E.G. Bella's Blog, page 10

What I Read in 2022

Hello and happy Wednesday!

How has your reading gone this year? Are you someone who likes to read a lot? Just a book here and there?

I’ve always really enjoyed reading, and last year, I was introduced to Goodreads, where you can track the books that you read, review them (and read other reviews), add books to your to-read list, and even set yearly goals on how many books you want to read.

Last year, not knowing how many books I typically read in a year, I set a goal of 50 books. To my surprise, I actually read 54! That success encouraged me enough that I decided to set my goal for 2022 at 55 books and see what happened.

Well, I’m closing out the year with a grand total of 27 books.

It’s not exactly what I hoped or planned for, but I’ve still gotten to read a lot of good books this year and I’m happy about that! I shared a bunch of my favorites in this post, and throughout the Five Fall Favorites blog event back in October (you can find my final post here).

I started off the year strong, going through a couple of series, and working my way through some standalones I’ve meant to read for a while. But pretty much from June on, my reading has been very sporadic.

While I had hoped that reading would be a good activity for when migraines hit and I was stuck in bed for hours, it didn’t work out that way. I couldn’t get my eyes or mind to focus on any book long enough.

Then when I wasn’t in bed, I was catching up on work, cleaning, time with loved ones, and all sorts of other things I’d fallen behind in while sick. So reading kind of fell by the wayside the second half of this year. And that’s okay. Life happens in stages, and while I hope the next stage contains a bit more reading, I’m thankful for what I got to in 2022.

I recently changed my Goodreads goal to 27 books (at the time I’d only read 26, so I still challenged myself to one more), instead of leaving it at 55, so if you check out my Goodreads page, that’s why it looks like I’m more accomplished than I actually was, haha. I’d rather see that I succeeded at reading 27 than that I failed at reading 55.

So although I’ve talked about some of my favorite reads from 2022 in other posts already, today I wanted to share the full list of the books I read this year. I’d love to know if you’ve read any of them and what your opinion was!

Here is the list of books I’ve read in 2022:

( * = A favorite!)
(DNR = do not recommend/will not be re-reading)

Fiction

1. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
2. The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner
3. The Death Cure (Maze Runner #3) by James Dashner
4. The Kill Order (Maze Runner prequel) by James Dashner
5. The Fever Code (Maze Runner prequel) by James Dashner
6. Shards of Sky by E. C. Colton
7. The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers
8. A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes (*)
9. The Selection by Kiera Cass
10. The Elite (The Selection #2) by Kiera Cass
11. Thirst (Book #1) by Jill Williamson
12. Hunger (Book #2) by Jill Williamson
13. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
14. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (* – but I’m biased due to childhood memories)
15. Wishtress by Nadine Brandes (* – favorite fiction read of the year!)
16. Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk (*)
17. The River At Night by Erica Ferencik (DNR – very mature content and distasteful)

Non-Fiction

1. Here I Am Again, Lord by Carole Mayhall
2. Just Enough Light For the Step I’m On by Stormie O’Martian
3. Not Yet Married by Marshall Segal
4. The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes (*)
5. City On Our Knees by TobyMac
6. The Sacred Search by Gary Thomas (*)
7. A Little Book on Christian Life by John Calvin
8. A Lifting Up For the Downcast by William Bridge (*)
9. Go Teen Writers: Write Your Novel by Stephanie Morrill, Jill Williamson, & Shannon Dittemore (*)
10. Why, God? Calming Words for Chaotic Times by Charles R. Swindoll

To summarize, I read a lot of fiction books in series as I found it easier to keep momentum by going from one connected story to another. But I also dove into some amazing standalones, both new and old favorites! And for non-fiction, it seems the common themes were encouragement, relationships and dating, and writing…pretty much sums up my year, haha.

Here’s hoping 2023 is full of more great reads! And if you have any recommendations, let me know . . . .

What did YOU read this year? What were some of your favorites? Were there any reads you didn’t enjoy? I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to comment below and let me know what reading adventures you were up to in 2022!

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What I Read in 2022Our Proposal StoryThe Spotify Wrapped Tag 2022

Our Proposal Story

Hello and happy Friday!

In my life update post last Wednesday, I mentioned that I’d be sharing my fiancé and my proposal story in a separate post, and here it is!

I’ve debated sharing this, as I know some people aren’t interested in this sort of story. It’s never as exciting if you’re not the one living it, right? But I still enjoy hearing others’ proposal stories, so if there’s anyone who feels the same way, here you go! I’ll have fun reliving it anyway, haha.

So without further ado . . .

My fiancé proposed October 23rd, 2022 – on what started off as a completely normal Sunday. Or so I thought.

Usually on Sundays, I drive into town from where I live with my family in the country, meet up with my fiancé, and then we’ll head to church in the same vehicle. This morning though, he texted that he’d just come pick me up.

I thought that was slightly strange, but ultimately figured it had something to do with the headache I’d had the past few days. I felt great that morning, but the past few days had been rough, and I guessed he was trying not to make me drive.

So he picks me up, we head into town, and as we’re driving to church, he mentions that it’s so beautiful out, it’d be nice to take a walk on one of our favorite trails later. The weather was sunny and warm, a really nice change from what it had been lately, and we hadn’t been able to take a long walk together in a while.

I immediately agreed – I’d been hoping to walk as well – and then we realized that I forgot to bring a change of shoes. Right then, I was wearing boots with a wedge heel for church, and while I usually kept a pair of walking shoes in my vehicle, I’d forgotten to grab them when he picked me up.

Bummed but still wanting to walk, I asked if we could go somewhere with sidewalks, rather than gravel paths and hills like we’d planned. He paused for just a few seconds, then nodded and said, “yeah, that’s fine, we can find somewhere.”

I didn’t think about it again after that.

We went to church, finished the service, and all seemed normal. After we were back in his vehicle and discussing where to walk, he suggested a local path that started in a park and wove around our town, behind various businesses and other parks. It was one we’d walked many times before, and it was paved, so that’s what we decided.

En route, I half-jokingly suggested we could walk around a certain area of our town where he’d been wanting to show me a run-down building he’d visited as part of his work. Not surprisingly, he didn’t really respond to that, other than a chuckle. Guess that was a no.

So we get to our path and start walking, and I was so glad to get to walk with him again.

When we first started dating, we’d walk for hours, just talking about anything and everything, and I’d missed that. That morning in particular, I was mentally pretty down about some things, mainly that – due to certain situations – I thought we’d still be waiting about another year to get married, even though we already knew we wanted to.

And as it turned out, that morning a random proposal video popped up on my social media feed. The couple’s reactions reminded me so much of what I thought my fiancé and I might be like, that I almost sent it to him. I didn’t, because I thought that might either be weird, or make things harder, but I ended up telling him about it anyway as we walked.

Poor guy. He was a little bit quieter than usual, but otherwise seemed pretty normal in his reactions, and what we talked about. He told me later that he was thinking the whole time how he wished he could tell me to just wait five minutes, and then we’d see what my reaction would be like.

Almost right after, we rounded a corner, heading toward a bridge, and I laughingly pointed out a sign I saw on a light post with my first name on it. I thought he’d find it amusing, but he barely even reacted and seemed very preoccupied. That’s when I could tell something was up, and I felt bad because I figured he was stressed about life.

We start walking onto the bridge, and I’m in the middle of mentioning how the bridge looks so beautiful with the leaves falling down in the sunlight (my attempt to cheer him up), when he stops walking.

I was really concerned because he looked very stressed about something, so I gave him a hug and asked if he was okay, and if he wanted to talk about it. He just responded with a shaky laugh.

