Hey guys! I moved blogs so if you want to see what I’ve been up to, please click the link below to see what I’m reading. If you are interested in this blog name, please contact me via my new blog. 🙂
Whispers in the Reading Room
This book was an absolute lovely read. I enjoyed this book much more than any others I have ever read from Ms. Gray before. The book was colorful and enjoyable – you felt like you were sitting in the room with the characters, watching their stories play out right in front of you (which in a way, you are).
I can definitely relate to the main character, Lydia. She loves to read and people watch, which are two of my favorite past times. Her character I felt personally was not incredibly well developed, but the book itself wand the story playing out I felt was one in which the characters do not have to be completely exploited in order to make a good story.
Sebastian is not a love interest I could personally see myself with someday, but I think that’s part of the fun when it comes to reading – stepping into the shoes of the characters and seeing things through their eyes. Sebastian’s character was a bit more thought out then Lydia’s, but again hers didn’t really need to be explored too much (it probably wouldn’t have added to much to the story. If anything, the book probably would have ended up boring). Sebastian, though not the main character (co-star?) added more to the story than Lydia did, and the story was more about him. But isn’t there always the dark and handsome male with the secret past that gets all the love?
Overall, I truly and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for an easy, fun read.
Seven Women by Eric Metaxes
I absolutely loved this book.
I was familiar with a few of these stories, like Mother Theresa and Joan of Arc, but I really enjoyed being able to delve deeper into their stories of faith. It was also wonderful to read more into the women I had little or no knowledge of, like Susanna Wesley and Hannah More.
I really don’t have much to say, other than saying how it was inspired me to be more like these incredible women.
I loved reading this book and will definitely read it again when I’m feeling low, and will share it with my friends and family members so that they can experience what I have.
The Lost Heiress by Roseanna M. White
I’ve never read anything by Roseanna White before though I’ve seen her books browsing amazon or some other websites. I’ve just never been interested in reading her books before, but the cover of this book was beautiful and the back cover summary intrigued me so I thought why not give her a try? And I have to say, I’m a little disappointed.
This entire book just confused me.
From the very beginning, I really didn’t know what was going on and always had to go back a couple pages or chapters to figure out what they were talking about. I’m not really into mysteries anyways, I always get confused, so it makes sense as to why this one confused me a bit. But it didn’t really grab my interest in the beginning anyway. It personally felt a little misplaced, like it was just added for a sense of adventure and didn’t really tie in with the story. But usually when an adventure is involved, I prefer danger over mystery.
The story itself was kind of generic and predictable, and there were a lot of loose ties that were never really explained, such as why Brook didn’t go live with the opera singers family.
But I will say, White’s attention to detail was wonderful. If anything drew me into the story, it was how I felt I was in the story myself.
I can’t say this completely ruined my taste for White’s writing, but I also can’t say I’ll jump at the opportunity to read one of her books again.
Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for my copy to review.
Project Inspired by Nicole Weider
I have been familiar with Nicole Weider for several years now. I became acquainted with her site about 3 years ago when I was on the lookout for a website for young Christians, girls specifically. Now I have nothing against a girls and guys website but usually the posts are sloppy since they try to reach both groups of teenagers. So I had become a huge fan of her site… I felt included on problems I thought only I struggled with.
And then I heard she had a book coming out. I was a pretty excited because the first thing that came to my mind was that my 10 year old cousins could read it when they get a little older. They’re a bit too young right now, having to not yet deal with boys and drama surrounding friendships and all that fun ad awkward growing up stuff.
But anyways, lets stop rambling and get on with this.
This book, I feel, is dedicated toward a younger group of young women, or perhaps new Christians. Not that the book was bad, but I wanted a little more of something for me. I didn’t feel like I grew at all in my walk with Christ, which I was expecting. But with that said, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would when it arrived.
Lets start with the Beauty section of the book. I honestly love Weiders view on modesty. When most people think of modesty, they think they have to follow a set of rules in order to look modest. But Weider shows here that that’s not the case. For example, a shorter girl may be able to still wear a short dress she finds at the mall and she still looks classy. But a taller girl may not be able to pull off the same dress due to longer legs/torso, so you may have to modify the “rules” to fit you and your style. The whole modesty thing has always been an issue in the female Christian community, and Weider does a great job of explaining what it actually is and not just a set of guidelines and rules to follow.
The “life-help” (I don’t know what else to call it haha) section was really great, there were great tips on a variety of subjects, from entertainment, to depression, to sharing Jesus. I would definitely recommend this book to younger teenagers, but I think anybody would love it.
And definitely be sure to check out Nicole’s website, Project Inspired!
Among the Fair Magnolias
Let me start off by saying novella’s are some of my favorite books. They’re short and sweet, and if the author is good, you usually get to know the characters pretty well, even under 200 pages.
I love to read, but sometimes I don’t want to read an entire book so that’s when novella’s come in. Most of them are free on Kindle (whoop whoop!) so I can usually find pretty good ones for little to nothing. I also think novella’s are a great way to get a sense of an authors writing style, so that way before you buy a full length novel you can check it out to see if you’d be ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ on the author. Luckily, all these authors receive a ‘yay!’ from me, and now I have four more amazing short stories to add to my collection!
