I’m so happy to be participating in the Five Fall Favorites linkup this year! For six days in a row, I am sharing five of my favorite books in six categories. To find the links to all the bloggers who are part of this blog tour and to see what books they are posting, visit the hosting blog. There are free books and a giveaway, so make sure to check it out. And now, let’s take a look at five of my favorite books of the year!
When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee.
1. Tornado Tragedy by Hannah E. Griggs
“A storm brews. Tension builds. Can peace prevail? The Hardings’ home is anything but peaceful with the constant clashes of Jennie and her six siblings, each with a different personality.In the midst of sibling squabbles comes a large ministry opportunity: raising money to keep a local missions organization from closing. But what seems like a chance for them to finally learn to work together, quickly escalates into stormy words and more arguments. Jennie’s new puppy and a mysterious locked chest do not help matters any, as they distract the siblings from their goal, and the Hardings’ elderly neighbors are trying to discourage them from working to save the ministry. Will the siblings ever learn to work together and show each other love and kindness?”
This book just released this year, and Hannah E. Griggs did an amazing job on it! The children in this large, homeschooling family have distinct personalities, and yes, those personality differences often lead to clashes. But as the story progresses, they learn just how important family is and how much they need each other. Benjie is one of my favorite characters. He and his random bits of information he always pops up with and the way he mysteriously wiggles his eyebrows if you want to know how he knew it. Jennie and Christopher are great too! A unique and well-told story.
2. Redeeming Productivity by Reagan Rose
“Feeling overwhelmed and unproductive? The answer isn’t to do more. What image forms in your mind when you think of productivity? An assembly line? Spreadsheets? Business suits or workplace uniforms? In the ancient world, productivity didn’t conjure images like these. Instead, it referred to crop yield and fruit bearing. This agrarian imagery helps us understand productivity through a biblical lens. Jesus taught, By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit (John 15:8).”
My mom, sister, and I listened to the audiobook of this. It’s neat because the author reads the book himself. This book is so good! There aren’t many books on productivity that look at it through the lens of Scripture. We enjoyed it so much that we now have a paperback. I’ll probably read it sometime. I tend to take things in a little better when I’m reading them than listening since I’m a visual learner. There is a lot to take in inside this book!
3. Finding Joy by Rebekah A. Morris
“Where does joy come from? That is the question Paige Martin faces when life’s challenges threaten to overwhelm her. Her husband is out of work, a longed-for baby has been lost through a miscarriage, and now they are moving far away from all that is familiar. Struggling to cope with these frightening changes, Paige slowly walks through the Lord’s lessons on finding joy.”
This is another audiobook I listened to with my mom and sister. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Gina with her endless questions and enthusiasm was adorable. Paige had a lot of grief to work through and growing to do throughout the book. And the ending was just absolutely perfect! I love the piano thread throughout the story, and “watching” them fix up the old house was so nice. Oh, and their neighbors were just great!
4. A Daughter of the Sea by Amy Le Feuvre
“Una Carteret was a strong, vigorous young woman who had grown up alone on a rock-bound coast of England, save for the presence of certain fisher-folk with whom she associated. Her guardian had been away from her for years, and she had been allowed to have her own way in everything. The guardian returning suddenly marries her to a man whom she scarcely knows. This and other events effect the whole trend of her life.”
I just read this book this month, and it was so good! I already knew part of the story from listening to the Lamplighter audio drama version, but they changed the ending quite a bit, so there were still surprises. Plus, the setting is so much richer in the book! Amy Le Feuvre had a way of making her writing picturesque even while writing simply and not going overboard on descriptions. As a content warning, there was at least one Christian who drank alcohol, and a Christian married a non-Christian without it being negatively portrayed. This story was written for adults and would be a bit much for children, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot is amazing, and the Christian themes are woven through it beautifully.
