My Weekly Bookishness ~ 3/6/2025

All things bookish!

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What I Finished:

Click HERE to read my REVIEW!

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What I'm Reading/Listening:

"Beyond Ivy Walls" by Rachel Fordham is the March selection for the Good for the Soul Women's Bookclub.

Blurb:

Beauty and the Beast meets A Light Between Oceans in historic small-town America where a wealthy reclusive bachelor and an unlikely ally join forces to solve a family secret and inadvertently find belonging along the way.

Early 1900s. When an accident leaves Sadie West's family in dire financial need, she nervously leaves the land she loves to work in the Hoag duster factory. But sending all her money home means that she has nowhere to board, and she's forced to take up residence in an abandoned building--a choice that throws her in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.

Recently returned from exile, and determined to keep his arrival a secret, Otis Taylor makes the impulsive decision to hire the woman he finds hiding on his family's property with the strict instructions she tell no one he has returned. The dark halls of his boyhood flood him with memories he's long tried to forget. The only bright light is the woman he has hired. Can the optimistic Sadie teach the wounded Otis to trust again? To love? Can the pair unravel the family secrets that have long cast a shadow over the mansion and those who reside within?

With the same heart as Rachel Fordham's fan-loved previous historical novels, Beyond Ivy Walls takes readers on an emotional journey full of character development, historical nuance, and a deeply satisfying happily ever after.

~~~~~~~~~~~

What I'll (Probably) Read/Listen Next:

I started listening to "When the Day Comes" by Gabrielle Meyer a few weeks ago and would like to get back to it next.  I saw the cover reveal for the author's next release and it looks amazing.  I have some catching up to do with this series!

Blurb:

How will she choose, knowing all she must sacrifice?

Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other. While she's the same person at her core in both times, she's leading two vastly different lives.

In Colonial Williamsburg, Libby is a public printer for the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, trying to provide for her family and support the Patriot cause. The man she loves, Henry Montgomery, has his own secrets. As the revolution draws near, both their lives--and any hope of love--are put in jeopardy.

Libby's life in 1914 New York is filled with wealth, drawing room conversations, and bachelors. But the only work she cares about--women's suffrage--is discouraged, and her mother is intent on marrying her off to an English marquess. The growing talk of war in Europe only complicates matters.

OR

Blurb:

It’s been eight years since hairstylist Lacy Brown drove into town in her ancient pink Cadillac and set the town on the map. Now, she’s hired a new stylist, Izzy Cranberry, who is happy to be in the town that’s made history with its everlasting “Wives Wanted Campaign” that is still running even now. But she’s not looking, she’s just intrigued by her two sweet grandmothers who’ve followed the story of Mule Hollow from the beginning until they took their last breaths and left her to fulfill their dream of moving to the tiny town for them… Unable to disappoint them, she’s here—but not for long. Just to let her grams watch from above as she joins Lacy Brown Matlock in Heavenly Inspirations fixing hair—not being a match made by the Matchmakers of Mule Hollow.

Styling is all she’s here for…and maybe a laugh or two from the legendary matchmakers who sit in her styling chair and think they have her on their target board.

Horse trainer Luc Asher has taken a job in the town he’s heard a lot about but has no plan to be one of the “matches”. He’s a loner, with good reason, and as far from looking for love as a man can get.

Making him the perfect target…at least that’s what Esther Mae, Norma Sue, and Adela, the town matchmakers, believe the moment he strides into Sam’s Diner looking as handsome and alone as a man shouldn’t be.

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Book Haul:

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Book Blogger Hop:

Q.  What fantasy or Sci-fi should be part of the literary canon? (submitted by Snapdragon @ Snapdragon Alcove)

A.  This may be an unpopular opinion but I don't like/read fantasy or Sci-fi.  Therefore, I really can't answer this question.

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Bookishly Yours,

Linking up to: 

   

 The Sunday Post, Sunday Salon , Mailbox Monday

My Weekly Bookishness ~ 2/27/2025

All things bookish!

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What I Finished:

I finished listening to "Alaska Twilight" by Colleen Coble.  You can read my review HERE!

I also finished reading "You're Not Enough (and that's okay) by Allie Beth Stuckey.  I haven't posted my review yet.  I'm going to wait until after the Good for the Woman's Soul Book Club discussion on 2/28/2025.  So be watching for my review on 3/1/2025 :)

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What I'm Reading/Listening:

"Beyond Ivy Walls" by Rachel Fordham is the March selection for the Good for the Soul Women's Bookclub.  I'm going to be listening to the audiobook while I market prep for a Spring Fling Vendor show that is taking place in early April.  I'm really looking forward to this book!

Blurb:

Beauty and the Beast meets A Light Between Oceans in historic small-town America where a wealthy reclusive bachelor and an unlikely ally join forces to solve a family secret and inadvertently find belonging along the way.

Early 1900s. When an accident leaves Sadie West's family in dire financial need, she nervously leaves the land she loves to work in the Hoag duster factory. But sending all her money home means that she has nowhere to board, and she's forced to take up residence in an abandoned building--a choice that throws her in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.

Recently returned from exile, and determined to keep his arrival a secret, Otis Taylor makes the impulsive decision to hire the woman he finds hiding on his family's property with the strict instructions she tell no one he has returned. The dark halls of his boyhood flood him with memories he's long tried to forget. The only bright light is the woman he has hired. Can the optimistic Sadie teach the wounded Otis to trust again? To love? Can the pair unravel the family secrets that have long cast a shadow over the mansion and those who reside within?

With the same heart as Rachel Fordham's fan-loved previous historical novels, Beyond Ivy Walls takes readers on an emotional journey full of character development, historical nuance, and a deeply satisfying happily ever after.

