Christmas Reading Challenges 2025

I know, I know, I said I was tired of challenges, and I am, BUT, hear me out. I am tired of the ones I am already working on, I'm not tired of Christmas yet 😂. I am going to read Christmas books anyway, I might as well support some fellow bloggers 😁. So, I am going to try to finish up my other challenges this month, so that I can clear the deck to read as many Christmas books as my heart desires. This year has been super hard and I am looking forward to the hope/happy feels that Christmas reads generally bring.

Top Ten Tuesday-Fall Vibes 2025

Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Book Covers that Give off Fall Vibes (Or, if you’re not a cover person, share the books in general that feel like Fall.) I have done this topic four times and I am not sure if I can come up with anything new, but I will try. 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.   

2022   2023 RomCom edition  2023 Halloween/Fall Vibes  2024

Top Ten Tuesday-Fall Vibes 2025

The Marriage Jinx by Krista Noorman

Top Ten Tuesday-Unforgettable books to read again

 Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Books I’d Like to Re-read (Share either your favorite books that you enjoy re-reading or books that you’d like to read again!) (Submitted by Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog) I am not a huge rereader, but I am finding more and more books that I do want to re-read, so maybe it is growing on me. In order for me to want to read a book again, it has to make an impression, a book that is unforgettable. So, this is a list of unforgettable books that I would love to read again. 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- unforgettable books to read again

Words by Ginny L. Yttrup

 

Top Ten Tuesday-Recap of Anticipated releases early in 2025

Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Freebie/Throwback (Come up with a topic you’d like to do or go back and do an old topic you missed or just want to do again!) With us doing our most anticipated releases for the last half of the year last week, quite a few of you revisted your 1st half list and said how you did. So, this week, I am looking back at what I anticipated from the first half of the year and seeing how many of them I read. 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-Did I read all of my anticipated reads from the first half of the year? Spoiler alert-no. But, you can click on the cover to see my review of the ones I did read, if you are interested.

First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer -Read it, it was a 5-star read

 

Top Ten Tuesday-Anticipated releases for second half of 2025

Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025. Yay, thank you Jana, for an easy topic this week 😁. I keep a list on Goodreads for 2025 book releases, so this should be fairly easy. The hard part will be narrowing it down, (and I ended up adding more to my list, 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-ish Tuesday-my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2025

Stacking the Shelves #172 Sunday Post #169, Sunday Salon #163

Hey my bookish friends! How was your week? I am STILL sick, my guess is we had C*vid, which is my first time. I am slowly improving, but still coughing and congested. We have another open house on Sunday, hopefully something will come from it. Other than that, not much on the radar this weekend.

Top Ten Tuesday-Wishing and Hoping

Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Bookish Wishes  Like most of you, I have a never ending list of books I want to read, but I have a smaller list of books that I would like to own. As I've gotten older, the list continues to get smaller. I used to want to own every book, now I only want favorites, or books that I can't get at my library. 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.   

March Reading Wrap Up 2025

March was a mix of hard moments and fun moments. We had some sickness and I feel like I read more this month trying to relax from the stressful times. I read 25 books in March, but several were 2-stars so they won't be mentioned here. Click on the cover of the book if you are interested in reading my review.

5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  

Top Ten Tuesday-Books You'd be a fool not to read

 Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Books You’d be a Fool Not to Read (Happy April Fool’s Day! In honor of this silly holiday, share the books you think people must read for whatever reason. They could be your favorites, books you deem classics, books that you learned something important from, books you wish you’d read sooner, etc. You could even narrow it down to a specific genre and share the must-reads for that genre. Get creative!) I went back and found the last ten books that I gave five stars to to come up with my list. 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 Books You'd Be A Fool Not To Read:

 

The Holly Series by C.C. Warrens remains one of my favorite suspense series! Perfect for those who do not enjoy romance in their stories. Holly has had a difficult life and is hiding from a stalker. My review of Criss Cross.

