What are you reading
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justgirl81 - that is the absolute most important reading we can do - our Bible. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against Thee." Not just reading it, but knowing it!
I need to renew my library card so I can get back on Hoopla!1 -
I got my library card renewed and it won't need to be renewed now for three years! Woohoo! I borrowed MARY SLESSOR, a missionary to Africa, as my biography, so I will start that tonight.
I'm on the third book in my Molly Evangeline re-read. I skipped a very lengthy battle scene in book two.
Still working on THE THORN AND THE THISTLE by Laura Frantz too.0 -
I dont read a lot of non-fiction, but I use it for research. Of course Bible study needs to be an important part of our Christian lives.
I just listened to Jessie Gussman's two newest books.
A COWBOY'S FOREVER FAITHFUL by Jessie Gussman (rom)
A COWBOY’S GROWING GRACE by Jessie Gussman (rom)
I have been reading:
KINDLED IN KANSAS by Regina Walker (MOB). It is pretty good. I needed a book from Kansas and this jumped out at me.
I will be starting EMBERS IN THE LONDON SKY by Sarah Sundin (WW2) this evening at bedtime.
Right now I am working to get my books from all 50 states read. I have 11 states left, and have books picked out for some of them already. I always have trouble with Nevada, New Mexico, Vermont and New Hampshire. I need to start doing some research to get those lined out.0 -
I was able to renew my library book so I downloaded MARY SLESSOR who was a missionary to Africa shortly after the time of David Livingston. She wanted to go into the interior of Africa like he did, but was discouraged - no one went more than 65 miles inland at that time saying it was too dangerous. She was determined though.
I'm also reading TRUTH, the third book in the Molly Evangeline series I am re-reading. I skipped over part of it to get to the meat of the story.
I'm also reading the first Mylas Grey story by Luana Ehrlich, ONE DAY GONE. So far it's good, but I'm not far enough into it to tell for sure if it will be good.
I read a super short book by Mary Alford SPEAK NO EVIL, I think it's a quick introduction to a book that is coming out. It is offered by BookFunnel.0 -
I've been reading the HOPE SPRINGS series by Valerie M. Bodden. I started with books 1 - 3:
NOT UNTIL FOREVER, NOT UNTIL THIS MOMENT and NOT UNTIL YOU.
From there I read books 4-6:
NOT UNTIL US, NOT UNTIL CHRISTMAS MORNING and NOT UNTIL THIS DAY.
Last night I downloaded books 7-9 and I'm currently reading book 7:
NOT UNTIL SOMEDAY.
I am really enjoying and getting a lot out of this series. The author has a gift for crafting great stories about broken people whose lives intersect in very meaningful ways. The relationships aren't rushed, but rather are slow-moving. The faith element woven throughout each book is especially impactful. And I enjoy when she incorporates pastor Dan's sermons (he is one of the group of friends in this series) into the story. I'm hoping to finish book 7 while I'm here in Florida. After that - books 8 and 9.0 -
I have enjoyed the books I have read by Valerie Bodden, but haven't read that series. I need to read them, they sound like something I would enjoy.
I am reading HIS MISTLETOE MIRACLE by Jenny B Jones (rom) Arkansas. Its pretty good. It started out funny.
I just finished EMBERS IN THE LONDON SKY by Sarah Sundin (WW2). This is her newest and it was very good, probably my favorite of hers. It's about a reporter and a lady whose son was taken from her when fleeing the Netherlands. The book deals with the war, but also her search for her son.0 -
I will have to look into that series, Cindy. I downloaded the first one from KU.
I am on an ARC team and received book two but was totally lost. I have book one, so I am going to read that one before I get into book two. It's called SACRED FIRE and takes place in what appears to be an OT setting.
Listened some more on my MARY SLESSOR story. It's been really good. In another biography that took place in China, the people would drop off their children with the missionaries, or just leave them in the street and the missionaries would find them and bring them back. In this one in Africa, people just bring their children to Mary's house and just leave them with her. The tribes would kill twin babies believing them to be a curse. Mary saved one set of twins right after they were born, but when she went away for a day, the family came and got the boy and killed him, so she doesn't let the little girl out of her sight! So sad.
I finished the third book in the Molly Evangeline series. She has another series from years ago that I may go back and re-read.0 -
I think the ones in the middle of the series incorporated more scripture and sermons from Pastor Dan. (I'm trying to remember if he was even mentioned in the first one.)0
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It appears I started SACRED FIRE but for some reason didn't continue on. I just kept going from that spot. So far it's been pretty good.