~~~~~~~~~~~

What I'll (Probably) Read/Listen Next:

I started listening to "When the Day Comes" by Gabrielle Meyer a few weeks ago and would like to get back to it next.  I saw the cover reveal for the author's next release and it looks amazing.  I have some catching up to do with this series!

Blurb:

How will she choose, knowing all she must sacrifice?

Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other. While she's the same person at her core in both times, she's leading two vastly different lives.

In Colonial Williamsburg, Libby is a public printer for the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, trying to provide for her family and support the Patriot cause. The man she loves, Henry Montgomery, has his own secrets. As the revolution draws near, both their lives--and any hope of love--are put in jeopardy.

Libby's life in 1914 New York is filled with wealth, drawing room conversations, and bachelors. But the only work she cares about--women's suffrage--is discouraged, and her mother is intent on marrying her off to an English marquess. The growing talk of war in Europe only complicates matters.

But Libby knows she's not destined to live two lives forever. On her twenty-first birthday, she must choose one path and forfeit the other--but how can she choose when she has so much to lose in each life?

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Book Haul:

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Book Blogger Hop:

Q.  How much time does blogging take out of your life weekly? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

A.  Probably a few hours, at least.  I've recently started listening to audiobooks, so I'm multi-tasking :)

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Bookishly Yours,

Linking up to: 

   

 The Sunday Post, Sunday Salon , Mailbox Monday

My Weekly Bookishness ~ 2/20/2025

All things bookish!

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What I Finished:

I finally finished listening to the audiobook of "A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure"!  You can read my review HERE :)

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What I'm Reading/Listening:

This book is the February 2025 selection for the Good for the Soul Women's Book Club over on FB and Instagram.  On Saturday, February 22nd, we'll be discussing Myth #3.

Blurb:

Is your quest to love yourself more actually making you miserable?

We're told that the key to happiness is self-love. Instagram influencers, mommy bloggers, self-help gurus, and even Christian teachers promise that if we learn to love ourselves, we'll be successful, secure, and complete. But the promise doesn't deliver. Instead of feeling fulfilled, our pursuit of self-love traps us in an exhausting as we strive for self-acceptance, we become addicted to self-improvement.

The truth is we can't find satisfaction inside ourselves because we are the problem. We struggle with feelings of inadequacy because we are inadequate. Alone, we are not good enough, smart enough, or beautiful enough. We're not enough--period. And that's okay, because God is.

The answer to our insufficiency and insecurity isn't self-love, but God's love. In Jesus, we're offered a way out of our toxic culture of self-love and into a joyful life of relying on him for wisdom, satisfaction, and purpose. We don't have to wonder what it's all about anymore. This is it.

