October // Book Review & GIVEAWAY! // BLOG TOUR

J. Grace Pennington's new book, October, has just released this week! Check out the great giveaway, the beautiful cover art, my review of this new title, and the other blogs in this countdown tour!

October

written by J. Grace Pennington

262 pages // published in 2017 // YA Christian fiction

BOOK DESCRIPTION

For Emily Baxter, life is simple. Her world is made up completely of school, church, and the community in the small farming town she calls home. All that changes one fateful Sunday, when a new girl shows up at Pleasanton Baptist—a girl unlike anyone Emily has ever seen. A girl with long red hair, crystal green eyes, and style and posture like royalty.

A girl named October.

The months that follow are filled with magic—the magic of ordinary things, of finding pictures in the stars, of imagination and a new sense of beauty. But as time goes by, Emily begins to sense that her enchanting new friend may have secrets that could break the spell. Is October really all she seems to be?

I am genuinely intrigued by J. Grace Pennington's new novel. Why? It's heavy on the emotion, and it's thrilling; I sensed the intensity of it all throughout the story. The feelings go deep, the plot deals with modern issues, and overall, the message is honest. I felt right up close and personal to the story, as if the characters were my friends, their problems mine.

It's the kind of book where I didn't want to put it down for later, even when I had to. It starts out delightfully – with the beginnings of a fresh friendship. 17-year-old Emily Baxter meets the new girl in town, October Blake. The weeks tick by rather beautifully as these two girls get to know each other and have a few adventures, just spending time creating memories. For me, the intensity of the drama (while subtle and perhaps just found in quiet conversation) kept increasing as the chapters unfolded. As lovely as the friendship was coming along, I felt that the plot was heading somewhere else – somewhere that I as the reader didn't know yet, and neither did Emily. But I just couldn't wait to find out what the secret was – good or bad.

Tobi (October) herself seems to have so many dream-like qualities akin to Anne Shirley. I wanted to be her friend just as much as Emily wanted to. “This girl seemed more fitted to lilac and lace and the smell of old books with long, beautiful words in them.” And even better, when she was asked about her favorite authors, I found that our hearts beat as one on that topic. She comes across as a strong female, yet with vulnerabilities, a true-to-life person.

I connected really well with Emily's character too. She's a high-schooler, eager to make a new acquaintance even though it means putting herself out on the line a bit. Emily has a fun curiosity about her, aroused when this interesting girl named October enters the picture. She's ready to give this friendship her all, and from my point of view, these girls have something more precious than a friend in each other. It seems to me that they form a solid sisterhood, which is definitely my favorite element in the book.

Then there's Jax, Emily's cousin and loyal friend. Their bond is so strong too, like they're always going to be together, fighting their way through life by each other's side. One of my favorite passages, where Emily is thinking about him, since she knows him so well: “I had known Jax my whole life. I could tell what each of his different silences meant.” He's a good-natured gentleman and a reliable comrade.

Some of the topics in the story include self-harm, depression, and may be hinting at other mental disorders. The story is woven very well around these topics, while keeping God in the story. What the book definitely brings out is that the family and friends you know may be different on the inside than the image they project to the world around them.

This is “clean” fiction; teens especially will like this book, and adults will enjoy it too. It has well-written faith content in it, and I'm so happy that it has Christian undertones all throughout the plot, especially when dealing with the heavier and perhaps grim topics.

Overall? I am impressed by Pennington's October. This one seems like a story really close to the author's heart, and the reader can definitely feel it.

P.S. Oh, and the ending really got me good, stunned me a bit. Like the classic mystery ending of My Cousin Rachel.

Available on Amazon in paperback and ebook format.

About the Author

J. Grace Pennington has been telling stories since she could talk and writing them down since age five.  Now she lives in the great state of Texas, where she writes as much as adult life permits.  When she's not writing she enjoys reading good books, having adventures with her husband, and looking up at the stars.

GIVEAWAY!!