After what felt like forever but was probably a fairly short time of him taking deep breaths and me racking my brain trying to figure out what was wrong, he started saying some very sweet things, made a reference to us spending the rest of our lives together, and I finally realized what was up a split second before he got down on one knee.

Yes, I reacted about like I thought I would (I’ve never shaken so hard in my life), but I told him “YES” at least four times, gave him a big hug, and then he slid the ring on my pinky finger as it wasn’t my size yet – but I didn’t care one bit. Someone biked past on the trail right afterward, and I still wonder if they could tell what was up by our grins.

We sat for a while and he enjoyed telling me the entire story of how he’d collaborated with my parents to come to our home and ask their blessing while I was at work one evening. No one else knew, which is kind of miraculous considering all my siblings. But somehow they managed to keep it a secret from everyone for three days.

And remember my fiancé’s slight hesitation after I asked if we could walk somewhere with paved paths? That’s because apparently he’d been up early, buying two different color balloons, and decorating our typical hiking path at about 6:00 AM that morning.

He was super creative and sweet with it too! Both of our favorite colors are blue, just in different shades, so he alternated light and dark blue balloons along the entire path, increasing in number until the spot along the river that he planned to propose at, and there he used both colors together, to symbolize us coming together too.

He told me that all morning during church he had trouble focusing as he was trying to brainstorm where else to propose at. I’d foiled his original plans, haha. So now we like to joke that not only was I completely shocked by the proposal, but he was surprised too!

Afterward, we did go to where he’d originally planned to propose. Between everything, I no longer cared about my inferior footwear, especially as I felt a bit bad that I’d foiled his plans (he repeatedly told me not to though). And turns out it actually worked out better, because when we walked the path, only one lonely balloon was left where he tied it.

The only other remnants of all his hard work was another balloon stuck in some brambles in the river, and some random burst pieces here and there in some bushes. Everything else was completely gone.

I wouldn’t have cared one bit during the proposal, but we both agreed that he would have been bummed about it, so it all turned out for the best! And as if it was to make up for the missing balloons, while hiking the path, we stumbled across deer that let us get very close.

Below are a few of those pictures:

After a quick lunch and chatting about a possible date, we had the fun of going and telling both of our immediate families, then sharing the announcement with friends and extended family on Facebook.

The rest is history! Although we want to keep the big day simple (as much as possible with a huge family) we’ve done a lot of planning so far, and are quickly approaching the busiest months. In fact, it’s 99 days away today! It’s been busy, but we’re enjoying it.

And that’s our proposal story! Not without it’s hiccups, especially for my poor fiancé haha, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Despite all my making it more difficult for him – between talking about proposals and weddings beforehand, to changing the place, to suggesting we even walk somewhere run-down and gross – it was perfect.

I can see all the many ways God provided too, with beautiful weather, taking away my headache, having all our family members be home when we stopped by with the news (something that rarely happens). Even the date (the 23rd) has special significance to me. We’re very thankful for how it all worked out.

We even got to take our engagement pictures at both the proposal locations (original and actual). Here are a few of my favorite more private ones:

So with all that, thanks for sticking around and reading this entire novel! I hope you enjoyed it, and I really appreciate all the well wishes and prayers. We’ve been very blessed by the support.

Until next time, have a very merry Christmas! God bless you!

Recent Posts:

Our Proposal StoryThe Spotify Wrapped Tag 20222022 October – November Life Update

The Spotify Wrapped Tag 2022

Happy Friday!

I’m getting back into a semi-regular routine of blogging with a fun music tag! I did this one last year (you can find it here), after mooching it from Maribeth Barber’s site, and am looking forward to sharing it again!

As I write this, I’ve got Christmas music playing (current song: Mary, Did You Know? by Straight No Chaser) and we can just ignore the fact that I started listening to Christmas tunes the day before Thanksgiving . . .

The RulesLink back to THIS post on A Writer’s TaleShare the image below at the top of your post…Link to your Spotify so your readers can follow you (here’s my profile!)Tag a few friends…or your entire blog audience, if you prefer!The QuestionsWhat was your #1 song of the year?

I listened to 2,206 songs this year, with my top song being Goodness of God by Remi Collins.

It’s a piano instrumental I listened to any time I needed to relax, was trying to sleep, or just needed some soothing background tunes.

Apparently I listened to it 148 times, and mostly on August 15, 2022…

…which actually makes complete sense now that I think about it, because I had a horrible migraine and was in bed almost that entire day.

That seems to be the theme in my listening habits this year, haha.

What were your other top songs of the year?Goodness of God by Remi CollinsKing of Kings by Maranatha! InstrumentalBroken Vessels (Amazing Grace) by Aretha Grant, InstrumentalHosanna – Piano Version by Aretha Grant, InstrumentalGracious Tempest by AcousticWorship

Again, a lot of soothing piano instrumentals of Christian songs. They’re so good!

Who was your top artist?

Are you sensing a theme yet?

I listened to 800 artists (oddly pleased with the exact number there, haha), and my top artist was Chillout Avenue, another piano soloist.

I listened to 667 minutes of their music, and was in their top 0.5% of listeners.

The song I listened to most of theirs was No Longer There.

Who are your top 5 artists?Chillout AvenueGary BayrakdarianAretha GrantChiara AttanasioMaranatha! Instrumental

More beautiful instrumental artists!

What were your top podcasts?

Apparently, I didn’t listen to any podcasts in 2022! I’m pretty positive that I listened to an episode here and there of random writing, Christian, and health podcasts, but I’m not surprised it wasn’t enough to count. That might be something I do more of in 2023 – I’ve received so many recommendations recently!

My morning started with…

Joyful Melancholy Positive! This makes me laugh with its accuracy, specifically the addition of melancholy between joyful and positive. Can’t be too chipper in the morning, you know. Got to have some healthy dose of realism mixed in with the joy.

I seized the day with…

Suspense Tense Mystical! This is also accurate! My writing time usually happens on my day/s off, in the middle of the day, and I’ve been listening to a lot of pirate and Skyrim instrumentals, and Gaelic music lately.

I embraced the night with…

Chill Love Relaxing . . . yup, this is where all those Christian instrumentals come in. The word love is probably thrown in there thanks to some random love songs, haha. Some nights when I’m feeling sappy, I’ll send my fiancé a sweet song that reminds me of us.

How many minutes did you spend listening to Spotify?

I listened to 63,251 minutes of music this year! Apparently that’s more than 95% of other listeners in the United States.

Not sure if that’s something to be pleased about or not, haha.

What kind of listener are you?

According to Spotify, my listener personality is The Maverick, which sums it up pretty well! I don’t listen to very many ‘popular’ songs, not that there’s anything wrong with them, my tastes just usually lie elsewhere.

Apparently I prize exploration, timelessness, loyalty, and uniqueness.

How many genres did you listen to this year? 

27! Slightly less than last year, but there’s still quite a bit of variety in my usual playlists.

What are your top genres?BroadwayCCM (Contemporary Christian Music)Piano WorshipScorecore (film/game soundtracks)LDS (Latter Day Saints? This one surprised me, as I have no idea where this came from. I wonder which of my songs are included in that genre).

Thanks for joining me for this fun tag! I’ve really enjoyed answering these musical questions, and would love to hear your answers! If you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged (and feel free to adapt the questions for your situation)!

So, what have YOU been listening to this year? What are some of your favorite songs? I’d love to hear from you, so let me know your thoughts on your own blog, or in the comments below!

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The Spotify Wrapped Tag 20222022 October – November Life UpdateTemporary Blog Hiatus

2022 October – November Life Update

Hello and happy Wednesday!