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Connie, Dani Pettrey's new book, ONE WRONG MOVE is set in New Mexico!0
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An update on the Hope Springs series I've been reading (by Valerie M. Bodden). I finished books 8 and 9: NOT UNTIL NOW and NOT UNTIL THEN. Those two were especially touching. I would say each book in the series was just a little bit better than the one before (for me anyway). I thought that was the end of the series, but discovered a book 10: NOT UNTIL THE END, so I downloaded that this morning.0
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Oh, Thanks Kim. I already have ONE WRONG MOVE checked out, but haven't gotten to it yet.
I think that I am going to finish a Melody Carlson YA series in order to get Vermont and Nevada. I started it several years ago and let it go. I have the series checked out in a boxed set, so it doesn't take a lot of my hoopla borrows. If it drives me crazy, so what. I have other books I can use for those states.
I am currently reading (via text-to-voice) CHILDREN OF THE SHADOWS by Erica Vetsch (Regency). This is her newest and I have had a hard time with keeping up with it. When that happens, I have a tendency to blame the book, but I have loved the others in this series, even if they are Regency. I have had to back this up several times. I'm almost done, so will go on to another soon.
I am listening to ALL MY SECRETS by Lynn Austin (Gilded Age). Her books are always great. I'm about 25% through it....and haven't gotten lost!0 -
I finished the MARY SLESSOR biography, it was very good. There wasn't as much about sharing Jesus in this one but more about her work with the African people. They did share Jesus with them, and even though they enjoyed the worship services, they would not give up their superstitions (like twins are a curse and need to die) and wives are to be thrown alive into the grave of their husbands, or given poison before they are thrown in - eek! Mary found ways around these are was able to save some twins and to save some wives!
I'm reading a CHOSEN by Jada Fischer. I've read it in the past but want to re-read it so I will know what is going on with the stories that follow.
I'm reading SECRETS OF THE DESERT by Anabelle Raven, a fantasy, so far very good.
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Thanks for sharing about the HOPE SPRINGS series, Cindy. I just downloaded the first book through KU.
I just finished A BRILLIANT NIGHT OF STARS AND ICE by Rebecca Connolly and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much has been written about the Titanic, but this story is told through the voice of Captain Rostron of the Carpathia, the ship that rescued Titanic's survivors. He was a man of profound faith and I learned a lot. My review - https://booksmusicandlife.blogspot.com/2024/02/a-brilliant-night-of-stars-and-ice-by.html0 -
I finished book 10 (NOT UNTIL THE END) of the Hope Series by Valerie M. Bodden. At the end there was a note with directions to go to her website to download an Extended Epilogue. It was relatively easy to do and I've started reading that. They'l are short chapter updates on each of the couples/families from the series... a nice wrap up.0
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I'm reading another biography, PAUL BRAND, he and his wife are Christian doctors in India. He grew up in India to missionary parents.0
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I finished STUPID CUPID by Ellie Hall. I needed a Nebraska book and this worked. Do i highly recommemd it...no, but it was light, short and had some funny scenes.
I am currently reading SUMMER DREAM by Martha Rogers. This is historical fiction that takes place in Connecticut. I thought I needed it for my reading through the states, but actually had already read one. This is pretty good, though
I listened to ROCKY ROAD by Becky Wade. It was good. I enjoyed it, but it had received so many great reviews that I expected more.
Hoopla has added a ton of Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense books narrated by Apple AI voices. I am against most forms of AI, but i figure that I use text-to-voice all of the time, and its a generated voice. These are really pretty good...better than text-to-voice or a bad narrator.0 -
I started a new biography, C S LEWIS, very interesting. He was a contemporary of Tolkien and they shared their stories with each other. Spending time with Tolkien opened up Lewis' heart to the Lord again.0
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I like C. S. Lewis and would probably enjoy that biography, Kim.
Just finished THE DIVINE PROVERB OF STREUSEL and it was so very good! A favorite, for sure.0 -
Carole - I loved the book! I loved Mrs Kip, too! And the author is so gracious. Right before Christmas of 2022 she had a booksigning at Barnes and Noble locally. I went and bought 2 signed copies for Christmas gifts. She lived in the same county here in Kansas at that time, and Mrs Kip was set locally. I think she says she lives in the KC MO area now (just a few miles away), and does quite a few things through one of the libraries in MO.
Currently I am listening to ONE WRONG MOVE by Dani Pettrey. It is very good.0 -
If you get Hoopla, Carole, you can listen to these biographies for free - there are a bunch of them by Geoff and Janet Benge, I believe it's through YWAM.0
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I read about CS Lewis in high school. Besides The Chronicles of Narnia, I've read Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters0
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All of those were mentioned in this biography! He wrote all of the Chronicles of Narnia (Narnia Chronicles was what he called them, but his publisher changed it) books in two years. He showed THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE to Tolkein and he hated it. It almost went on a shelf and was forgotten, but a friend sent it in and it was accepted. He had to remember he wrote it for children and they liked it! I also didn't know that he died the same day that John F. Kennedy was assasinated! Oh, and the CS has nothing to do with his real name, he was called Jack throughout the biography. When he was being considered for some position in the poetry department at the university, another man was also up for it. The other man was CD Lewis, and on the voting ticket they had CD Lewis and CS Lewis!
