Tag: Books

Books I Read – September 2017

Published on by Amanda Tero3 Comments
Due to last week’s Five Fall Favorites fun, I’m a week behind getting my “books I read” up. But here they are! Thanks to a trip to Louisiana plus a full week of revival services an hour away, I got in quite a bit of reading time!
My Favorites
Ooh, I had two favorites this month!!
This book. Y’all. I really, really needed the reminder of how blessed I am and to make a conscious effort to BE grateful! I actually listened to this as an audiobook, but it was so, so good! I highly recommend it! (A more cohesive review here)
And this book!!! When I realized this was a legal thriller, I went, “Ugh…” cause I’m not so into legal things. But it was amazing. Hands-down my favorite mystery book that I’ve read this year. Full review with more details here.
No, make that three favorites, because I really liked…

Can you even imagine what it would be like to be blind in the twin towers? Yeah. This was an amazing read. More of my thoughts here.
Non-Fiction Books
I tried to make it an effort to read a little more non-fiction this month. That being said, I pulled out one photography book that I had begun in January and finished it, and then got another photography book to review and read it.
Review here.
Review here (note: this is excellent for most photographers, no matter what equipment you have)

Other Fiction

And… we reach the part where I dump all of the info about other books I’ve read. 😉 I was really excited to finish this series:

I really, really liked book one so was looking forward to books two and three. Unfortunately, they didn’t appeal to me quite as much as the first book. I think it’s because the first book had a somewhat balance viewpoint of North/South and the conclusion to the series made the South seem more stereotypical. So yeah… each of these kind of got a three-star from me. If you’ve read them, I’d love to hear your thoughts! As it stands, you may see my reviews for book two and book three on Goodreads.

After featuring this for a First Line Fridays post, I realized how very much I wanted to re-read it! So… I did! (the one luxury of making myself not agree to review-read everything that comes in my email: I have more time to read just whatever I want 😉 ) It’s truly a sweet book. I can see how some people may not like Janette Oke’s style. She definitely has an “older” voice but you’ve gotta love it for that era. I decided to give it five stars.
Last but not least, I read two WWII books!!

By one of my author-friends, I enjoyed this cute story. It wasn’t quite realistic to me (I just visited the WWII museum so maybe my critical eye is a bit harsher?), but it was a very good story! My full review is here.

My first book to read by Melody Carlson. It was a cute story, not my favorite ever, but not bad either. I really did love pulling out a Christmas story to read! I haven’t read many of them, and already this year, I think I’ve agreed to review three (three more Christmas books than I read last year!). Back to this book, though, I did give it four stars, and you can see my thoughts here.


Do you re-read books?
What are some non-fiction books that you enjoy?
What about Christmas books? Read them or not?



Paige Alder series | First Line Fridays

Published on by Amanda Tero12 Comments
So, a few months back, I shared the first line from Paige Torn. 

Within the last few weeks, I’ve read books two and three, so was going to feature just one of them. But then… why not all three? So here you go: the other two.

I initially didn’t think I’d like reading first person, present tense, but it worked for the series. If you’d like, my full review are up on Goodreads for books one, two, and three.

What’s the latest series that you’ve read in full?
– or – 
Open a book and share the first line!

If you’d like to join us on your blog today, then post a first line and share the link on Hoarding Book’s blog!

Five Animal Books | Five Fall Favorites Day 6

Published on by Amanda Tero7 Comments

It’s the last day of a wonderful, fun-fill, fallish week! Trust me, today, of all days, you want to stop by Rebekah’s blog. There’s a bunch of free stuff going on as well as a giveaway…  yeah… you don’t want to miss out on the fun!

But for now, come for a little boat ride where we can talk books!
Today I’m discussing some books that feature animals. Some are about animals, others just have a strong feature of animals in them.
The Riverboat Adventures by Lois Walfrid Johnson
Now called “The Freedom Seeker Series”
I slipped in another Johnson series for the week. 😉 Clever, huh? The reason I chose this one is because of Samson. Gotta love Samson. He is a big Newfoundland aboard the steamboat, and trust me, he plays a very vital and important role in the series!
Add to your Goodreads list here

Wild Animals of the Five Rivers Country by George Franklin

Sometimes old, random books are the best. This has been a family favorite, as Mr. Franklin explores various animals in the wild and tells their story. I loved this one as a kid!
Not on Goodreads, but see it on Amazon here

Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls

I haven’t read this one, but I have fond memories of Mom reading it out loud to our family (I know for a fact that she smoothed over some areas for the family reading that she didn’t particularly want all ages to hear)
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson

Read. This. Book.
One of my friends found it at random and lent it to me. It is well worth the read!! Just… read it. 😉
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

Rise of Aredor by Claire Banschbach

Both books one and two creatively feature animals. I think I liked it so much because I had considered writing a book where the MC had a hawk that was important to him. 😉 It was a neat addition to the story.
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

And that, my friends, sums up our week of books! Hasn’t it been fun? What are the top five books you’ve added to your TBR list? Have you already bought some of the books you want to read? (or are you like me and just wait until you can save for them, find the eBook free, or ask for it for Christmas?)

Thanks for joining us and making this such a fun party!!

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And if you don’t win, you can still get some wonderful things. 😉 I’m having some book sales today and today only!!!

Befriending the Beast | The Secret Slipper | Journey to Love
Maggie’s Hope Chest | Hartly Manor

Five Indie Author Books | Five Fall Favorites Day 5

Published on by Amanda Tero23 Comments

It’s a little early for a bonfire, but it’s Friday night, which is the perfect night to have a bonfire. Especially if you have a cool October (ours is very… temperamental).

I’m excited about today, because I get to explore books written by Indie Authors. This group has a special place in my heart because all of them I have talked to personally, some of them I’m good friends with, and most of them have reached out and helped me somehow. Yeah, a pretty special group!
Before you meet my friends, though, remember to stop by Rebekah’s blog to see other Indie authors (trust me: Indie authors need all of the support you can give them!), also don’t forget about the giveaway at the end! 🙂
Instead of going book by book and explaining things (because I have pretty detailed reviews on all of these), suffice it to say that all of these books are squeaky clean, Christian, and something I’m not ashamed to hand to my younger siblings. Those three things are important to me as a reader. Many authors try to make things interesting by throwing in questionable content. These authors haven’t, and I really appreciate them.
I have already mentioned several Indie authors this week (A.M. Heath and Alicia Ruggieri to mention two) that I also know personally and appreciate. These are just five more. 😉
Family Reunion by Kelsey Bryant
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

The Treasure Hunt by Kate Willis

Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

The Sparrow Found a House by Jason McIntire

Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

Lily of the Valley by Faith Blum

Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

The Old River Road by Ivy Rose

Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

Let’s show some Indie Author love. What are some of your favorites?



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Five Missionary Books | Five Fall Favorites Day 4

Published on by Amanda Tero15 Comments

Today, we’re heading to the barn to discuss some favorites. Maybe view it like a fall fellowship where we gather with laughing, music, and books of course!
Also be sure to stop by Rebekah’s blog to read everyone else’s posts and catch up on some wonderful missionary books today! And guess what, guess what?! We’ve had 75 entrants into the giveaway which means there is now going to be a second place winner!!!! Spread the news because the party is just getting better!!! 🙂

Relax, and let’s talk about some wonderful books that are very worthwhile reading! This has proven a glaring defect in my recent reading diet. While I have balanced non-fiction and devotional books with fiction, it has been years since I’ve sat down and read a passel of missionary books or Christian biographies, so I don’t remember which ones I actually liked or not. I’m going to throw in a few devotional books as well.

Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Diebler Rose
This remains one of my favorite women missionary stories ever. It’s not just a missionary story, but a missionary/POW story.
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

Bruchko by Bruce Olsen

This one was fascinating, however, I didn’t find that he was 100% Biblical in everything he did (you’ll have to read my review for that though). His faith… that was amazing!
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew

This is one of those books that I feel every believer should read. I waited way too long before I read it. And it is an amazing, wonderful read!
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand

I initially thought that this book might dwell too much on the tortures for me (I don’t think we should avoid knowing about Christians being tortured, it’s just that sometimes the writers glory in the torture, and not so much in God). This book, though, was amazing and I left it praising God for the wonderful examples of others before me.
Add to your Goodreads list here
Chappie by Alton E. Carpenter
Best for last. This isn’t exactly a missionary story. Uncle Alton was a chaplain in WWII, so in a sense, he kind of was a missionary. At any rate, yes, he’s one of my former relatives, but I don’t think my view of his book is in any way biased, as anyone we’ve given it to to read has loved it as well. It is an amazing journal of a man who decided to follow God’s call to leave the church he was pastoring to minister to the soldiers as they were on the field. Uncle Alton was right there with them, in the heat of many major battles. Yet so often, he would just stop and reflect on the beauty of God in nature. Yeah… it is amazing.
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

What missionary books do you like?



