As an author, I am a huge fan of other authors. I am proud of other people who pour their heart and soul on the page. I have wrestled for along time on how to leave reviews. If you have hung around here long, you know this already :). I want to give everyone a five star review because uh….they WROTE A BOOK!
But.
Not every book I read resonates in my heart as five stars. On Goodreads, I leave three stars if I liked it but didn’t resonate with it. Four stars if it was somewhere in between and five if I absolutely adored it.
Speaking for fiction, a main factor in my ratings are how much does the author take my heart out and put in in the characters? Basically, how involved is my heart in this book?
As I share book reviews on my blog, Im sharing with you, reader, in mind so you can find your next favorite book. I want to say helpful things, like this book is more character driven or plot driven etc. Just because a book doesn’t resonate with me, doesn’t mean it wont with you. So my goal in these reviews is to help you decide if it will be a good fit for you or not.
With that said, I really want to share with you my favorite reads too! I plan to share my top reads for each month with my newsletter subscribers only. I am going to cut back to three blog posts a month in the near future and one newsletter will only be for my subscribers.
If you want in on my favorite reads and other only insider information, join my newsletter today, then you wont miss out!
With that being said, onto my reviews. I had quite a few books this month. Some of these I started FOREVER ago and finally finished. Another three I listened to while doing laundry and dishes. I do prefer a book book, but audio gives me a chance to “read” more :).
Which do you prefer, reading or audiobooks? What has been your favorite read lately?
Topic: Finding true happiness in the Lord
Who it may interest: Anyone who knows God loves them but doesn’t feel it. Anyone feeling bound by shame, lies, or the circumstances of life. Anyone who tends to work to earn love. Anyone wanting to grow even more in their relationship with God.
Helpfulness: For the longest time I felt selfish for happiness, yet I wanted it all at the same time. In the middle of the Covid shut down I started thinking if my Grandma. What I remember most about her is how happy she was, despite the fact that her life was far from easy. It sent me on a quest to find out what happiness looks like in a Christian life. Tricia not only paints a picture of true happiness and how to find it, she does such a beautiful job of weaving it together with the reality of the hurts we face in this life. For me, this book was a combination of reassuring me I’m on the right path as well as a cool quenching drink to parched areas of my soul. If you are struggling with your connection to God, this book is rich in guidance and I would highly recommend it. Tricia skillfully blends real life wrestlings with truth in a really relatable, hope filled message. Our circumstances are different but feelings are the same. I was very encouraged by her story and teachings. I also loved the term she used: soul care. Self care is big right now, but we need something deeper, we need soul care. Tricia shows us what that looks like.
Ease of reading: Easy
Main takeaway: Before we serve, before we do anything, we must find rest in our Father’s love. Out of the abundance of our heart our actions flow. That abundance comes from loving God and being loved by Him. I love this quote from the book: “Happy hearts aren’t dependent on what one has or does. It’s the inner workings that change the outward attitudes.”
Extra thoughts: I really appreciated how real and vulnerable she wrote. She didn’t shy away from the challenges she faced, but instead wove in the lessons that came with the challenges. I could relate with them and it gave me hope to walk through my own. Like all of Tricia’s teachings, this resonated deeply with me. It’s something I will revisit knowing I will need these reminders again in the future as well as today.
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meisner
Topic: Resiliency, Rebuilding a broken life.
Who it may interest: Anyone who loves an entertaining read.
Story: The author is a skillful writer and had my attention the entire book. I sped through it wanting to know what happens. The story is of a woman who answers an ad to get married to a man she doesn’t know and take care of his daughter. She soon discovers her husband is far from the man she thought he was. This journey leads her to two other women whose lives are connected to hers in a surprising way. I am torn in my feelings for this book. It was incredibly well written and entertaining. It had me listening any chance I got. I was hoping the earth quake would be a bigger role in the story, I love living through history like that in story form. While she did excellent at portraying the quake, it played a small role in the story. The story was a bigger role than the quake.
Ease of reading: Easy
Main takeaway: Sometimes bad things in nature work together for good. There was a quote in the book where she said something along the lines of maybe this was the only kind thing the earth quake did. It’s easy to question and wonder why bad things happen, but good can come from anything.
Extra thoughts: For me this was a very entertaining read. The plot and suspense was excellently written. However I didn’t feel like the characters had a deep transformational journey. A hard journey yes, but I tend to like the ones that are deeply transformational. My favorite books are those that have this deep type of feeling woven into the very core. I didn’t feel that in this one but it was really entertaining and I felt like I knew the characters. Just because it didn’t resonate with me strongly doesn’t mean it won’t with you!
