March 2011

It's been so long since I've linked up to What's On Your Nightstand? that I feel a little like "coming home"!  My favorite part of this meme is it gives me a chance to evaluate and prioritize my book reviews and joy reading (which hopefully overlap!)  Some of these have been on my nightstand for a few months, so I'm hoping this will give me a little accountability to see some different items on my "nightstand" next month!

Family Life Marriage Bible by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman & Ross Campbell

Judgment Day by Wanda L. Dyson

Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

Same Life, New Story by Jan Silvious

What's On Your Nightstand

I've been really enjoying the book of Proverbs and will continue to read it through September. If you are looking for a book of the Bible to read in your personal quiet time, it's a good option because you can read whatever chapter correlates to the day of the month (i.e. today read Chapter 25). Plus, it has lots of wisdom that's applicable to our daily life! I have been blogging my thoughts every day and would love for you to take part.

On my nightstand right now are these three books that I need to do book reviews on! Yes, count them....THREE!!! I've already read Face of Betrayal (great novel) and will review that one soon. I'll be reviewing Faith Deployed by September 1, and I'll post my review of Fearless AND HOST A GIVEAWAY of this book on September 8.

Wondering what other nightstands look like? Head over to 5 Minutes for Books and check them out!

What's on Your Nightstand: April/May

April's Nightstand...

I read This is Your Brain on Joy for Thomas Nelson publishers, and you can read that review here...

And I had every intention of reading a dog-themed classic, but I just couldn't squeeze it in. My husband read Where the Red Fern Grows for the 5 Minutes for Books children's classic carnival, but he didn't receive the book I ordered for him until after the fact! I'm very happy he still read it and reviewed it for my blog, and you can read that here.

I've also read 2 Love Inspired Suspense novels. This is a series of mysteries that is described as "contemporary tales of intrigue and romance featuring Christian characters facing challenges to their faith... and their lives!" These are EXTREMELY basic. I keep them on my nightstand all the time, and they help me wind down. I always like a nice mystery, but these are simple enough that it doesn't get my mind racing. I'm usually ready for bed in a few pages!

On to May...

Face of Betrayal is my next Thomas Nelson book to review! I guess I'm in a mystery phase right now. I haven't read fiction for Thomas Nelson since my first review, Boomtown, and I'm excited to dig in! Since I've already received it, I will probably end up reading 2 Thomas Nelson books this month.

For the May Children's Classics on May 12 the theme is: Future Children's Classics (i.e., books you think will become classics in the future). I plan on finding a few books, and I would love to pick out some published in 2009 that are potential medal winners.

To take a peek at what other people are reading, go to 5 Minutes for Books.

What's on your Nightstand?

Books I've read:

For the Tough Times, by Max Lucado. You can read that review here.

Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. The few chapters I made it through seemed good, but I have decided to opt out for right now. Just too much on my plate.

Olivia, by Ian Falconer. That was part of January's Children's Classics, and I'll be doing a Book To Screen review in February!

Currently reading:

The Story Girl, by L.M. Montgomery. Technically, this book is not on my nightstand because I left it at my PT appt yesterday. Ugh. It's a library book! I have to call this morning to track it down. And the worst part is I didn't have it to read before going to sleep last night!

Golden Road, by L.M. Montgomery is the sequel, and I plan on reading it as well even if I don't finish by the carnival deadline this Friday.

For February:

The Gift of Psalms is the next book for me to review for Thomas Nelson Publishing. It' s a devotional book of 50 Psalms, plus 30 of them are on cd, read by famous actors.

Same Kind of Different As Me is another Thomas Nelson book. I am not required to review it, but this video grabbed my attention, so I decided to accept an online copy. Since February is Black History Month I am very interested in reading a book that portrays the story of two men from separate worlds coming together.

On a lighter note, I will be reading an A.A. Milne book for Children's Classics.

I think this month's "Nightstand" is more about what's NOT on it than what is on it. I had huge book reading hopes this year, but already 10 days into this deployment I can tell I've got to alter my expectations.