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Five Book Series | Five Fall Favorites Day 3

Published on by Amanda Tero23 Comments

Day three–halfway through already!!

Hop on your bike and stop by Rebekah’s blog then continue traveling through all of the other lovely book bloggers. Better have a heavy-duty bicycle, cause I’m fairly certain your TBR list is going to be towering! Especially because today is series day… that means if everyone else is like me, I’m not recommending five books but five series which, in my case, is seventeen books!! 😮 

Don’t forget… there’s a giveaway at the end of the post!

Viking Quest Series by Lois Walfrid Johnson

I’ll start with a series for the kids. Out of all of Johnsons’ series (which, I do recommend them all, but that would be stretching the rules of “five favorites” just a little, but just so you have it, look up her Riverboat/Freedom Seekers series and Northwoods Series), this is the most kid-friendly. The other two series have a little more boy/girl stuff in them, but this one saved it until the last book, and even then, felt wholly acceptable.

These also happen to be the latest Johnson series that I’ve read so it’s freshest on my mind AND I have reviews of them on Goodreads.
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review of the entire series here | Individual reviews for book 1, book 2, book 3, book 4, book 5
Culper Ring Series by Roseanna White
  
The Culper Ring highly fascinated me. I do just like Roseanna White, I’ll admit. Some of these I liked more than others (book one is probably my favorite… I mean… Winter!!!). You can read my individual reviews on Goodreads.
Add to your Goodreads list for book 1, book 2, book 3 | Read my reviews for book 1, book 2, book 3

Time of Grace by Alicia Ruggieri
Have you ever read a series where all you could think was, “This was just the most sweet series ever?” That’s this series. Heart-aches and pain throb through the pages, but never without the hope of God’s grace.
 
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
 
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
Ancient Words by A.M. Heath
  
This series. If you like the War Between the States era, put these on your list. And even if you don’t, still put them on your list. 😉 Clean and historically accurate, these definitely belong on my top-five favorites list.
Add to your Goodreads list for book 1, book 2, book 3 | Read my reviews for book 1, book 2, book 3

Serena Jones by Sandra Orchard

  

I’m still trying to figure out why I like this series so much. 😉 There are a few elements that I usually don’t like (love triangles and not the most well-written for two), but they are just the kick-back-and-relax-and-read books. With a good bit of humor to boot.
Add to your Goodreads list for book 1, book 2, book 3 | Read my reviews for book 1, book 2, book 3 

Now for the fun part:
What are some of your favorite book series?

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Five Clean, Christian Romance Books | Five Fall Favorites Day 2

Published on by Amanda Tero17 Comments

Welcome back to day two of Five Fall Favorites! Remember to hop by Rebekah’s blog for links to the other fun rooms in this party–and remember to keep your eye out for the book room, cause there’s something good there for you. 😉

Today I’m the backpack room!

I’m definitely a book packer and always bring at least two books with me anywhere I go–plus… my Kindle. You know, just in case an emergency strikes and I need more than one book to read. 😉

Five clean, Christian romance books… I’m definitely a huge component of CLEAN romance. There have been several books that I’ve shut because the romance wasn’t clean enough for me. So I’m really looking forward to seeing what the other bloggers have for this topic.

Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke

One almost can’t think Christian romance without thinking Janette Oke. And I’ve never had to put one of her books down because it’s taken me “into a bedroom scene.” She is clean. Very clean. And usually very Christian. I haven’t read this one since I started writing reviews, so I don’t have one (need to read it again, I suppose 😉 ), but you can still read it for yourself. 😉

Add to your Goodreads list here

A Home for my Heart by Anne Mateer

This one was one of those adorably sweet books. From what I remember, there were absolutely no uncomfortable romance scenes whatsoever. Actually, it didn’t strike me as primarily a romance… guess you’ll have to read it and figure out your thoughts. 😉
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

This book! ❤ I liked it very much! Of course, I've gotten to where I tend to like all of the Kim Vogel Sawyer books that I've read… 😉 But this one especially. If you've not read Kim Vogel Sawyer, it's a good one to start with!
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

Of course, a Roseanna White has to go on this list! Some of hers, I feel, are a little cleaner than others because in books (like The Reluctant Duchess) deal with situations that are for more mature readers. But this one. I really liked this one! 🙂
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
It’s been over a year since I read this, and I haven’t read other of Sundin’s books (my sister says that some of them have more detail than others), but overall, I remember really liking this one and finding it clean (a few references were made to past events, which you’ll see in my review)
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
Your turn!
What are some of your favorite clean Christian romance books?