While We’re Far Apart by Lynn Austin
Topic: Jewish culture, wrestling with anger toward God for letting bad things happen, facing fears, the power of friendship.
Who it may interest: World War 2 Historical fiction lovers, specifically life on the home front.
Story: This book is set in New York with three different character point of views. One is a young girl whose father enlists. Her mother passed away before the book began and so he needs someone to watch the kids while he’s away. His neighbor, a young woman who lives under over protective parents offers to watch his kids. The last character is a Jew that lives in the same apartment complex. It paints a picture of what life was like on the home front as well as the antisemitism that took place even in America.
Ease of reading: Easy
Main takeaway: Life is bigger than what we can see.
Extra thoughts: Lynn Austin is one of my favorite authors. While this book wasn’t my favorite of hers it was still full of such rich writing, a good story, and a lot of history!
Chasing Shadows by Lynn Austin
Topic: Finding ways to keep going and taking the next right step in the middle of grief and devastating circumstances.
Who it may interest: Historical fiction, world war 2 lovers. Those who want to get a taste of life in nazi controlled Netherlands.
Story: This is a beautifully written book highlighting the resistance and those in hiding. As I read this story I really felt like I was walking in the characters shoes. I could feel the tension and fear of living in hiding, or hiding what you were doing to protect lives, may have felt. I felt the pain of separation and the joy of reunification. I felt the suffering in bondage then the gift of life in freedom. We all have struggles. Getting a taste of how life may have looked like under Nazi reign and how the characters responded gives me perspective and direction on facing my own struggles.
Ease of reading: Easy
Main takeaway: There are so many! Don’t give up in suffering. We will walk through periods of darkness, lost in shadows, but joy can and will come. Lessons are learned over time. Life is lived one step at a time. Focus on moving in the right direction even when it hurts. Finding your purpose in serving others can be healing.
Extra thoughts: I have yet to read a Lynn Austin book where I don’t love the characters, am drawn into the scenes, and am entertained. She writes from a place I deeply resonate with, this book didn’t disappoint!
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk
Topic: The effects trauma has on humans and a path toward healing.
Who it may interest: Anyone who wants to understand trauma better and how our bodies process broken hard things.
Helpfulness: I was fascinated at what I learned in this book. I wasn’t able to soak in all the details there is so much information but I walked away understanding trauma and healing in a much better way.
Ease of reading: Hard. It’s defiantly a meaty read, a read for complete learning not entertainment. It takes more thought to process.
Main takeaway: Even if we think we have suppressed trauma, our body keeps score. To move past it we must address it somehow.
Topic: Happiness
Who it may interest: Anyone wondering if happiness is bad or selfish. Anyone wanting to know if there is a difference between happiness and joy.
Helpfulness: We search for happiness if we admit it ir not. We say we care about joy not happiness but what is joy without happiness? The Bible lays out how to be happy and joyful but I think in our haste to dismiss happiness as bad, we miss out on the meaning and beauty of joy. This book lays out arguments for happiness but also Biblical context on what makes our hearts happy. Happiness is not wrong or unattainable, it’s simply mistreated in Christian communities. This book is super helpful in reclaiming what true godly happiness looks like while dispelling lies and confusion.
Ease of reading: This book is meaty, more like a theological book verses an easy read. I’ve slowly chomped my way through it for over a year.
Main takeaway: The Christian community may have done a disservice to the word happy. We have deemed happiness as bad, since the world can misuse it, and joy as good. Translators have used to word blessed instead of happy (they used to be synonyms, the Greek word behind it means happy) and it’s meaning has gotten confused. But we don’t throw out the word love just because the world misuses it. We need to understand biblical happiness (which is the same as joy and blessed) not just throw it out as shallow and act like blessed and joy are holier. God wants us to be happy, when we separate it from joy we miss something deeper. Another of his main points is we most likely arnt going to convince people Jesus is worth it if we are grumpy and miserable. God is happy, happy people will draw others to God. It’s a marked difference we can live in as a Christian.
Extra thoughts: Awhile back I read Randy’s fiction book, Safely Home, and absolutely loved it. I was blown away by how he painted the persecuted Chinese character…so happy. I have always pondered what life looks like in circumstances that seem awful. If circumstances go bad are we just doomed to a life of misery? The book Safely Home got me questioning what happiness actually looks like. I love when fiction characters challenge me and make me want to be a better person. When I saw Randy had a non-fiction book on happiness I immediately bought it to help me understand his point of view on happiness better. My thought as I read this book: happiness isn’t something we attain, it’s something we have. A gift from God, we just need to figure out how to unwrap it.
