A Melodious Sonnet

It’s been a good few months since my last TBR list post (or any post, for that matter!). In the intervening time, I was blessed to be able to go to the States with two of my brothers, where we were able to spend a month catching up with almost all of our extended family and a few friends from way back, too! It was such a special, precious time. God is good!

I didn’t get much reading done over the past two months, partly because of the (almost) impossible tasks I set myself before leaving for the States, and then because I prioritized time with family over reading while there. So now that we’re home again, and I’ve recovered from jet lag enough to think again, I’m super excited to get back into reading! That means I’ve given myself a rather ambitious list this month, but I think that’s okay, too!

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New Releases/ARCs:

Publishing September 3: Freedom Was in Sight! by Kate Masur. According to the book, this is a graphic history (like a graphic novel, but more historical). Although some elements are (as expected) on the politically correct side, I’m enjoying the book so far—I just started it last evening.

Publishing September 3: City Bird by Angela Harrison Vinet and Janis Hatten Harrison. I enjoyed reading Country Bird earlier this year—a fun, playful way to look at some of the different birds God created. I’m looking forward to this short read.

Publishing October 1: All We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee. I’m a sucker for dual-timeline stories, and the description of this one reminds me of Things We Didn’t Say by Amy Lynn Green, a 5-star read from earlier this year. I’m hoping it’ll be good!

Read Your Bookshelf Challenge:

I swapped my September and August prompts this year, because a book I read in August fits September’s prompt perfectly. So for September, I need a book with a house on the cover. I’ve chosen to go with Mother Teresa: Angel of the Slums by Lewis Helfand. I’ve been wanting to read this graphic biography for at least a year now, and this seems like the perfect opportunity!

Other Reading Challenge Prompts:

Besides the Read Your Bookshelf Challenge, I’m also trying to do the 2024 Buzzword Reading Challenge and a variation on the 2024 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge. I’ve decided that next year, I only want to do one reading challenge—having three going concurrently has been just a bit much for me. So this month, I’d like to focus on (mostly) finishing up the other two. We’ll see if I can make that happen!

A title that includes one of the following words: There, their, or they’re: Street Kids, Solvents & Salvation by Natalie Vellacott (formerly They’re Rugby Boys, Don’t You Know?, which was the title when I got the book, so I’m counting it). I’ve been wanting to read this story about a missionary in the Philippines for years, so I thought this was a good time to fit it in.

A title that includes the word “every”: I found A Papa Like Everyone Else by Sydney Taylor a while back—one I’d never heard of before, but it sounds like a fascinating story!

A title that contains repeating words: Alone Yet Not Alone by Tracy Leininger Craven. I just brought this all-time favorite book back with me when we came home from the States. We used to have it on cassette tape, and I almost wore those tapes out by listening to them so much as a child. I can’t wait to read this book again!

A title that contains the word “only”: One of the few A.M. Heath books that I haven’t read yet is If Only It Were Yesterday, and I’ve been wanting to pick it up for ages. This is an excellent excuse!

A title that includes a holiday-related word: I found The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements in a thrift store in the States. I’ve loved other books he’s written, so I can’t wait to try this new-to-me one out, too!

The first book in an unfinished series: This was a hard category to find a book for, but I finally found Under the Hibiscus by Chautona Havig. I’ve been hearing a lot about this series, and can’t wait to try it!

A book that has a door on the cover: What I Promise You by Liz Tolsma. I read What I Would Tell You, the first book in the series, in early 2023. Now that we have book two on the shelf, I’m looking forward to reading it.

A book shared in a newsletter or podcast episode: A Noble Scheme by Roseanna M. White. I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since it was published at the beginning of the year, so with the author’s newsletters mentioning the story, this fits the prompt perfectly!

A classic I started on the way home: Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. I’ve heard good things about this book, and I was thrilled to find a copy in a second-hand bookstore while we were at Sault Ste. Marie with my aunt and cousins! I’ve decided this is my souvenir of that trip. So far, I’m loving the book.

And finally, I’m including a book I’ve been avoiding since 2017. I listened to the audiobook of Cloak of the Light by Chuck Black seven years ago, and that creeped me out so much that I didn’t ever get around to finishing the series since then. My brothers have assured me up and down that the rest of the series makes that first book a lot better, and on this recent trip to the States, one of my brothers bought the whole series in paperbacks. That means I really don’t have any excuses now, so I’m planning to read Rise of the Fallen soon. I am looking forward to seeing what happens to the characters; I’m just nervous about how long it might take me to recover from the story after reading it! Pray for me.