You guys, it’s been too long. Little did I know when I shared my temporary blog hiatus post back in October (because I was already too busy to work very much on Cabin Girl) that two days later my life would explode into even more busyness!

So here’s a long overdue update on the last couple months of my life . . . thank you for being patient!

General Update

Let’s start with the best part! As some of you already found out a few weeks ago, I got engaged! That was back on October 23rd (two days after my temporary blog hiatus post), and obviously it’s been the biggest event in my life since.

I feel like I’m mostly over the surreal “this can’t be real, there’s no way I’m getting married” stage, but there are still so many little parts of everyday life that remind me how things are going to change and then I’m sent into that gleeful, disbelieving mindset all over again. It’s been a ride, haha.

That said, I am so excited for this change. My fiancé and I went into our relationship with the hopes and prayers of it working out in marriage, so to be reaching that point quite literally feels like a dream come true. We’ve set a date for April 1st, 2023, which is exactly 108 days from now (…but who’s counting?)!

For those who’ve already asked me how the proposal itself went down, I’ve decided I’ll hold off and do a separate post about that this weekend to avoid making this one too long. But it’s a fun story, and I’m looking forward to sharing it!

As you can imagine, life exploded after we got engaged. Now, not only is there the busyness of the holidays, work, family, and all the normal life stuff we were already doing, but we get to plan a wedding in the next four months too! It’s all very good stuff, but this blog – and writing in general – fell by the wayside until I felt like I had enough time to get back into it properly.

And honestly? It’s been okay. I’ll talk more about this another time, but when I set my growth word for 2022 (balance), I didn’t expect just how God would help me find that. Between health issues and my fiancé, I’ve really had to step back and take a serious look at my commitments, priorities, and what I sign myself up for. It’s been hard, but also great.

So the longer-than-expected break from blogging has been very helpful, and has allowed me to think about my writing goals and strategies for 2023. I don’t know exactly what life before the wedding is going to look like (except for busy), and I really won’t know exactly what married life will be like until I’m there (except for wonderful, haha).

I feel like most of this post is just me hinting at topics I’ll be blogging at soon, but from now through January, I’m looking forward to sharing some of my 2023 goals, how I’m going to be planning my content a little differently, and what my general schedule is going to look like (including some good time to settle into married life come April).

Health

The other update I wanted to give, especially for you sweet friends that have been praying for my migraines, is that I haven’t had a full-on migraine since the beginning of October! This is so huge, as I’d been having them at least several times a month from the beginning of July, and they seemed to be getting much closer together and lasting longer.

I missed quite a bit of work, as well as other bigger events, because I just couldn’t get out of bed for very long – if at all sometimes. After I had to stay in bed on my fiancé’s birthday, when we’d had a special day planned for him with his family, I started feeling really desperate.

We’d found some things that seemed to help lighten the symptoms of each migraine (Tylenol, Ibuprofen, ice packs, and caffeine), but sometimes nothing really helped, and we still didn’t seem to be solving the root issue, whatever it was/is. After some random digging and reading hopeful reviews on Amazon, I ordered a supplement called Migratone, and the day after taking it, I woke up with the week-long migraine that wouldn’t budge lightened.

Since taking it daily, I haven’t had another full-blown migraine, and by now, it’s been over two months! I’m still not sure why I was having them, and there are definitely still bad days and weird symptoms that I deal with a lot more often than I ever did, including dizziness and more frequent headaches, but I can still function. I can still work and attend things, I just need to be prepared and sometimes take it easier. I can do that. It’s manageable now.

I am so thankful for how God has provided. It’s crazy how little of the summer and early fall I remember. It all seems like a blur, and I’m so grateful that’s not an issue with wedding planning and everything right now. I’m no sponsor of that supplement or anything (I mention it by name so that anyone having similar issues can look into it if they want), but I do praise God for granting me relief right now.

So thank you for all your prayers. I really appreciate them, and am also praying for the people that have mentioned they struggle with migraines and other recurring health issues too. I pray you find healthy relief in some form as well.

Fiction

Remember that little thing that I mentioned in my blog hiatus post, about how I was taking time off to work on Cabin Girl and make sure it could be published soon?

Yeah, I hardly did anything on that manuscript. Part of me feels like hanging my head in shame, and the other half is trying hard to remind myself that it’s okay. Two days later, my priorities for the next few months completely changed.

Originally, I’d thought we wouldn’t get engaged until the spring of 2023, so I figured I’d press hard on my writing until then, and then pivot to wedding planning. But instead, the order of events just switched around. In no way am I giving up on publishing Cabin Girl, or continuing to write, but once again, I need to wait and see what that new path is going to look like.

I’ve been really aching to write again lately, so I am still working on it in little bits, but it’s safe to say January isn’t going to be the publishing month. Would I still love to publish before the wedding? Absolutely! Will it be possible? I’m not sure yet.

On the Blog

For the first time since I started my blog in 2020, I didn’t blog at all for an entire month (November). Honestly, it flew by and I didn’t realize it until December, and now I feel strange. Kind of like I’ve ‘broken my streak’, you know?

That also means that the 1.1K- 1.4K site views monthly from August through October have dropped to about 950 and 450 so far in November and December. But for not posting anything? I’m actually pretty thrilled with how I got to see my previously-published content circulate. I’m so glad people are still reading posts from several years ago!

And in addition, the time off gave me some valuable insights into how I can structure my post schedule better, and I’m glad to have had some time to refocus.

Also, I had the privilege of taking part in the Five Fall Favorites blog event (hosted by Kate Willis this year!) before my hiatus, and while posting daily for a week was a huge undertaking for me, I had so much fun sharing and reading others’ book recommendations. I’d love to do it again next year!

In case you missed them, here are those posts for October (just click on the links to read them):

~ 5 Books that Make Me Me (Five Fall Favorites)
~ My Top 5 Fantasy Books (Five Fall Favorites)
~ My Top 5 Indie Books (Five Fall Favorites)
~ My Top 5 Books With a Romance Element
~ My Top 5 Historical Fiction Books (Five Fall Favorites)
~ My Top 5 Books of 2022 (Five Fall Favorites)
~ Know The Novel – Part 1: Introduction
~ Temporary Blog Hiatus

Reading List

I don’t know if this is more or less shocking for me than not blogging for an entire month, but I didn’t finish any books either. The majority of my reading the past couple of months has been about marriage and wedding stuff (surprise, surprise), and sporadic otherwise.

At this point, I’m going to need to change my Goodreads goal for the year . . . but I have high hopes for 2023! Provided I get my schedule balanced the way I’m hoping, and the migraines stay back (because reading with migraines was not fun), I think I should be able to read a lot of books next year. Which is good, because I miss it!

Looking Forward

This has been a super long update post with about 75% of it about engagement/proposal/wedding stuff, but honestly, that’s my life right now. We’re having a family-only wedding, and want to keep things simple, but we also have a very large family between the two of us (as in 100+ people), and by nature, weddings tend to be complicated sometimes.

But we’ve been enjoying the process so far, have a lot of details figured out already, and are excitedly counting down the days until the ceremony. And as we keep repeating, as long as we’re married by the end of the day, it’s a successful wedding, right? That’s all that ultimately matters.

I’m glad to say, I have far more consistent posts planned for the rest of December and through January. Thank you for sticking around and continuing to message me, read my posts, send emails, etc. I’ve missed interacting with you as frequently, and look forward to getting back into the swing of things as I can!

What have your past couple of months been like? Has anything especially exciting happened? Have you made progress on some of your goals, or learned some important lessons? I’d love to hear about what’s been going on in your life!

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Temporary Blog Hiatus

Happy Friday!

