Heyyyyyy, new year, same reader, here!

As with the start of a new year, same as last year, I had a tough time coming up with a name for this year’s book blogging monthly series of mine. 2021 was “Reading Moments” and 2022 was “In the Reading Corner.”

I felt like my options were exhausted. I’m not all that creative – I am, but not when it counts – when it comes to a series for a whole year that I’ll have to put up with.

January 26th I finally came up with what you see here. “A Bibliophile’s Path Forward” is pretty accurate.

A bibliophile is defined as a person who collects or has a great love of books. Not necessarily only books read, but all books. I simply have a problem with collecting books at this point. And… I’m on a path forward.

I don’t know what this year holds in any area of life. While that’s scary in some ways, I’m also looking forward to see where this path leads me on my reading journey – and what books I collect.

So that’s where that title came up, in the midst of my frustration I might add! Who knew blogging and blog titles was so involved?

Well, enough of that.

Seeing as how I know I’m not going to be able to finish another book today… you’re getting this post on the last day of January!

Here’s what I read in the month of January! (Heads up: it’s a long post because I got quite far on my reading goal for the year already. 🙂 )

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Engaging the Competition by Melissa Jagears

Well, like many of the books I read, whether ebook or paperback (occasionally a hardback), this one, too, shall come to you with a backstory.

As it turns out, I’ve actually had a library book for months. Not this one mind you, since this is the novella before book one. BUT. I’ve had that book one for a while and for some reason never read it. I was going through my stack of books early afternoon on January 1st and came across it again and looked into what order the series was in. I found the ebook of the novella that kicks off the series (this one!) and read it first before I got into book one. TURNS OUT… I have my own copy of book one and I remember reading it years ago. So that’s cool. All to say that I may not read book one again right now, but I will be trying to get the rest of the series soon.

That was a long paragraph story that didn’t go much of anywhere. You’re welcome.

This novella was adorbs and I gave it an easy 5 stars because I love the enemies to wow we misunderstood each other all these years to wow I actually love you. It was beautiful and my hopeless romantic heart appreciated it.

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The Heart of Splendid Lake by Amy Clipston

I LOVED this book.

On January 2nd, I went to my favorite place (Mardel) on a mission to buy the box set of C.S. Lewis books I’ve been eyeing for quite some time. What do I find? Not the box set. With a very limited amount of self control, I exited the store with this book and a new One Year Chronological Bible (if you follow me on GoodReads, you probably noticed I started reading it – another story, maybe). I debated whether to start this Amy Clipston book, I almost didn’t even buy it, but I was like no… I think this will be good. And it was!!!

In some ways, with the grief after the death of her father and the trials of holding it all together for her family, I can relate to this.

I found myself thinking about this book long after it was over.

I would very much love to revisit these characters and this community. HINT HINT, Amy Clipston!! 🙂

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Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand

Well this one was actually pretty funny. I haven’t read an Elin Hilderbrand book before, but she seems pretty popular – she has quite a few books out there. Figured I’d give her a go.

Though this wasn’t my usual read, and was a bit more secular than I would normally like… I felt pretty sucked into plot, the family dynamics (multiple points of view through the whole book that spans over 3 days time at Christmas) and wanted to read to find out how it ended. I read most of this January 5th and 6th. I didn’t realize that I started it NYE. Lol

So what happened?

It left me on a cliffhanger. So now I guess there’s a second book. And a third. And a fourth.

Will probably grab those at some point. I enjoyed the alternating point of view more than I thought. She developed each character so well in little blurbs and thoughts.

This is a Christmas read, but you won’t see it in my recommended Christmas List for 2023 – not Christian fiction or clean fiction. This was a closed-door romance though.

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Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah

My friend gave me this book and Firefly Lane last year some time and I never read either. I was nervous to start a new author. So since I read Angel Falls and loved it so well, I figured heyyy, why nottttt.

This one was just as good! I really enjoyed this and the message behind it. Forgiveness and moving on, learning when to let go. The preciousness of life and connections.

I noticed after the fact that it had mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it and the ending. Maybe it’s not all that believable, but sometimes the joy in reading fiction or fable is the new world you escape into. 🙂

Here and now, I can do something that will make a difference in someone’s life, and perhaps that – the simple act of helping someone else – will help me in my own.

Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah

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The Sisters of Sea View by Julie Klassen

I LOVED this. There was no doubt that I would though because Klassen is CLASSIC.

I enjoyed the differing viewpoints in the story between sisters. My favorite romance from the story was that which played out between Viola and Jack. Ugh, such sweetness.

A must read for sure!! 😍

I’m looking forward to what direction Julie Klassen takes the rest of the series since this one left so many unanswered questions and cliffhangers.

