Reading and journaling bring me so much joy 🥹 so the marriage of the two is a double dose! I don’t really plan, but just go with whatever is inspiring me in my sticker/washi stash. I had a kind of slow start to my reading in the beginning of May, my reading mood was changing, had some meh/ok-ish reads at the start. I pretty much hated Date with Danger! 🤣 The end of the month reading though was amazing! I loved all the Middle Grade reads for a small readathon on Booktube called Middle Grade May! Especially, Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave and its sequel, Tower of the Five Orders by Deron R. Hicks. I really enjoyed the Christian historical light fantasy, The Huntress, also. Honorable mention goes to The Little House in the Highlands which is based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s ancestors. It was a slow start but SO cute! I made some good progress on my newest bingo boards I printed off from Pinterest, also. Georgette Heyer is hit or miss for me, but I loved two of her Regency romances, Arabella and Sylvester. Overall, a great reading month.
Now that summer is close at hand, my TBR stacks are exploding!
Here is what I’m currently finishing on my Kindle ‘stack’! My reading mood is pretty light as we have a heavy, busier season with remodeling:
A bit slow? May try the next in series? I got this one for Mother’s Day, begins a teeny bit draggy, but cute, light fantasy middle grade about Bee, who can bake a wee bit of feelings into her baked goods. I love the tulip bulb smuggling pirates and the second half has been fantastic! Sequel to a wonderful children’s mystery story about a brother and sister saving their father’s place in the family’s publishing company! (The Secret of Shakespeare’s Grave) This one has Shakespeare, Marlowe, other bookish nods, hidden messages, and just a lot of delight! I enjoyed the first, the best, but this one is great, too.
I think my mood? is still a bit on the lighter side but shifting to historical fiction, especially American Revolution possibilities to honor the 250th birthday this year.
Lighter maybes on my stack!
A Booktuber I like to watch wrote this and I want to dive in! I’ve tried about 10% and I like her writing style!Sign me up for anything lighthouse! It’s one of my reading buzzwords. Do you have any favorite lighthouse fiction recommendations? I love this cover and can’t wait to try it! Banned books and ancient Korean Pride & Prejudice retelling? Yes, please. I’ve enjoyed some of Hur’s historical fiction in the past. I’ve heard great things about this, like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None vibes?
A few historical fiction I’d like to try!
Fictionalization of Deborah Samson’s story. A woman who joined the Patriot army in disguise during American Revolution. Boston Tea Party and modern day, hard-hitting topics in a dual timeline with thread woven between eras.
There’s a lot more in my stack, but these are catching my eye! Are you a mood reader or make a list and stick to it reader? Do you read more than one book at a time?
I had so much fun 🤩 setting up my June reading pages and I’m looking forward to filling the pages with mini reviews and book covers from my reading. It was nice to sit and just rest in a teeny bit of creativity!
How are you!? Have you been creating anything or reading/watching anything great? 💜
Sick of my sky photos yet? 😎 I can’t help myself! 😂🌞✨☁️
Hi Friends! 📚🌸 Book chat here today! One of my favorite relaxing genres of books to emerge over the past few years is retellings or reimaginings of longstanding favorites. I know the literature purists probably would scowl at me, but I can’t help myself. 😂♥️👊🏼 These are all considered “sweet/clean” reads depending on your taste levels. I put a note on each regarding content.
Katen Witemeyer ~ I’ve enjoyed THREE of this author’s sweet retellings, Fairest of Heart, a Texas retelling of Snow White, with a fantastically drawn villain, Cloaked in Beauty, a great Texas twist on ‘Red Riding Hood’ (romance a little heavy handed in this one, FYI 🤮), and also her To Love A Beast, retelling of ‘Beauty & the Beast’. I don’t personally recommend the Cinderella one because I couldn’t even get past the first chapter due to a character’s heavy fake Southern accent. 😂🫣🤭😎 Maybe you wouldn’t mind?
Sadie: An Amish Retelling of Snow White ~ I don’t read hardly any Amish fiction anymore, but Sarah Price’s retellings are fun, unique mashup, and I find them relaxing! Again the villain stepmother was very well drawn and I thought Price made you think deeper about why she was acting the way she was. Price’s ‘Beauty & the Beast’ Amish story is great too! I want to try her Pride & Prejudice title someday although the Persuasion title wasn’t great. 😂
Eastby Edith Pattou ~
This would be a perfect read for winter! Slow and atmospheric retelling of ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’ tale. This is SO well-written and intriguing! I think about it often. You have to work at it a bit, but in the end you are rewarded. This was a bit on the darker and creepier end, keeping in the tradition of folktales. I want to try the other in the duology, West.