Grace has generously offered a paperback book of her new book as her giveaway prize. You can enter at this link or the widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule

Be sure to check out these other blogs to find out more...

October 25, 2017

Bookish Orchestrations – Introductory post

God's Peculiar Treasure Rae – Character Spotlight

Letters from Annie Douglass Lima – Character Spotlight

Lisa Swinton - Queen of Random – Book Spotlight

Audrey Rich – Book Spotlight

October 26, 2017

Frances Hoelsema – Excerpt

Jaye L. Knight – Character Spotlight and Excerpt

Morgan Elizabeth Huneke – Review

October 27, 2017

Liv K. Fisher – Author Interview and Excerpt

Opinions, Thoughts, and General Rambling – Character Spotlight and Excerpt

Leila's Bookshelf – Book Spotlight

Britbear's Book Reviews – Guest Post

October 28, 2017

Rebekah Lyn Books – Excerpt

In the Bookcase – Review
Roxbury Books – Character Spotlight and Excerpt

J. Grace Pennington – Special author’s post

October 29, 2017

Bookish Orchestrations – Giveaway Winner

 






P.S. Like and vote for this review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Book Review: Three Men On The Bummel

Three Men On The Bummel
Three Men series, #2

written by Jerome K. Jerome

207 pages // published in 1900 // Victorian humor

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Three Men on the Bummel is the sequel to Three Men in a Boat, which Jerome K. Jerome originally wrote as a travel guide. As the humorous anecdotes took over the story, it eventually turned into a masterpiece of comedy. This novel reprises the same three characters as they explore the Black Forest in Germany.

Three Men on the Bummel is the sequel to Three Men in a Boat (the sequel being published only a year after the first title).

This volume starts out as a rather jaunty tune; I felt like I was delightedly being led along those first chapters. It was a breeze! The men would get entrapped in petty (but oh-so-hilarious) arguments with their wives, or the three friends would be telling stories of fascinatingly comedic escapades. Everything is so quaint and Victorian, adding to the overall charm value it had.

Now, after the narrator and his buddies take leave of the English shore and start their journey, I got a little lost in several places. Many times the long, drab passages would just muddle me up, and the story wasn't half as entertaining as before. Sometimes it read more like a traveler's guide on how to enjoy a bummel across Europe, occasionally poking fun at the Germans or Americans, etc. It just seemed to have lost its full comedy that I so enjoyed from Three Men in a Boat.

What I did like was the wit that did shine through of Jerome K. Jerome, some pretty funny scenes, the bantering conversations, and the oh-so-British pomp -- that will all live in my memory for quite a while.

Oh, and I do miss the dog, Montmorency, who appeared in the first volume!

Available on Amazon in paperback, ebook and audio format.

This is book #8 for me in the Back to the Classics 2017 challenge.
[CATEGORY: Number in the Title]




P.S. Like and vote for this review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Book Review: Present Over Perfect

Present Over Perfect
Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living

written by Shauna Niequist

240 pages // published in 2016 // Christian encouragement

BOOK DESCRIPTION

LIVE A LIFE OF MEANING AND CONNECTION
Instead of pushing for perfection

A few years ago, I found myself exhausted and isolated, my soul and body sick. I was tired of being tired, burned out on busy. And, it seemed almost everyone I talked with was in the same boat: longing for connection, meaning, depth, but settling for busy.

I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, neighbor, writer, and I know all too well that settling feeling. But over the course of the last few years, I’ve learned a way to live, marked by grace, love, rest, and play. And it’s changing everything.

Present Over Perfect is an invitation to this journey that changed my life. I’ll walk this path with you, a path away from frantic pushing and proving, and toward your essential self, the one you were created to be before you began proving and earning for your worth.

Written in Shauna’s warm and vulnerable style, this collection of essays focuses on the most important transformation in her life, and maybe yours too: leaving behind busyness and frantic living and rediscovering the person you were made to be. Present Over Perfect is a hand reaching out, pulling you free from the constant pressure to perform faster, push harder, and produce more, all while maintaining an exhausting image of perfection.