Today’s post is not what I’d originally planned to share, but after contemplation and prayer, I know it’s needed. To put it simply, I’m taking a break from blogging for a little bit!

Some of you have been reading my blog from the very beginning (over two years ago now!), and you’ve been so patient and encouraging as I’ve talked about my journey with Cabin Girl. I originally wanted to publish it long before now, but obviously, that hasn’t happened yet.

Thankfully, the book has improved greatly thanks to the delay. I’ve learned quite a bit about storytelling and publishing in general over the past couple of years, and feel much better about where Cabin Girl is at as a story now. But now it’s time to get it out into the world!

I do have a publishing date set now, and while I’m waiting to share specific dates until after I’ve organized everything with my street team (soon!), I’ll say that it’s January of 2023!

With where Cabin Girl is at, this should be plenty doable, and I’m getting very close to the final publishing stages, such as formatting the ebook and paperback, finalizing the paperback cover, setting up a blog tour, and even organizing my first fun giveaway! I’m really looking forward to it all. And for now, I just need to set aside some dedicated time to get it done.

I have a habit of overcommitting (another thing regular readers of this blog know, haha), and when I planned my fall writing goals, I planned a full blogging schedule, as well as a few other writing projects on top of finishing Cabin Girl. But life has been extra crazy this month, and I’m behind on everything, not just publishing prep.

Lately, when I have time to write, instead of working on Cabin Girl, I find myself so overwhelmed by everything I feel like I should be doing, that I end up not doing any of it. And the cycle only continues as I get farther and farther behind. So this is me choosing priorities and putting Cabin Girl first this fall!

I only have four and a half more chapters to finish going over, a re-read of the entire manuscript, and then I’ll be sending out some emails to my email list and street team with updates, and to gauge interest in some fun extras, like the blog tour, giveaway, and final ARC copies. If you’re interested in taking part in any of those, please feel free to let me know!

I don’t know how long this hiatus will be, but it definitely shouldn’t be any longer than a month. And there will probably be a few exceptions, such as the second post of the Know the Novel blog link-up, and an October wrap-up. But overall, you shouldn’t expect to see many posts from me until I come back with an announcement that Cabin Girl is done! (I’ll still be responding to comments, emails, and messages though.)

I can’t wait to finally share this story, and your encouragement, support, and patience means so much. Thank you so much for continuing to read my rambling thoughts and updates! Have a wonderful rest of your October!

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, 
remembering you in my prayers.
(Ephesians 1:16 NIV)

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Know the Novel Linkup – Part 1: Introduction

Happy Friday!

If you were reading my blog last year, you might remember me joining this same link-up before (in this post right here), and I’m so excited to do it again!

This three-part blog link-up is hosted annually by the sweet Christine Smith as a fun way to share about our fall writing projects, whether that’s NaNoWriMo or anything else. I encourage you to check out her opening post right here!

You can click on the image to head to Christine’s site!

Last year, I answered these questions about my debut novel Cabin Girl (which is still not out, but it’s so close, and I can finally promise a publishing date announcement soon!). This year, I’m going to be answering these questions about my next writing/rewriting project, the prequel to Cabin Girl!

I first wrote this 65,000 word prequel for NaNoWriMo in 2020, and then set it aside to finish all my writing for Cabin Girl. Now that I’m to the final edits, formatting, and publishing prep for that, it’s almost time to start the major rewrite of the prequel, titled Gills.

I’m going to enjoy sharing about this fun prequel, and I hope you enjoy learning about it!

The Questions1. What first sparked the idea for this novel?

Because Gills is a prequel, Cabin Girl sparked the idea! I never intended to write more stories in the Cabin Girl world. In my mind, it was meant to be a standalone, and I was pretty adamant about that for a while.

But after more people read it and shared their love for one of the characters in particular, asking for more of his story, it didn’t take long to convince me to write more, haha. He’s one of my favorite characters too!

2. Share a blurb (or just an overall summary)!

I’m not proud of this, but here is the super-rough synopsis so far:

Hungry. Homeless. Held captive by the agonizing memories of surroundings he’s helpless to change.

And in his sights, The Lonely Eye—a ship he believes could change it all.

Determined to escape Morocco and forge his own future, young Gideon Mansur announces to an entire tavern of The Eye’s crew that he will—in fact—be their captain. The only problem? They already have a captain, and he’s not looking to give up his position any time soon. Oh, and Gideon doesn’t know anything about captaining a ship or succeeding within the Barbary slave trade—not that he’ll admit it.

With the reluctant help of his childhood friend and slave, Ibo, Gideon finds himself on a stormy journey to secure the ship—and life—of his dreams. But he’s not the only one with those intentions. Amidst sea battles, attempts to steal his success, grumbling crewmen, and the ever-growing unease of Ibo, only one thing’s clear. He will be a great captain.

And he’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

3. Where does the story take place? What are some of your favorite aspects of the setting?

Like Cabin Girl, the majority of this story takes place on a ship – the same ship actually, The Lonely Eye – with some chapters featuring locations like Morocco, Spain, and Ireland. My favorite aspects of these settings has been exploring them from an entirely different perspective, and in even more depth than in Cabin Girl.

Morocco especially has been fun to dive into, and I’ve been told from beta-readers that my descriptions, and some of the action, reminded them of Aladdin. It may not be the same city, but I’m happy with that comparison!

4. Tell us about your protagonist(s).

Gladly! The protagonist in Gills is actually the antagonist/mentor from Cabin Girl – Captain Gideon Gills. Although he’s not quite a captain yet . . . or is he? He’s one of the most vivid, remembered characters that I’ve ever written, and though picking favorite characters feels like picking a favorite child, I’d have to say he’s one of my very favorite.

Originally, he was partly inspired by the character Long John Silver from Treasure Island (or mostly, Treasure Planet) and just branched off from there into a headstrong, alliteration-adoring, and passionate pirate whose largest dream is to make a name for himself and control his destiny. For all my personality-typers, he’s an ENTJ, Enneagram type 8w7, and Choleric. He’s just come to life, and I’ve enjoyed following where he leads the story.

5. Who (or what) is the antagonist?

This is honestly one of the parts I need to focus on during the rewrite, as the antagonist is a rival Barbary pirate named Jabar. (I just now realized the similarity to Jafar, and now given the Aladdin comparison, I’m not sure if I like that, haha!) My struggle the first draft around was giving him a strong, ‘pirate’ personality, goals, and motives without making him too similar to the protagonist and thus boring.

They’re meant to be similar enough to contrast, as my goal was to foreshadow some of Gills’ actions and mannerisms in Cabin Girl, but they still need to be their own people. So I have some more character developing to do! But so far, Jabar (name pending), is the long-time quartermaster of a rival ship who has his sights set on the very same ship that Gills’ wants. As you can imagine, that’s not ideal, and forms the central conflict of the story.

6. What excites you the most about this novel?

Probably just the chance to explore Gills’ character even more – to see why he is what he is, and spend more time diving into his personality throughout the novel. Though he’s so different from me, he’s almost written himself, and I’ve had a lot of fun letting him. I’m also excited to share it with the people who have asked for more of his story.

Oh, and while Cabin Girl is a much more introspective pirate story with more focus on the inner workings and twisting motives of the ship and crew, Gills has a bit more action. Still no treasure hunts, but a lot more stereotypical pirate-y plot elements that I’ve enjoyed indulging in.

7. Is this going to be a series? standalone? something else?

Haha, I guess I’ve already answered this one. It’s a prequel in the Secretive Seas series!

8. Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

On the first draft, I’d say I was probably a planster. I had a semi-detailed outline going into it, but over the course of the month, as I wrote, I let myself go off into rabbit trails and switch plot events as I felt like it. My reasoning was that if it felt more interesting to me, it might be more interesting to my readers and if it was too awful, I’d edit it out later.

