Bookish links- April 2025

April new releases I'm excited about: The Summer of You and Me // Tempest at Annabel's Lighthouse // The Voice We Find 

Independent Bookstore Day is April 26th this year! 

Real-Life Ways to Read More When You Have Young Children at Home 

Great post on the SOAP Bible study method 

Moms/aunties/grandmas- Easy 3-ingredient jam to make before you read If You Give a Moose a Muffin together  

Creative writing guide for aspiring songwriters 

This article on Sonlight history + some Beautiful Feet Books we were gifted have me feeling very excited about middle grade historical fiction lately! 

I love these bookish claw clips for throwing your hair up! 

Look at this amazing children's book museum exhibit in Kansas City, Missouri! 

6 books to inspire a love for God in the whole family 

This made me snicker. Guffaw, even. 

Today I...

Answered... All 23 text messages that were sitting in my inbox taunting and haunting me when I woke up! It was after dinner before I'd finished the last one, but still!

Baked these cookies... A super healthy Girl Scouts Samoa knock-off. Samoas were my very favorite cookie all those years ago but it's been years since I've had one! Not at all the texture of a real Samoa but still delicious.

Contemplated... What high school math I'll use for my oldest. Did I need to contemplate it today, in 2025? No. Still, I did.

Learned... About Henry Hudson for our history lesson. I was utterly fascinated and eventually requested library books about him. It's so sad that my school years managed to make history so boring for me when adult-me finds it so fascinating! 

Listened to... Faith & Fables podcast while grading the day's schoolwork since Baby was napping. This was my first time trying this show, thanks to Amy mentioning it, and I was delighted!

Read... Proverbs in my Bible // The Wonder Weeks // Stories for Your Soul // Holy Holy Holy as baby's bedtime book // multiple potential kid books. I'm also about to read a bit of Take a Chance on Me before bed, and then probably some more while nursing in the night!

Sipped... My favorite Blue Lotus + oat milk chai latte with one of the above cookies while chatting with my hubby this evening.

Watched... This Christian booktube video during my (super light) aerobics workout.

Wore... my cute new nursing-friendly outfit: This dress with gray leggings and my navy sweater.

Worked on... The 2010 page of our new family Christmas memory book. My husband found his family's Christmas memory book in his dad's things after he passed away. We decided we would love to make one for our family and were so delighted to find that the exact same one is still in print! 

Middle Schooler Movie Nights

Ace Wonder 

The Adventures of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure

Alaska 

Alaska: The Last Frontier (we've only seen season 1) 

Alaskan Bush People (We've only seen seasons 1 and 2) 

America: The Story of Us

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries

Babysitters Club

Christmas in Evergreen

Christmas Train

The Chronicles of Narnia

Family Home Overhaul

Fixer Upper

The Frontiersmen Who Built America

The Great Alaskan Race

The Heart of Christmas

Heartland (We've watched seasons 1-9 o far)

History's Greatest Mysteries (we've only watched season 1)

The Homeschool Awakening

Honey I Shrunk the Kids

How the States Got Their Shape

Inkheart

Invisible Hands

Jane

Little House on the Prairie (later seasons get SUPER dramatic so we've only watched the first few so far) 

The Lost Medallion

Magic Stocking

The Men Who Built America

Peter Pan

A Place at the Table

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Soul Surfer

Testament: The Story of Moses

Touched by an Angel (we've only watched season one)

Unlisted 

The Water Man 

Series

This post is more of a list for myself to keep track with, but it's also a fun place for you to refer back to if you're in the mood for a new series. These will all be contemporary Christian fiction (and probably family themed) unless otherwise noted.

IN PROGRESS: Christiansen Family // Fog Harbor // Legacy of Faith // McKenzie Family Romance

COMPLETED: The Alliance // Baxter Family // Carolina Heirlooms // Cody Gunner // The Heritage of Lancaster County // Intervention // Lost Love // Moonlighters // Rock Harbor

TBR: 9/11 // Alaskan Cyber Hunters // Angels Walking // The Crimson Legacy // Deep Haven // Forever Faithful // If I Run // Left Behind // The Josey series // The Lost Castle // Marta's Legacy // Newpointe 911 // Promises of God // The Red Gloves // Thatcher Sisters // Timeless Love 

What I read in February

I tried to be really intentional about my first month of postpartum healing this time around and I feel like I did a good job! I napped or rested in bed reading during a lot of baby's naps plus I employed the same trick with this baby that I used to use during nighttime (early morning) feedings- read on the Kindle so I don't engage/stimulate baby during sleep hours yet don't fall asleep! But I didn't do much audio book listening since I wasn't doing the workouts, driving, or chores that normally make sense as audio book time.

First, grown-up reads...

📖 Bible study: Proverbs! Still focused on a very slow bible study- quality, not quantity.