These four stories take place around the Civil War era, and they’re all different. One young lady fights for the newly freed blacks, and another fights with the loss of her previous life and husband. The authors really did a great job making sure you got to know each other characters, which sometimes you lack with short stories. All of the characters were very likable and real, and I felt like I was transported back to the 1800’s as I read, and when that happens, I can’t help but love it. I was in love with this book the moment I started reading, and now I have a few more authors I’m excited to check out!
There’s a few kisses here and there and of course, a little violence. But all in all it’s clean and well written and should be the perfect edition to anyone looking for a new Civil War book. 🙂
Review: To Win Her Favor by Tamera Alexander
Never have I been so disappointed by a book.
I’ve heard so many good things about Tamera’s books and I’m so sad that this book was such a letdown.
It is incredibly sexual. Every girl loves a good romance story. But this… this is just on the border of icky. While I hardly ever mind the mention of butterflies in a stomach, or one having a hard time keeping the other out the his/her mind (in a non-sexual way of course) but this book was just over the top. There were little things like hand and forehead kisses, to detailed make-out sessions and MANY mentions of consummating a marriage. Not to mention her brother telling her about the birds and bees, mentions of women’s chests, and a man who had his female slaves visit him in the house. Something that also bothered me was that Cullen seemed to objectify women a lot, and in a marriage your wife is not a thing, she is a human. Another thing is that sex never really seemed to honor God, if that makes any sense.
The book was semi-spiritual. There seemed to be very few mentions of God and the Bible midst all the sexual things.
Minor cussing, and quite a bit of violence or remembrance of violence. There is also mentions of prejudice against colored people. I don’t really mind it all that much, considering how that was how it was, and probably much worse.
All things considered, I’d much rather read Francine Rivers than this ever again.
A Sparrow in Terezin by Christy Cambron
I absolutely loved this book.
I read the first one, and I enjoyed it so much I decided to pick up this one and boy did I make a great decision!
Though it kinda stinks that it doesn’t work well as a stand-alone, it was very well-written and intriguing, and though it’s similar to the first book in the series, it’s still different enough to bring intrigue and a different take on the story.
In this book we are introduced to Kaja, who escaped the Nazi’s and became a journalist in England and there met her true love. Her story was so incredible, even for a fictional story, and I can’t decide who’s story I liked better… Adele’s or Kaja’s.
I loved how Sera and William were brought back into the story… I loved their story from the last book and was so glad it was continued in this one! I would have been devastated had it not been continued.
All three of the women we’ve been introduced to in these books are so intelligent, brave, and sacrificial and their stories could be inspiration to so many people around the world.
I loved all the characters, and the scenes were so vividly written I could almost see what was going on before my eyes, but not just on a movie or tv screen, as though I was really there.
This book, as well as the last one, were so filled with historical details I never knew existed, and these books would be a great companion to anyone fascinated with World War 2 and the hardships the people right in the middle of it suffered.
All in all, I loved this book so much and am excitedly looking forward to more books that Kristy may write in her future.
Deception on Sable Hill by Shelley Gray
This book was pretty good… I enjoyed it a bit. I’ve never really been into mysteries before, but this one was decent.
As I literally just mentioned, I’m a bit biased in my opinion of this book, because I’m not really fond of mysteries. But I didn’t mind it. I just don’t know if I’ll ever read it again. I haven’t read the first book in the series, Secrets of Sloane House, yet so I can’t base any of my opinions of that book onto this one.
The storyline itself is pretty good, but there’s not really enough mystery and intrigue to actually make it a mystery story… it’s like it accidentally made into a mystery, like it wasn’t supposed to be.
I do like how there was a brief summary of what happened to our main character, Eloisa. From reviews I’ve read, she was introduced in the first book, though her story is dug into more in this one. I definitely sympathized with her. It would have been a lot harder back then to go through what she did.
I hated the constant mention of social obstacles and blah blah blah. I understand back then it would have been a bit more difficult to marry, having to sort of stay within your social circle, but it was just constant. Of course Eloisa and Sean loved each other, but it was extremely, ok well maybe not extremely, but it was pretty annoying.
All annoyances aside, their relationship was pretty adorable.
All in all, I would give this book about 3 out of 5 stars… Maybe if I had read the first book I might have been able to get to know her character.
This book was super slow… very slow.
Remember the Lilies by Liz Tolsma
I was very excited to read this. I absolutely adore reading books from the World War 2 era.
This book was pretty fantastic. Like I said, I’m a bit biased because reading books from the 1940s-1950s is a favorite pastime of mine. This is the first book I’ve read by Liz Tolsma, and I am very pleasantly surprised.
Additionally, this is the first book I’ve read set in Japan, and it was very interesting. I felt like I was learning a history lesson, though it wasn’t boring to me. It was, in sense, fun. I hardly ever hear anything about the Japan side of the war, and it interesting. It reminded me a little bit of Sarah Sundin’s writing, though Liz’s seemed a bit more write for adults, where Sarah’s seems a little more written for both adults as well as young adults.
I adored the relationships Irene had with her Aunt Anita and Rand. Anita and Irene were obviously very close, and the relationship buildup of Irene and Rand. I don’t like it when relationships move fast, and this one, though personally a little slow for my taste (*wink* *wink*), progressed pretty normal.
All in all, I loved this book so much its sort of hard for me to write a review about it haha.
Thanks to BookLook and the publisher for my copy of the book.
It's a Beautiful Day 