Becky Wade's Blog, page 20

Robin’s Favorites

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The authors of Inspired by Life…and Fiction are offering a new weekly post featuring some of our favorite things. We hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about us—and we’d love to hear your answers to these “favorites” questions in the comments below.

Favorite Holiday: Christmas. I love the songs, the lights, the decorations, even the weather. Mostly, I love being with family.

Favorite Vacation Spot: Disneyland/Disney World. I have never grown up. Me and Peter Pan. 

Favorite Dessert: Strawberry-Rhubarb pie. Just the right blend of sweet and tart.

I’m So Excited!

My novel, Uneasy Street, releases NEXT MONTH! I’m currently listening to the audiobook. Here’s a video I recorded when I was just a few chapters in…

I’ve now listened to half of the audiobook and my feelings haven’t changed. I’m thrilled with the work the narrators did with my novel! Listening to the audiobook is one of the big rewards of my writing year. It reminds me why I really do love my job.

My goal is to make the audiobook available at all of your favorite outlets by the time Uneasy Street releases on February 14th. At the moment, however, you can pre-order it only via my website bookstore. If you enjoy owning audiobooks and listening to them on your phone on the BookFunnel app, then I recommend my site because you can purchase it there for just $10.

For those of you who enjoy advance access to new releases, early copies of the paperback, ebook, and audiobook are all available on my site and you’ll receive those one week prior to February 14th. I’m going to be removing that “early” option in just a few days for the paperback because I’m on the cusp of placing my paperback order with my supplier.

The other items I’m removing from my bookstore in just a few days? These two swag boxes…

I’ll leave you with a peek at Uneasy Street’s plot! This is the first time I’ve tackled a true “enemies to lovers” trope. I’ve done “second chance romances” in the past with characters who were hostile toward one another because their romance ended badly. But Max and Sloane were never a couple in the past. I had a blast writing their banter and their chemistry!

Once upon a time Max Cirillo and Sloane Madison were close friends and business partners. But when their business relationship imploded, so did the friendship.

Now, four years later, Max is a rich CEO. Sloane’s a not-so-rich etiquette expert who returns to Maine to serve as her niece’s temporary guardian and help the girl search for her birth father. Sloane and her niece move into a darling garage apartment but Sloane’s joy in their accommodations soon turns to horror when she realizes their apartment belongs to Max. Thanks to an unbreakable lease, she’s stuck living right next door to him.

Max pulled strings to bring Sloane into his orbit because he needs closure on what went wrong between them. Quickly, though, his scheming comes back to bite him. The world might view him as a cold-hearted rake, but this one woman has dangerous power over his emotions.

They’ll have no choice but to confront their history—and the undeniable spark between them—while living side by side on uneasy street.

Happy new year, everyone! May this year be filled with wonderful books for us all.

If you tracked your reading in 2024, approximately how many of the books you read were audiobooks?

Create a Book Reading Plan & Giveaway

It’s the start of a new year and that’s an exciting time. It means it’s time for a new reading challenge. I use Goodreads to track the books I read (in 2024, that was 100 books), but I know others use different tools. However, whatever tool you use, I love being able to go back and check which books I read when. It’s been a great way for me to capture all the books I’ve read. Yet like many of you, my to-be-read pile is always larger than I think it should be. For every book I read, it feels like two jump on to the pile.

This semester, I’m not teaching. One of the things I want to do with this gift of extra time is finish a few book that are lingering on my pile and read a few others. The challenge is how to develop a plan I can stick with, yet that gives me some flexibility and a sense of movement. I don’t want reading to become a job, even though it is, and I want accountability to get through some of these books that have lingered longer than they should have. I wanted a quick, simple tool, so I turned to ChatGPT. I could have done the same thing in Perplexity or CoPilot, but thought I’d share with you the results in case you want to build something similar.