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett ~ I have a mixed experience with this author’s books due to my appreciation of traditional morality, but overall, this was a super cute reimagining of Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle! If you like cats, cozy shops, time/space slips, magical fantasies with artifacts, books, etc and quirky characters, you may enjoy this. The only other one of hers I FULLY enjoy is a retelling of Anne of Green Gables with magic called Grace of the Wild Things.
Deathmark by Kate Stradling ~ This is a super unique, cozy fantasy retelling of LM Montgomery’s The Blue Castle. The cover is darker than the content. It does have a plague and some grimness to the beginning, just FYI! I really enjoyed this and hope to reread soon.
Awakened by Rosanna M. White ~ I loved this unique take on ‘The Little Mermaid’. This is a long, intricate story and it has the author’s Catholic faith pretty strongly woven in. I was very intrigued and impressed by this! Mermaid stories aren’t my favorite, but I thoroughly enjoyed this very strange and creative version. The romance is heavier in this one, just FYI, than I prefer, but overall, tastefully done.
Suspended in the Stars by E.A. Hendryx ~ This is like a Greatest Showman and Star Wars mashup! 😂😂😂 I really especially enjoyed the first 3/4 of the story, the last 1/4 was a little slower, but it was SO creative and unique, I had to include it here. Sweet romantic subplot, but a bit insta for my tastes. Try it out!
Soot & Slippers by Kate Stradling ~ This was such a lovely, yet tense novella and interesting angle to take with a ‘Cinderella’ retelling. I loved the sewing/designing part of this and reading the creations Cinderella came up with! The ending was a bit too perfect for me, but for a short tale, this was very well done! The stepmother is CREEPY in this one! 🫣
How ‘bout you? Do you like reimaginings on favorite folktales and classic stories or are you appalled at me!? 😂♥️😍🌿 Happy Reading!
Looked at dinner pool list to decide what I have in cupboard for dinner. Nothing needs thawing.
Made my yogurt bowl for breakfast. Got kids finishing breakfast (fend for themselves) and starting math and piano practice.
Unpacked a few things from car that we left after arriving home late last night.
Texted with daughter at college. She got my card. ♥️Sent her video she wanted.
Collected cold coffee and yogurt bowl, grocery list, random journals, and pens and took upstairs.
Ran downstairs, washed out and filled water bottle.
Forwarded email someone wanted me to pass on to mom’s group.
Sent recommendations to my daughter’s soon to be MIL.
Ran back upstairs.
Listened to Marco Polo group messages while eating and settling up my journals.
Caught up on some journaling.
Ran downstairs. Printed off book covers for reading journal.
Sat down with four kiddos for our morning time.
Listened to narrations and popped popcorn for snack.
Did reading lessons with little boys. Read them a couple chapters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Buzzed boy’s hair, helped them with showers, and finger nails.
6 yo and I spread the hair clippings to birds outside .
Texted my best friend, my sister!
Listened to 17 yo narrate again.
Helped 21 yo son with his college paper for 10 minutes.
Got out leftovers for lunch, heated up ham veggie soup for my husband and I! Washed spoons.
Cleaned up while kids outside.
Got out big block of cheese, gallon bags to split and freeze. Can’t find serrated knife?
Went back upstairs and journaled a bit more, started grocery list/menu plan.
Tried to go on walk, super windy and cold. Listened to audiobook. Grabbed my son’s laundry that was on clothesline because it looked like rain. Admired the violets!
17 yo left for extended music lessons.
Call three younger in, work on each child’s history, science, and copy work. Work on some reading with my current dyslexic.
Make more popcorn and cheese and cracker snack.
Send them out to play.
Set up nature outing with friends via Voxer.
My 6 yo and I thoroughly enjoyed this together. ♥️
I found missing serrated knife. 🤪 Finished cheese project and I froze some of the cheese.
Sat down and started listening to The Raphael Affair, almost finished.
Watched one Booktube video.
Got kids ready for going with dad and picking up cousins for church. Found socks, shoes, sweatshirts.
Now blogging 😅 and thinking of dinner prep (egg sausage casserole), and which book to read.
