September is over and I feel like I did some serious reading this month. I am working hard to finish up the
Hope by The Book challenge. I have a couple books planned for October and November and then I should
complete the entire challenge. I have two books left in the MMD reading challenge as well. I plan to read
one in October and one in November. December will be dedicated to fun Christmas reads.
My favorite book this month was, Note Yet Unsung. It was a really good historical fiction book.
The plot was engaging and I couldn’t wait to find out more of Rebekah and Tate’s story.
The book I liked the least would have to be Turning Point by Danielle Steel. It was too
repetitive and predictable for me.
Fiction Books
Anne of the Island ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hannah’s Hope ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Kiss Quotient ⭐️⭐️
Note Yet Unsung ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
On Mystic Lake ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rules of Civility ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summerland ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Turning Point. ⭐️⭐️
Vintage ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Non Fiction Books
Love Dares ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Same Kind of Different as Me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Season of Life ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Middle Grade Books
Wednesday Wars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
13 Total Books
This week I read Danielle Steel ‘s book, Turning Point with my sister. It was my sister’s pick.
She loves Danielle Steel books. To be honest I used to like them about twenty years ago when
I read about two books during the summer and one during Christmas break however now that I
read more I find her books to be very repetitive with the basic storylines. I struggled with staying
interested in this book. I think this is a ⭐️⭐️/5 star book.
“The Word says God don't give us credit for lovin the folks we want to love anyway.
No, He gives us credit for loving the unlovable.”
—Denver Moore
I finished Same Kind of Different as Me this morning by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.
It is a powerful true story about a homeless man who meets Ron and Debrah Hall and learns
to trust them and the Lord. The three of them are on a spiritual journey that help them accept
and reach out to other homeless people in the Fort Worth, Texas Area. Denver’s life is filled
with hardship and sorrow yet he is a great example of what can happen when you truly give
yourself to the Lord. This is a remarkable ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star book. It was also made into a
movie as well. I read this book for the Hope by the Book Challenge. I also think I am the only
one doing this challenge. Oh well I started it and I am determined to finish.
“All the things that make you different make you perfect.” ...H. Hoang
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is a cute, quirky story about Stella, a young successful girl
who has Aspergers. She struggles with social interactions especially dating. She hires Michael,
a male escort, to teach her more about dating and relationships. I really enjoyed this story as
it explored the struggles that people face when social interactions are not a strength for them,
however I could have done without the explicit sex. It was not for me, therefore I would give
this book ⭐️⭐️ stars because I felt I skipped through a lot of the book that I just didn’t care to read.
I’m a bit nervous now because I read this book because I thought it was the book to read before
The Bride Test. I picked the Bride Test a couple months ago for my Book of the Month. Now I’m torn,
should I read The Bride Test???
Today I finished Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand. It is the second book my sister and I are
reading together this month. Incase you haven’t put it together yet my sister likes to read light
romance novels. It is a bit of a challenge each month finding something she will like.
Summerland is a great summer read about a group 17 year olds that try to piece together what
happened the night of graduation. Penny the designated driver, who was sober, was so upset she
took off driving so fast she got in an accident. But what secret upset her????? The parents and kids
involved spend the rest of the summer trying to deal with the consequences and fallout of this tragic
accident. I give this story ⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars.
I am looking for suggestions for other books my sister and I can read together.
“I have a dream," he said slowly. "I persist in dreaming it, although it has often
seemed to me that it could never come true.
I dream of a home with a hearth-fire in it, a cat and dog,
the footsteps of friends -- and you!” L.M. Montgomery
I am reading the Anne of Green Gables series from the beginning for the
very first time…..and I love it. I can not imagine reading this as a child/teen, I think
I would miss so much of the humor.
I love the character, Davy, and the letters he writes to Anne, he writes questions and follows up
with “I need to know…” In this book, Anne of the Island, L.M. Montgomery writes about Anne’s
years in college. She writes about Anne’s misconceptions about love and relationships. All her
friends are falling in love and getting engaged. Anne has been dating but she is not sure what
LOVE really means. She has been proposed too several times and she had to rejected them all
including a proposal from Gilbert her long-time school friend. She even rejects Roy, the boy she
dated for two years.
However at the end of the book she realizes who she truly loves but she is afraid it is too late.
Don’t fret for Anne, there is a happy ending.
“Whatever it means to be a friend, taking a black eye for someone has to be in it.”
—G. Schmidt
Today on our way home from Cedar Rapids, Iowa I finished listening to Wednesday Wars. It was
one of the best middle grade books I have listened to in a while. I loved the humor in the book
and the writing style of Gary Schmidt is wonderful. Young readers will easily relate to this book
and to the main characters. The relationship between and Holling Hoodhood and Mrs. Baker is
so funny. I enjoyed listening to how he interpreted his teacher’s thoughts and actions. I think
this Newbery Honor book deserves ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
I read this book along with @lollipopsandlyrics and @happylittlebirdy for a September buddyread.
“In the end it’s not the mistakes you make that matter. It’s what you do with what you
learn from those mistakes. And it’s how you respond to the mistakes of others.”
—Biff Poggi
Season of Life by Jeffery Marx is a wonderful story about Joe Ehrmann, who played for the
Baltimore Colts. After his football career and the death of his brother he changed his life and his
purpose to helping others. In doing so, he aligned himself with some other remarkable people
and together they started the Building Men for Others program. They created a philosophy for
coaching young boys in football which they hope will be the foundation of their character as they
develop into men.