If you’ve spent any time on AI tools, you know that the prompt is key to getting good output. (BTW, I used Canva Beta AI to generate the image above. I really can’t wait for the day the image generators can spell well!). Anyway, my prompt for ChatGPT was simple: “Acting as my personal learning assistant, help me develop a plan to read the following books in the next two months: Power Code by Kitty Kay, Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick, Burnout Immunity by Kandi Wiens, and The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen. At the same time I want to finish reading the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Ortberg, and read the Abolition of Man by CS Lewis, Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, Switch on Your Brain by Dr. Caroline Leaf, and Untangle Your Emotions by Jennie Allen. ” This isn’t all of the books I want to read in the next two months — it doesn’t include any fiction — and it’s an odd conglomeration of books for my job at the university and Christian faith/living books. This is simply the starting point, and if I get them read in January and February while writing a book and reading some fiction, I’ll be very happy. Also FYI, ChatGPT misclassified half of them, but that’s easy enough for me to fix.

ChatGPT asked some smart questions about my reading speed, how much time I could dedicate to reading, etc. Then it spit out a generic, “You can read two books a week.” I know that. I wanted a more detailed plan. So I asked for a tracker next, which you can see below. I like checkboxes, so I will turn it into a slightly different format with more of a checkbox for each chapter and day so I can track progress, but overall this works for me. The good news? All of this interaction took about three minutes. It was really fast. The okay news? It requires tweaking, but like most things with AI, it’s a good brainstorming partner if you have an idea of what you want to do.

BTW, if you’re looking for a great tool to track your fiction and other reading, my friend Janine Rosche has created an amazing guide. I highly recommend it to you. You can download it for free when you sign up for her newsletter here. Her newsletter is always great, and if you love contemporary fiction, you have to check out her books!

Also scroll to the end for a beginning of the year fiction giveaway. I was cleaning my office and found some duplicates of great new novels from some of my writing friends. I love their books so much I ended up buying two copies. It’s a great problem to have!

This is the tracker output ChatGPT produced. Would you be able to use it?

Digital Tracker Outline

Weekly Tracker Template (Notion/Trello/Google Sheets)

Columns:

Week: Specifies the week of the plan (1–8).Nonfiction Title: The title of the nonfiction book being read.Chapters/Pages to Read: Daily goals broken into chapters/pages.Christian Nonfiction Title: The title of the Christian nonfiction book being read.Chapters/Pages to Read: Daily goals for this book.Progress: A checkbox or progress bar for tracking completion.Notes/Insights: A section for reflections, quotes, or ideas from the week’s reading.

Example Entry:

WeekNonfiction TitleChapters/Pages to ReadChristian Nonfiction TitleChapters/Pages to ReadProgressNotes/Insights1Power CodeChapters 1–5 (40 pages/day)The Ruthless Elimination of HurryChapters 1–5 (40 pages/day)Key insight: “Hurry is the enemy of spiritual life.”

Reflection Template

Daily Reflection QuestionsWhat is the most impactful idea I read today?How does this apply to my life/work/spiritual growth?What questions or challenges arise from today’s reading?Weekly Reflection Template

Title: Week [#] Summary

Nonfiction Summary: Key takeaways and themes from this week’s reading.Christian Nonfiction Summary: Spiritual or practical lessons and applications.Application: What actionable steps can I take based on this week’s insights?Questions for Further Thought: What concepts or ideas require deeper exploration?Context & Clarifications:Time Commitment: How much time per day or week can you dedicate to reading?Reading Pace: Approximately how many pages can you read in an hour? Do any of these books feel more challenging or slower to read?Reading Preferences: Would you like to prioritize certain books over others? Do you prefer alternating between genres (e.g., inspirational, scientific, philosophical)?Other Commitments: Are there any days you can dedicate more or less time to reading (e.g., weekends)?Preferred Format: Are you using physical books, e-books, or audiobooks? Mixing formats might help you read more efficiently.a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Beauty of Words

Hi friends!

Happy Wednesday. I’m excited to spend a little bit of today with you. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a joyous New Year.

I know it’s that time of year when many of us make New Year’s resolutions, goals, vision boards, and so much to strive for to make this year the year you get (fill in the blank).

I’m very much the same. I have my list. But I hear God telling me to put it away. I couldn’t figure out why.

Why wouldn’t God want me to make this the year I start exercising regularly and eating healthy? Perhaps your goal is to get organized by planning on keeping your house perfect—everything in its place.

Perhaps your goals are far different and focus more on writing goals. You want to write a book, finish your current manuscript, sign with an agent, or hopefully get published.