This book isn't about battling your not-enoughness; it's about embracing it. Allie Beth Stuckey, a Christian, conservative new mom, found herself at the dead end of self-love, and she wants to help you combat the false teachings and self-destructive mindsets that got her there. In this book, she uncovers the myths popularized by our culture of trendy narcissism, reveals where they manifest in politics and the church, and dismantles them with biblical truth and practical wisdom.

~~~~

I love Colleen Coble's in the past so I jumped on the chance to listen to "Alaska Twilight".  I started listening to it yesterday (Tuesday) and am over halfway through already!

Blurb:

For some people, Alaska is a breathtaking wilderness adventure, full of light and beauty. For Haley, it is a dangerous world of dark dreams and tortured memories. On the surface, she's here to document wildlife activist Kipp Nowak's bear encounters. But her real reason is to unearth the truth about a past murder. The suspense mounts when another body turns up, and Haley beginst to wonder if the tragedies she experienced in the past are connected to the dangers and mysterious incidents of the present. From behind the viewfinder of her camera, Haley observes it all, including Tank Lassiter, the bear biologist who has been forced to lead Kipp and his team into the Alaskan backcountry. As she watches him with his work, she feels a growing attraction. It will take great courage and faith to confront the truth she once ran away from. Before it's over, Haley may be viewing herself from an entirely new angle.

Alaska Twilight is the story of a young woman's emergence from the shadows of past sorrow into the light of forgiveness and grace.

~~~~~~~~~~~

What I'll (Probably) Read Next:

"Beyond Ivy Walls" by Rachel Fordham is the March selection for the Good for the Soul Women's Bookclub.  I'm going to be listening to the audiobook while I market prep for a Spring Fling Vendor show that is taking place in early April.  I'm really looking forward to this book!

Blurb:

Beauty and the Beast meets A Light Between Oceans in historic small-town America where a wealthy reclusive bachelor and an unlikely ally join forces to solve a family secret and inadvertently find belonging along the way.

Early 1900s. When an accident leaves Sadie West's family in dire financial need, she nervously leaves the land she loves to work in the Hoag duster factory. But sending all her money home means that she has nowhere to board, and she's forced to take up residence in an abandoned building--a choice that throws her in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.

Recently returned from exile, and determined to keep his arrival a secret, Otis Taylor makes the impulsive decision to hire the woman he finds hiding on his family's property with the strict instructions she tell no one he has returned. The dark halls of his boyhood flood him with memories he's long tried to forget. The only bright light is the woman he has hired. Can the optimistic Sadie teach the wounded Otis to trust again? To love? Can the pair unravel the family secrets that have long cast a shadow over the mansion and those who reside within?

With the same heart as Rachel Fordham's fan-loved previous historical novels, Beyond Ivy Walls takes readers on an emotional journey full of character development, historical nuance, and a deeply satisfying happily ever after.

~~~~~~~~

Book Haul:

Narrated by Em Eldridge and Jason Keller

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Book Blogger Hop:

Q.  Do you belong to a book club? If so, how many members do you have? How long has it been going on? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Review)

A.  I do belong to a Book Club!

I've mentioned the Good for the Soul Women's Book Club above and on other posts as well.  The Book Club is based on Facebook with Zoom meetings at the end of each month to discuss the book we voted on reading for that month.  We focus on Christian fiction mostly but we are reading a non-fiction in February as shown above.

Prairie is our fearless leader, and does a wonderful job promoting the Book Club on Facebook as well as Instagram @goodforthesoulbookclub .

I believe the Book Club started last June and currently has 68 members.  I didn't join in until September so I missed the first couple book selections.

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Bookishly Yours,

Linking up to: 

   

 The Sunday Post, Sunday Salon , Mailbox Monday

My Weekly Bookishness ~ 2/13/2025

All things bookish!

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What I Finished:

Nothing finished this week :(  I wanted to get "A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure" finished this past week but, alas, I got sucked into a booktube rabbit hole instead of listening to my book.

If you haven't done so yet, please take this opportunity to join in my 16th Blogiversary Celebration & Giveaway.  Click HERE to read the post!

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What I'm Reading/Listening:

This book is the February 2025 selection for the Good for the Soul Women's Book Club over on FB and Instagram.  (We're actually reading this book as a read-a-long and chatting about each week's passage on Saturdays.)  It is such a great group and we have the best conversations about books through Zoom.  There's still time to join in!  

Blurb:

Is your quest to love yourself more actually making you miserable?

We're told that the key to happiness is self-love. Instagram influencers, mommy bloggers, self-help gurus, and even Christian teachers promise that if we learn to love ourselves, we'll be successful, secure, and complete. But the promise doesn't deliver. Instead of feeling fulfilled, our pursuit of self-love traps us in an exhausting as we strive for self-acceptance, we become addicted to self-improvement.

The truth is we can't find satisfaction inside ourselves because we are the problem. We struggle with feelings of inadequacy because we are inadequate. Alone, we are not good enough, smart enough, or beautiful enough. We're not enough--period. And that's okay, because God is.

The answer to our insufficiency and insecurity isn't self-love, but God's love. In Jesus, we're offered a way out of our toxic culture of self-love and into a joyful life of relying on him for wisdom, satisfaction, and purpose. We don't have to wonder what it's all about anymore. This is it.

This book isn't about battling your not-enoughness; it's about embracing it. Allie Beth Stuckey, a Christian, conservative new mom, found herself at the dead end of self-love, and she wants to help you combat the false teachings and self-destructive mindsets that got her there. In this book, she uncovers the myths popularized by our culture of trendy narcissism, reveals where they manifest in politics and the church, and dismantles them with biblical truth and practical wisdom.