Well, now that I’m to the rewriting and editing stage, I can confirm that I have my work cut out for me (the rabbit trails . . . it’s horrific). I’m in the process of re-outlining, and doing a much more thorough job this time. I think heavy planning is a necessity at this point, so that I can iron out all the issues with the plot, and form a cohesive, engaging story.

9. Name a few unique elements in this story.

Well, probably the most interesting aspect is that this is a downfall story, in which we see the protagonist of his story, Gills, spiral into the antagonist of Éirinn’s story, Cabin Girl. I’ve never written a story like that before, and it’s been an adventure. A bit sad too . . . usually a character ends a story better than they began, but that’s not the nature of this one.

Also because of this, though Cabin Girl is a Christian pirate story, Gills really isn’t – at least not in the same way. It’s still clean in terms of content, but because we’re following the story through the eyes and perspective who neither knows or cares much about anything like that, Christianity isn’t prominent. The themes are there, but not explicitly pointed out.

10. Share some fun “extras” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

I haven’t created too many fun things for this story yet, but I do have:

A pirate-y playlist that I use when writing anything pirate-y (right HERE).A Gills-themed Pinterest board for inspiration (right HERE).A themed collage and finished cover! (below)None of these images belong to me!I love how this cover goes with Cabin Girl‘s!

And as much as I’d love to have an official map for The Lonely Eye, I can’t draw nearly well enough for that, and I have yet to find someone who does commissions for ship illustrations. Maybe at some point though, because that would be amazing! (If you have any recommendations, please let me know!)

Well, that’s all the questions for now! Thanks for joining me for this fun first part of the link-up, and I hope you enjoyed the preview into Gills! Have any questions, or did anything stick out to you? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to know your thoughts!

Do you have a writing project this fall? If you want, feel free to hop in on this link-up or just answer the questions in the comments and tell me about it! I’m always up to learning about amazing new stories!

Recent Posts:

Know the Novel Linkup – Part 1: IntroductionMy Top 5 Books of 2022 (Five Fall Favorites)My Top 5 Historical Fiction Books (Five Fall Favorites)

My Top 5 Books of 2022 (Five Fall Favorites)

Happy Saturday, and welcome to the sixth (and last) day of the Five Fall Favorites blog party! It’s been such a fun week, packed with great book recommendations, and I’m a bit sad to see it end. However, I have so many additions to my TBR list now! What about you?

You can find all of the information about the Five Fall Favorites blog party by seeing my first post from Monday, or by going to the lovely host (Kate Willis Hoppman)’s site, but for a quick recap, each day this week, a group of bloggers is each sharing their five favorite books in a particular genre – the goal being for us all to find some great new reads!

There is also a grand giveaway at the end of all this, with some of the prizes featured below in the images below. Soon we’ll find out the winner! ‘

Part of the epic grand prize!

And you probably know this by now, if you’ve been following along this week, but every day there’s also a Kindle deal going on, where you can snag the featured ebook free on Amazon. These are great stories written by many of the authors participating in this blog party, and I encourage you to check them out!

Today’s featured deal is Red Rain by Rachel Newhouse (click this link or the image below to find it)!

So what’s our final topic?

My Top 5 Books of 2022

I actually published a post very similar to this last month, in which I shared eight of my favorite reads from 2022 so far. I’ve chosen five different, also amazing books to share today, but for the full list of great reads that I’ve discovered this year, go check out this post, too!

Wishtress

Author: Nadine Brandes

Genre: Fantasy

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: I believe this is my favorite book of Nadine’s so far! The whole premise of a tear/crying being able to grant wishes, and also be deadly is one of those story ideas that I wish I’d thought of, haha. The fantasy and magic system was interesting and well thought out, and the worldbuilding was both descriptive and mysterious.

As usual, the characters were my favorite part. Both protagonists were relatable and flawed and I cared for them a lot. The romance was sweet. Again, Nadine tends to implement some of my favorite character tropes, so that was fun for me. The plot kept me on my toes, and there were several times when details came together and actually made me gasp as I was reading (something that doesn’t happen often). Overall, I was very engaged, finished the book in a day, and really appreciated this story and its deep, meaningful themes.

Tricky Content: A complex, allegorical magic system, violence, intense action, loss, several kisses, and mentions of several pregnancies out-of-wedlock, including to a teenager.

I Recommend It To: Teens and up that enjoy intriguing and engaging fantasies with a bit of romance woven through.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Beyond the Bright Sea

Author: Lauren Wolk

Genre: Contemporary

Target Audience: Middle Grade (MG)

What Stuck Out To Me: I was first drawn in by this book’s cover (because really, how could I not be?), and was pleased to find the story inside just as charming! The narrator/protagonist of the story relayed the events in a poetic, relatable way and kept me engaged and interested from the start. The entire mystery woven throughout was fascinating.

I also enjoyed the characters, including and especially the parental figures. Their care for the protagonist (and later, each other) was very sweet, and I appreciated how they were good, kind people, but still flawed and struggling with their own fears and questions. Everyone seemed to have growth of some sort by the end of the story. The ending was bittersweet but hopeful, and the themes and life lessons explored are important ones.

Tricky Content: Mention of a stillborn baby, some violence and scary scenes, mild injuries, and prejudice toward a certain group of people (that gets challenged throughout the plot).

I Recommend It To: Middle grade readers and up that enjoy quaint, thought-provoking mysteries with deep themes.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

The Maze Runner (the series)

Author: James Dashner

Genre: Dystopian

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: I’ve read this series several times now (a trilogy with two prequels), and though it’s darker than most books I read, I can’t help but be drawn in by the plot.

The entire premise of the maze and limited memories is fascinating, and as the books continue, the characters are thrown into an all-out fight not just for their lives but for the fate of the world (a post-apocalyptic Earth). Something I always do while reading dystopians is wonder what I’d do in their place, and I really don’t know in this case (other than die within the first book). The themes and questions explored are deep and layered, and you’re often left contemplating the morality of their actions. I always go through the books pretty fast, as they’re just too hard to put down!

Tricky Content: Pretty frequent, severe violence and gore (more so than The Hunger Games, so if you’re sensitive to that, I’d give this series a pass), made-up slang/curse words that are pretty easy to tell what they are supposed to be, occasional mild language, intense action, deaths, trauma, child abuse, and questionable, disturbing government activity.

I Recommend It To: Teens and up that are okay with some intense content and enjoy fast-paced, intriguing dystopian stories.

Here’s the link to add The Maze Runner on Goodreads!

Shards of Sky

Author: E. C. Colton

Genre: Contemporary

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: I was blessed to win a copy of this book in a giveaway, and thoroughly enjoyed it. First, the poetic and flowing writing style is absolutely beautiful (so is the cover!). Even while I had trouble getting into the story at first, the narrative voice kept me interested because of how well-crafted it was. And by the halfway mark, I was fully sucked into the story.

The main characters and their family situation was both sad and inspiring. I appreciated getting to see the siblings’ love and care for one another, even through truly difficult and discouraging situations, and liked their growth by the end. Even though some serious topics were addressed, it was done with tact and grace, and I’d feel plenty comfortable giving this to middle grade readers. It’s a very poignant story with powerful themes.

Tricky Content: Allusions to a car accident and alcohol abuse, child neglect/abuse, dysfunctional family, loss and grief, trauma-related muteness, anxiety, and family separation.

