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. 

Christian Books for 8th graders

 

This list will grow but here it is for now! 

Berinfell Prophecies (fantasy)

Do Hard Things (nonfiction)

Dominion series (Biblical fiction retelling, graphic novel, sci-fi)

The Faithful Spy (nonfiction, graphic novel)

The Hadley Academy for the Improbably Gifted (fantasy) 

It’s Not About Me, teen edition (nonfiction)

Kingdom series (fantasy)

Left Behind kids series (dystopian fiction)

Mysteries of Middlefield (Amish fiction)

The Mythmakers (nonfiction, graphic novel)

Raising Dragons series (fantasy)

Robot Wars (sci-fi)

Swipe series (dystopian fiction)

Taking Flight (nonfiction) 

A Teen’s Guide to the 5 Love Languages (nonfiction)

Twice Freed (historical fiction)

Wingfeather Saga (fantasy)

Wormling series (fantasy)

August reads

This was a pretty remarkable month for reading!

GROWN-UP READS:

📖 Bible study: 2 Peter // Ephesians using Worthy // Slowly studying Ezekiel with my husband. 

🌟 An observation: I love taking notes and thoroughly studying but I'm realizing that it's not necessarily a good season for that. I am skipping Bible study often right now because the baby wakes up early and I can't pull out all my note stuff. I need to shift to just reading my Bible again. Better to get the Word in me than wait wait wait until I can more deeply study it. 

📖 Brain Rules for Baby (secular, nonfiction, Science, health, parenting)... This is a re-read for me, one I first read and loved almost 14 years ago. I loved it again this time! 
📖 The Deep End of Love (Christian, fiction)... I really enjoy Christina Suzann Nelson's Deep writing and was so excited to win this one in a Goodreads giveaway! I did enjoy it but whew, not an easy read! Unplanned teen pregnancy, grief, past abortion hurt, infertility, marriage strain, the works! I absolutely cried during this one. But also so much love, strength, tenacity, resilience, growth... I will be thinking for a long time about this one and about the hard-but-beautiful lessons it gave me.
📖 Letters From My Sister (Christian, fiction)... This was a great book that kept making me feel hopeful and then sad. I don't have any sisters but seeing my own daughters' bonds shows me I'm missing out in that area. This book did, too!
📖 One Life (secular, nonfiction, history)... This was my church book club's pick for the month after I read about Sir Nicholas Winton. It's a wonderful story but we all agreed that the backstory was a bit dry.  
📖 William Henry is a Fine Name (Christian, historical fiction)... This was a good, enjoyable Underground Railroad story I added to our 9th grade shelf. I look forward to hearing what my son thinks.

I also worked through quite a few new releases and reviewed those here.

YA & MIDDLE GRADE READS 

📖 The Day the Angels Fell (Christian, YA, fiction)... This one is a kind of spiritual world-themed fantasy involving the tree of life. It had more blood than I like but I put it on our 9th grade okay list. 

📖 The Edge of Over There (Christian, YA, fiction)... This is the sequel to The Day the Angels Fell. Same basic review as before. Not a fan of blood, know my oldest will like it next year. 

📖 Eliza's Freedom Road (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I'm prone to loving books written as diary entries. I would have loved this Underground Railroad story as a kid! 
📖 Freedom Seekers #1: Escape Into the Night (Christian, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... This is a good Underground Railroad story but those who are sensitive to eye-dialect might find it offensive. 

📖 Greystone Secrets #1 The Strangers and #2 The Deceivers (secular, middle grade, fiction)... Yet another exciting Margaret Peterson Haddix story I couldn't get enough of! This one is a trilogy and I'm very excited for book 3. 
📖 Growing Up With Aloha: American Girl Nanea #1 (secular, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I enjoyed this this American Girl novel, this one a WWII home front story set in Hawaii, and I think my girls will all love it, too. (More American Girl reviews here) 
📖 Hudson Taylor: Deep in the Heart of China (Christian, fictionalized biography)... This was a great biography of missionary Hudson Taylor. I particularly loved the fact that he got a horrible infection and was told he'd die but his response was that God had called him to China and he hadn't gone yet so he would not die.
📖 Riley Mae and the Rock Shocker Treks // Riley Mae and the Ready Eddy Rapids  (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... This is another Faithgirlz series, this one about a seventh grader in California who becomes a shoe model/spokesperson. They're a lot more of an action-adventure story than the cover implies! I liked them and will try book 3, too. (More Faithgirlz reviews here) 

📖 Stealing Home (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, graphic novel)... I really enjoyed this Japanese internment camp story and teared up at the end. 

📖 Tales of Buttercup Grove* (Christian, early chapter book, fiction)... This early reader book was so cute! I loved both the sweet animal illustrations and the sweet kindness/ friendship stories. There are four seasonal stories (which reminded me of Brambly Hedge!) and they each begin with a Bible verse. I happily added this one to our second grade shelf. 

📖 This Seat's Saved (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... I loved this book so much! The first chapter or two made me think this would essentially be a secular, very worldly book with a lot of negativity towards parents and the occasional prayer. NO!!! It was amazing. The character has some tension with her mother and intense middle school girl friend conflicts along with the pains that come with growing up and not quite fitting in. There is so much beautiful faith-focused reflection and growth here, and I'm so happy it's a four-book series! I immediately added book 2 to our Amazon cart. I'm very happy to have this one for our 7th grade bookshelf. I wish every Christian middle grade novel would leave me feeling the way this one did. 
📖 The Ugly One (secular, middle grade, fiction, TGTB book list)... I didn't love this one but thought it was overall fine. I was not comfortable with all the negative body image talk at the start but that did die down.
📖 You Have a Brain (Christian, YA, nonfiction)... As far as I can recall, this is basically Gifted Hands but a slightly more mature version. I loved Gifted Hands and loved this one, too! 

* I received a free copy of Tales of Buttercup Grove in exchange for an honest review.

📚 PICTURE BOOKS WE LOVED: Bedtime, Here I Come! (Our last Imagination Library book) // Charlie Goes to School (over and over and over again! 😊) // Loved by God (full review here)

Favorite read this month: This Seat's Saved! 🥰

Autumnal Christian fiction

Are you a seasonal reader? I've recently discovered that I'm really not, other than Christmas books at Christmas time, but I have been keeping seasonal lists lately anyway because I know some of you are! 

26 Below (suspense)... I'm a big baby about suspense these days so this was admittedly a bit much for me (it's time for me to join the Cozy Mystery Club when I'm feeling like a mystery!) but it was good and has gotten great reviews from tougher Christian book reviewers I like :)

All That We Carried (general fiction)... This is largely a sister story, full of relationship dynamics between the two. It's set during a backpacking trip so the autumn is very atmospheric at times.

Before We Were Us (romance)... This amnesia trope love story was pretty cute. It also finally got New Hampshire accounted for in my list of books by location. 

From the Start (romance)... This is the start of a family series. I decided to wait until I've finished the Christiansen family books to really dive into the Walkers but I do look forward to it.

Letters From My Sister (historical fiction)... Much of this historical Alabama story takes place in the fall.

The Perfect Rom-Com (romance)... This book really made me smile. I'm just a sucker for fun writer stories I suppose.

Pocketful of Pinecones (historical fiction, contemporary)... This diary-style novel is definitely not for everyone. This is basically a business parable kind of book, a fiction written to show homeschool moms how to execute a Charlotte Mason-style nature study. It takes place over all four seasons but it's really very atmospheric during each season since it's so nature-focused.