I finished the CS Lewis biography and downloaded a KU book Mile-High Missionary: A Jungle Pilot's Memoir by James Rush Manley. I don't have any more Hoopla downloads and this one is a little over 700 pages long, so it should last me several days!
I finished a fantasy that I was reading as well.0 -
I know that it is a novel, but was based on CS Lewis and wife: Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis by Patti Callahan. I read this a few years ago and was so disappointed in the life it portrayed that I kind of lost the respect I had for him. I had read Mere Christianity when I was in Bible College and it was a reference that I used in a lot of papers that I wrote. I haven't read all of the Narnia books, but Bill and I listened to several while on vacation one year.
Anyway, I hope that the biography you read did not leave you with that discontent.
I just finished a new anthology that was pretty good. As much as I am a Cara Putman fan, I was disappointed in her portion. I thought it desperately needed more development....in other words, not a novella. It followed a gold locket through the family.
Across The Shores - Libby
MORE THAN GOLD by Carolyn Miller - 4* New South Wales
THE VEIL by Kelly J Goshorn - 4* Maryland
RUNNING FROM LOVE by Angela K Couch - Alberta, Canada 3.5*
LOVE ALONG THE SHORES by Cara Putman - North Carolina 3.5*
I am currently listening to VIVA VERMONT! by Melody Carlson. I needed a Vermont book and a Nevada book and there are two in the series fitting. I had read the first ones, so this worked well even if they are YA books. If the Vermont book gets on my nerves, I will not read the Las Vegas book.
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Connie, I wasn't sure what to feel about it. I think that both were pretty shallow Christians. They married simply so she could stay in England, but eventually fell in love. When he called in the "pastor" who had the gift of healing and he prayed for her and he ended up getting sick and she ended up in remission - not sure about all of that! Yes, I do believe in God's healing someone, but not transferring it to someone else. I never really believed that he had much of a relationship with Jesus, but he did have some Christianity in his Narnia series, and according to the biography, that wasn't something he was even aware of doing! I think I read three of the Narnia books of his and that's pretty much it.
I'm re-reading two fantasies, CHOSEN by Jada Fischer and DRAGONQUEST by Donita K Paul. I'm also listening to a story about a missionary pilot, but so far I'm not getting into it. I downloaded another book about a girl who finds Jesus while a prisoner in South Korea.0 -
I finished:
VIVA VERMONT! by Melody Carlson (YA)
LOST IN LAS VEGAS by Melody Carlson (YA)
Current:
NEW YORK DEBUT by Melody Carlson (YA)
And
THE MEASURE OF KATIE CALLOWAY by Serena B Miller (historical) Michigan
I am enjoying both books.0 -
I'm reading HARVEST ISLAND by Lissa Raines. It's different.
Here's the book synopsis: "An Anguished Daughter and a Determined Police Detective Must Unravel the Secrets of Her Father’s Disappearance or Suffer the Deadly Consequences".
Not mentioned in the synopsis are allegorical dreams (or visions?) she's having while searching for her biological father. She meets characters like Him Who Does His Bidding (an angel), who refers to The Maker and The Book of Truth,
as well as Philip Phony, George Godless, Harry Hardhearted, WallyWorks, Barb Beauty and more.
Also, I've come across a couple of areas that make me wonder if this book was edited by AI or at the very least a computer program.... here's one such instance:
You wield a baseball bat, you don't wheel it...
I'm about a third of the way through and I'm withholding judgement0 -
... spelling mistakes too
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That looks like it hasn't been edited at all!
I started reading NOT UNTIL FOREVER by Valerie M Bodden. I decided to get started on the series. I just got started.
I am listening to MARRY ME COWBOY by Willow White. This is a lot like a Jessie Gussman book. I'm enjoying it, but the narration (on YouTube) is definitely not as good as Jay Dyess (Jessie's narrator).0 -
Saturday night I finished HARVEST ISLAND by Lissa Raines. Between the non-editing, spelling mistakes and misleading synopsis (it also suddenly wrapped the ending up in one chapter), I give it 3.5/5 stars.
Then I read a shorter story by Janetta Fudge Messmer - WALTZING WITH A GREASE MONKEY. It was pretty good, but had no real character depth to it and also seemed to wrap up quickly, with no build up to the end. Another 3.5/5. Maybe it's me, but I've been a little disappointed in my last two "reads'.
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