I Recommend It To: Middle grade readers and up that enjoy deep and touching reads about family, strength, and love.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

A Little Book on the Christian Life

Author: John Calvin

Genre: Christian Non-fiction

Target Audience: Young Adults to Adults

What Stuck Out To Me: This powerful book may be little, but it certainly packs a spiritual punch. It was a gift from my cousin early this summer, and was one of the only things I read in June. I highly recommend it as an opportunity to grow in our faith.

Unfortunately, I was dealing with the start of my first migraine when I read this, so I didn’t focus or retain nearly as much as I wanted, and I’ll definitely be rereading this soon! That said, there were many sections that I found thought-provoking and helpful; topics like holiness, humility, sacrifice, self-denial, thankfulness, and trusting God through every circumstance in our lives. I appreciated Calvin’s wise words, backed by plenty of Scripture.

Tricky Content: As always, read these kinds of books with discernment and prayer. I didn’t notice anything concerning.

I Recommend It To: God-seeking teens and up that are looking for a short but powerful overview of what being a Christian tends to look like in our everyday lives.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Well, it’s official – we’ve reached the end of the Five Fall Favorites blog party! What are some of your favorite reads from 2022 so far? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? If so, what did you think? I’d love to hear from you!

Again, check out Kate’s host post here, for a full list of other bloggers participating and so that you can find even more book recommendations from the week! If you haven’t already, don’t forget to pick up the final daily Kindle deal (Red Rain by Rachel Newhouse), here!

Thank you again for joining us this week in our bookish fun! I hope you were able to find some great book recommendations, and I’d love to hear from you about some of your favorites. Have a lovely, reading-filled fall!

Recent Posts:

My Top 5 Books of 2022 (Five Fall Favorites)My Top 5 Historical Fiction Books (Five Fall Favorites)My Top 5 Books With a Romance Element (Five Fall Favorites)

My Top 5 Historical Fiction Books (Five Fall Favorites)

Happy Friday, and welcome to the fifth day of the Five Fall Favorites blog party! We’re getting so close to the finish line!

You can find all of the information about the Five Fall Favorites blog party by seeing my first post from Monday, or by going to the lovely host (Kate Willis Hoppman)’s site, but for a quick recap, each day this week, a group of bloggers is each sharing their five favorite books in a particular genre – the goal being for us all to find some great new reads!

There is also a grand giveaway at the end of all this, with some of the prizes featured below in the images below. You can enter that giveaway by just following this link.

Part of the epic grand prize!

And to add to the excitement, every day there’s also a Kindle deal going on, where you can snag the featured ebook free on Amazon. These are great stories written by many of the authors participating in this blog party, and I encourage you to check them out!

Today’s featured deal is Jim Wood by Rebekah Morris (click this link or the image below to find it)!

So what’s our topic today?

My Top 5 Historical Fiction Books

Historical fiction has always been one of my favorite genres. Most of the first books I remember reading explored some point in history, from the Mandie series, The Magic Tree House books, the American Girl series, and various biographies about historical figures.

Most of all, I enjoy stories that make history come alive; helping me to picture and remember it better. And while I have a love-hate relationship with writing historical fiction (so much research!), I’m almost always up for reading it. That also applies to historical fantasies, which combine my two favorite genres!

I’ve read too many good ones to list over the years, but these are some of my very favorites!

Fawkes

Author: Nadine Brandes

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: This is one of my favorite books of all time, hands down. While I’ll admit the main character took me some time to like, I related to him from the start and still cared about his story. And by the end, I loved his character growth. The characters in general were all very relatable, colorful, and realistic.

Speaking of colors, I loved the unique and creative magic system in this one. It made sense and it and the masks fascinated me. The historical setting was well-described and vivid, the romance thread sweet, and the action fast-paced and unpredictable. I enjoyed the fun spin on a real event in history (a plot to blow up the English Parliament – NOT the French Revolution like I incorrectly stated before, haha). Also, Nadine tends to use some of my favorite character-related tropes, so it’s always cool to get to indulge in those, haha.

Tricky Content: Intense action, a magic system based on colors, betrayal, violence, a kiss, drunkenness of minor characters, and subtle references of racism (historically accurate but not portrayed as right).

I Recommend It To: Teens and up that enjoy twisting and mysterious historical fantasies, especially set in 1600’s France.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Treasure Island

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Genre: Historical fiction

Target Audience: Anyone?

What Stuck Out To Me: I have faint memories of my dad reading this book to my siblings and I when we were younger, but it took me until recently to read it for myself again. Because I grew up watching Treasure Planet (one of my favorites!), the original story actually surprised me a bit, and I enjoyed all the mystery and intrigue as they sought out their treasure.

Of course, having written pirate stories myself, I enjoyed it for that reason; getting to see all the ships, pirate terms, and historical aspects. But I also just enjoyed the characters and how vivid and unique they were. The action kept me on my toes, especially in the later half of the book. Morally, of course I don’t agree with many of the actions the characters took, but I always appreciate getting to explore those issues through the characters.

Tricky Content: Some archaic, racist language (what you’d expect from a historical fiction of that time period), drunkeness and smoking, violence, and deaths.

I Recommend It To: Mature middle grade readers and up that enjoy treasure-hunting pirate stories with action and mystery.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Author: John Boyne

Genre: Historical fiction

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: I’d heard very little about this book when I picked it up, so it consistently took me by surprise. The Holocaust is a heartbreaking topic, and I thought it was fascinating getting to read a story set on the opposite side than I usually hear about. The contrast of the young protagonists’ innocent narrative voice vs his harsh, cruel surroundings and family actions really made me think.

There’s no easy way to cover this topic, but this book helped me emotionally connect even more to the victims of World War II, especially the Jews, and also imagine the lives of those on the opposing side. The forbidden friendship between the two main characters was both sweet and sad. Emotionally, I’d compare this book to Bridge to Terabithia. A story that may not be light or easy, but that tackles deep themes and sticks with you. It stuck with me.

Tricky Content: An implied affair, upsetting ending, deception, implied violence, and disturbing scenes and descriptions regarding the Holocaust. Many advocate that this is not an accurate look at this part of history, and warn not to take it as facts.

I Recommend It To: Mature middle grade readers and up that want to more deeply contemplate and feel connected to the events of the Holocaust/World War II.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Lyddie

Author: Katherine Paterson

Genre: Historical fiction

Target Audience: Middle Grade (MG)

What Stuck Out To Me: Speaking of Bridge to Terabithia, it took me years to realize that the same author also wrote this book, another one I used to read often and enjoy. She has a way of tackling very hard themes and topics in a way that sticks with you, through vivid stories and realistic characters. This book was no different for me.

I loved the protagonist of this story, a hard-working girl with grit and a determination to survive and help her family. Throughout the story, she undergoes a lot of character growth, turning into a strong young woman, despite (or because of) the challenges thrown at her. The thorough picture of what factory life for children in the 1800’s was like is so sad and at times very disturbing, and I learned a lot from this book. Though it doesn’t have a ‘happy’ ending, per se, it is satisfying and hints toward a better future for the protagonist.

Tricky Content: Depictions of child labor, exploitation of underage workers, children experiencing neglect, poverty, and girls receiving harassment and inappropriate attention from grown supervisors, a teenage pregnancy, and a character’s short confinement in a psychiatric hospital.

I Recommend It To: Mature middle grade readers and up that want to learn more about the 1800’s factory lives of many children from a ‘first-hand’ perspective.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Genre: Historical fiction

Target Audience: Adults

What Stuck Out To Me: This is one of the longest books I’ve read, and I really liked it. The sheer volume meant that it was able to go in-depth into the lives of several main characters, switching viewpoints from chapter to chapter. All of the characters’ lives intertwined at some point, and I found it fascinating to see how everything came together by the end of the book.