Shauna offers an honest account of what led her to begin this journey, and a compelling vision for an entirely new way to live: soaked in grace, rest, silence, simplicity, prayer, and connection with the people that matter most to us.

In these pages, you’ll be invited to consider the landscape of your own life, and what it might look like to leave behind the pressure to be perfect and begin the life-changing practice of simply being present, in the middle of the mess and the ordinariness of life.

Sometimes you have to learn that it's better to be present (in the moment, with your family, taking a breather), than it is to have people believe that you're leading a perfect, successful life. Besides, “perfect” in based on whose terms?

A big lesson Shauna shares about that I need to use more often in my life? I can't say yes all the time to please people. I have to take care of myself and my family, and sometimes (many times) this may mean saying no to requests for my time. It's not rude. It's prudent.

Another lesson I learned? You need to be honest to yourself. A lot of times we fudge the truth a bit with ourselves. We think that planning an event won't take too much of our time, taking on eight random projects to complete in a week will be a little hard but doable. No. We've got to stop those thoughts. Be honest. Be real.

“Perfect and the hunt for it will ruin our lives.”

Like Shauna, I probably have worn filters over my eyes – like sunglasses, affecting how or what I perceive. And filters over my ears and mouth too. Just like when Dorothy visited the fabled Land of Oz, and upon putting on green glasses, she believed that the entire city was sparkling in emeralds. These similar filters affected how I saw the world, and how I thought people were judging me or looking at me. Well, guess what? Everyone else has their own filters, and more than likely, theirs are different than yours. So those tiny details you fret over about yourself probably go unnoticed by others.

“Present over perfect living is real over image, connecting over comparing, meaning over mania, depth over artifice.”

There are some details I picked up on the book where Shauna relates some of her beliefs which are a little bit different than mine. It's just a difference of the kind of churches we each attend, and that's okay. In no way did this detract from the spiritual encouragement that I received.

I think from this time on, I'll always remember some key principles that Shauna brings out. One of these good reminders will always be at Christmastime, when I hear the words “...and the soul felt its worth.” Those words have never rung so beautifully in my ears as they will now when I hear them this next Christmas. Thanks, Shauna.

I enjoyed this kind of encouragement, from a woman who's been around the block a few times, and knows how to inspire through words.

Available on Amazon in hardcover, ebook and audio format.

P.S. Like and vote for this review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Mount TBR Checkpoint, 2017 Vol. 3

With September out of the way now, we're more than 9 months into the 2017 Mount TBR challenge. This challenge has allowed me to clear 90 titles off my TBR stack this year alone. Well, isn't that amazing?

I started out by aiming for El Toro (75) for the whole year, and well... yeah, I already surpassed that. It's time to up the battle against the mountain, obviously. I should definitely head for Mt. Everest (100 books). But the real nail-biting question is... should I even attempt Mount Olympus (150 books)??? Yeah, that's a mountain on Mars. Looking at the statistics, the numbers show that by the end of the year, I'm right on track for finishing 120 books. It seems as though I'd REALLY have to push in several extra titles by year's end, and with the holidays on the way? Better not risk it. There's always next year. Mount Everest it is. And I'm truly happy with that.




Now that I've reached the checkpoint, it's time for me to answer a fun question provided by Bev at My Reader's Block...


• Pair up two of reads that are opposites.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum -- & -- Winter by Marissa Meyer 

The "opposite" pairing I've chosen is a BEGINNING and an ENDING to a series.
I've been eager to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels for a LONG time, and 2017 was the year I got to do it! There's 14 Oz books in total (who knew there are sooo many Oz adventures?), and I set a goal for myself to read half of those this year. (BTW, that goal is going well. 5 out of 7 down.) Next up, to complete this pairing, I finished an epic series this year... and it's bittersweet. In reading Winter, I said goodbye to The Lunar Chronicles and some pretty amazing friends I made in those books.


Question for my readers! What series did you start or end this year?