September was a full month for me with a lot going on in life. I managed to read though, obviously, for you be receiving a blog post today.

There were late nights. There were definitely nights in which I lost sleep. Was it because I was up late reading? Most of time yes. Some times you just can’t fall asleep after reading a book that you loved and other times you can sleep better and faster knowing that you just read a book you loved.

Once again, I didn’t finish reading all that I wanted to read and of course, I read stuff that I didn’t plan on reading as well. If you’ve followed along for very long, neither of these scenarios are very surprising.

Here are the nine books I finished in September!

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The Trouble with Cowboys by Denise Hunter

Nothing like staying up until 2am to finish a book!!

This would have been finished 9/1, but… I was reading too slow with all the errands I had and lack of focus.

The story started out slow (for me…) but then I really got into (if you couldn’t tell) and ended up loving it.

The more I read, the more I actually loved Dylan as a character. Sierra got on my nerves! Never did become a great side character (spoiler). 🙂

This was book three of the Big Sky series.

I’m going to run out of Denise Hunter books soon…

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Christmas Charms by Teri Wilson

A cute Christmas read of second chances and finding out what really matters.

Not a whole lot of talk on faith, but it was still good. I’m not a fan of “magical” over true faith in fate and what God has planned… but it was a fine and dandy read nonetheless. 🙂

Some may even call this book charming.

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Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M. White

Well this one sure took me a while…

I actually think this is really well written and was a wonderful story that offers hope in the worst of circumstances – war, slavery and abuse.

I think what took me so long to read was the struggle and for them to work things out, I don’t know!

As long as it took me to get through it, I’m glad I read it.T

This is a standalone novel spanning almost a whole year of time during the Civil War.

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The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

I am very excited to be reading the Chronicles of Narnia!!

I bought the whole set of books at an estate sale a few months ago (might be several at this point, with this year going by so fast) and I keep thinking about reading them. Then quite a bit closer to a few weeks ago, I found another book at an estate sale that outlines the Biblical elements and themes found in the Chronicles. With that book being now in my possession, I became even more aware of my need to read the series. Mind you, I have read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe before many years ago in school, but that was so many ages ago I can barely remember the plot. Since that is the second book in the series, you can guess what is coming soon in my blog post! 😀

Anyway… back to the book at hand.

The Magician’s Nephew provided a lot of information and background into what I know comes later in the second book, even with my limited memory. Meeting Aslan in book one was great! I can already see biblical elements in the story. I haven’t pieced them altogether yet for myself… so I’m looking forward to the rest of the Chronicles.

This is book one of the Chronicles of Narnia.

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Harvest Moon by Denise Hunter

I went to three bookstores… THREE. In hopes of this book being out on the shelves prior to it’s Sept. 6th release date. Why? Because it happened the last time, when Mulberry Hollow was released. Mardel was one such store.

Saturday, September 3rd, I went to both Mardel locations in my metro area. Neither had it. I was slightly shook, but not totally because it was days away.

Monday, September 5th, I went to Barnes & Noble, with slightly less hope (since it isn’t a Christian oriented store), but with hope nonetheless that this book would be there on a shelf waiting for me, the crazy 26 year old waiting on a book to release like there is no tomorrow. It was not – I told you, very little hope there was to begin with, so I was not very upset, just slightly disappointed.

While at B&N, I called both Mardel locations. The first (and my most frequented location) did not even have in their possession the book, but expected it later in the week. Very unhelpful to me. The second location had in their possession the book, but the man on the phone made it very clear to me that it was not available until the 6th. Ultimately… that was also unhelpful to me.

Why did I go to all this trouble? Because… I had preordered this book on Amazon and the previous week they had the audacity to tell me my expected delivery date was the 12th!! If I could find this book before then, I would cancel my order and purchase, in person, this highly anticipated book.

That was my plan.

Then, as I’m walking out of B&N, with plans to go to Mardel, the second location to be exact, on Tuesday, September 6th, right after work… Amazon notifies me that the book has shipped and will be delivered September 6th, on release day.

I think that was divine intervention.

So, 400 some words later, here’s what I thought of the book itself.

Yes, yet another one day read. 323 pages of beautiful words that deal with grief, forgiveness (self and others) and the importance of family and faith.

I loved Gavin and Laurel’s story. The way Denise Hunter wrote it, readers get their full backstory from high school to their time leading up to their divorce and the years after – what they dealt with and what they’re stilling reeling from. So well written!

The story itself was heartbreaking for most of the book, but the ending really couldn’t have been better.

This is the third and final book in the Riverbend Gap romance series. What will come next??? Can’t wait for her next release (although, my wallet is hoping it’s a while away, I am sure).

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Before I Called You Mine by Nicole Deese

I loved this book. Before I Called You Mine is the first book I’ve read by Nicole Deese and it did not disappoint.

On a trip to Barnes & Noble, I picked up this book and I read a few pages, maybe even a whole chapter, while standing there and walking around.

This book was about one woman’s adoption process, difficult family dynamics, commitments and learning to trust God with the whole process.

All I’m going to say is that my favorite character was Joshua. 🙂

This book only took me 10 days to read because life (work mostly) got in the way.

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An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter

Like all Kristi Ann Hunter novels, I loved this one. Loved loved loved it.

As soon as this came in the mail, I actually thought I’d wait to read it because I have other pressing things to get done, but I couldn’t control myself. Plus, I found myself without reading material one weekend so since this book was fresh on my mind and available as a free ebook with the library… you know how it goes.

9/20, I really wanted to finish it. With under 30 pages left it would be doable, but it was after 10pm and I had started getting tired by 9pm. It wasn’t ideal. I woke up from a weird dream about dump trucks at 3:20am and also with a headache. Not easily going back to sleep after an odd occurrence so I finished reading this beautiful book of forgiveness and romance.

This is the fourth book in the Hawthorne House series. The other books were read years ago and somehow this one was forgotten in all my readings.

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The Journey To The Inner Chamber by Rocky Fleming

This was a book lent to me. My friend asked me to read it so we could discuss it. It’s short so it wasn’t something we would have to read and discuss along the way like other books. I could have read this in a day, like a Saturday, but as this was September, I was very busy and it took me four days of reading here and there.

This (fiction, with biblical metaphors and truths) book walks through a man’s vision and “come to Jesus” moments. It follows his journey of taking an assessment of where he is in his spiritual journey, where he needs or wants to be in relation to God and God showing him his next steps through people placed in his path.

The problem is most Christians have gladly received their redemption but have not ventured deeply into this intimate relationship that our King is inviting us to. They remain just inside the veil and try to keep hold of their world with an iron grip, rather than finding the peace and power that is found beyond the veil.

Page 107

At the end of the story, we’re given three principles of influence from one man’s life.

• Be a God Seeker
• Be a God Abider
• Live It Out

The inner chamber is that deep intimate relationship with God, as you probably know of if you’re familiar with the Old Testament and how Jesus, in His New Testament time, ripped down that veil that kept us from the inner chamber – the direct contact with God’s presence.

This was a great book that points people to Jesus and to encourage readers to take that self reflection and assessment regularly to improve and communicate with God.

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A Cliché Christmas by Nicole Deese

After I read a Nicole Deese book, I became a fan! Now I’m going to need to get more of her books… slowly… with self control…

Cute Christmas read. I loved the main characters and their development. Such a cliché.

I started this book the day it came in the mail because I put it in my purse to take to the Dallas Stars game and read a few pages before the game started and during intermission. Some may think I’m crazy… but I just really love books.

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That’s all folks.

Excited for more reading in October!