Favorite Reads of 2013

Yay for books! I read about 70-ish of them this year (and I had the privilege of editing some more). While I'm still reading a lot of Christian fiction, I'm continuing to enjoy more and more secular YA books, along with a tiny bit of non-fiction and other reads. Thanks to my Kindle, I've been delighted to discover some books I might never have heard of or tried if not for the sale prices and browsing on Amazon. In fact, my favorite read of the year was one such discovery. Here's my list of favorite reads from 2013:

#8 Grave Consequences by Lisa T. Bergren

No "sagging middle" for this series! I adored the intrigue surrounding this Grand Tour, along with the romance. The one thing I especially appreciated about this second book was the journey. I loved the places the characters visit and how each different spot challenges them. This leg of their trip seemed more exotic and exciting than the first or last, at least for me. You can read my full review HERE.

 #7 Mistaken by Karen Barnett

I wish I had this one in paperback - just look at that cover! And the story inside is similarly colorful and mysterious, a gem of a historical romantic suspense that takes place during an interesting era (Prohibition) and in a region of the world that I love (the Pacific Northwest). You can read my full review HERE.

#6 The Ryn by Serena Chase

An epic debut! I loved the characters and the author's creativity in telling their story. It doesn't get much better than a well-written and unique fairy-tale retelling! You can read my full review HERE.

#5 A Spark Unseen by Sharon Cameron

Cameron's debut, The Dark Unwinding, made my favorites list last year, and its sequel was quite satisfying! Definitely enthralling and wonderfully engaging - clever historical fiction for the YA crowd, creatively told. You can read my full review HERE.

#4 Barefoot Summer by Denise Hunter

A refreshing contemporary romance for any time of the year! The descriptions and emotions are highly engaging, and the take-away message tied in with the title is wonderful. (I love a complex story with a simple, easy-to-remember but profound take-away.) You can read my full review HERE.

#3 Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

I greatly enjoyed Cinder, the tale of a Cinderella cyborg, but I enjoyed Scarlet's story even more. This series is addictive, and this particular story had me racing through the author's thrilling and terrifying fantasy world. You can read my snack size review HERE. (Note that there is some more intense violence in this second installment of "The Lunar Chronicles" series.)

#2 Songstone by Lena Goldfinch

I fell in love with Lena's work when reading The Language of Souls last winter, and many of you know that my love for that story led to me becoming a beta reader for Lena, which eventually led to a business partnership that has been one of the biggest blessings of 2013 for me. I had the pleasure of beta-reading and editing this story, and I adored it both times through. The location. The atmosphere. The struggle for identity and a future. And of course, Pono (the hero). The deeper points are so poignantly told, and the story is so heartfelt and beautifully imagined. This is my favorite of Lena's books so far, although I have loved each one!

#1 Recalled by Cambria Hebert

And here it is - the surprise of the year for me. I found Recalled for $.99 on Amazon during one of my all-too-frequent Kindle shopping sprees. The cover looked interesting, and the premise had potential, so I thought it couldn't hurt to give it a chance for that price. It certainly didn't hurt! Instead, the story proved to be a jewel in the rough, an indie book that, while having some rough edges (a few grammatical errors and swear words), glowed brightly - so much so that I promptly re-read it for the Contentment Reading Challenge only a few months later. Recalled is the story of a boy who loses everything, but has the chance to gain even more than he had - but only if he "escorts" a certain girl to her death. It's a story about difficult decisions, constant close calls, and rare revelations. It's a story to keep you up at night and leave you moved by its portrayal of love. It's perhaps not a story for everyone, but I, for one, am so happy to have come across it! You can read more of my thoughts after re-reading the book HERE.

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I found these reads to be enjoyable and thought-provoking, and I hope you'll find them to be the same for you if you pick them up sometime (or if you've already done so). You can find more of my thoughts on books on Goodreads and Shelfari - I'd love to connect with you there! And of course I hope to continue to share book reviews and other bookish posts here.

Please feel free to share you favorite reads of 2013!

Happy New Year's Eve!

Last Minute Read-a-thon Wrap-Up

Hosted by Vonnie's Reading Corner & A Night's Dream of Books

So... *twiddles thumbs* Remember how I was supposed to fit in a lot of last-minute reading before the year's end? Yeah, I failed miserably, unfortunately!