~~~~

I also started listening to "A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure" by Angela Bell.  I've finished the first 3 chapters and look forward to listening to more and hopefully finishing this book before next week's post.

Blurb:

Miss Clara Marie Stanton's family may be eccentric, but they certainly aren't insane.

London, England, 1860
When Clara's ex-fiancé begins to spread rumors that her family suffers from hereditary insanity, it's all she can do to protect them from his desperate schemes, society's prejudice, and a lifetime in an asylum. Then Clara's Grandfather Drosselmeyer brings on an apprentice with a mechanical leg, and all pretense of normalcy takes wing.

Theodore Kingsley, a shame-chased vagabond haunted by the war, wants a fresh start far from Kingsley Court and the disappointed father who declared him dead. Upon returning to England, Theodore meets clockmaker Drosselmeyer, who hires him as an apprentice, much to Clara's dismay. When Drosselmeyer spontaneously disappears in his secret flying owl machine, he leaves behind a note for Clara, beseeching her to make her dreams of adventure a reality by joining him on a merry scavenger hunt across Europe. Together, Clara and Theodore set off to follow Drosselmeyer's trail of clues, but they will have to stay one step ahead of a villain who wants the flying machine for himself--at any cost.

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What I'll (Probably) Read Next:

I love Colleen Coble books and her writing style.  I also need to mix up my genres to keep things fresh so I'll probably listen to this audiobook next.

Blurb:

For some people, Alaska is a breathtaking wilderness adventure, full of light and beauty. For Haley, it is a dangerous world of dark dreams and tortured memories. On the surface, she's here to document wildlife activist Kipp Nowak's bear encounters. But her real reason is to unearth the truth about a past murder. The suspense mounts when another body turns up, and Haley beginst to wonder if the tragedies she experienced in the past are connected to the dangers and mysterious incidents of the present. From behind the viewfinder of her camera, Haley observes it all, including Tank Lassiter, the bear biologist who has been forced to lead Kipp and his team into the Alaskan backcountry. As she watches him with his work, she feels a growing attraction. It will take great courage and faith to confront the truth she once ran away from. Before it's over, Haley may be viewing herself from an entirely new angle.

Alaska Twilight is the story of a young woman's emergence from the shadows of past sorrow into the light of forgiveness and grace.

~~~~~~~~

Book Haul:

   ~~~~~~~~~~

Book Blogger Hop:

Q.  Have you ever read a Nicholas Sparks romance novel? If so, what is your opinion on his endings? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

A.  I had to chuckle at this question!

As for my answer...No, I have not.   Because...I've seen some of the movies based on Mr. Sparks' novels and they always seem to be tear-jerkers.  Up to this point, I prefer reading for the lighthearted, happily ever after effect.

Other than that, in general, if I've seen the movie first, I won't read the book.  If I read the book first, I will then watch the movie.  Just a quirk of mine.

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Bookishly Yours,

Linking up to: 

   

 The Sunday Post, Sunday Salon , Mailbox Monday