Month: April 2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Books that Surprised Me

BonnieReadsAndWrites9 Comments

I know it’s Wednesday, but I couldn’t post yesterday, so here’s Top Ten Tuesday a day late. Below are ten books that surprised me.

A girl in a field, facing away, holding a pack of letters behind her back.
a Coffee Cup with Butterfly perched on the side.
Version 1.0.0

Things We Didn’t Say by Amy Lynn Green: The reason this one surprised me is that this was Amy Lynn Green’s debut novel, and it was completely epistolary (comprised of letters, articles, and other written communications). It was so well done!

The Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber: This was the first book I read by Heather Webber, and I discovered she writes wonderful small-town fiction with a touch of magical realism. What shocked me was she had already written 25 books and I’d never discovered her before.

The Thin Place by C.D. Major: This one surprised me because sadly there really is a place in the world where dogs inexplicably jump to their deaths.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg: The ending surprised me, as it did a lot of people.

A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver: I was pretty tired of WWII novels, but this is about a safe-cracking criminal family that helped British Intelligence during the war, so surprisingly I found myself reading another WWII novel.

The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee: This is so well written, and again set during WWII, but in the Philippines, and I learned a lot of shocking things about what went on there during the war.

The Exchange by John Grisham: Sadly, this one surprised me because it was so bad. It was supposed to be a sequel to THE FIRM, but it felt like Mitch McDeere was added into a totally unrelated novel just to make some sales.

Horse Show by Jess Bowers: This one is shocking and surprising. This is a collection of short stories, many about how horses were abused and neglected, such as in circuses, on movie sets, and even in the military.

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor: Everyone who reads this blog knows Jodi is my favorite author. But what you may not know is that she didn’t publish her first book until she was 60. That was when she self-published the first book of The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series. She is now a best-sellling author with a major publisher. I bought this book for 99 cents when it came out because I like time travel fiction. I had no idea I was going to read a series that would become like an old friend.

The Nothing Girl by Jodi Taylor: I read this one just because Jodi Taylor was the author. It isn’t Time Travel, so I was skeptical. What it is is a fantasy about how a young girl’s life was saved by a magical golden horse. And it’s so good that I like it just as much as St. Mary’s. That’s what surprised me.

*Top Ten Tuesday is sponsored by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Sunday Post: Happy Easter, and an Easter Poem from #LouiseBelanger

BonnieReadsAndWrites35 Comments

I hope you are having a wonderful day as we Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was both God in the Flesh and sent by God to die for our sins as the ultimate sacrifice.

I have a beautiful Easter poem for you by Louise Bélanger. She has permitted me to post it prior to publication. It will be part of her upcoming Christian Poetry book, Your Words, Your Hope.

If You Ask Me

Three were crucified

That day

Why Jesus in the middle?

Why not the other two

Together

Next to Jesus?

If you ask me

I tend to think

It’s symbolic

Was the one

Referred to as

The thief on the cross

On His left

Or His right?

If you ask me

The Bible doesn’t say

But I gather His right

As he was saved

Signs

Are all over the Bible

God speaks

Through signs

Jesus will separate

The people

He will place the sheep

On His right

And the goats

On His left

The sheep

Are the saved

The goats

Are not

Three were crucified

That day

Jesus in the middle

If you ask me

I tend to think

It’s symbolic

Of the future

*All rights to IF YOU ASK ME belong to Louise Bélanger. Inspired by Matthew 25:33.

*Sunday Post is sponsored by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Unpopular Bookish Opinions

BonnieReadsAndWrites31 Comments

Thank you to That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday.

Oh, boy, here we go with my top ten unpopular bookish opinions. Take it easy on me. Lol.

  1. I’m not a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books. (Ducks for cover).
  2. Romance is not on my go-to list. (I do read them from time to time).
  3. I LOVE the Oxford comma. (Luckily I’m already under cover).
  4. I love time travel fiction, but if a woman is flung two or three hundred years in the past after finding a big, magical, blue diamond on the beach, she is NOT going to immediately attract the kind attention of a nobleman or rich man, and they are NOT going to fall madly in love. That’s not how that all worked. Most likely, IF she’s lucky, she’ll be hauled off for indecent exposure and end up in an asylum at some point.
  5. I don’t enjoy Stephen King’s writing.
  6. I’m not a fan of stream of consciousness.
  7. If I read a romance, I don’t enjoy the “enemies to lovers” trope.
  8. I think Outlander is okay, but I don’t love it. I haven’t read all the books in the series and don’t want to.
  9. I don’t understand why people have trouble knowing when to use “loose” or “lose.”
  10. I don’t think writers have to follow Stephen King’s “rules of writing,” particularly when it comes to adverbs.

HOW ABOUT YOU? What are your unpopular bookish opinions?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?

BonnieReadsAndWrites7 Comments

Thank you to The Book Date for hosting It’s Monday!

This week is a catch-up week for me as I have several books on Netgalley that are past their publishing date, and I’m determined to get those completed. At the same time, I only want to read books I’m enjoying, so I no longer hesitate to DNF and move on if I don’t like something.

Click on the covers for their links to Amazon.