Fourteen books! Okay; there’s no way I’ll get through all these books in the next month (unless I get sick and can’t do anything for a month, or something like that). They’ll probably roll over into October, and that’s fine, too. There are just so many I want to read, and I’m feeling rather deprived after only finishing three books in the past month, so I want to just read, read, read!

Have you ever read any of these books? Are you in a reading slump, or are you in reading mode, too? Do you have any recent favorites that I ought to add to my list for October?

The beginning of April was a bit of a whirlwind, so I never managed to make up a TBR for the month. It was interesting to not have the guidance of a list for the month—and even more interesting to realize how much I enjoy having a TBR list to follow!

April still ended up being a fairly successful reading month, in my opinion. Here are the books I finished last month:

Some links in this post are affiliate links. Your purchase through these links helps keep this blog going, at no extra expense to you. Thanks for your support!

For May, I’m wanting to read all the books, but I know that’s impossible. I am expecting to have a little more reading time than I had over the first few months of the year, so that should be fun! I’m also coming out of a bit of a reading slump (a couple of the books I read this past month weren’t the most gripping/fun reads for me), so I want to read at least a few books that I know I’ll probably love.

New Releases/ARCs:

Publishing August 6: Between the Sound and the Sea by Amanda Cox. I’ve loved every single Cox book I’ve read so far (do two books count? she’s published three total), and I can’t wait to dive into this one! I have no idea what it’s about, but I suspect it’ll be good. There’s a lighthouse on the cover, so that must mean something good, right?

Publishing September 3: All the Ways to Go by Jessie Janowitz. I loved The Doughnut Fix when Mom read it aloud to us last year, so when I saw this one coming out, I snatched it up asked nicely for it. It’s about a chess prodigy who doesn’t want to play chess anymore. I can’t wait to get into it!

Publishing September 3: In the Shadow of Stalin by Andrea Chalupa and Ivan Rodriguez. I debated about whether or not to ask for this book, but curiosity won out. It’s based on the true story of a reporter who investigated Stalin, if I remember right. I’m expecting it to be a bit on the icky side, but it’s a piece of history I don’t feel like I know very well, so I thought it was worth the risk.

Read Your Bookshelf Challenge:

I’ve decided to stick to the Doyle side of this challenge over the next few months, which means I need to read a book that’s by a new-to-me author. That’s not hard; I’ve got a stack of them in my room! I think I’ll read The Light in the Window by June Goulding, a book I picked up when second-hand shopping at some stage. This is a memoir about a midwife who worked in an unwed mother’s home in Ireland in the 1950s. I’m guessing it’ll be a difficult read, but I’d like to know what it’s about, to decide whether I want to keep the book or not.

Other Reading Challenge Prompts:

Besides the Read Your Bookshelf Challenge, I’m also trying to do the 2024 Buzzword Reading Challenge and a variation on the 2024 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge. These two challenges aren’t priorities for me; I’d love to finish them, but it’s not a big deal if I don’t. I’ve decided to pick a few prompts this month, to see if I can check a few more off. We’ll see how we go!

A book with two POV: How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. Mom read this book last year, and wanted me to read it, to see what she thought. I’ve tried at least two other books trying to fill this prompt (what is it with books with three or more points of view?), but I’m fairly certain this sticks to two.

A book by a favorite author: I just picked up Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw last night. This has been a long-time favorite of mine, and I’ve loved every McGraw book I’ve ever read or heard!

A book with a title that includes the word “like”: Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury. I’ve had this one on the shelf for a while, and I’d like to see if I want to keep it or not. I read my first Kingsbury book a year or two ago, and that was so-so; I guess we’ll see what I think about this one!

A 2023 debut novel: On Moonberry Lake by Holly Varni. I’ve had a hard time deciding which book to choose for this prompt, but I can get this book in audiobook form, so this is the one I’ve chosen. I’m looking forward to it!

A book that was blurbed by a favorite author: The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green. I haven’t decided yet whether to read this or listen to the audiobook, but there’s a blurb on the back from Sarah Sundin, who is a new favorite author of mine (a favorite counts if you’ve read two of their books, right?). I’ve been wanting to read this book anyway, so this seemed like a good excuse. 😉

Well, I think that should keep me busy this month! I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up skipping a few of these, or swapping some out if I end up getting an unexpected review book or something like that.

What are you hoping to read in May? Do you tend to get over-ambitious about your reading plans, too?