Amy Scott's Thoughts

Bookish Thoughts for December

December and January are two of my favorite book months of the year. Christmas and my birthday allow me to splurge and add to my home library in a massive haul that I don’t have funds for any other time of the year! Thank you to the kind family members who gifted me the joy of books this Christmas. Not only did I put my Christmas cash toward books, I was also able to add another bookcase to our playroom. The one bookcase was completely full and since we have years of book collecting ahead of us, we needed more space for our growing home library. I also had to do some rearranging of my own bookcases to make room for this month’s acquisitions. Making space for books makes me very merry, indeed. It also tickles my nose. It’s good thing I rearrange my books almost annually, because the amount of dust that collects behind them is astonishing. I love making things neat, tidy, and organized. Projects like this are the perfect way to wrap up the year and tie a bow on the holiday season!

Top Picks for December

The Book List for December
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing

Non-Fiction:

• Until Unity by Francis Chan – 4 stars
• Live in Grace, Walk in Love: A 365-Day Journey by Bob Goff – 4 stars

Fiction:

• Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb – 3 stars
• Holiday Hostilities by Katie Bailey – 3 stars
• Five Stolen Rings by Gracie Ruth Mitchell – 3 stars
• Izzy and Her Off-Limits Love by Emma St. Clair and Jenny Proctor – 3 stars
• This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens – 3 stars
• Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens – 3 stars
• Catch Yourself a Snowmance by Savannah Scott – 3 stars
• Since We’ve No Place to Go by Kate Watson – 4 stars
• The Holiday Husband by Jenny B. Jones – 4 stars
• Yuletide Bride by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
• All is Mary and Bright by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
• A Duke for Lady Eve by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
• An Agreeable Alliance by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
• The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan – 4 stars
• The Run Option by Annah Conwell – 3 stars
• Dropping the Ball by Melanie Jacobson – 3 stars

Bookish Thoughts for November

So many bookish thoughts for November! Where to begin? Let’s go for the highlight of the month – Across the Ages by Gabrielle Meyers. I love the Timeless series! Across the Ages is the fourth book and it did not disappoint. I purchased it on my Kindle for a day when I knew I would be waiting a lot and would need a book to fill the time. It was the perfect companion! I love the time-crossing, dual historical timelines in this series. This latest installment gave me Pirates of the Caribbean vibes which made me chuckle. Also in historical-fiction new releases, I enjoyed An Honorable Deception by Roseanna M. White. This book concluded her Imposters series and I felt like it was a great conclusion. White brought in characters from her other works which I adore when an author does that. It’s like bumping into an old friend unexpectedly. Makes me happy!

Shall we move on to Christmas books? Since it’s November, I dove into Christmas books like an Olympic swimmer! I started the month with The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox. It features twin sisters who are both bakers. This vibe fit perfect with cheering on our friend, Megan, on the Holiday Baking Championship. Give me all the holiday baking goodness!!! I read new Christmas releases by Kortney Keisel (this one was sad, but good) and Courtney Walsh (gotta love the save-the-family-Christmas-tree-farm plot). I’ve also been re-reading the Christmas Escape series. I’m waiting for December to renew my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I have a list of Christmas books TBR in December. Seasonal reading is the best!

I completed The Tenet of Windfell Hall at the start of November. I can now claim I’ve read a book by each Bronte sister. I’ll take that as my literary gold star for the month. I also ended my non-fiction dry spell. I did a book swap with a friend a couple weeks ago and she supplied with me a stack of non-fiction books. Borrowing books is very motivating. I try to return books relatively quickly, so it means I’m likely to prioritize them on my TBR list. I have a couple of her books left to read in December. Non-fiction often gets lost in my busy autumn season and then is eclipsed by Christmas reading. As someone who “tries” to diversify my reading, I’m glad I could end the fiction-only phase.

Top Pick for November

The Book List for November
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing

Non-Fiction:

• Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better by Brant Hansen – 3 stars
• You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity by Francis and Lisa Chan – 3 stars
• Psalms: The Prayer Book Of The Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer – 3 stars
  

Fiction:

• The Tenet of Windfell Hall by Anne Bronte – 3 stars
• The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain – 4 stars
• Across the Ages by Gabrielle Meyer – 4 stars
• An Honorable Deception by Roseanna M. White – 4 stars
• Before I Do by Sophie Cousens – 3 stars
• The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox – 4 stars
• The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler – 4 stars
• One Foggy Christmas by Kortney Keisel – 3 stars
• Later on We’ll Conspire by Kortney Keisel – 4 stars
• Christmas with a Crank by Courtney Walsh – 3 stars
• The Holiday Mix-Up by Ginny Baird – 3 stars
• Christmas Baggage by Deborah Hathaway – 4 stars
• Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel – 4 stars
• Host for the Holidays by Martha Keyes – 4 stars
• A Newport Christmess by Jess Heileman – 4 stars

Bookish Thoughts for October

As you can tell from my last few posts, October has been a full month for our family. So many good times, celebrations, and fun adventures. My book list this month definitely reflects that my time was spent elsewhere this month (and that’s okay). September turned out to have extra time at home and my book list was longer than I expected. October had less time at home, therefore, less books read. I’m optimistic that November will fall somewhere in the middle, but we’ll see.

I decided to re-read Wuthering Heights this month. It had the right vibes for October – spooky, suspenseful, chilly, and dreary. I read Wuthering Heights as a high school student and strongly disliked it. I wanted to see if Adult Amy would feel the same way as Teen Amy. While I wasn’t scandalized by the book like I was the first time I read it, I also didn’t warm to it. I kept thinking about how much therapy Heathcliff would need to be a healthy person. I did like the ending, though. There was a whole lot of melodramatic non-sense to get to it, but once it arrived, I was happy with the conclusion. I’ll confess it took me much longer than I wanted to get through the book and that is partly to blame for the shorter book list this month. Wuthering Heights hijacked my reading flow. I started The Tenant of Windfell Hall this week. I’ve read Emily, I’ve read Charlotte, and I plan to read Anne so I can say I’ve read something by all three Bronte sisters.

On to the books I really enjoyed this month!!! The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin was a well-written WWII novel about a Polish librarian who saved books that were being banned and destroyed. Martin’s WWII novels have become a must-read for me. I highly recommend them. At the recommendation of a friend, I started the Timeless series by Gabrielle Meyer. I flew through the first three books and I’m eagerly waiting for the fourth to be released next month. Each books features characters who live in two timelines. They live one day in one and wake up in the other. At a certain age (either 21 or 25), they must decide which path to live in and they leave the other path permanently. It was neat to read two historical timelines in one book. I enjoyed the suspense of finding out which path the character would choose. This series was the highlight of my reading month!

You’ll notice my non-fiction reading was non-existent this month. I have a friend who is going to do a book swap with me soon. She’ll get some fiction from me and I’ll get some non-fiction from her. Hopefully that will pull me out of my non-fiction dry spell! Maybe there will be more diversity in next month’s book list!

Top Pick for October

The Book List for October
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing.

• The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin – 4 stars
• When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer – 4 stars
• In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer – 4 stars
• For A Lifetime by Gabrielle Meyer – 4 stars
• The Match by Sarah Adams – 3 stars
• Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams – 3 stars
• Spectacular by Stephanie Garber – 3 stars
• That Time We Kissed Under the Mistletoe by Julie Christianson – 3 stars
• Britta & the Beach Boy by Brittany Larsen – 3 stars
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – 2 stars