This book was meaty and at times hard to get through but it was WORTH IT. I think all Christian’s would benefit from it. The second half was way easier for me to get through than the first half. This book is an informational read, not easy or entertaining per say, but GOOD.
Count the Nights by Stars by Michelle Shocklee
Topic: To stand up and fight for the oppressed. To go against culture and polite society to fight for justice. How it’s easy to negate or overlook people because of status or condition.
Who it may interest: Those who like duel time novels. Anyone wanting to explore the Nashville exposition of 1897.
Story: This book follows two time lines: Audrey is in 1961 at the Maxwell house when she finds an old scrapbook that spurs her on a quest to find out more about the owner. 1897- Priscilla arrives at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and is drawn to her carriage driver, an Italian immigrant. When something terrible happens they go on a quest to find out what’s going on. Priscilla refuses to conform to expectations and instead does what is right, even when it’s hard.
Ease of reading: Easy
Main takeaway: My favorite quote from the book sums it up: “That is our mission, dear. To see people for who they are beneath the pain. Beneath the sin. To see them as God sees them: a beautiful creation, with plans and purposes only he knows.”
Extra thoughts: For me, I did struggle to be pulled in emotionally until the very end. I did love the ending, it was hard but beautiful. It showed sacrificial love and care in a heart warming way. The author tied everything together nicely.
I Can Only Imagine by Bart Millard
Topic or themes I saw: Broken to blessing. Transformation, Gods provision.
Who it may interest: Anyone who has been rejected and even tho they healed still have triggers and pain. Artists who are walking through the work it takes to sell their work. Those who want to believe something good can come from broken.
Story: This memoir follows the life of young Bart Millard to the success of Mercy Me. Dreams are not some glittery thing that happens when the stars align. Dreams take work nitty-gritty work they take sacrifice they take time. There is no overnight success. I loved reading about the story of MercyMe. Not only is it a story of the band coming to be but it’s the personal story of Bart Millard’s brokenness to redemption. How blessing can come from the broken pieces of our life. As a firm believer in stories change stories, Bart Millard’s story is one of those.
Ease of reading: Easy
Main takeaway: God provides, blessings can rise out of brokenness. If God wants something to happen, He makes a way, He can’t be stopped. Little things can be turned into something big.
Extra thoughts: I loved reading Barts story. Seeing how God works in lives gives us eyes to see how He works in ours. I can also see why I resonate so deeply with songs by Mercy Me. I also loved the last chapter where he parts the curtains and shows us how life after success isn’t all glittery and perfect. He went through personal struggles and shared how he worked through that. I would highly recommend this read!
Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin
Who it may interest: Historical World War 2 Romance lovers.
Story: A sweet romance set in Paris, World War Two. This story is rich in culture, history, and imagination. The characters were very well crafted and I felt like I was friends with them. Lucy took over a bookstore for a Jewish couple. Bookstores and library’s are my happy place so I loved that setting. Paul ran an auto factory and is seen as a collaborator but in reality he is feeding information to the Americans and aiding in the resistance. Circumstances bring these two together and they must wade through the tension of misunderstandings and war to find a relationship.
Ease of reading: Easy
Main takeaway: You can’t truly know what someone’s intentions and motives are. Someone someone can look like they have it all wrong and be doing exactly what God is asking them to do. We must treat everyone with kindness, not judgement.
Extra Thoughts: I really felt like I was in the setting with the characters. I also loved the historical context woven in with ease through the story.
The Gold in These Hills by Joanne Bischof
Topic or themes I saw: Heartbreaking grief over the loss of someone you love. Finding hope in each hard step. Continuing to move forward even in pain. Finding the light, the beauty in life.
Who it may interest: Anyone who enjoys books by Lynn Austin and Francine Rivers. Anyone who loves history and wants to see it connected to modern day life.
Story: This is a heart gripping story of love and loss, hurt and hope, mistakes and forgiveness. This is an amazing duel time story. I loved both timelines, usually I like the historical one best. Both had me captivated. Juniper is in a gold mining town turned Ghost town in 1902. Johnny is living in the current day, restoring the very house Juniper once lived. This story really pulled my heart in from page one and had me walking in the characters shoes. I absolutely loved this story.
Ease of reading: Easy
Main takeaway: Hard things happen in life. We are faced with loss. But we can still keep taking steps forward, we can still see light amidst darkness. The strong relationships we have in our life are worth so much. They help us walk through this broken but beautiful life.
Extra thoughts: This was a book that was hard to close. I didn’t want it to end. When it did, it left my heart warm and will continue to live on there.
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