It has been a busy week! My girls played their first Christmas event of the season today!  They’re busy gearing up for their next event on December 9th.

In other real life news, I picked up the violin and guitar this week. My oldest daughter is teaching me violin and I’m looking to youtube for my guitar lessons. I know, y’all probably don’t care but I felt like telling someone!

Sick kids, practicing two instruments, taking the kids to all of their appointments plus their music means I’m too tired to do much else except hop right into blog updates today. I promise, I’ll bore you all with my life at a later date.

New on the Blog

Somehow I messed up and lost count of the weeks and completely skipped a wrapup for week 45. So, bear with me as I wrap up 45 and 46!

• [5 Nov] Reflections

Reflections is a weekly meme hosted by Kristin of A Simply Enchanted Life and Fizzy of Fizzy Pop Collection. Every Sunday we will dig deeper in our recent reads to explore the real-life lessons within the pages.

• [6 Nov] Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. To take part, you simply choose a random book from your TBR and show it off. Don’t forget to check out her blog and link back to Lauren’s Page Turners.

• [7 Nov] The Gift by Shelley Shepard Gray
  My Thoughts:
  ★★
  Though I liked the characters, the ending of this book was so anticlimactic.The suspense fell short for me and I never felt any real urging to find out who was threatening the Schwartz family.

  The story ended so abruptly that it nearly felt as if the story were incomplete. However, this was a quick read that I would suggest to people who love the genre. **

  Genre: Christian-Amish Fiction

• [8 Nov] Wordless Wednesday:Harmony

• [9 Nov] The Christmas Admirer|Spotlight

• [9 Nov] A Place at Our Table by Amy Clipston

My Thoughts:
★★★★
A Place at our Table is an amazing start to a new series by Amy Clipston. I liked this book, though I have a few complaints.

Kayla and Jamie were both very immature and had issues I felt they should have resolved individually before forcing a relationship.

Having said that, I adored Jamie and completely crushed on him. So, I’m super excited about this series! **

Genre: Christian-Amish Fiction

• [10 Nov] DIY Christmas Spice Wax Melts|Aromatherapy

• [10 Nov] 365 Classic Bedtime Bible Stories by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
  My thoughts:
  ★★★★

  This is more Bible than Storybook and it contains elements that may be frightening for children.  This book included Jezebel being eaten by dogs and Jael driving a tent stake into the head of his enemy.

  I give this book a four for older children. It doesn’t dumb things down and children can really learn the Bible from this book. However, I don’t find it to be a suitable bedtime storybook.**

  Genre: Christian-Children’s Bible

• [11 Nov] Weekly Wrap Up: Week 44

Week 46:

• [12 Nov] Reflections
• [13 Nov] Catherine Marshall’s ‘Christy’ Giveaway, Blog Tour, and Facebook Live Party

• [13 Nov] Goodreads Monday
• [14 Nov] Christy by Catherine Marshall
  My Thoughts:
  ★★★★★

  I first read ‘Christy‘ as a young woman of fifteen and I had little appreciation for the book back then.  Cultural dialect is something that I abhorred back then—largely as I’m from North Carolina and I was embarrassed. As an adult, I can appreciate how the Appalachian history is preserved in this book.

  This book is mountain life, wrapped in paper and ink. The heart of the people and their vibrancy touched my heart in ways I truly didn’t expect. I’m so glad that I decided to re-read!

  I would definitely suggest this book to older teens and adults who appreciate historical fiction. These are characters that will worm their way into your heart—maybe even break it. But, they also have beautiful life lessons that they can teach you if you let them.**

  Genre: Christian-Fiction

• [15 Nov] Wordless Wednesday: Intuition

  

• [16 Nov] Mrs. Oswald Chambers: The Woman Behind the World’s Bestselling Devotional by Michelle Ule
  My Thoughts:
  ★★

  I found this book incredibly dull. People were pulled into the story without an explanation of who they were. Maybe I think too much like a fiction reader. It is true, I mostly read fiction. But, I want to know who a person is and to understand why they’re being mentioned.

  This book felt like a big information dump and I felt no connection at all to Biddy and Oswald. However, I would still like to learn more about them and plan to do some research for myself. So, I guess this isn’t a complete waste!**

• [17 Nov] DIY Clay Aromatherapy Ornaments|Aromatherapy
  

Goals for this Week

**A complimentary copy of this book was provided by The Publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and have not been compensated for this. All opinions are my own.

Posted By: Kristin Filed Under: Weekly Reading Roundup, Wrap Up Tagged With: mini book reviews, weekly wrap up