Waiting on Wednesday ~ Secrets of a Charmed Life

What I am waiting on:

When does it come out?  February 3, 2015

Why am I waiting? I have loved every Susan Meissner book I have read. She is one of my auto buy authors.

Check out more upcoming releases at Breaking the Spine.

Top Ten Tuesday ~ 2015 Reading Goals

About this time every year, I start to think about what I'm going to read next year. Weird, I know. Here are a few goals I have set for myself for 2015.

Read equal amounts of Christian and secular fiction ~ I love ChrisFic, but I next year I would like to make more of an effort to read a little more diversely.

Read 12 books by Angela Hunt ~ I read one book a month by Lynn Austin this year. It was so much fun I decided to focus on another author I love in 2015. Most of the Lynn Austin books I read in 2014 were rereads for me, but there are a lot of books by Mrs. Hunt that I haven't read yet.

Read several complete series ~ I have collected several complete series on my Kindle. I want to marathon at least a few of them.

Four classics ~ I try to do this every year. 

Two nonfiction books a month ~ I usually try to read one nonfiction a month, but I have easily surpassed that the last couple of years.

Do you set any reading goals? Check out more Top Tuesday lists at The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books I Want for Christmas

Here are some books that I would love to magically appear under my tree...or on my Kindle.

Check out The Broke and the Bookish for more top tens.

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Favorite Books of 2014

This list was harder than I thought it would be. I read a lot of good books this year, but not a lot of books that really stuck with me. Still, there were a few that stood out, and I'm not done yet. I've still got a couple of weeks til the end of the year. I'm hoping to get a couple more in before January 1st. Here are my faves, so far, for 2014.

What are some of your favorites? Check out everyone else's lists at The Broke and the Bookish.

Waiting on Wednesday ~ Still Life by Christa Parrish

What I am waiting on:

When does it come out? January 27, 2015

Why am  I waiting? I have only read one other book by Christa Parrish, but I loved it. I do own all of her other books, and I plan on reading them all next year.

Check out more up coming releases at Breaking the Spine.

Top Ten Tuesday ~ New to Me Authors

Here are some new authors that I enjoyed this year.

Joe Abercrombie

Kristy Cambron

Ann H. Gabhart

Melanie Dobson

Tracy Groot

C.F. Laureano

Allison Pataki

Lisa Wingate

Let me know what authors you have discovered this year in the comments, and check out other top ten lists at The Broke and the Bookish.

November Wrap Up

I had a good reading month in November. I read eight books total. One of them was a novella, but it still counts. My total for the year at the end of November is 77. Here are the books I read and what I thought about them.

 This is a lovely collection of novellas. I did a full review here.

 This is a novella that is introducing the Legends of the Realm series. It was interesting enough for me to want to give book one a try when it comes out. By the way, Thomas Locke is the pen name for Davis Bunn. If you like his writing, you might want to give this a try.

 This was a really great book. Lots of action and an unlikely hero. There was also a twist at the end I didn't see coming. I am looking forward to book two.

 I have been meaning to read this book for years. I read Joy in the Morning by the same author in high school and loved it. This book gets rave reviews all over the place. I took a really long time to read it. My interest in it came and went. At times it was beautiful, and at other times, boring. It is very gritty considering it was written in the 1950's. I guess my expectations were a little too high.

 This was the final book in The Bright Empires series. I did a review on book one here. I was very satisfied with this ending. It wasn't my favorite book in the series, but the author took great care in wrapping things up.

 I decided to reread Lynn Austin this year. I loved this one. It is one of the first ones I read by her, and it is a gem. That lady can tell a story. There is also a very nice Hallmark movie based on this book. I know it's different than the book, but it's still worth watching.

 I have read a lot of Angela Hunt's book, but somehow this one slipped through the cracks. It was an interesting book. Not one of my favorites by her, but still worth the read. Three women are stuck together on an elevator in a hurricane. They all have secrets, and they are all connected.

 I will say right off the bat, this one was a big disappointment for me. I loved Dear Mr. Knightley, but this one just kind of dragged. The main character was a chef, so there were a lot of food descriptions. A LOT. I felt like they kind of dragged the story down. The main character and her sister were a little too blunt for me. I was raised to always be polite and patient, so being blunt tends to rub me the wrong way. This book is getting great reviews everywhere else, so I think it's just me.

What books have you been reading lately? Check out more great books at Modern Mrs. Darcy.

Waiting On Wednesday ~ Beneath the Forsaken City

What I'm waiting on:

When will it come out? February 1,2015

Why am I waiting? Book one in the Song of Seare series was very good. I loved the world and the unlikely hero. I want to read book two as soon as possible so I can remember what was going on.

Check out what everyone else is waiting on at Breaking the Spine.

Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2015

Here are ten books I can't wait to get my hands on next year.

And book#10 is the third book in the Restoration Chronicles by Lynn Austin. Check out more top ten lists at The Broke and the Bookish.