Need to finish grocery list/menu plan.
Need to finish unpacking car.
Maybe start packaging up books for an east coast friend or write a pen pal letter?
I could sweep kitchen floor and scrub table too. 🤔
Fun 🤩 favorites reads from April!
I love these sort of post as I don’t often realize all that I’m doing while in the midst of it! Also it’s a record and a memory of a wonderful life! I’m so blessed to be a home keeper and home schooling mama. A favorite quote I heard again this past weekend was about “a long obedience in the same direction”. May that be so of my faith journey and my relationships. 🙏🏻♥️
What did you do today? I bet you’d be surprised if you jotted down the minute details as closely as possible. Happy Wednesday! ♥️
I’m slowly getting into my buddy read of Idyll’s of the King and I was struck remembering this lovely picture book version of this part of the poem. The Kitchen Knight retold by Margaret Hodges is lovely, largely due to the illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman!
Happy Monday, friends! Our weekly quest has begun! Go forth boldly and without fear! 🙏🏻♥️😍
🍃Just remembering here my favorite reads of January, February, and March. I love looking back and also sharing in hopes you might find one you love!🍃
•The Road Past Altamontby Gabrielle Roy, translated by Joyce Marshall ~ Canadian writer connects four stories loosely on mother and daughter relationships, growing older, time, and deep longing all cloaked in gorgeous, sparse writing.
•The Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw ~ a wonderful quest fantasy story surrounding Aedan and his friends. This has amazing friendship, leadership, and character growth.
•This is Happiness by Niall Williams ~ A small Irish village on the cusp of change. You grow to love and care for the characters and see yourself in them. This is such a human story and the author understands small village life! This was so beautiful at times it makes you ache.
•The Will of Many by James Islington ~ I absolutely loved the main character, Vis, and how much he values the memory and lessons of his father. The battle between doing what’s right and surviving in a system built on greed and corruption. So many wonderful characters and ideas to consider in this epic fantasy.
•Through Rushing Water by Catherine Richmond ~ Gorgeous historical fiction about an ex-Russian nobility immigrant who gets sent to the American West as a school teacher to a Native tribe. This will pull at your heart strings. Richmond did a fantastic job of not sugar coating this time period.
•The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson ~ This had a slow start, but a wonderful blended family story set in Michigan on the cusp of WWII. I loved the literature threads, the conversation about Indigenous mixed-race tensions, and the gentle faith themes woven throughout. Solid middle grade read!
•Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg ~ This feels a bit Disney-Frozen-ish , but don’t let that stop you from this quiet, deceptively deeper story. Slow start and very creepy villain, but what a wonderful story of selflessness and how servanthood ultimately defeats loneliness.
•The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco ~ This is such a heartfelt story around two sisters dealing with death and chronic illness. This is a slow-as-molasses middle grade story, but I ate up every delicious word. So beautifully written with friendships, growth, domestic details, and LIFE.
•Persuasion by Jane Austen ~ I’ve read this so many times but have to mention it here because I was so delighted all over again. The humanity and magnifying glass that Austen does is so perfect. I especially loved Mrs. Smith of Westgate Buildings 😅 this time through.
•The Robe by LloydC. Douglas ~ A wonderful historical fiction set around the time of Christ. I posted a bit more about it here! Highly recommend!
•The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo ~ This was so sweet and lovely! It follows little Marta around the hotel where her mother works as a maid after the disappearance of her father. This is full of the lovely noticing, longing, thoughts on life, memories, parents, and meaning from a child’s perspective. The illustrations made this absolutely shine!
Sophie helping me pick my next read! 😂♥️
📚🌷How about you? Any stand out reads at the beginning of the year? I’d love to hear! 🌷📚
What is your jam or ‘poetry of life’ currently? A little something bringing you joy and a pause during this can-be-hectic time of year?
~Magazine dates with myself. I take a little cash and go buy a magazine and usually sit by a nature spot (in my car currently 🥶, of course! ) to peruse it. I love the quiet, the pause, and the new freshness of something to look forward to. It’s a wonderful time of contemplation and prayer! 🙏🏻
~Scriptures/poetry/prayer/journaling…my morning routine is such a lovely time to contemplate and set myself on Jesus for the day. A few words of poetry or devotionals plus Scripture under a cozy blanket, mug of coffee, and fairy lights are crucial as I love on/survive 😅the relationships in my life. I journal my way through it all. My favorite poetry currently is Ted Hughes’ Seasons Songs and my friend, Kim’s poetry, not to mention her photography is pure poetry, too. ❣️I have a few new collections I want for Christmas.
