Days at Home

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Quick lit ~ May

I've been participating in the Bout of Books read-a-thon this week, which has been lots of fun, and it's helped me get a little extra reading done. Here are my most recent reads and what I thought about them.

Recently finished:

Sisi

Empress Sisi of Austria was the Princess Diana of her day. Pursued by the press and constantly criticized, she was a fascinating character. Ms. Pataki does an excellent job balancing the bitter with the sweet. I highly recommend this series if you like fictional biographies. Make sure you start with The Accidental Empress.

The Summer Before the War

This was an interesting follow up to Sisi. It is set in England just before the start of WW1. Her death occurs a few years earlier, and her empire fights on the side of the Germans. This story centers around three friends that live in an English village. It was charming and sweet and a little sad. Give it a try if you enjoyed Downton Abbey.

Miriam

I did a review of this book here.

Currently Reading:

Simply Tuesday

I'm really loving this one. Emily's books always speak to me and meet me where I am. I would recommend checking out all of her books.

The Progeny

I just started this one, but so far it's really good. I enjoy Tosca Lee's writing style. The other books I've read by her were Biblical fiction. This one's a thriller. I'll be doing a review for it soon.

Check out more Quick lit posts at Modern Mrs. Darcy.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Book Review ~ Miriam by Mesu Andrews

Miriam

Miriam is the second book in the Treasures of the Nile series by Mesu Andrews. I reviewed the first book, The Pharaoh's Daughter, here. I enjoyed this book just as much as the first. This story follows Miriam and Aaron's son Eleazar during the Exodus. We get to see the ten plagues through their eyes. There is a lot of adventure and romance in this story to go along with the history. Each chapter starts with scripture, so you get to read the Biblical account along with the fictional one.

Mesu really brings the characters to life. Miriam and Eleazar both struggle with trust and jealousy. Miriam in particular has a hard time accepting that God is going to use Moses to free the Israelites. Moses character is well done also. I hope there will be a third book, as I am very interested to see where the characters go from here.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or is interested in learning about the Old Testament, but you will want to read the book one first.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for the purpose of review.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Waiting on Wednesday ~ The Alliance by Jolina Petersheim

What I'm Waiting on:

The Alliance

When does it release? June 1, 2016

Why am I waiting? Looks like an interesting mash up of genres.

Check out more WOW posts at Breaking the Spine.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Favorite Non-book Bloggers

Here are some of my favorite blogs that aren't about books.

Boo Mama ~ Sophie Hudson talks about everything from family to college sports. I can't remember how I found her blog, but I look forward to her posts. Her books are a lot of fun, too.

Big Mama ~ Melanie Shankle is another blogger that is an author as well. She and Boo Mama are good friends and do a pod cast together.

Chatting at the Sky ~ I'm not really sure how to classify this one. She has thought provoking posts about finding God in the small things. I'm enjoying her most recent book right now, Simply Tuesday.

Pretty Neat Living ~ Jennifer Ross is a Youtuber as well as a blogger. She has a lot of great videos on organization and beauty. For some reason, I find her life fascinating. She's kind of a guilty pleasure for me. If i'm feeling unmotivated I'll watch a bunch of her videos in a row, and the next thing you know, I'm cleaning and exercising and drinking tea.

The Generous Wife ~ I don't know if you've noticed, but most of the women handing out marriage advice on the internet are young. I tend to bristle at advice handed out by a someone ten years younger than me. Lori has been around awhile, and has seen it all. Her advice is personal and practical. She posts daily bits of wisdom and prayer prompts.

I know that's not ten, but that's all that is coming to mind right now. I hope you'll check some of them out. Check out more top ten posts at The Broke and the Bookish.