20 Books of Summer & Big Book Challenge 2025

It's no secret that I have been trying to whittle down my physical TBR shelves, as
well as my Goodreads shelf (although I am continually adding to that one 😂).

Stacking the Shelves #167, Sunday Post #164, Sunday Salon #158

Hey my bookish friends! How was your week? It was another long week, with lots of extra appointments. The best thing about this week is that my husband and I went to the Cain concert on Wednesday night and we had a blast. I hope to get a post up about it soonish. We looked at a house yesterday, and the only good thing about it is that it was near a library we had not been into yet, so I decided to check it out 😂. Happy Mother's Day to those of you who are moms. My kiddos are working/gone today, so it will just be me and my husband hanging out, sorting through things today.

Top Ten Tuesday- Binge-worthy new authors from 2024

Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024. I read 77 new-to-me-authors last year, so I will try to narrow it down to 10! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and you can head over there to see what our other bookish friends are up to today.   

Top Ten Tuesday: Binge-worthy new-to-me authors from 2024:

November 2024 Reading Wrap-Up

Here we are for another monthly wrap up fa la la la la la la la la. I have no idea how it is already December. It's hard to slow down and enjoy anything when time is marching along at warp speed. I feel like November was a good reading month, so let's get to it!  I read 17 books and DNF'd one. Click on the cover of the book if you are interested in the review.

5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Stacking the Shelves #145, Sunday Post #142, Sunday Salon #136

Hey bookish friends! These past couple of weeks have been busy. This one had quite a bit of hard and stressful things. I have no idea what we are doing today,
possibly a hike, but probably just catching up on chores. Tomorrow will be church and a whole lot of relaxing. Are you doing anything fun this weekend?

Rendezvous update 2

So, part two of the JustRead Rendezvous 2024 reader event. You can read part one here. After lunch was another reader panel. Kimberley Woodhouse was the moderator of this one. Each author had to pick one of their characters to be and only answer as that character. It was hilarious. Several authors on the panel were suspense writers, and a couple were fantasy. Sara Ella was one of the authors and I loved her answers. She was in character as Alice in Wonderland from her book The Wonderland Trials. While I had read several authors books who were on the different panels throughout the day, hearing all the authors talk and interact made me want to read their books, even though several are genres I don't read. 

 

Sanctuary Forever

Title: Sanctuary Forever

Series: WITSEC Town #5

Author: Lisa Phillips

Publisher: Lisa Phillips

Genre: Suspense, Christian Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Source: Library

My Review:

Sanctuary Forever is the fifth and final book in the series. I highly recommend reading the books in order since each story builds upon the previous one. 

A Sanctuary Christmas Tale

Title: A Sanctuary Christmas Tale (short story)

Series: WITSEC Town #3.5

Author: Lisa Phillips

Publisher: Lisa Phillips

Genre: Suspense, Christian Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Source: Library

My Review:

I am enjoying my time in Sanctuary. When I started reading the fifth book in the series it mentioned Shelby and Elliot, and since I had no idea who they were, I stopped reading it and started reading A Sanctuary Christmas Tale first.

Sanctuary Deceived

Title: Sanctuary Deceived

Series: WITSEC Town #4

Author: Lisa Phillips

Publisher: Lisa Phillips

Genre: Suspense, Christian Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Source: Library

My Review:

Sanctuary Deceived is the fourth book in the series and I highly recommend reading the books in order. Each story builds upon the previous one. 

Sanctuary Breached

Title: Sanctuary Breached

Series: WITSEC Town #3

Author: Lisa Phillips

Publisher: Lisa Phillips

Genre: Suspense, Christian Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Source: Library

My Review:

Sanctuary Breached is the third book in the series and I highly recommend reading the books in order. Each story builds upon the previous one. 

October 2024 Reading Wrap Up

October feels like it was a pretty good reading month. It was another month with quite a few romcoms, but I also read my first Christmas book of the season. Let's see how I actually did. I read 20 books and DNF'd one. Click on the cover of the book if you are interested in the review.

5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Stacking the Shelves #142, Sunday Post #139, Sunday Salon #133

Hey bookish friends! I remember the days when I used to get this post typed up before Saturday, LOL! It is the middle of the day on Saturday and I am just now getting an opportunity to sit down and type this up. It was a long week with some hard things. However, it is the weekend and I am so thankful. My husband and I decided to go on a hike this morning and it was great just getting away from it all for a little bit. Later this afternoon we will celebrate my daughter's birthday (it was yesterday). Tomorrow will be church and a whole lot of relaxing. Are you doing anything fun this weekend?

Top Ten Tuesday: Looking back at spring and summer

 Happy Tuesday, my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books I Was Assigned to Read in School (These can be books you loved or hated. Or just tolerated. Bonus points if you give us a tiny review of your thoughts!) I have been out of school for a LONG time, including graduate school, so I am going to go a different direction today. I will revisit my spring and summer TBRs and see how I did. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and you can head over there to see what our other bookish friends are up to today.  

Top Ten Tuesday Spring and Summer TBR update:

Expired Promise

Title: Expired Promise

Series: Last Chance Fire and Rescue #3

Author: Lisa Phillips & Emilie Haney

Publisher: Sunrise Publishing

Genre: Christian Fiction, Suspense, Contemporary Romance

Source: Library

My Review:

I have read books by Lisa Phillips, but Expired Promise is the first book I have read by Emilie Haney. While it is the third in the series, it easily stands alone.

September 2024 Reading Wrap Up

September was a blur. I don't really feel like I accomplished or did much. I read 18 books and DNF'd two, but I had more variety in reading this month!! Click on the cover of the book if you are interested in the review.

5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sanctuary Buried

Title: Sanctuary Buried

Series: WITSEC Town #2

Author: Lisa Phillips

Publisher: Lisa Phillips

Genre: Christian Fiction, Suspense, Contemporary Romance

Source: Library

My Review:

Sanctuary Buried is the second book in the series and I highly recommend reading the books in order. The first book sets up the WITSEC town, and Sanctuary Buried builds on book one (Sanctuary Lost).

Top Ten Tuesday-Fall 2024 reading options

Happy Tuesday, my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List.  I missed participating last week, but I knew I wouldn't have time to visit other blogs. This week I am sharing books that I have ARCs for and others I want to read this fall...although I haven't thought much about it yet, LOL! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and you can head over there to see what our other bookish friends are up to today.  

Top Ten Tuesday: my reading options (suggestions) for fall

ARCs (ones I have already committed to whether I have them in my hands already or not):

 

Stacking the Shelves #136, Sunday Post #133, Sunday Salon #127

Hey bookish friends! How are you doing? I had a pretty good week, other than having an upper respiratory thing this week. We are mostly back to our normal work week. My son took yesterday and today off of week, so we are planning to play some board games today. I am also planning to read, work on some sewing projects, and relax. I am thankful we don't have many plans this weekend and can just take it easy.

August 2024 Reading Wrap-Up

August was a lighter month for me (work wise), but I still feel like it passed in a blur. I read 24 books, eight of which were audio books. I have been traveling around Ohio for the All Ohio Shop Hop, which is why I have so many books and audio books this month. It was unintentionally a RomCom month too, LOL! Once I started a book and it was good, I found myself bingeing the whole series! Click on the cover of the book if you are interested in the review.

5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Sanctuary Lost

Title: Sanctuary Lost

Series: WITSEC Town #1

Author: Lisa Phillips

Publisher: Independently Published

Genre: Christian Fiction, Suspense

Source: Kindle Own

My Review:

I have owned Sanctuary Lost on my Kindle for years. I wish it had not taken me so long to get to Lisa Phillips's book, I really enjoyed it.