L.M. Montgomery books - I'll have to spread these out throughout the year!

Sound Mind, Sound Mom book club - I guess I'm going to have to opt for a Surviving Mind, Surviving Mom because I'm just not going to be able to do this. Maybe next year! But the books sound great, so if you are interested (just 1 book every 2 months), head over there and check it out.

Want to know if your Nightstand looks like someone else's? Click here.

Books 2009

Some people already know exactly what they are going to read for all of 2009. I'm not one of them! I do know which carnivals and book clubs I am going to participate in, however, and thought it would be handy to put it all in one place!

DAILY

Bible Book Club

I read about this "Read Through the Bible in 3 Years Plan" over at Reading to Know. The first year was 2008, but starting 1/3 of the way through doesn't bother me at all. We're in Job right now, and I'm excited to be reading God's Word.

WEEKLY

5 Minutes for Books is a great place for me to Join In because their regular Tuesday events overlap with my current reading lifestyle! Each week there is a different theme:

1st Tuesday (and the one most likely for me to skip if it's a busy reading month, as is evidenced by no book club post today)


2nd Tuesday-This category will usually be award winners

3rd Tuesday-Makes the child the reviewer, which is a lot of fun. We read 3 books a night and multiple other books throughout the day, rarely repeating, so we have quite a library to pick from!

4th Tuesday-Helps me recap all the books from the prior month and organize my queue of books for the following month

SEMI-MONTHLY

I'm a Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger, and my hope this year is to review 2 Thomas Nelson books a month. I'm very impressed with the way Thomas Nelson manages this program and recommend it to anyone who has the slightest interest in book reviewing.

BI-MONTHLY


This is the carnival that will stretch me the most. A couple of the books are on money management, which was a topic I read a great deal about once upon a time, but the others are completely outside my comfort zone (i.e. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle). One thing I'm committed to is spending little to no money on my reading material. Our library system has all 6 of these books, so assuming I can get a hold of the ones I need at the right time, then I will read them all.

QUARTERLY

5th Tuesday Carnival by 5 Minutes for Mom where we get to post about a book we read because of a review that caught our attention


ADDITIONAL

This reading challenge is to read any L.M. Montgomery book(s) of our choice and "talk" about them by Jan 30th. Here are the books I will read, in order of priority:

• The Story Girl & the sequel The Golden Road-I can not wait to read these!
• Kilmeny of the Orchard-This is bound in the same book as the 1st 2, so it seems a natural place to go to next.
• The Doctor's Sweetheart and other stories-14 short stories that I can pick and choose from if time is getting tight.
• My Dear Mr. M: Letters to G.B. MacMillan-I don't actually plan on reading this before Jan 30th, but this book fascinates me so I will read it at some point this year.

Let me tell you how I picked these. I knew immediately that I didn't want to do the "Anne" books. Admitting my reading novice, I didn't even connect that L.M. Montgomery is the author of those beloved movies that have become a kindred spirit in and of themselves (I do own them). The even sadder thing is I've read the Anne books. Because those books would be so familiar, and if I read one I would want to read all of them (and can't before Jan 30), I opted for new titles.

The books listed above are what our library had (remember, I'm all about free), and I'm taking on this challenge as a chance to really enjoy myself. No pressure for deep review, and I'll read 1 book or I'll read 5, depending on my time constraints. The Thomas Nelson book I just got in the mail is tiny, and I'm putting off the "6 books" book until Feb so I think I'll get to read a few! What great enjoyment!

As the year goes on, I'm sure there will be other carnivals to pop up that I will participate in, but with this seems like a good plan for now. Starting in Feb, I will read about 4 adult books and 100 children's books each month, plus my daily time in the Bible.

December's What's on your Nightstand?

December was quite the month of book reviews for me! Click on the title to any of these to read the review on last month's nightstand choices:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I also reviewed the movie adaptation The Muppet Christmas Carol as a guest post on 5 Minutes for Mom!

Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne

This is my favorite book find of the YEAR!!!

Boomtown by Nowen N. Particular

This was my first book to review for Thomas Nelson Publishing.