These are amazing goals. As a writing coach and mentor, I receive more clients in the first month of the year than throughout the rest of the year. Everyone is ready to take that next step, and I love joining them on their journey. I see my clients win major contests, four sign with agents, and three sign publishing contracts. It brings me the greatest joy to see them take off and fly.

So, why would God tell me to put my lists away (you know, that magical list of brain dumps and then turn them into TO Dos?)? There is so much I want to accomplish this year, but that’s the very point, He whispered.

And, then I got it. There’s so much I want to accomplish. Goals I want to pursue. Changes I want to make. Even if I prayed about these items, I was praying for what I wanted and what I thought was best.

If the last four months since our house flooded from Hurricane Helene, we lost 95% of our belongings, two cars and are still displaced from our home and getting ready to move into our third Airbnb, you’d think if I’d learned anything this year it is God’s great provision. He’s provided through sweet friends who set up GoCare Funds, with whom we wouldn’t have been able to pay for our temporary housing, and people are sending gifts off our Amazon wish list to help refurbish our home. It’s been like sitting in the front seat of a miracle. And I think that’s why God is telling me to stay still. To sit back and watch how He provides for us and the miracles He creates.

This is the year for my goals to take a back seat, watch, and listen to the Lord take the front seat.

Interestingly enough, the one thing I feel impressed on my heart is to still have a word of the year to focus on, and it’s the word God laid on my heart. I thought it would be the word ‘still,’ but God surprised me once again. The word of this year is peace. And I pray for peace for you and all the plans that lie ahead—all the brave goals, courageous moves, healthy changes, and words to dwell on for the rest of the year.

What is one thing that lies ahead for you this year? A dream, a healthy change, a word of the year?

Blessings,

Dani

A REALLY sweet reader meet

Back in October, my dear friend Alli who teaches high school here in Nashville texted to tell me she’d loaned A Million Little Choices to a friend (a mom), whose teenage son then saw her reading it. The son sent Alli a text saying, “So I hear you know Tamera Alexander.” (LOL) To which Alli (who is absolutely hysterical) simply replied, “GO ON.”

He then explained that Tamera Alexander was his friend’s favorite author—[what? Insert my enormous gratitude here], and he wondered if Alli might reach out to me and ask if I would send a note or something to this young lady, Rebecca. Absolutely I would! And did.

A week or two went by, and I got a very kind email from Rebecca. Then her mom, Corrie, emailed me too. Corrie and I exchanged some emails, and she shared that Rebecca had just gotten a lead role in The Nutcracker (as The Sugar Plum Fairy) that would be performed in December at a local venue. Not only that, Rebecca’s best friend Evangeline had landed a lead role as well (as The Snow Queen). Corrie shared that Rebecca had introduced Evangeline to my books, and asked if I might want to attend the production in December, that it would mean a lot to the girls, and—speeding ahead—I did! But…we kept it as a surprise, so she didn’t tell Rebecca and Evangeline that I was coming.

Let me tell you… It was pure delight watching Rebecca’s and Evangeline’s performances. Those young women are exquisite dancers! I wish I could have taken some video but I would’ve gotten kicked out, so I refrained. But oh, take my word for it…exquisite performances from both.

Following the show, I waited for the girls in the lobby, and Corrie captured Rebecca and me meeting for the first time. It was so sweet.

And here the three of us are, an older thorn between two young, beautiful roses…

Rebecca, moi, Evangeline following The Nutcracker performance on December 21st

I am so incredibly proud of these gals. Of all the work they’ve put in to honing their talent, for their love and faith in the Lord, and for their deep friendship. And I’m honored to have been asked to attend and share in their accomplishments! It’s definitely one of the sweetest “reader meets” I’ve ever had.

I’m so grateful for the ways God moves us in and out of each other’s lives. Even as I write this, I’m reminded of a book I’ve had for decades, God is No Fool by Lois A. Cheney (1969 first publication). Have you read it? If not, I’d encourage you to. It’s full of short musings. Some humorous, others touching. The following, Bits and Pieces, is my favorite.

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As 2025 begins, I’m especially grateful for God’s master plan in our lives, and for all the “bits and pieces” that are part of his divine plan in each of our earthly journeys. I would definitely “be less,” as Lois Cheney described it, without this writing journey. But far more, without connections with readers. Little did I know over twenty years ago when I set out to write novels, that one of the greatest joys of writing would be the people I’d meet through story.