The themes and topics here aren’t easy to consider, but I appreciated how much this book made me think and really contemplate what life would have been like for African Americans during the Civil Rights movement. Of course one story by someone who didn’t live it can’t be completely accurate, but the research done was obvious, and the plot and surroundings felt very deep and nuanced. All of the characters were realistic and relatable, and had vivid personalities and growth. I came away saddened, but also inspired by it.

Tricky Content: Miscarriage, frequent smoking and drinking, mild to severe language, racist terms, phrases, and views from characters, abuse, some violence, and disturbing scenes. Again, many warn that this is not an accurate depiction of what African Americans went through during this time period, so obviously remember it is an educated story and read with discernment.

I Recommend It To: Young adults and up that want a deep and often even disturbing exploration of what the people involved in the Civil Rights movement may have suffered.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

We’ve reached the end of day five of the Five Fall Favorites blog party! What are some of your favorite historical fiction reads? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? If so, what did you think? I’d love to hear from you!

Again, check out Kate’s host post here, for a full list of other bloggers participating and so that you can find even more book recommendations! Don’t forget to join the giveaway here, and pick up the daily Kindle deal (Jim Wood by Rebekah Morris), here!

Recent Posts:

My Top 5 Books of 2022 (Five Fall Favorites)My Top 5 Historical Fiction Books (Five Fall Favorites)My Top 5 Books With a Romance Element (Five Fall Favorites)

My Top 5 Books With a Romance Element (Five Fall Favorites)

Happy Thursday, and welcome to the fourth day of the Five Fall Favorites blog party!

You can find all of the information about the Five Fall Favorites blog party by seeing my first post from Monday, or by going to the lovely host (Kate Willis Hoppman)’s site, but for a quick recap, each day this week, a group of bloggers is each sharing their five favorite books in a particular genre – the goal being for us all to find some great new reads!

There is also a grand giveaway at the end of all this, with some of the prizes featured below in the images below. You can enter that giveaway by just following this link.

The epic grand prize!

And to add to the excitement, every day there’s also a Kindle deal going on, where you can snag the featured ebook free on Amazon. These are great stories written by many of the authors participating in this blog party, and I encourage you to check them out!

Today’s featured deal is Kiera by Kate Willis (yes, the host of this event!) (click this link or the image below to find it)!

Today’s topic?

My Top 5 Books With A Romance Element

If you’ve known me long, you probably know that romance books aren’t usually my cup of tea. I have nothing against romance itself and find it very sweet and beautiful when done right, but it’s so hard to find stories that handle it properly. Even when just a sub-plot.

So for that reason, I don’t have many favorite books that are romantically-focused (though I’m always looking for recommendations!) but below are a few that I have read and really liked. I felt that all of these handled their romance well, with good themes and strong characters.

Redeeming Love

Author: Francine Rivers

Genre: Historical fiction

Target Audience: Adults

What Stuck Out To Me: This is probably one of the first outright romance novels that I’ve read and enjoyed. I’ve only read it once, due to how heavy it is, but the characters and themes have stayed with me. Rivers does a beautiful job of retelling the biblical story of Hosea in a closer and relatable setting, illustrating God’s unconditional love in a powerful way.

The hard situations in this story broke my heart, as I couldn’t help but think of all the people in the world that have dealt with similar situations. Still, I was also reminded of how God can work in our lives, turning even the darkest and most horrific parts of our pasts into beautiful opportunities for good. The lessons about forgiveness, redemption, grace, and love are well-developed.

Tricky Content: The protagonist is/was a prostitute, so, though all the sensitive content that comes along with that is handled tactfully, it’s nearly constant throughout the story and still obvious what is happening. Also included are references to topics like abortion, assault, drunkenness, slavery, violence, and depression/thoughts of suicide.

I Recommend It To: Mature young adults and older, due to the subject matter.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

The Atonement Child

Author: Francine Rivers

Genre: Contemporary

Target Audience: Adults

What Stuck Out To Me: This is another deep Rivers romance novel that I appreciated. I wouldn’t say it was quite as powerful as Redeeming Love for me, but it has its own strong themes and lessons, focused less on romance, and more on the value of life. That said, there is definitely still a strong romance aspect to this story, and I found it very sweet and easy to root for the paired characters.

The characters were my favorite part, mostly because Rivers didn’t use stereotypes. There were Christians that made awful decisions and unbelievers that rose as heroes; everyone seemed diverse, real, and complicated, and they all made real mistakes. When dealing with such tricky topics as abortion and assault, that’s important to me. Is it perfect? No, but I found it well-worth the read, as it reminded me to have empathy and think deeper.

Tricky Content: In-depth conversations and references to abortion, assault, prejudiced comments, and a lot of emotional conflict and trauma.

I Recommend It To: Mature young adults and up, due to the subject matter.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Romanov

Author: Nadine Brandes

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: This was the first book by Nadine that I read, and it was a fantastic one to start with! I’ve never known much about the Romanov family, but I always liked the animated movie (Anastasia) loosely based on their life. This was an intriguing, emotional, and well-developed take on the same history, adding in a fascinating magic system.

Most of all, I liked the characters. They were relatable, interesting, and strong, but still imperfect in a very real way. Their relationships, especially the close-knit family during their biggest hardships, inspired me and made me appreciate my own family more. And yes, the romance was both beautiful and heartbreaking. I was definitely rooting for each couple. The plot grew more mysterious and intense the farther into the story, with strong themes.

Tricky Content: A magic system with spells, violence, some intense/disturbing scenes, kisses, and drunkenness (portrayed as bad).

I Recommend It To: Teens and up that are intrigued by Anastasia’s story, historical fantasy, and/or Russian-inspired fiction with steady romance.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

The Heirs of Neverland Series

Author: Kara Swanson

Genre: Fantasy

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: First, I love good fantasy retellings, and getting to see another version of Peter Pan was so much fun! The intriguing plot kept me hooked from the start.

I really enjoyed all the different characters, too! From Peter, to the original protagonist, to Tiger Lily, and the Lost Boys, I found that there was a depth to each of them that I don’t find when I think of the Disney version. Peter especially was a more serious version of himself, and, me being the sucker for angst that I am, enjoyed seeing him learn and grow. The villains were formidable and interesting, the action compelling, and the themes strong.

(AND THOSE COVERS ARE GORGEOUS.)

Tricky Content: Violence, dark tones (especially in the second book), general angst and trauma, occasional ‘coarse’ language, and light romance with several kisses.

I Recommend It To: Teens and up that enjoy Peter Pan stories, or are simply looking for an engrossing and deep fantasy read.

Here’s the link to add Dust on Goodreads!

Within These Lines

Author: Stephanie Morrill

Genre: Historical/Romance

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: I just finished this one yesterday! What a rollercoaster of emotions . . . This is such a powerful story of thinking for yourself, overcoming prejudices, and valuing others for who they are, no matter how hard others fight you for it. The historical settings were very well-described and I felt like I was really there in the midst of the action. I was sucked in from the beginning.

The characters were also a highlight for me (if you haven’t been able to tell by now, I’m a very character-driven reader and writer). The protagonists – and main couple – were a cute balance of fiery and gentle, and I really appreciated that they were already in love when the story started. It wouldn’t have worked as well to have them meet, fall in love, and then go through all the story horrors for one another as relatively new acquaintances. And I want to be friends with the supporting characters too, haha. Definitely glad I read this one!

Tricky Content: Mild violence, disturbing descriptions of Japanese camps, several undescribed kisses, references to a character who had a miscarriage after becoming pregnant out of wedlock, and plenty of occasions of racism (clearly portrayed as wrong).

