Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 5

"The Lilies of the Field" by William E. Barrett

I loved this book even more the second time through.  Its simplicity, straightforwardness, and gentleness impressed me so much the first time I read it, and now I've added "feels like an old friend" to that list of reasons I love it.  I hugged this book more than once while reading it.
This is an uplifting and hope-filled story of how kindness can dismantle boundaries.  Black handyman Homer Smith does a day's work for a group of German refugee nuns in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, insists th...

"Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile" by Kristiana Gregory

I picked this book for my 3rd-5th grade literature class at our homeschool co-op to read because I am focusing on the importance of settings this year.  I'm having the class read books set in a variety of places and times so that we can see how books expand our horizons, and how a book's setting can impact the story itself.  But I hadn't read this myself before, I'd just heard good things about this Royal Diaries series, so I had to read it first to be able to lead discussions in class.
This was ...

Top Ten Tuesday: Hello, there

This week, our Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024."  So, here are ten authors I read for the first time in 2024 and hope to read more from:
Dusti BowlingSarah EverestClaire KohlerAmber LambdaLydia MaeMary MechamSarah PenningtonTor ThibeauxC. C UrieBecca Wierwille
I've linked to my review of the first thing of theirs I read this year :-)  And, yes, fully half of those co-wrote a book.  It's thanks to that book that I was able to do this tag...

My Year in Books: A Tag

I spotted this fun blog tag at Christian Fiction Girl, but it originates at My Head is Full of Books.

A few rules:Answer the questions with titles from books you read in 2024. (Some may end up being silly, others may seem overly serious.) The goal is to have fun. Participate by copying the questions below. Erasing my answers and inserting you own. Once you've created your post, link it to the original post so others can see it, then visit others' posts to see how they answered the questions. Spre...

"The Annotated Persuasion" by Jane Austen (annotated and edited by David M. Shapard)

Do you ever love a book so much that you draw the last few chapters out as long as you possibly can?
It took me almost a week to read the last three chapters of Persuasion this time.  They were such exquisite joy, and yet so cozy and comforting, that I simply had to revel in and savor them as long as possible.  Finally, finally, finally things went well for the patient and persevering Anne Elliot.  So satisfying!  So heartwarming!
And I love that Persuasion is the first book I finished reading in ...

Reading Goals Past and Future

I've got a bit of time this evening, so I'm ready at last to look over my reading goals from 2024, and set some for 2025.

I set myself the goal of reading 55 books in 2024, and I read 68, so hooray!  I didn't just meet, I exceeded that goal!

I wanted to read 48 books off my shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Challenge.  I failed.  I did read 41 books that I owned this year, but only 28 of them counted for that challenge because their rules insist they have to be books you owned before the beginning of...

"The Midnight Blizzard" by Mary Mecham

Awwww, this was exactly what I wanted to read during the week between Christmas and New Year's.  Sweet, funny, upbeat, and cozy.  And with lovable dogs galore!
Noelle has no intention of trying to get the prince to fall in love with her.  She wants to spend the week of the future-wife-finding-balls and parties searching the castle for any trace of her father's will, which has disappeared.  She's quite sure her father would have left her his estate so he could continue his work helping mages get m...

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2024

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Best Books I Read in 2024."  It's been a while since I joined up with this weekly event, but I'm hoping to get back to participating a lot more in 2025.
I read a lot fewer books this year than I did in the past couple of years, for a variety of reasons.  I have two kids in high school now.  My middle-schooler participated in two different ballet productions.  I published four books.  My dad died, and my mom now lives with us part ...

"Snowhawk" by Deborah Koren

I spent the whole of this book terribly worried for all my favorite characters that I'd grown to love dearly during Balefire ... and the ending was wonderful.  More wonderful than I ever hoped.
Whew!
The refugee Rain needs to learn all she can about the magical relic she wields.  Former palace guard Reece Railey takes on the responsibility of leading and caring for a whole city and its people.  Count Lenzky tries to use his newfound magical powers to help others instead of always for his own gain. ...

"Streams to the River, River to the Sea" by Scott O'Dell

I loved this book as a teen.  I loved this book again now.
Streams to the River, River to the Sea is a fictionalized account of Sacagawea's life.  It begins with a fictional description of her life beginning as a pre-teen when she is captured by an enemy tribe and literally groomed to become the chief's son's wife.  A half-French trapper named Touissaint Charboneau wins her in a gambling game and decides to make her his second wife.  Shortly before she gives birth to their first child, the Lewis ...