What has God been stirring in your heart as this New Year unfolds? Gratitude? Anticipation? Joy? An eagerness to live more closely centered in his will in 2025? If yes, then I’m right there with you!

Happy New Year, friends, and I’m praying God’s richest blessings in Christ for each of you.

Tammy

UPDATED COVERS
for the three-book
Timber Ridge Reflections series

Within My Heart, the third novel in the series, will re-release soon. I am so happy for the opportunity to give these older novels “new life” with updated covers! And thank you, KEN RANEY, for bringing it all together.

More about Timber Ridge Reflections

Welcome, Baby New Year

I always enjoy the turn of the year, even though January first is pretty much like December thirty-first. Nothing really changes except our mindset.

But it’s nice to turn a page on the calendar and make some new starts–a new devotional book, a new Bible reading plan, a new novel to read and/or write, and a new way of eating. I don’t really believe in resolutions for the new year–probably because I’ve broken so many of them–but it is nice to set some new goals.

For this year, I’ll be writing the story of Rebekkah, Isaac’s wife, and something else . . . not sure what. I’ll also be trying to eat in a more healthy way, because every day that passes is one less opportunity to do that. Last week a woman I know–and I think she’s about my age–died suddenly from a heart attack. I don’t want to do that and then tell the Lord that I meant to start eating better next week!

This year I’ll be working hard to keep my house in one piece, to keep the garden from becoming too much like a jungle, and to keep my dogs healthy. I’ll be trying to spend as much time as possible with my grandkids, because the older they get, the less time they want to spend with Nana and Pa. I’ll be slowing down in some ways and speeding up in others–a few months ago I was startled to realize that I can no longer sit cross-legged on the floor. For some reason, one of my legs has completely forgotten how to bend. Time to figure that out!

What are you plans for the coming year? Want to travel more? Travel less? Sleep more? Eat less? I’d love to be inspired by some of your suggestions!

Angie

Tammy’s Favorites

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Happy 2025! The authors of Inspired by Life…and Fiction are offering a new weekly post featuring some of our favorite things. We hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about us—and we’d love to hear your answers to these “favorites” questions in the comments below.

Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving. I love the food, the togetherness, the focus on gratitude—and that the craziness of Christmas is not yet upon us! Plus, the weather is usually still fall-ish, and fall is by far my favorite season. Here’s a quick Instagram video recap of our 2024 Thanksgiving courtesy of my daughter Kelsey… Gracious, I love these people.

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Favorite Vacation Spot: Hilton Head Island. I love HHI. My family has been going there for years. While I’m not a summer beach person (I’m a shade worshipper all the way), give me a long walk on a beach on a mild winter day with a hoodie and scarf—and maybe a hot caramel latte—and I’m in heaven. The crashing of the waves, the salty air, the vastness of God’s creation, then back to the condo for games or a movie—or just to watch the sunset—and I’m a happy girl. Oh, and don’t forget the yummy seafood!

Favorite Dessert: Currently? (Because there are many…) Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Be still my heart. This is the best chocolate cake EVER. I’m serious. This checks all the boxes and is so easy. And the espresso powder takes it absolutely over the top! Recipe HERE. 

Looking Back, Looking Forward

As an old year comes to an end, I always like to reflect on it on my personal blog, and I decided that post was worth sharing with my Inspired by Life and Fiction family on this first post of mine in the new year. So here is my slightly modified version of that post:

I don’t know about you, but I find it shocking that we just hit the one-quarter mark in the 21st century. And think of this: my grandmother—who was so much a part of my formative years—was born in the last quarter of the 19th century (1881). How amazing!

My Word for 2024: Shelter

As I’ve shared before, I begin praying every fall for a word for the new year. God’s answer to me for 2024 was the word “Shelter,” and the verses He led me to were these:

“One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1“For on the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; He will hide me in the secret place of His tent; He will lift me up on a rock.” Psalm 27:5“You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of mankind; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.” Psalm 31:20

God knew that there were moments coming in 2024 when I would need to take shelter in Him, when I would need to hide in His secret place. I’m so thankful His shelter is available to me, that I can take my troubles to Him and He hears me. And His shelter is available to you, too.

