Top 10
Top 10 Tuesday: Things I’m Still Learning After 20 Years of Marriage
My husband and I will be married twenty years this week. Twenty years. Not sure how it’s even possible that so many sunsets have slipped by me.
As a twenty-five-year-old bride, I thought I came into marriage well-prepared. Relatively speaking, I did. My parents provided a good example of a long and faithful marriage. (Remote preparation.) I understood, more or less, what marriage entailed, at least as well as any never-been-married person can. We attended the Church-required marriage preparation and consulted with a priest. (Proximate preparation.) We discussed the important stuff: faith, babies, finances, and lifestyle. Continue reading
Top 10 Tuesday: Hidden Gems Series & Standalones
I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for ten underrated/hidden gem books I’ve read over the last year or so. I adapted the topic slightly to suit the books I had in mind, making the focus here mainly series.
If my list is “more of the same” from me, it’s because hidden gems are a mainstay of my reading diet. Most of the books I review and blog about could be considered hidden gems. While I do read classics and books by major publishers with super-wide exposure, I concentrate my efforts on quality books by authors who publish independently or with independent publishers. I know self-published books have a bad rap in certain circles, but there are many, many excellent books out there. More every day. Continue reading
Top 10 Tuesday: Reasons You Should Read Intermission NOW
Serena Chase’s contemporary Young Adult inspirational romance novel Intermission releases today on Kindle. This book quickly became one of my favorite novels of the year!
Sixteen-year-old Faith Prescott eagerly awaits the day she will exchange her small Iowa hometown for the bright lights of Broadway, but her success-driven parents want her to pursue a more practical career, labeling “artsy” people—including their daughter—as foolish dreamers worthy of little more than disdain.
When Faith meets nineteen-year-old Noah Spencer she discovers someone who understands her musical theatre dreams . . . because he shares them.
10 Things About Stay With Me You May Not Know
I can hardly believe it’s been a year since Stay With Me was launched to the world! Thank you, Full Quiver Publishing, for making it happen. In honor of this monumental occasion, I’m sharing some details about the book that you probably don’t know.
- I’ve seen the Dave Matthews Band twice, both pre-1995. The first was at my alma mater, Duquesne University, where they shared billing with Big Head Todd and the Monsters. My husband (then boyfriend) and I left early in DMB’s set through a thick cloud of pot smoke. The second time we saw them was as part of the H.O.R.D.E. Festival (1996?) at then-called Star Lake Amphitheater in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania.
- The infamous shower scene wasn’t intended from the beginning. True to life, it just sort of happened.
Continue reading
Top 10 Tuesday: Favorite Albums
I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my top ten albums. The broad category is “audio,” and since I couldn’t complete a list of 10 favorite audiobooks (yet) or podcasts (which I don’t often listen to), I’m going with albums. A good song, and even more so a good album, like a good book, should transport you to a unique place in your mind with a feeling, a mood, and characters all its own.
In no particular order and probably omitting a forgotten favorite or two:
- The Rising – Bruce Springsteen (2002)
- Scarecrow – John Cougar Mellencamp (1985)
- All That You Can’t Leave Behind -U2 (2000)
- Woodface – Crowded House (1991)
- Kick – INXS (1987)
- Riser – Dierks Bentley (2014)
- Mercury Falling – Sting (1996)
- Under the Table and Dreaming – Dave Matthews Band (1994)
- Blue Moon Swamp – John Fogerty (1997)
- Mission Bell – Amos Lee (2011)
Top 10 Tuesday: Settings as Characters
I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my top ten books in which the setting acts as a character. I worked backwards from my Goodreads list of books read, selecting those whose setting immediately came to mind due to its role in the story. Here they are in no particular order.
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: the harsh Nebraska prairie (my review post)
Dying for Revenge by Barbara Golder: trendy Telluride, Colorado (book tour)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: the imposing Manderley estate (my review post)
Top 10 Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases
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I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2016. Some covers are available, some are not. Some are already listed on Amazon, some are not. Some I’m not quite sure of the release date. (And one is a wee bit into 2017). I’m just going to link to whatever’s available, sans covers. Here they are in no particular order. Continue reading