📖 All That Really Matters (Christian, fiction)... I am really fascinated by the overall idea of influencers (it's such a strange byproduct of an internet-heavy world, isn't it?) and really enjoyed this novel about a popular makeup influencer and her time mentoring young adults who have aged out of the foster care system. I'm not at all interested in book 2 but I am really loving Nicole Deese lately so I'll be reading it anyway!

📖 Bitter and Sweet (Christian, fiction)... Yet another book exploring family dynamics and character development. I am forever drawn to deep, rich stories like these. This one is set in South Carolina and focuses on a toxic adult sister relationship + some ties to their great grandmother's past.

📖 Boost Your Breast Milk (secular, nonfiction. Parenting? Health?)... Good, short and to the point, helpful!

📖 The Brain's Way of Healing (secular, nonfiction, health)... I didn't read the whole super long book, just parts that matched up with a loved one's condition. So fascinating!

📖 Formula of Deception (Christian, fiction, suspense)... I was really into this Alaska suspense book but there was a point right near the end that kinda pulled me out of the story. I will try more Carrie Stuart Parks in the future.

📖 Habits of the Household (Christian, nonfiction)... I adored this book! But I do think you won't get much out of it if you aren't actively parenting young children.

📖 Meet Me in the Margins (Christian [but not really], fiction)... I read this because Janssen said it was a good clean read for teens + I'm a sucker for a good book about books/writing. I am not a sucker for romance but they're growing on me IF they're done right. I loved this one! 

📖 A Time to Stand (Christian, fiction)... I was so curious to see how this one would go- a black lawyer who feels called to defend the white police officer who shot an unarmed black teenager. I have liked the other Robert Whitlow books I've read and I liked this one, too. 

📖 Plus the designated chapters of my ongoing baby reads this year, What to Expect: The First Year // The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding // The Wonder Weeks 

And for my kids' shelves...

📖 All of Creation (Christian, upper middle grade, nonfiction)... I've always thought it so strange that an environmental sustainability focus is so often seen as almost anti-Christian. The environment was hand-created by God, we live here, it's the thief who came to destroy, and besides, God is pretty clear in Genesis that we're supposed to take care of our world. This book did a good job of laying out practical things we can do to protect specific plants/creatures/habitats in a very Biblical, faith-focused way. #Christianhippie 🤷🏼

📖 The Blind Girl's Song (Christian, middle grade, fictionalized biography)... This was a well-done, engaging biography about the author of many famous hymns. I enjoyed this one and think a lot of music-minded kids will enjoy it, too. 

📖 Can You Survive: an Alien Invasion (secular, middle grade, fiction, choose-your-own-adventure)... Something that interested my son... Fluff of course, overall fine. Like most of these kinds of books, some adventure paths were better than others.

📖 DNA by Alvin and Virginia Silverstein (secular, middle grade, nonfiction)... Short and informative with fun tidbits thrown in.

📖 Flight of the Eagles (Christian, middle grade, fantasy)... I was curious to see if this 90s story would be too old and outdated for my oldest but it wasn't! He definitely plans to continue the series.

📖 Heroes: Incredible True Stories of Courageous Animals (secular, nonfiction)... These are all stories about animals helping during wars. Some stories end sadly but it's a good read for kids who can handle that.

📖 Kate and the Spies (Christian, middle grade, historical fiction)... This Revolutionary war novel is the third Sisters in Time book I've read and it's going to be a definite hit with one of my kids.

📖 Lena in the Spotlight series- Hello Stars // Daydreams and Movie Screens // Shining Night (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... I liked this Faithgirlz series about a young lady becoming a movie star overnight. Lots of good faith content in these.

📖 The Misadventured Summer of Tumbleweed Thompson (Christian, middle grade, historical fiction)... Really liked this one and know my kids will love it so already planning to use it as our next read-aloud! 

📖 The Mythmakers (secular, YA, nonfiction, graphic novel)... This is a great look at the lives + relationship of JRR Tolkein and CS Lewis which I'll definitely hand to my kids as high schoolers. I also loved this author's Bonhoeffer graphic novel in a similar style.

📖 Nicholas Quick and the Man from the Chaos Dimension (secular, middle grade, fiction, fantasy)... Fantasy is never my favorite but this one was fun and then was a hit with my oldest.

📖 Who Were the Navajo Code Talkers? (Secular, middle grade, nonfiction, history)... I don't love every book in this series but I did really enjoy this one!

📖 Winning the War in Your Mind for Teens (Christian, YA, nonfiction)... Wow, what a powerful read period but especially for supporting teens through those hard angsty times. 

Picture books we enjoyed this month: The Book Bus // Buzzing With Questions // Captain Cat // I Will Rejoice // I've Loved You Since Forever // The King Without a Shadow // Pa, Me, and the Sidewalk Pantry // The Prince and the Porker // Race to Kindness // Take Heart My Child // What's Inside a Flower // The Wonderful Things You Will Be // You Are My Happy