2024 Bible Reading and Studies

Last summer I discovered The Bible Recap, and I used it for reading the New Testament this past fall. I follow the reading plan for the day, then I answer the Study Guide questions, and finally I read/listen to the daily recap from The Bible Recap: One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible.

If you go to the linked Bible Recap website, you will find information for many free tools. You do not need to buy the book of questions or the Guide to Reading. You can find the plan in the Bible app so it is with you on your devise.

Note: I am using these same tools for reading through the Bible in 2025. For those who don’t know, I read through the entire Bible every odd-numbered year and have been doing so since 1997.

My Bible studies this year included:

The Book of John (BSF)He’s Where the Joy Is by Tara-Leigh CobbleLuke in the Land by Kristi McLellandJames by Matt ChandlerThe Apostles’ Creed by Matt Chandler2024 Releases and WIPS

I had two book releases in 2024, To Marry an English Lord (Feb) and Wishing for Mistletoe (Nov).

My works in progress in 2024 included To Capture a Mountain Man (releasing in February) and a new novella set in Kings Meadow (which will release in early spring). Watch my website for more information about both of those books.

Favorite Movies and Shows

I only went to the theater once this year, to see The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever. Oh, how I loved it. So good.

Without a doubt, Season 4 of The Chosen was a favorite. I’ve watched the episodes of the latest season numerous times, just as I’ve rewatched the earlier seasons again and again. And I am anxiously awaiting Season 5 in the spring.

I ended the year by beginning to binge watch all 14 seasons of Blue Bloods. I didn’t start watching that show until about season six, and I want to make sure to see it from start to finish. I was sorry to see it end as it was one of the best network shows on television.

Five Star Reads of This Year

I read 92 books in 2024. Most of them were winners. That’s because I read a lot of favorite authors so rarely am I disappointed.  The books that earned 5 stars from me were:

Fiction:

Edenbrooke by Julianne DonaldsonThe Wednesday Wars by Gary D. SchmidtThe Little Liar by Mitch AlbomA Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Non–Fiction:

How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People by Pete GreigIt is Finished: A 40-Day Pilgrimage Back to the Cross by Charles MartinThe Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christlike Balance by Randy AlcornLife in GeneralIn my reflection post of 2021, I shared that I hadn’t been sick all that year, perhaps because of social distancing. Well, I can’t say that of 2024. I had three major upper respiratory viruses that each lasted a full month with coughs that lingered long after I felt okay, plus a “regular” cold virus that made me miserable for a weekend. I guess I lost all my herd immunity during the social distancing and this year I paid for it. Ugh! I hope I’m over that nonsense.This summer I found a renewed joy in writing, in part because of participating in writing sprints with other authors, participation that I have continued throughout the fall and into winter. I have a hard time describing my feelings other than to say I am once again finding fun in the creative process of storytelling.I took a great college course in the spring on the study of history. While I enjoyed the class, it also taught me that I much prefer writing about history through my fiction. I was not born to be an academic historian with all the rules that go with it (i.e. no two or three sentence paragraphs).My Word for 2025

When God laid the word Redeemed on my heart for the new year, I felt a spark of excitement for what He has in store for me to learn throughout 2025. The verse He gave me was this:

And they will call them, “The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD”; And you will be called, “Sought Out, A City Not Abandoned.” (Isaiah 62:12)

And so begins another year of being changed to be more like Jesus.

May 2025 bring you and I another step closer to the Redeemer.

~robin

Bookish Goodies Under the Tree

Did any of you get books or book-themed items under the tree this year? I ended up with a great assortment of fun, bookish gifts.

My son and newest daughter-in-law gave me a gorgeous nativity snow globe whose base is a stack of books. Love it!

My daughter gave me a new board game called Illiterati – a cooperative game where our team of librarians work together to save the world from illiteracy, one word at a time. I love the historical flavor and cooperative play. More details to follow!

My sweet husband got me a new Kindle cover, featuring a drool-worthy bookcase (with ladder!) and a fun new bookish t-shirt.