I'm getting closer to finishing Love's Awakening by Laura Frantz, and I do hope to have that read before the ball drops and signals the start of 2014. Other than reading some more of that book, my weekend was filled with family matters, visits with friends, shopping, a small editing project, food, etc. It's not that I didn't have free time; it's just that I filled it with things other than reading. And when I went to read more at night, I'd get through a bit and then think, "I'll just shut my eyes for a moment." You can imagine the end result of that. While I'm a self-proclaimed night owl, I confess sleep claimed me...

Let's just hope that 2014 proves to be more productive in the reading department, or that I'll at least have a little more self-control when it comes to acquiring and requesting books, LOL!

However, I'm still glad to have learned of this read-a-thon - to meet some new bloggers and participate in the rainbow book-spine challenge, which was fun! Stay tuned for my last post of the year, featuring my favorite reads of 2013...

Contentment Reading Challenge 2013: December

This year is coming to a close - as is the Contentment Reading Challenge. I re-read 5 books in 2013 (the "Floating" level). I was initially going to try "Swimming" (15 books), then "Wading" (10 books)... But still, I got two more than I got when I created and hosted the challenge in 2011! Here are links to my posts regarding the books I re-read:

1. Snow Angel by Jamie Carie
2. Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella Sechrist
3. To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer
4. Recalled by Cambria Hebert
5. Watercrossing by Krissi Dallas

...everything from inspirational historical romance to YA fantasy & paranormal! All were great reads and ones I enjoyed revisiting.

The new year will bring a lot of new reads, I'm sure - including Cerella Sechrist's latest, which I can't wait to share more about on the blog, as well as Karen Witemeyer's latest, which I hope to review! However, even though I'm closing down the "official" Contentment Reading Challenge, I do hope to revisit some old book friends in the coming months/years. Here are the ones on the top of my list (books I loved and really want to read again):

• Entwined by Heather Dixon
• Recalled by Cambria Hebert (Yes, again!)
• The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
• Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer (I'm mostly thinking Scarlet... Absolutely cannot wait to continue the series with Cress, which I've pre-ordered!)

 How about you?

If you participated in the challenge, do let us know your total in the comments section (including a link to your wrap-up post, if you'd like)! I'd also love to hear about your favorite re-reads and why you enjoyed revisiting them.

Whether you participated in the challenge or not, please feel free to share a few titles of books you adore so much that you'd like to revisit them in the future! (Or perhaps ones that challenged you or intrigued you so much, you want to re-read them just to figure out the different layers.)

As 2013 and the Contentment Reading Challenge come to an end, let's take this moment to share about some of the stories that have blessed us!

Last Minute Read-a-thon Day 2: Rainbow Challenge

Hosted by Vonnie's Reading Corner & A Night's Dream of Books

Today's challenge fits so well with my current review TBR pile - the rainbow just sort of came naturally when I threw in one of the books I'm hoping to read for the read-a-thon, and with a wee bit of rearranging! Take a look...

I didn't even have to go digging through other TBR piles or shelves of books I've already read! These are all books I plan to read and review in the new year (minus All in Good Time, which I hope to read within the next few days!).

• Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
• Burning Sky by Lori Benton
• All in Good Time by Maureen Lang
• The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen
• Mountain Homecoming by Sandra Robbins
• Under a Blackberry Moon by Serena B. Miller
• The Calling by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Yes, the top spine is mainly black (although the red outfit pops!), and All in Good Time could be considered more tan than yellow...but that's pretty close to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, wouldn't you agree?

As for the other challenges for the read-a-thon, I just want to briefly address them by saying you can find some book covers I love on my "Cover Candy" Pinterest board, and I'll be sharing my list of favorite 2013 reads on New Year's Eve. So I won't be officially entering those challenges - hopefully I'll get busy reading and reviewing books until I post my wrap-up the night of the 30th! I'll also plan on posting a wrap-up for the Contentment Reading Challenge tomorrow. Lots of bookish things coming your way as 2013 comes to a close!

Happy reading!

Last Minute Read-a-thon Day 1: Goals Challenge

Hosted by Vonnie's Reading Corner & A Night's Dream of Books

There are plenty of books I should have read by now...but there are a few I really want to try to review before the year ends! Here are my goals for this Last Minute Read-a-thon:

Finish Love's Awakening by Laura Frantz 

(I'm a little over 100 pages in)

Read All in Good Time by Maureen Lang 

(I've barely started this one)

Read Pilgrimage of Promise by Cathy Bryant

(On my Kindle)

Read Born of Persuasion by Jessica Dotta

My parents very generously gave me a new laptop for Christmas (among other sweet gifts!), so I'll probably be working on getting that set up today or tomorrow... I've still got some other posts to write and share before 2014, though, so I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again soon! 