This book was recommended to me by a former co-worker who is a mother of two little boys. I think
parents of boys and people who work with boys should read this book it has some really profound
thoughts worth thinking about.
Here is another quote that I am pondering….
When reflecting on your life it really come down to this quote, “What kind of father (mother) were you?
What kind of husband (wife) were you? What kind is son (daughter) were you? What kind of
brother (sister) were you? What kind of friend were you?” I added the words in parentheses
because this book mainly focus on men. But this quote can apply to anyone.
This week I listened to the book, Vintage by Susan Gloss, because it met the criteria for the
#HBTB2019reads challenge (a setting near you). This book takes place in Madison, WI, which
is about 70 miles from my home.
Violet owns a vintage clothing shop on a busy street near the University of Madison.
There she meets Betsy, April and Amith, who all become friends and a support network for
each other. As Violet struggles to keep the shop open the women deal with other issues such
as infidelity, unexpected pregnancy and moving on and accepting change. This is a sweet and
easy read and I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars.
“If we only fell in love with people who were perfect for us...then there wouldn't be so
much fuss about love in the first place.”
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles is an amazing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star story about a young woman
living in New York City in the early 1930’s. Katey Kontent was from a working class family but
made some friendships with high society people. Katey, Eva, and Tinker were best of friends but
when Eva meets with a terrible accident the threesome becomes a twosome. However life is not
what it seems. Katey is looking back on her year and the decisions she made and she was falling
in love with Tinker. .
I love the writing style of Towles I don’t know how to explain it but the quality of the writing seems
so different from most of the books I have read. The quality of the language and the engaging
story just seems to flow effortlessly.
I read Hannah’s Hope by Karen Kingbury for the #HBTB2019reads (“hope” in the title.) It was a
short and meaningful ⭐️⭐️⭐️ star story. Hannah lives with her Grandmother and goes to a
private school where she is considered a smart and driven student. Her father is the Ambassador
to Sweden and her mother lives with him. Hannah is disappointed when her parents tell her they
are not coming home for Christmas, she begins to wish for a Christmas Miracle. But she is in for
a huge family secret for Christmas instead.
“Life isn’t always just, But God, who sees everything is. And He will bring good from it.”
----T. Alexander
Note Yet Unsung by Tamera Alexander is another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star read for me. This historical
fiction book was set in Nashville, TN just after the Civil War. Rebekah Carrington is an accomplished
musician, trained in Vienna. She can play three instruments, piano, oboe and piano. She wants to
join the Nashville Philharmonic, however women are considered to fragile for the stress of an orchestra
and prohibited from practicing in the orchestra.
Tate Whitcomb is Nashville’s new conductor, and he recognizes Rebekah’s talents, however he doesn’t
think Nashville is ready to welcome women into the orchestra. But Rebekah needs a job so she is
willing to work as Tate’s assistant as he composes his symphony for the grand opening of the new
opera hall.
Both Tate and Rebekah have secrets that they are holding back from each other that could
impact their relationship. This is an amazing story that addressing topics such as, slavery/race,
domestic abuse, stereotypes, inequality and of course romance.
I started the book, Love Dares, back in February as part of my Lenten goal. I wanted to read
a section each night and apply it to my life. As with most ideas I got a bit busy and was unable
to finish the book during Lent, however I’ve been reading it on and off all year. I finally finished
it this month.
This book has suggestions to build your marriage in a spiritual way. There are many ideas that
I took away from this book that I want to apply to my own marriage. The first point that stuck
with me was from the first day, “Love is built on two pillars patience and kindness.” After thirty
five years of marriage I would have to agree. This is something I learned from my husband.
He has an endless amount of patience and kindness it is amazing. He has modeled the quote, “Kindness is a blessing.” treating our children, extended family and me with kindness living his
Christian faith daily.
My mother-in-law told me a long time ago, do what you can each day in the house so when
your husband comes home from work you can spend the time together as a family. I took this
advice to heart, and each day I tried my best to make sure the needs of the house and children
were met and dinner was on the table so that when he came home he had time to spend and
enjoy the children with me. The book recommends something similar, “Being with you should
recharge them and lower their stress level, not drain them and wear them out.”
I can relate to this statement because after our children were school age, I went to work and
it seemed like our weekends were devoted to housework and yard work and there were times
were I didn’t feel recharged after the weekend and then I felt stressed all week. So anything I
can do to take some of the stress away from the one I love is helpful. “Every loving thought,
attitude or action in your marriage can become another way for you to say “I love you” to God.
The fact that it blesses your spouse in the process is simply a wonderful, additional benefits.”
This is a beautiful quote, each kind action you do for your loved ones is a sign of love. This thought
is so simple it is often overlooked.
“A dad... he teaches responsibility and accountability, but a mom... ah, a mom teaches her child t
o dream, to reach for the stars and to believe in fairy tales.”
K. Hannah
On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah is my last book for September 2019. I read this book with my
CK Book Club. The main character, Annie Colwater, just dropped her only child off at the airport
to participate in a 3 month exchange program. Then her husband of twenty years tells her he wants
a divorce. He doesn’t want to talk about it, he doesn't love her, he is in love with someone else at work.
Annie is devastated. She decides to go home by her father in Mystic, Washington. There she grieves
for her failed marriage until she meets Nick. Nick, her first love, who just lost his wife and is drinking
too much and neglecting his daughter, Izzie.
Annie finds a renewed purpose and love and she rebuilds her life, Nick’s and Izzie’s. But Kristin
Hannah always has a twist in the story and Annie will be left with some major decisions. I give
this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars.
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