5. Addie’s Mountain by Kate Willis
“Addie hopes for a fresh start when she and her family move to the mountains to live with Grandfather, but some wounds seem too deep to heal, even at Easter. This novella is inspired by Heidi by Johanna Spyri and originally appeared in the A Very Bookish Easter anthology.”
I read this story in the A Very Bookish Easter anthology, and I loved it! One of my favorite things about it was the girl who was chronically ill (she represented Clara from Heidi). The girl doesn’t have a diagnosis, and she can act fairly healthy one minute and be sick in bed not long after. So realistic, and I love seeing this represented in a book! The setting and story were also really fun.
And there you have it! Five of my favorite books read in 2023.
Let’s Chat!
Did you see any books you’re interested in? Any that you’ve not heard of before? Any that you’ve already read? How did you enjoy Five Fall Favorites this year?
Until next time, find a good book to read and enjoy some cozy fall reading!
In Christ,
Bethany
I’ve read Addie! It’s good. The others are on my tbr. The productivity one looks extra good—thanks for the recommendation! So glad you were a part of FFF 🙂
I’m glad you like Addie too! The fact that it’s inspired by Heidi is a big plus. 🙂 Enjoy the others when you get to read them. Thank you so much, Katja! I really enjoyed my first time blogging FFF.
I’ve never heard of Redeeming Productivity. I want to read Addie’s Mountain just because the cover is SO CUTE. Plus, I like Heidi, too. 🙂 Tornado Tragedy . . . it’s both on my TBR and have-reads mental lists. ;P #alphareader 😉
I’ve seen Daughter of the Sea before and wondered if it was good. Thanks for the content warnings and age recommendations. <3 I'll probably wait a while to read it, if I ever do. 🙂
FFF has been great. I have a rapidly growing TBR (and discovered how much I apparently like romcoms. 😐 Heh.) and I've subscribed to several new blogs. 🙂 I'm glad you could do it this time! I've loved your recommendations. <3 *hugs* Hopefully I can do it next year! (I wonder if there are other blog events like this for all the seasons?)
You would probably enjoy Addie’s Mountain! It’s a good story. And yes, you were one of the earliest readers of Tornado Tragedy! 🙂
You’re welcome on the thoughts about Daughter of the Sea! Yes, FFF has grown my TBR list too. So many books shared! I’ve never read any romcoms. Aww, I’m glad you enjoyed my recommendations, Vonnie! *hugs* That would be so fun if you could do it next year! I don’t know of anything like this for other seasons, but fall will roll around again before we know it.
Addie’s Mountain has such a lovely cover! Can’t wait to read it.
And I’m so glad you got to join us for FFF, Bethany! Thanks for all your great book recs this week!
Yes, Addie’s Mountain has a cute cover! I hope you enjoy it. I’m so glad I could join too! I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks, Lily!!
*high fives over Addie’s Mountain* It was good. 🙂
And thanks for sharing Finding Joy. I’m honored that it made it to this list today!
*returns high five* Yes, it is!
You’re welcome! We really enjoyed the story, and it was extra fun hearing it as an audio drama with Mom and Hannah.
[…] Ryana Lynn // Faith // Bethany // Bethany G. […]
Thanks so much for including Addie! 😉 And thanks so much for participating, it was great fun to have you!
You’re so welcome, Kate! I enjoyed Addie’s Mountain and would like to reread it later. Thank you for hosting FFF! I really enjoyed it.
I absolutely loved seeing you do FFF this year, Bets!!! I think this was one is my favourite blogs, and probably the one that gave me the most recs or shall I say, the most free recs (that I’d never heard of before) that I can read really soon 😂 I hope you’ll be back next year!!! (And I think I need to take a good look at your shelves because you obviously read a lot of good books! 😛)
Aww, thank you, Lyds!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recommendations, and hopefully I didn’t stack your TBR too high. 🙂 I enjoyed your comments a lot. Hopefully I can do FFF again next year. And come on over! You can look at my shelves to your heart’s content if you come visit me!!