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Among the Fair Magnolias by Tamera Alexander, Shelley Gray, Dorothy Love and Elizabeth Musser

Not my favorite read, unfortunately. I actually had high hopes and it fell short. The writing wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t my thing I guess. My favorite was the story by Tamera Alexander, but she’s also one of my favorite authors.

I didn’t feel connected or gripped to these stories like I have others, namely by Tamera Alexander.

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The Red Sea Rules: 10-God Given Strategies for Difficult Times by Robert J. Morgan

This was a great read!!! This is one you would read and then come back to re-read, when you’re in that place by the Red Sea. Morgan had some great quotes and I didn’t put them all here. He was able to succinctly state points to think on and turn to in situations and ultimately pointed us back to Jesus. With a multitude of biblical references used and his continued guide being that of the Red Sea, this was a well written strategy book for a Christian.

God has placed you in your situation so something you can do is convert your worries into prayers and your fears into faith. we can trust “God to intervene, to redeem, to help, and to heal.”

A goal in future trials is to learn to consult the Scriptures for guidance. In all of life’s trials we make choices and how often do we neglect the Book that holds all wisdom, God’s very Words to us?

Do you believe that the same God who led you in will lead you out?

If we could only look upon a difficult crisis as a occasion of bringing out, on our behalf, the sufficiency of divine grace, it would enable us to preserve the balance of our souls and to glorify God, even in the deepest waters.

C. H. Mackintosh

Robert J. Morgan says, “The Lord devises ways of turning difficulties into deliverances and problems into praise.”

Many times we cannot solve problems, heal hurts, change circumstances, or win our own battles. We must kneel in prayer, then stand to see what He will do. We must leave room for God, staying calm and giving Him time to work.

Robert J. Morgan

I have found that if we go as far as we can, God often opens up the rest of the way.

Isobel Kuhn

Our faith grows when we choose to apply God’s promises to today’s problems and use the experiences to mature us for tomorrow’s challenges. In a sense, we are storing up faith for times ahead.

Robert J. Morgan

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A Pursuit of Home by Kristi Ann Hunter

I’ll start with why this took me so long to read. I don’t have a good reason! I think that at the time of reading this I was on a Kristi Ann Hunter binge and I knew how this would end, just without the details. I lost focus midway through.

This is your typical, swoon worthy, unexpected romance by Kristi Ann Hunter. you really can’t go wrong with her books.

The intricate details in this one may have played a factor in my focus. There was a lot to keep track of it felt like and I don’t do well with details like that when reading for fun. 🙃

EVEN WITH THAT… I still loved it because I loved the slow romance that built up between characters and the hilarious moments between them.

I will admit that I picked this up this month determined to finish it (like I did last month and failed). I read more than half of this book in past few weeks and now that I’ve read it, I wish I had just devoured it in one weekend because the ending was worth it.

Sigh. Bookworm problems I suppose.

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New York, New Year, New You by Rachael Bloome

A most anticipated book read in one day, in mere hours. Are you surprised??

As soon as I knew this book was releasing, I checked Amazon daily, no joke!! I wanted it in paperback (obviously) and it wasn’t available til basically release day. I ordered it January 22nd while in between hockey games and then it arrived on January 27th with the regular mail. I was finishing up some work at the time and I was really wanting to dig into the book. Work set aside soon after, I ended up taking a nap and then woke up and started reading, headache and all!

Now for the actual book details…

As Rachael Bloome mentions, this is a bit different than her usual novel. If you’ve read her Poppy Creek series, you’d see a difference, but if this happens to be your first book read by her, I guess you wouldn’t notice. 🙂 That fact though doesn’t take away from the impeccable writing skill she honed on this one. I loved the inspirational messages throughout and the clear development of character for our heroine. I adored the characters and the funny little quirks thrown in. It was a surprising read, but in the best possible way. One of my favorites!!!

This is a stand alone novel and not part of a series she’s working on. I was going to say, “Read it at any time!” but I really think you need to read it ASAP.

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Husband Auditions by Angela Ruth Strong

Oh. Em. Gee.

I picked this up at Mardel on Friday. It was almost like in slow motion. I was drawn to this book and just thinking back to it… it was sitting there all by itself, just waiting for me to pick it up. The cover, the title (which I guess is true but isn’t totally accurate since there weren’t “auditions”) and just the whole premise of the book. It’s cute and I like cute romcoms. What can I say?

This book was hilarious. I laughed out loud so many times! It was actually pretty unbelievable but in some ways relatable. I loved the development the characters went through and the lessons they learned along the way.

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I hope you were able to read this month. If so, let me know in the comments what you completed! 😍 I would love to get more ideas, AS YOU KNOW!