I Recommend It To: Teens and up that enjoy sweet romance stories and intriguing historical fiction – especially about WWII.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

We’ve reached the end of day four of the Five Fall Favorites blog party! What are some of your favorite reads that incorporate romance? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? If so, what did you think? I’d love to hear from you!

Again, check out Kate’s host post here, for a full list of other bloggers participating and so that you can find even more book recommendations! Don’t forget to join the giveaway here, and pick up the daily Kindle deal (Kiera by Kate WIllis), here!

See you tomorrow for some more bookish fun!

Recent Posts:

My Top 5 Books With a Romance Element (Five Fall Favorites)My Top 5 Indie Books (Five Fall Favorites)My Top 5 Fantasy Books (Five Fall Favorites)

My Top 5 Indie Books (Five Fall Favorites)

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to the third day of the Five Fall Favorites blog party!

You can find all of the information about the Five Fall Favorites blog party by seeing my first post from Monday, or by going to the lovely host (Kate Willis Hoppman)’s site, but for a quick recap, each day this week, a group of bloggers is each sharing their five favorite books in a particular genre – the goal being for us all to find some great new reads!

There is also a grand giveaway at the end of all this, with some of the prizes featured below in the images below. You can enter that giveaway by just following this link.

Part of the epic grand prize!

And to add to the excitement, every day there’s also a Kindle deal going on, where you can snag the featured ebook free on Amazon. These are great stories written by many of the authors participating in this blog party, and I encourage you to check them out!

Today’s featured deal is Plan to Fail by Perry Kirkpatrick (click this link or the image below to find it)!

Today’s topic?

My Top 5 Indie Books

If you’re following along with the rest of the bloggers participating in this challenge, you’ve probably noticed some of them sharing their top five favorite mystery reads today. However, though I love when mystery elements are included in books, I don’t read many straight-up mystery stories. So instead, I’ve swapped it with indie books!

Indie books are books that are ‘independently published’. In other words, not traditionally, through a publishing company. These are books that the authors have put the work in to publish themselves, through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and similar stores. I’m an indie author myself, and indie books have a special place in my heart.

There are so many indie books that I want to get to and haven’t yet, (mostly because I have a hard time actually buying new books, haha) but here are five of my favorites so far!

Go Teen Writers: Write Your Novel

Author/s: Stephanie Morrill, Jill Williamson, & Shannon Dittemore

Genre: Non-Fiction

Target Audience: Teen writers

What Stuck Out To Me: Every writer should have this book, and I really believe that. There’s such a wealth of writing information inside – from coming up with a story idea to outlining to the writing process to critique groups to publishing advice (indie or traditional), and so much more. I found so many helpful tips!

For new writers, this book has all the information needed to walk you through writing a novel for the first time in a comprehensive but in-depth way. The authors alternated sharing their advice and experiences, and have such a friendly tone in their writing, I felt like I was chatting with good friends while I read. Even as someone who wouldn’t consider myself a new writer (with several novels behind me), I found great reminders that I needed as I’m working through my current novels. I think everyone can benefit from this!

Tricky Content: If you’ve been writing for years and years, parts of this book may seem too basic, though I think there are still good reminders. Also, spoilers from story examples used.

I’d Recommend It To: Writers aged young teen and up that are passionate about writing novels.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel

Author/s: Stephanie Morrill & Jill Williamson

Genre: Non-fiction

Target Audience: Teen writers

What Stuck Out To Me: Looks familiar, doesn’t it? This one is another super valuable book for writers! Just like the first one, this contains a wide variety of insights on everything from macro-editing, to micro-editing, procrastination, self-doubt, preparing a manuscript, more publishing advice, genre, building a career, and helpful lists and resources at the end.

Also like their first book, Stephanie and Jill go back and forth sharing their experiences and best tips, and I really appreciated the down-to-earth way they presented their wisdom and were honest about the mistakes they made. As I’ve been working on editing a lot recently, the methods and reminders they gave were super helpful. I know I’ll be coming back to this book every time I edit, and I wish I’d have discovered it earlier in my journey!

Tricky Content: A few more possible spoilers, and if you’ve been writing for years, you may find some of the material more basic, though I suspect not all of it.

I’d Recommend It To: Writers aged young teen and up that are passionate about editing novels – or just have to do it anyway and need some help (like me).

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Blank Mastermind

Author: Rosey Mucklestone

Genre: Dystopian/Superhero

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: I read this entire book for the first time in one sitting, staying up far too late to do it. I couldn’t put it down! First of all, the genre – a mix of superhero, contemporary, and dystopian – was descriptive and fascinating, and amnesia tropes are some of my favorite, so the premise intrigued me from the start.

This book is well-written and brilliant in my opinion. The characters are vibrant and memorable, the story a good balance of action, mystery, and reflection, the humor witty and nearly constant, thanks to the snarky protagonist, and the weaving of faith and deep themes powerfully done. It’s definitely one of my favorites, and I keep coming back to it. I try not to think about that one plot twist that I should have seen coming, but didn’t . . . .

Tricky Content: Some violence, intense situations, mild language, occasional grammatical errors, and a brief, subtle allusion to self-harm.

I’d Recommend It To: Teens and up that enjoy stories about superheroes, meaningful themes, amnesiacs, unique characters, and/or ice cream.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

A Wilted Willow

Author: Julia Witmer

Genre: Fantasy

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: I was blessed to read an ARC of this book back before it was published (and shared a review/author interview on my blog here), and I really enjoyed it!

First, it’s a portal fantasy, and the settings, world-building, and magic were very interesting and described well.

Mostly, I loved the characters. From the spunky protagonist, to the faithful companion and his furry friend, to the cunning villain, I felt they were all relatable and unique, and I liked watching them all grow and change on their journeys. The plot was interesting and moved along well, and the story is filled with strong themes that may be too obvious for some, but are still very good reminders. My only complaint is that I wish there was more of the story!

Tricky Content: a magic system involving shields and portals, some violence, and a couple of mild swears or usages of the Lord’s name.

I’d Recommend It To: Tweens and up that enjoy intriguing portal fantasy books with an adventurous plot.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

Daughter of Kings

Author: Isabella Auer

Genre: Fantasy

Target Audience: Young Adult (YA)

What Stuck Out To Me: This book was written by a dear friend of mine who passed away in 2020. She published this book to fulfill a dream, and I have continued to enjoy it since.

She was a huge fan of Tolkien, and this book shows it. It spans years, with a large cast of fascinating characters, compelling action, relatable lessons, and so much depth.

Seriously, the depth of this book amazes me. Though the cover may not portray how expansive the fantasy realm and story is, I compare it to the Lord of the Rings. The cast of characters is vast, relatable, and fascinating, the world is well-explored and conveyed through creative descriptions, and the writing style is flowing and beautiful, with subtle wit throughout. Most of all, the themes explored are powerful, and I was very touched by it.

Tricky Content: Some intense battle scenes, loss and grief, and occasional grammatical errors.

I’d Recommend It To: Middle grade readers and up that enjoy poetic fantasy reads with large casts and an expansive world.

Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!

We’ve reached the end of day three of the Five Fall Favorites blog party! What are some of your favorite indie reads? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? If so, what did you think? I’d love to hear from you!

Again, check out Kate’s host post here, for a full list of other bloggers participating and so that you can find even more book recommendations! Don’t forget to join the giveaway here, and pick up the daily Kindle deal (Plain to Fail by Perry Kirkpatrick), here!

See you tomorrow for some more bookish fun!

Recent Posts:

My Top 5 Indie Books (Five Fall Favorites)My Top 5 Fantasy Books (Five Fall Favorites)5 Books that Make Me Me (Five Fall Favorites)