Can you spot the kitty cat? 🐈 😂✨New Christmas mug I found for $3! Yay! 😀
~ Reading is always my jam! 💗 Here is a list of some of my autumn reading favorites (September-October-November) with a little snippet to snap review. These are all perfect for curling up with this winter. Something for everyone. I wasn’t able to film a YouTube recap, so I’m wrapping it up here!
Witches by Roald Dahl (sweet, grotesquely funny story of little boy and grandmother who battle evil together!)
Apple Boughby Noel Streatfield (delightful story of the oldest daughter in an extremely artistic family who is finding her place. This was beautiful and deep!)
Kiki’s Delivery Serviceby Eiko Kandano (sweet, comforting, cozy coming of age fantasy story.)
The Language of Spellsby Garrit Weyr (deep story following a family and a dragon through both World Wars – so lovely and thoughtful.)
Thimble Summerby Elizabeth Enright (gorgeous farm family story with beautiful writing!)
The Grey Womanby Elizabeth Gaskell (short, atmospheric story. Ending was a bit rushed, but accessible Victorian literature at its best.)
The Chantry Houseby Charlotte Mary Yonge (longer Victorian literature with a side of ghost. I really enjoyed this one!)
The LostHeiress by Roseann’s M. White (lovely, clean historical romance that had a mysterious twist to it. I really enjoyed this one!)
An Enchantment of Ravensby Margaret Rogerson (amazingly written, gorgeous atmospheric fantasy story with deep themes of the emptiness of immortality and more. Romance wasn’t for me, but overall, I loved this.)
Honey for a Women’s Heartby Gladys M. Hunt (a favorite nonfiction reread that was just what I needed to inspire my reading and my home educating!)
Sylvia’s Loversby Elizabeth Gaskell (gloriously written, heartfelt, heart wrenching story set in an English coastal, whaling village. I’ll read anything Gaskell wrote! She’s my favorite Victorian writer.)
The Mirror VisitorSeries by Christelle Dabos (translated from French – fantasy reread that I love for its beautiful, intriguing setting and main character, Ophelia’s revelations about how we see ourselves. The first two books are my favorites.)
Conscious Creativityby Philippe Stanton (a gorgeous photographer’s art philosophy, prompts, inspiration, and ramblings. So inspiring!)
Amish Quilt Shop Seriesby Isabella Alan (simple and cozy mysteries. When I’m exhausted and need of something light, I enjoy a few cozy, clean mystery authors.)
Full Disclosureby Dee Henderson (Police Detective fiction. This was unique in that Ann, the main investigator was very introverted. A little unrealistic, but I really identified with a lot of her internal processing.)
Jane of Lantern Hillby L.M. Montgomery (I’ve read this multiple times, but this reread was with my four younger children and we all had such a lovely time together. Even my 5 yo listened pretty well!)
Maisie Dobbs Seriesby Jacqueline Winspear (#4 & #5 in this long series of a female private English investigator in the interwar period. I disliked #3 , so was so glad to enjoy these two! Highly recommend the series!)
Chaliceby Robin McKinley (lovely, elemental magic fantasy that enchanted me. Can’t really explain why. A bit darker fantasy, fyi.)
Deerbrookby Harriet Martineau(this was an online buddy read and had some convoluted parts and unloveable characters. However, the philosophical parts were intriguing and the nature writing was amazing. The conversations with my friends made it an interesting read!)
Library 📚 picture book stack! ❣️
~ Walking and nature drives are so wonderful when I take the time. It’s a bit cold for me, but I’m always so rewarded. My hubby is very willing to take back roads and I’m so grateful we live in a beautiful area.
I’ve been thinking randomly about Wonka Vision (from Gene Wilder ‘Charlie and Chocolate Factory’ film) …yes, my brain doesn’t turn off well. 😂 I’m desperate to paint my life with Jesus Vision… seeing all the glorious gifts and beauty around me as Love. And caring enough to share that love, let spill it over and out!
What matters in the deeper experience of contemplation is not the doing and accomplishing. What matters is relationship, the being with. We create holy ground and give birth to Christ in our time not by doing but by believing and by loving the mysterious Infinite One who stirs within. This requires trust that something of great and saving importance is growing and kicking its heels in you.