Game Time

Our family are big board game players, especially at Christmas when we have time for day-long gaming marathons. On the third day of Christmas, we played Illiterati, and I was contantly geeking out over all the book-lover elements. If you love classic literature and puns, you would love this game even before you start playing.

First – The box, when opened, looks like a giant book.

Second – There are literary puns everywhere!

The instructions themselves start with this quote: “It was the best of time, it was the worst of times. It was the age of illiteracy, it was the age of . . . the Illiterati.” Then one paragraph down, is this quote: “And yet, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good book must be in want of . . . more books.”

The players of a legendary order known as the League of Librarians, the guardians of truth and knowledge whose sacred duty is to preserve books for future generations.

And here are a sample of the books we are working with:

I picked a sampling of my favorite title puns. In case it’s hard to read in the photo, here are the titles and the quotes that appear at the bottom:

Circumnavigating the Globe in 80 Minutes – “They said it couldn’t be done, but Phineas Smog believed that with a good attitude any pizza could become a personal pizza. He saw no reason why this was any different.”The Accountant of Monte Cristo – “Little did the CEO know that the accountant had been biding his time, waiting to release the W-2 that would cause certain financial ruin.”Knights of the Hexagonal Table – “Our sequel begins with Sir Pythagoras commenting that from his angle, the damsel seemed very acute, but he was quickly chastised for making such an obtuse comment.Fandom of the Soap Opera – “The Fandom of the Soap Opera is there . . . inside your mind.”A Tale of Two Kitties – “It was the best of felines. It was the worst of felines.”Sword in the Scone – “And having pulled the sword from the scone, Arthur assembled his brunch companions around the fabled hexogonal breakfast nook.”Hubris and Haughtiness – “Eloise Pennet had a dowry that consisted of 3 acres of land, several swans, and a very large bucket of fancy spoons, and that made her the most eligible woman in town.”Big White Whale – “‘Whale, whale, whale . . . what do we have here?’ sneered Captain Baha as he looked in the eyes of his blubbery archnemesis.”

Third – You get to make words and work together to bind your books and survive the Illiterati attacks.

While your objective is to spell the words that are part of your book card challenge, you must simply make word to survive, for if too many letters are leftover when time is called, the library might burn down!

We played a relatively easy level as we were learning the game, but I look forward to trying the next step up. There are also optional rules for single player and junior players for kids who are young readers.

My book-loving heart enjoyed this game so well. I highly reocmmend it!

Find it on Amazon here.

Did you receive any books or bookish items for Christmas this year?

Most Anticipated Reads in 2025

Happy 2025! 

The beginning of a new year is always exciting to me. There are so many things to plan for and dream about. One of those things is reading! 

Shocker, right? 

Here are some books I’m looking forward to reading in 2025. They are not all 2025 releases. Some came out at the end of 2024. Others are older than that. And many coming out in 2025 are not even on my radar yet! But these are, so here you go: 

Historical Fiction: 

This is by far my largest category, mostly because it is my first love so I’m always on the lookout for what’s next from so many authors I enjoy. I’ve just started reading A Theiving at Carlton House. Erica Vetsch is so good that sometimes it takes me a while to get to hers because I want the time to enjoy each page. Cloaked in Beauty is in that same category. I want to savor it! Ditto on A Seaside Homecoming! Honestly, every author on this short list falls into that vein. I love them all. 

Contemporary Fiction: 

I’m excited to read my first Robin Jones Gunn book since the Sisterchicks series. Becky Wade’s books are a no-brainer. Always at the top of my contemporary fiction list. And yes, I’m salivating for the rest of Susan May Warren’s new series, the Minnesota Kingstons. I finished Jack just after Christmas and will buy the rest directly from Susie’s website so that I can get them at the earliest possible date! 

Non-Fiction: 

This is the category where I don’t usually read recently released books. I wait for recommendations or for books that fit something I need at the moment. Or, in the case of The Confessions by St. Augustine, a book I’ve wanted to read for a while. Last month I finished the first of Madeleine L’Engle’s Crosswicks Journal series—a memoir of faith, writing, and family—and loved it so much that I will finish the series this year. I loved the first one so much that while I want to continue listening to the other three (I did book one in audio), I also want to have the physical copies in my library. 

What books are you looking forward to reading in 2025? (Like I need more for my list. )