New books on the nightstand:


A Newbery Christmas

This is a wonderful compilation of 14 Christmas short stories written by Newbery Award winners. I was at the library getting Christmas books for the kids and stumbled upon it. I love having a fiction book handy. It makes waiting for 45 minutes at the pharmacy much more bearable! I will confess that I have only read one of the stories. I started with "Ramona, the Sheep Suit, and the Three Wise Persons" by Beverly Cleary for a lighthearted read. It was expectedly delightful.

For the Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope
by Max Lucado

This is the second book I'll be reviewing for Thomas Nelson. It is right up my alley, so I'm looking forward to reading it. Here is a description:

When we feel that life is out of control, He is in control.

When tragedy strikes, people desperately search for answers. Believers and unbelievers alike find themselves turning to God. Best-selling author and pastor Max Lucado points to the only real answer to tragedy and crisis: Prayer. In For the Tough Times, Lucado helps us understand how to pray despite our doubt and fear.

Hamlet
by William Shakespeare

I want to read this very badly and have already checked it out of the library, but we'll see if I actually get to it!

Do you notice that all these books have a similar color theme? Weird!

To see what other people have on their nightstands, go to 5 Minutes for Books!

Book Review: The Paperbag Christmas

The Paper Bag Christmas

In October, I entered a giveaway at Tara's View on Books for The Paperbag Christmas. Miriam Parker, of the Hachette Book Group, saw that I entered the giveaway. She wrote me and said she would send me a copy if I would review it. I am so glad I accepted her offer. This is a jewel of a book!

Why this book felt very personal: I have a daughter with Cystic Fibrosis, a chronic illness that will require hospital stays, and I have a son with Sensory Processing Disorder. It is my prayer, and vision as a mother, to teach my daughter to gracefully deal with her disease, and to teach my son to put others before himself. It has been my experience with SPD that since Timothy is so often trying to protect his own senses that he rarely looks around to see the needs of others. Since The Paperbag Christmas is about 2 physically healthy boys visiting a pediatric cancer ward throughout the Christmas season, I couldn't help but see my two children in this story.

But that does not have to be the case for you to love this book. It is funny, warm, touching, gentle, loving, and PROFOUND. I don't want to say too much, for fear of giving anything away, but it is truly magical! I know it's only 2 days until Christmas, but it is still worth reading, and would make a wonderful present (stocking stuffer?) this year or an early present for next!

What's on your Nightstand?

I'm so excited to finally participate in this 5 Minutes for Books carnival. I have an eclectic group on my nightstand right now!

1. The Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne-This was a giveaway over on Tara's View on Books and someone else won it. Miriam Parker, who works for the publisher, saw that I entered the contest so she emailed me asking if I would be interested in a review copy. The book looked intriguing to me, so I said yes! I will be reviewing this book soon.
2. Heroes at Home by Ellie Kay-this is the only one I'm actually reading right now! It's written for family members of our military. It includes practical tips to simplify military life and personal anecdotes of what others have been through. I was given this book at MOPS!
3. The New Language of Toys by Sue Schwartz and Joan E. Heller Miller- I won this on 5 Minutes for Special Needs Books, and plan on putting it into practice quickly. It deals with using play to encourage speech and language.
4. Boomtown: Chang's Famous Fireworks by Nowen N. Particular-Stephanie told me that Thomas Nelson Publishing is building a team of Book Review Bloggers. Any blogger can receive free products in exchange for writing reviews. I was given 4 options initially. Two were thrillers, 1 was a book on tape, and this was the 4th one. I have to admit I'm drawn to the name of this author!!! This book is on it's way, but it will be on my nightstand shortly!
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens-I want to participate in next week's online book club, right here at 5 Minutes for Books. I can't quite remember if I've ever read A Christmas Carol (high school?), so I'm excited! I told the librarians yesterday that my favorite movie version is The Muppets. They both said, "It's the best one!"

Because I'll be having a steady stream of books, I've added the Shelfari widget to my sidebar that I've seen on many blogs.