it so often I'll probably get another color as my next clothing purchase // this creamy wild rice soup my daughter and I made (I thought it tasted best when I sprinkled cayenne on my bowl after it was already cooked but our friends added sausage to theirs and really liked that, too) and we all enjoyed and this 5-minute lasagna (5min to prep, not to bake ;)) that delighted me because I love lasagna but hate standing there layering it // House of David again because we finished season 2! Now we're watching (and loving) The Chosen, season 3 // Helping my girls turn a pair of ripped up jeans into a denim skirt and then a different pair into a purse! 

Lightborn: Dawn of Darkness

I've finally finished a 548 page Biblical fantasy, Lightborn: Dawn of Darkness. This is book 1 of The Forgotten World Saga. 

I have been very interested in the pre-flood world for several years now. Nephilim, behemoth, Leviathan (although some of those survived the flood)... it's all very fascinating to me. 

This book is a fantasy, which is not my usual go-to, but the time period interested me enough that I wanted to give it a chance. I expected an average 300-ish page book and was almost disappointed to see that it was so long, since it's fantasy, but ended up being just fine with that. 

This book is primarily for adults but, per the publisher, could also work well for teens. I do agree with that but would like to caution parents to decide for themselves as there is of course some fantasy violence (though nothing graphically gory that I recall) and there is mention of a slave woman being forced into life as a concubine, as well as a bit of talk about fallen angels mating with human women to create the Nephilim race (again, nothing graphic is depicted). 

If the pre-flood world has ever interested you, if you are a fan of fantasy, and if you like Biblical fiction (you'll see Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah and more!), I would definitely give this one a try. I'll be reading book 2 when that comes out, too. 

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