WHAT ARE YOU READING NOW

Dare you enter the stone circle . . .? The world’s most unlikely ghost-busting duo – actress Diana and handsome young bishop Alistair – are back in this spine-tingling paranormal mystery from New York Times bestselling British fantasy author

There are stories about the dilapidated stone circle at Chipping Amesbury, going back centuries. Of people going missing, never to be seen again. Of people found dead inside the circle. Of monsters, and of demons. The villagers may tell the tales with relish to visiting tourists, but a careful observer will notice that there is no transport to the stones, no tours on offer, and the locals stay well away.

Alistair Kincaid, the youngest ever bishop of All Souls Hollow, is an expert in Britain’s ancient stone circles. That’s why, when landowner Sir Neville Chumley announces his plans to restore the circle to its ancient glory, he agrees to take part in a documentary about the project.

WHAT HAVE YOU JUST FINISHED

Stuck in a dead-end bar job in central Tokyo and barely making ends meet, Naomi Kihara’s life turns upside down when her American father, whom she hasn’t seen since she was a toddler, dies. Having been brought up to believe he abandoned her, it’s a shock to learn she is his heir. But there’s a catch: Naomi must go live in his hometown for one year. Felix, Nebraska couldn’t be any more different from Tokyo, Japan. And besides, not everyone in town is happy the Johnson property now belongs to the Japanese daughter everyone forgot Mike ever had in the first place. But with the help of her new friends and neighbors, Naomi discovers a strength in herself she never knew existed.

WHAT ARE YOU READING NEXT?

Genevieve Charbonneau talks to ghosts and has a special relationship with rattlesnakes. In her travels, she’s wandered throughout the South, escaping a mental hospital in Alabama, working for a Louisiana circus, and dancing at a hoochy-kootch in Texas. Now for the first time in a decade, she’s allowed her winding path to bring her to the site of her grandmother’s Arkansas farmhouse, a place hallowed in her memory.

She intends only to visit briefly – to pay respects to her buried loved ones and leave. But a chance meeting with a haunted young Vietnam vet reconnects her with the remnants of a family she thought long gone, and their union becomes a catalyst for change and salvation. An abused woman and her daughters develop the courage to fight back, a ghost finds the path away from life, and a sanctimonious predator becomes the prey. In the process, Genevieve must choose between her longing for meaningful connection after years as an outsider and her equally excruciating impulse to run.

Written by a naturalist and set on the land where her family roots stretch back two centuries, The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree is a haunting story about letting go and the things we leave behind, the power of names, and the ties that bind. It is both harrowing and triumphant, a visceral Southern debut as otherworldly and beautiful as it is unflinching and wry.

HOW ABOUT YOU? WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with “Springy” Covers

BonnieReadsAndWrites24 Comments

Thank you to That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday.

Hi everyone! I’m back from vacation and HOPEFULLY back to posting normally since my retirement. You would think I’d have more time than ever, but retirement has brought its own challenges to my schedule. I’ll provide more of an update after Top Ten Tuesday. The topic is: Top Ten book covers that remind me of Spring. See below.

I love the Spring flowers on the cover. I discovered Heather Webber WAY late in the game. She’s already written over 25 books, but when I read this one, and learned she writes small-town mysteries with a touch of magical realism, I was hooked! Now I seek out her books whenever I can. My review is here.

A really sweet “best friends” romance with a lovely Spring cover. My review is here.

The “Your Words” Poetry Collection by Louise Belanger includes beautiful photos of flowers along with wonderful inspirational poems and story poems that will draw you closer to God. The covers are so captivating! My most recent review is here.

This is historical fiction set in Switzerland during the time of discovery that adding iodine to salt will cure hypothyroidism. My review of the book is here.

A novel about starting over, and about women helping each other through tough times. My review is here.

This is an inspirational “married strangers” romance set in Appalachia in 1910. I love the Spring flowers and birds on the cover. Here is my review on The Historical Novel Society website.

The dress and flowers give this a “springy” feel to me. It’s a fascinating novel about a time when wealthy American families basically traded their daughters for titles and raised social standing. See my review here on The Historical Novel Society website.

Kim Vogel Sawyer is one of my favorite authors of Christian Historical Fiction. This novel is about a Mennonite Women’s organization in 1890s Kansas. The flowers on the cover give it a Spring feel. My review is here.

This Spring cover speaks for itself. It is set in 1930s Appalachia when many families had to relocate for the creation of the Smoky Mountain National Park. My review is here.

This could be a Spring night, and I love the Starling. This is another fantastic small-town book with a touch of magic by Heather Webber. It is set in Starlight, Alabama. My review is here.

UPDATE

I was on vacation in Florida last week visiting my friend Lyric, so I didn’t post at all. I am back in the swing, hopefully. The thing about retirement is I get up whenever I want, putter around, and I often look at the clock, surprised it’s almost dinnertime and wondering where the time has gone! I am working on that! I have missed blogging!

The week prior to my vacation we had a wildfire in the area (Alarka in Bryson City) that consumed around 2000 acres! It was between four and seven miles from my house, but thankfully our brave firefighters got it contained. We had planes coming in from as far away as Montana to help fight the blaze, and God helped too, with a huge rainstorm right before I left. I believe one house was lost, but it could have been a lot worse. No lives were lost. I am thankful.

Have a wonderful week!