~Loretta Ross-Gotta
Watch for the Light, p.97
.50 cent notebooks to collage the covers for my SIL’s for Christmas gifts! Did I mention I have 11? SIL’s?! Ha. Better get collaging!
What if, instead of doing something, we were to be something special? Be a womb. Be a dwelling for God. Be surprised.
~Ross-Gotta
Watch for the Light, p. 101
One of my slow Christmas reads for myself this year. We all enjoy this story and the illustrations are just lovely!
We are starting during our Christmas term to use some of the activities in Map Art by Berry & McNeilly as we all are map lovers here. It’s so fun to mix art techniques with imagination. I’m looking forward to the collage maps, especially.
My 12 yo Phoebe’s map ♥️🥰 (used by permission)
They trooped out into the garden and saw the wood all lit up by the westering light as though a thousand candles had been lit upon the trees that stretched their shade deep beyond deep in the dark wood. The water was all aglint too, and the colors of the flowers burned pure and still. The sky was a deep blue-green overhead, and three wild swans were flying upriver to their home. There was no sound in all the world but the beat of the birds’ wings and the soft lapping of the water against the old stone walls. They stood for a moment at the gate at the top of the steps and the peace held them silent.
I hope to reread Till We Have Faces in the coming year! I have a lot of Lewis’ stuff to read as he is very cerebral for me and it takes some work to read his nonfiction. My current favorite is The Great Divorce. Have you read a lot of his work? What are your favorites? The Magician’s Nephew is my current Narnia fav.
Do you find yourself returning to old favorites and habits in times of stress and upheaval? Sometimes, for me, this isn’t a good thing, because I have to work very hard to make good choices in a few areas where I’m prone to excess. However, books, music, and nature or domestic detail photography all have their place in a kind of “on-the-spot therapy” for me. I am definitely a rereader especially if a book encapsulates a certain ‘feeling’ I’m after or setting I love.
Poetry that I return to again and again!Wild, windy days and whipping yellow
I recently pulled off my shelf a favorite reread series that’s so interesting that I got immediately sucked in all over again. I was reminded how much I love rereading, because so much more can be caught and different things highlighted. The Mirror Visitor Series isn’t perfect, but it has so many interesting characters and so many ideas to think on, I just love it. I was again reminded that it’s not always good for me to rush reading or be trying to keep up with all the new stuff. One big downside to Bookstagram and Booktube. Poetry, too, is something I absolutely have favorites of, I’m so rewarded and surprised as I cracked open the pages and take a deep drink all over again.
I don’t own a PB copy of the last book, The Stormof Echoes yet, can’t wait to collect it for the gorgeous cover alone. My favorites are the first two, by far, but they are all so immersive. Josh Garrels oldie, but goodie
I’m very eclectic in my reading, listening, and watching tastes. I like quirky, kind of off-the-beaten-track things with a side of classic. I’ve noticed a shift lately back to my old Josh Garrels listening, instrumental BTS (my one and ever only K-pop fandom), a craving for films like Sound of Music, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Babette’s Feast. I watched a few episodes of Over the Garden Wall with my kids the other day. It’s a bit toooo creepy for us, but some of it is interesting and has such a gorgeous atmosphere. How about you? What do you gravitate towards when life is feeling weighty?
Two reread favorites 🥹♥️Tree gazing and listening to…what are they whispering? Hello light, my old friend.
How ‘bout you? What are some healthy ways you refresh yourself? Do you need something new and different? Or do you return to your comfortable, hole-y sweater of inspiration? It goes without saying, that the Holy Bible is super comforting to me because it shows that there is nothing new under the sun. We are all so flawed. I need deep gulps of Jesus.♥️ I definitely occasionally need a ‘Tookish’ adventure to get me out of a funk, but generally, returning to my old Baggins favorites and home comforts blesses me immensely. What richness we’ve been given! ☺️♥️🕸️🕷️🌿🍂🍁🍄🌾
My 5 yo and I have been so enjoying the illustrations of Michael Hague. He is an intriguing artist as his drawings are so charming yet have an element of mystery and creepy deliciousness to them. We are slowly collecting books illustrated by him. Does your family have a favorite illustrator? We have SO many, but I’m diving deep into a few this year with my younger two children. It’s such a delight! ♥️Happy October, Friends!
A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 