First Line Friday #35-Song of Silence

We made it to Friday!! It has been a really long week around here. Any plans for the weekend? I plan to do some cleaning out, reading and blogging. Welcome back to First Line Friday hosted by Carrie at Reading is My SuperPower!! I am also linking up with Gilion on Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings. This is where you share the beginning of the book that you are reading. To join in the fun grab the book you are reading and leave a comment with the first line (or your link).  This week I am reading Song of Silence by Cynthia Ruchti. I am reading this one for Chantel's read your bookshelf challenge.

Stacking the shelves #4/Sunday Post #1

This is only my fourth time participating in stacking the shelves, but with Christmas and thrift shopping I got a LOT of books that I want to share!!!  

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual.This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks. Don’t forget audiobooks! In other words, if you can read it or if it can be read to you – no matter how you got it – it belongs in Stacking the Shelves. The Stacking the Shelves meme is hosted at Reading Reality.

Net Galley:

Best of the Best 2021

Today I am participating in the Top 10 of 2021 hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads. Today's topic is the best of the best books. I am excited to share my favorite reads of 2021. They were not necessarily released in 2021, I just read them in 2021. As of today I have finished 251 books and it will be difficult to narrow it down to just ten, so I am going to cheat just a little bit and do a couple of different categories. The books will not be in any particular order.

The Best Fiction I read this year: 

2021 New-to-me Authors

Today I am participating in the Top 10 of 2021 hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads. Today's topic is new or new-to-me authors. Well, hang on to your hats because this is going to be a long list. I made it a point to try new authors this year and I can guarantee you that I have NEVER read so many new-to-me authors in a year. I was trying to do the 2021 challenge by Cara Novack Lynch that had 75 topics, which helped to increase my new-to-me authors. Plus, I follow the Avid Readers of Christian Fiction Facebook group and they ALWAYS have great recommendations. I honestly had no idea there were SO many Christian authors that write in a wide variety of genres before joining this group. Of course, once I started this book blog I was introduced to even more authors (thank you!!).

Top Ten Tuesday-Books I wish Santa would bring me

 Happy Tuesday friends and 🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄!!! Today's topic is books I wish 🎅Santa 🎅 would bring me!  You can see all the details at That Artsy Reader Girl.  You are under no obligation to grant any wishes, however, it will be fun blog hopping to see other people's wish lists and maybe add some more books to my "want to read" list 😂 We did our bookish wish lists in June and I was able to grant 3 wishes! I am not sure how many I will grant today!

Top Ten Tuesday-Bookish Memories

Happy Tuesday, friends! Today's theme is sharing about our bookish memories, books that made an impression on you, events you have gone to, etc. To find out what our other bookish friends are doing for Top Ten Tuesday check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday-New Authors

Happy Tuesday, friends! The theme for today's top ten Tuesday is if you like this then I recommend that. This was another hard one for me to wrap my head around, I just don't have the mental capacity for it. So, I decided to do a twist on it. So far this year I have read 132 new to me authors! I can barely wrap my head around that amount, but I was working on a reading challenge and it introduced me to new authors. So, I am going to try to narrow that down to the top 10 that I loved and can't wait to read more from/catch up on their backlist. Hopefully this will introduce you to a new author as well. To find out what our other bookish frJo are doing for Top Ten Tuesday check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday-Memorable Quotes

Happy Tuesday, friends! The theme for today's top ten Tuesday is memorable book quotes. This is a bit difficult for me because I don't keep a quote journal or anything like that. Sometimes I put memorable quotes in my reviews, and that is where I will be looking to hopefully find ten quotes. To find out what our other bookish friends are doing for Top Ten Tuesday check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Spouse in the House

Title: Spouse in the House: Rearranging Our Attitudes to Make    Room for Each Other

Author:  Cynthia Ruchti & Becky Melby

Publisher: Kregel

Genre: Relationships, Christian Living

Source: Kregel Publications

My Review:

The concept for Spouse in the House started long before a pandemic forced many families to be home together. While the authors are specifically speaking to couples who are entering their retirement years, many of the concepts outlined in this book can be used during any transition where people are new to living together.

Stacking the Shelves #3

This is my third week participating in stacking the shelves and I am surprised by how many books came into my house this week. Doing this prompt has made me more aware of the books that I am buying/winning/borrowing.

Can't Wait Wednesday - Spouse in the House

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Typically they are books that have not been released yet. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Can't Wait Wednesday-Song of Silence

 Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Typically they are books that have not been released yet. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This week I am showcasing a book that has been out since 2016, but I didn't know it existed until this week. That counts, right? I can't wait to read it and don't know when/if I will be able to get a copy of it. The book is called Song of Silence and it is written by Cynthia Ruchti. I have only read one of her other works, but I LOVED it and found it deeply moving, which is why I can't wait to read this one.

 

Top Ten Tuesday-Reread for the first time

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday! I hope you are off to a great start to your week. This week’s topic is books that you wish you could read again for the first time.  Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and you can head over there to see other readers' books they wish they could read for the first time or their twist on today's topic.

 The first book that comes to mind is Pepper Basham's Hope Between the Pages. I thought this book was a literary genius! You can see all my thoughts here.

Top Ten Tuesday-Books I wish I could have read in one sitting

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday! While I love to read it is rare to have uninterrupted time to just sit and read. I imagine it is the same with you. So, this week’s topic features books that I would read in one sitting (or would if I had the time!) I imagine this will be an easy list to make, especially since there were several books recently that I have not wanted to put down to do anything. Those are the types of books that I will feature this week. The hard part will be narrowing it down to just 10!! You know, typical book nerd problems 😂 Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

 A Lady in Attendance by Rachel Fordham 

Top Ten Books that I loved that made me want more

I am eventually going to post regularly on this blog! I would love a post a day, but sometimes there are none, and other days there are two, but hey, I guess I get points for trying, right? Today I decided to join a link-up because it sounded fun and got me thinking! I love when I come across things like this 😀

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s topic is Books I Loved that Made Me Want More Books Like Them. This topic especially appealed to me because I am constantly adding to my never-ending to-be-read pile...either in cyberspace on my Goodreads shelf, or on my Kindle (over 1,000 unlogged books, send help!!) or here, physically on one of my many bookshelves, but then it still gets added to Goodreads...

Favorite Book Quotes

 Do you have a favorite book quote? I know most people have favorite author's or favorite genres, but for those of us who LOVE all things books...we also have favorite quotes. So, do you have a favorite book quote? I do. As a matter of fact, the one that I love the most I have a sticker of it...and it is on my computer!! This is the true story of all avid readers 😀

Facing the Dawn

 Title: Facing the Dawn

Author: Cynthia Ruchti

Publisher: Revell

Genre: Christian Fiction/Contemporary Fiction

Synopsis:

While her humanitarian husband Liam has been digging wells in Africa, Mara Jacobs has been struggling. She knows she's supposed to feel a warm glow that her husband is nine time zones away, caring for widows and orphans. But the reality is that she is exhausted, working a demanding yet unrewarding job, trying to manage their three detention-prone kids, failing at her to-repair list, and fading like a garment left too long in the sun.