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Five Historical/Bible Fiction Books | Five Fall Favorites Day 1

Published on by Amanda Tero19 Comments

Last year, I was a part of reader-blogger group who did this super duper fun “Five Fall Favorites” party. I’m happy to do it again! 

Before I get into my post, a huge, special thanks to Rebekah at Read Another Page for her hours of hard work putting this together! Visit her blog for her feature of today’s post and a nice, handy-dandy link to everyone’s blogs who are participating in Five Fall Favorites.


Today, I’d like to welcome you to my blog… for FFF today, I’m the book room which means…

A FREE BOOK!
Oh yeah, did I mention that this week also has a lot of fun stuff like free eBooks and giveaways? You are now informed. 😉
Today, one of my eBook short stories is free on Amazon. Since today’s theme is Historical or Bible Fiction, I thought it fitting to offer “Debt of Mercy” for Free.
Beyond that, at the end of the post is a giveaway… so you can either be like me and scroll all the way down and enter, or you can be polite and read through the entire post first. 😉
Now, my favorite part… talking about five of my favorite books in this theme (loosely using the word “favorite” here cause it’s almost impossible to choose actual favorites 😉 ). So get your Goodreads open and ready to explode your TBR pile!

A second year has been tough, cause I’m trying to think up books I did not feature last year, but still books that I like. I tend to keep my favorites for a long time and I just don’t usually get 30 new favorites in a year. 😉 But I think I managed to change about 50%.

Christ Arose by Faith Blum

Faith did an excellent job of writing the resurrection from the tomb’s perspective without adding too much creative license.
Add to your Goodreads list here | See my review here
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
My childhood favorite! It has been years since I’ve read this, but I have fond memories of reading and re-reading it!
Add to your Goodreads list here

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

I waited way too long to read this wonderful historical fiction book. Easy to read, captivating, and yes… I just loved it.
Add to your Goodreads list here | See my review here

The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers

I need to reread this so I can write a review on Goodreads. Many people stay away from this book because it sounds weird. For me, it was more of a beautiful concept of taking an old custom and comparing it to the truth of Scripture. It’s not for everyone, but everyone in my family who has read it has really enjoyed it.
Add to your Goodreads list here

Grace Triumphant by Alicia Willis

An excellent historical fiction book about the slave trade. Definitely action-packed, thought-provoking, and Christian.
Add to your Goodreads list here | See my review here

What are five of your favorites?
Whether Biblical fiction or historical fiction… what books do you like?

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Bringing Maggie Home | First Line Fridays

Published on by Amanda Tero9 Comments
Today’s book…
*happy sigh*
*like really happy sigh*

I have liked every book that I’ve read by Kim Vogel Sawyer and this one was no different. I wasn’t sure that I would like it, seeing as I’d only read her historical fiction, and this one is modern. That, and THEN it flips back and forth from present-day to past…and I’m not a huge fan of backstory. But this book…It was so beautifully written! I really like it. I really do. I’m so keeping this book on my shelf!!
Oh yeah.
First line.
Sorry guys. I had to endorse it first. 😉

The first line isn’t one of those “gripping” and “what happens next” lines, but this story… yeah… you just need to read it. 😉 It’s super sweet and etc. (I have a review at the end of the post)

Do you like back-story? Books that flip from present-day to past?

~*~*~
Be sure to hop along to all of these other blogs and see what First Lines they have to share!
Please note that I may not fully endorse all of the books that these bloggers read or the content in these blogs.
Rachel – Bookworm Mama
Andi – Radiant Light
Robin – Robin’s Nest
Kathleen – Kathleen Denly
Trisha – Joy of Reading
Jeanette – CJane Read
Rebecca – It’s Storytime with Van Danniker!
Iola – Iola Golton
Nicole – Christian Fiction Girl
Anna – Cross Romance
Alicia – A Brighter Destiny

My Review

A hint of mystery. A hint of intrigue. A hint of bitterness. A hint of romance. This seemed to be the perfect balance of all of that. What is best is that there was way more than a hint of faith and Christianity. From the first few chapters, characters with strong faith in God crossed the pages. It was truly a blessing to have it unashamedly crossing the pages. Sean. Hazel. Oh my, those characters were amazing! There was no doubt about how they viewed God and the Bible.