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with family and friends!

Last Minute Read-a-thon Sign-Up!

I had so much fun participating in the #ReadingCram Read-a-thon, so here I am, eagerly signing up for another one! (And since I didn't get as much reading as I wanted to done with the last read-a-thon, this is the perfect opportunity to accomplish some last-minute reading in the lull between Christmas and New Year's Eve!)

Here are the details:

• Who: Anyone with a blog or Facebook account!
• What: A read-a-thon for catching up on some 2013 reads before the year ends
• When: December 26th-30th
• Where: Hosted by Vonnie's Reading Corner and A Night's Dream of Books
• Why: To catch up on some last-minute reading and have fun with other readers

You can sign up for the read-a-thon HERE, if you'd like to join us! I think I'm going to challenge myself to read 4 books, but we'll see... I'll be posting my goals on the 26th sometime.

I'll also be sharing the last Contentment Reading Challenge post and my favorite reads of 2013 sometime before 2014 begins, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I wish all of you a very...

Merry Christmas!

Reading Cram Read-a-thon Wrap-Up + Review

Alas, I'm a day late and 6 books short of my goal! Reading-wise, I didn't get quite as much done as I wanted to. But I had a blast doing some of the read-a-thon challenges, and I did get four books read and reviewed, so I'll consider that a success! (Of course, I was still working on the fourth book through today...but that's just a technicality, right?)

Books I read (links to reviews):

• Barefoot Summer by Denise Hunter
• Elusive Hope by MaryLu Tyndall
• A Noble Groom by Jody Hedlund
• Wishing on Willows by Katie Ganshert (review below!)

Challenges I participated in (links to posts):

• TBR Challenge (Day 1)
• Teaser Challenge (Day 2) ~ via Twitter HERE & HERE
• Favorite Book-to-Movie Release Challenge (Day 5) ~ via Twitter
• Seasonal Challenge (Day 6)
• Twitter Synopsis Challenge (Day 7) ~ via Twitter HERE & HERE
• Song Challenge (Day 9)
• Review Challenge (Day 10)
• Spell It Out Challenge (Day 12)
• Most Anticipated 2014 Releases Challenge (Day 13)

Thanks once again to Juliababyjen's Reading Room & Danasquare for putting together this read-a-thon, and thank you to all the blog hosts! Also, thanks to my Twitter/Blogger reading pals (@LoveBeingVegan, @Abooklovingirl, and @iblog4books) for encouraging me to join this fun event!

And now for my review of Wishing on Willows...

Here's a description of the book from the author's website:

"Does a second chance at life and love always involve surrender?

A three-year old son, a struggling café, and fading memories are all Robin Price has left of her late husband. As the proud owner of Willow Tree Café in small town Peaks, Iowa, she pours her heart into every muffin she bakes and espresso she pulls, thankful for the sense of purpose and community the work provides.

So when developer Ian McKay shows up in Peaks with plans to build condos where her café and a vital town ministry are located, she isn’t about to let go without a fight.

As stubborn as he is handsome, Ian won’t give up easily. His family’s business depends on his success in Peaks. But as Ian pushes to seal the deal, he wonders if he has met his match. Robin’s gracious spirit threatens to undo his resolve, especially when he discovers the beautiful widow harbors a grief that resonates with his own.

With polarized opinions forming all over town, business becomes unavoidably personal and Robin and Ian must decide whether to cling to the familiar or surrender their plans to the God of Second Chances."

My Rating

Spring/Summer

My Review

Wishing on Willows is another heartfelt story from Katie Ganshert. The writing is simply gorgeous - poignant themes gently whispering through the pages like the breeze through a weeping willow. It was a delight to discover each new lesson and reminder shared in touching and creative ways.

The story develops at a slower pace as Robin, Ian, and Amanda (Robin's sister-in-law and roommate) face varying emotional hardships while dealing with a few emergencies along the way. I confess that Amanda often frustrated me, even while her dealings with love resonated with me. And as for Robin and Ian, the decisions they have to make as they continually grow closer together certainly escalate the tension. But the sweet moments along the way, and the way it all ends... So beautiful. The conclusion is stellar!

I really enjoyed experiencing the lovely writing, seeing what became of the hero and heroine from Wildflowers from Winter, and visiting Robin's small town (full of intriguing inhabitants and interesting dilemmas). For a story about letting go and embracing life, Wishing on Willows is a wonderful read.

*With thanks to Waterbrook Multnomah for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.*

Would you consider ranking my review? Thank you!