While fiction shines on this blog, front and center, nonfiction titles naturally dominate this list for self-improvement in 2020. No diet or exercise books here, just some books that are both easy to read and helpful in growing in one way or another without becoming another task to tick off of your list or adding a radical change to employ overnight.
If you’d like to read my full reviews, visit my Goodreads shelf.
Continue readingLinking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for Top 10 Tuesday . . .
I’ve come late to podcasts. Very late. Until recently, I’ve had very little quiet, uninterrupted time in my life. Even now, if I try to listen to audio when my family is around, I end up frustrated by near-constant interruptions. So, I save listening to audiobooks and podcasts for when everyone is asleep or out of the house.
We also had an issue with a shared Apple ID, which essentially meant my husband and I sharing a podcast app. That was problematic, so I deleted the app from my phone and didn’t look back.
Now, however, we have separate Apple IDs, and a world of podcasts has opened up to me. I’ve been sampling some, listening here and there, and I’ve found one I absolutely love (the top spot below) and many others worth a second or third listen.
I’ve always called radio my “first love,” so it’s fun to venture into these audio adventures. Maybe I’ll even get more housecleaning done with them playing in the background!
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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
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
Some people have fixed ideas about authors: how they do what they do, what they enjoy, all their quirks and idiosyncrasies. In truth, authors and writers are at least as varied as those in any other profession, maybe more so. They are as varied as the topics about which they write. So, here’s my Top 10 author myths. (My apologies to anyone else’s list exposing author myths that I may have internalized over the years.
I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my latest 5-star reads! I know first-hand the importance of reviews, so I review most – but not all – books I read. I reviewed each of the books listed below on Amazon and Goodreads. Each was read sometime between early January 2016 and now, and for those who are concerned with such things, all are “clean” reads. I’m kind of surprised as I look over this list that only two are standalone novels – Jenny B. Jones’s I’ll Be Yours and Quenby Olson’s The Half-Killed. Now, on to the list! Continue reading
Catholic365.com
10 Things I’ve Learned from 10+ Years of Sitting in the Front Pew (December 27, 2015)
“The closer you are to the altar, the longer the walk to the narthex while wrangling a screaming child. Exponentially longer. An uphill walk of shame flanked by somber adults and Stations of the Cross.”
I’m fascinated by what readers take a away from my book. A few have mentioned how much they disliked the heroine Rebecca’s father.
He is a minor character, but his actions and attitudes – his unrestrained angry outbursts – have shaped and colored Rebecca’s views of love, faith, femininity, and sexuality.