An Overdue Match

Title: An Overdue Match

Series: Checking Out Love #1

Author: Sarah Monzon

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christian Fiction, RomCom

Source: Library

My Review:

An Overdue Match had my attention from the first line. The humor drew me in. This is the first book in the Checking Out Love series by Sarah Monzon.

Top Ten Tuesday-Spring 2025 pile of possibilities

Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List. This one is always easy for me as I want to read books, LOL! The hard part is narrowing it down to what do I want to read soonish. 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 Books on my spring TBR: (these are a mix of ARCs, books I own, and library books)

Green Pastures by Patricia Johns-ARC-Amish fiction

 

Stacking the Shelves #160, Sunday Post #157, Sunday Salon #151

Hey my bookish friends! How was your week? It was another WEEK around here. Time change made the week feel longer, we had multiple extra appointments, quite a few of our classes got canceled for sickness, we found out my mom's cancer is back, she will go on Monday to see what they are going to do about it, and I am beyond exhausted.

Betsy

Title: Betsy: Miss Grumps Don't Fall for Mr. Sunshines

Series: Sewing in SoCal #5

Author: Sarah Monzon

Publisher: Radiant Publications

Genre: Christian Fiction, Romcom, Contemporary Romance

Source: Own

My Review:

Betsy is the fifth (and final!) book in the Sewing in SoCal series by Sarah Monzon. While each book can be read as a stand-alone novel, I recommend reading them in order as the friends are in each book and the timeline continues to build. Otherwise, you will get minor spoilers from the earlier books.

Amanda

Title: Amanda: Smart Girls Don't Fall for Their Famous Exes

Series: Sewing in SoCal #4

Author: Sarah Monzon

Publisher: Radiant Publications

Genre: Christian Fiction, Romcom, Contemporary Romance

Source: Own

My Review:

Amanda is the fourth book in the Sewing in SoCal series by Sarah Monzon. While each book can be read as a stand-alone novel, I recommend reading them in order as the friends are in each book and you will get minor spoilers to the earlier books.

February Reading Wrap up 2025

February was a weird month. We had a lot of sickness, followed by a lot of working having to make up canceled classes. I read 16 books in February and DNFed 1. Click on the cover of the book if you are interested in the review.

5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐    

 

Nicole

Title: Nicole: Strong Girls Don't Fall for their Enemy

Series: Sewing in SoCal #3

Author: Sarah Monzon

Publisher: Radiant Publications

Genre: Christian Fiction, Romcom, Contemporary Romance

Source: Own

My Review:

Nicole is the third book in the Sewing in SoCal series by Sarah Monzon. While each book can be read as a stand-alone novel, I recommend reading them in order as the friends are in each book and you will get minor spoilers to the earlier books.

January 2025 Reading Wrap-up

January moved at a nice pace. I was busy but I still felt like I had a lot of time to devote to reading.  I read 17 books in January and DNFed 3. Click on the cover of the book if you are interested in the review.

5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐    

 

Jocelyn

Title: Jocelyn: City Girls Don't Fall for Cowboys

Series: Sewing in SoCal #2

Author: Sarah Monzon

Publisher: Radiant Publishers

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Christian Fiction, 

Source: Own

My Review:

Jocelyn is the second book in the Sewing in SoCal series by Sarah Monzon. While each book can be read as a stand-alone novel, I recommend reading them in order as the friends are in each book and you will get minor spoilers to the earlier books.

Molly

Title: Molly: Nannies Don't Fall For Their Single-Father Bosses

Series: Sewing in SoCal #1

Author: Sarah Monzon

Publisher: Radiant Publishers

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Christian Fiction, 

Source: Own

My Review:

Original Review (2020) Original cover is the yellow one:

While the title suggests this book is somewhat about sewing, it isn't at all.

Top Ten Tuesday-Anticipated releases Jan-Jun

Happy Tuesday my bookish friends!! I hope you all are doing well. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2025. I had read it wrong and thought it said first quarter, so it was going to be a short list. But, I might actually get ten by doing the first half of the year. I am sure there are a ton of books coming out I am going to want to read, I just don't know about them yet 😂 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.   

My most anticipated releases for the first half of the year:

First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer, love her books!