Now for the actual story. The whole relationship between Hazel, her daughter, and granddaughter, was amazingly real and a study of human nature and how one’s past, left unresolved, will affect their decisions—even when they do not realize it.

As I mentioned, the faith content was five-star. The Gospel was clearly presented, living by the Spirit clearly shown—yet there were also portions that were true such as a church being judgmental and turning people away from the church. So many things were covered in this book and were Biblically sound.

The romance was truly just a hint, and not at all emotionally driven. There was one scene of past events that I wouldn’t recommend younger readers reading (one of the characters had gotten pregnant out of wedlock and it highlights that a little yet doesn’t become explicit).

In conclusion, I enjoyed this read and happily place another Kim Vogel Sawyer book on my shelf.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books and happily provided my honest review*

Books I Read – August 2017

Published on by Amanda Tero6 Comments

After reading SO much fiction over the summer, I was seriously fictioned-out. So the first few books I read in August were non-fiction. Actually, I read quite a bit of non-fiction in August. And I enjoyed it. Immensely.

My Favorite Non-Fiction…


I featured this book yesterday with a ton of quotes (I recommend you read them). It was SO good!!!

Other Non-Fiction

I finally, FINALLY finished Sherman! It took me like… six months? More? Not sure. I don’t regret reading it. He was an excellent historian, even though I don’t agree with everything he stood for. My full review of the 815 pages is here.
Added to that, I read two others Civil War books, both of which were amazing and super informative! Since my reviews for both of these were short and to the point, I’ll share them here.

This book was jam-packed full of great information! It covers the formation of the army, the various guns and ammunition used, the railroad, the navy, and more in great detail. Pencil drawings detailed the information, making it easier to know exactly what the text was explaining. For someone who is researching different points of the Civil War and how the military works, this book was invaluable. A nice bonus was that it was just fun to read.

This gave an excellent picture of the hardship that soldiers faced during the American Civil War. The pictures featured helped give a visual account coupled by easy-to-read, engaging narration. 

Harsh cruelty is not romanticized in this book but facts are given as it truly was. In short, this is a sobering read and readers need to be prepared for the hard facts to be given clearly.

I have finally read a K.M. Weiland book (she’s been on my to-read list for a good year now). In all honesty, it took me half the book to get used to her style. Maybe if I read another of her books I’ll be pulled right in? We’ll see. She had great information, and I greatly appreciate how clean her examples were. I went a little more in depth with my review.
Fiction Books
And now that I proclaimed my fullness of fiction, I actually did read a bit of fiction (after the initial “get some non-fiction in there” happened). And I liked all of them!! Wowsers. 🙂
My Favorite
Okay, this isn’t exactly fair. Like I said, I liked them all. So, I’m gonna skip this and just go to the books…

I will be featuring this next week on First Line Fridays, but you can get a sneak-peek of my review on Goodreads. This. Book. Y’all. So sweet! So sweet!

Why did I wait so long to read this book?! You can see from my review that I think quite highly of it!

And… I finished out the Serena Jones Mysteries (“finished out” by reading books 1-2 after reading book three…? Yeah…) My thoughts on the series as a whole? I really like them. I wish they were more definitely Christian, but they are super clean and are easy reads. If you want more specific thoughts, see my reviews for Book One and Book Two.

I will be featuring this book later this month for a First Line Friday–as well as make my review of it live. For now, let it suffice to say that this was a sweet little book.
And now, let me hear from you!

If you haven’t assumed by now, I’ve surpassed my Goodreads Goal of reading 52 books this year (after August, I think I’ve reached 70 books for the year!). So I’m going for 100 books. How about you? How many books have you read this year? Do you have a goal?

And then I asked a hot-button question on social media: what’s your favorite to read, a paperback (or hard-back) or Kindle? I kind of like both, for different purposes and reasons. I love having my bookshelf, but then a Kindle is super convenient (and cheaper in the long run). What about you? Which do you prefer?

Wow…
I’ve chatted a lot!! Thanks for bearing with me! 🙂