This Summer, I intend to be bookishly delirious by all the lovely portals of imagination I shall be entering,.. it is also the *Summer!* I reclaim the ability to read & blog during a volcanic heat wave w/o the threat of *lightning!* derailing my bookish endeavours!
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts – ever wonder what Jorie might be getting up to reading this Summer? After a hard Spring & difficult start to Summer (ie. June) I’ve decided to focus on two reading challenges which will help me re-inspire my reading life after the recent adverse afflictions I’ve soldiered through – one is a re-attempt of the reading challenge I first blogged about during Summer [2017] where lightning storms & unreliable connectivity derailed my best efforts to both read & blog with any kind of regularity whilst this year, I stumbled across a lovely reading challenge which brings with it components of JOY I hadn’t quite expected to find within a reading challenge!
Let me break it down for you with a short Q&A I asked of the hostess which I think you might find equally delightful to know about in case your considering joining the bookish FUN this JULY by devouring INSPY Lit.
The following convo is regarding
the Christian & Clean Fiction Summer Reading Safari, or as you will find the posts on my blog & Twitter feeds: #amreadingcfsrs18 OR #CFSRS18
We don’t have to review all the books we’re reading this month, but we can talk about them on Twitter or in a wrap-up post on our blogs or just read them w/o socially sharing them? That’s the option in the bookaway for “Read a book”
A: Yes. If you read a book that is Christian or Clean Fiction, you can enter it in the rafflecopter for points in the giveaways. (6th entry down.)
We can read and review ANY author of our choice –
as long as their Christian / INSPY or Clean – right?
A: Yes. You can read and review and author of your choice as long as it’s Christian or Clean, but you do get more entries in the Reading Challenge Rafflecopter if you read a book by an author or publisher sponsor.
IF we are not in the Facebook group (as I use Twitter) but we read a book on the Facebook Challenge page (on the challenge blog) OR if we read book by an author listed on that page, we enter that title into that space on the bookaway?
A: Yes. You can enter this title to for extra points in the Reading Challenge Rafflecotper. :)
Here’s what I was most worried about after finding 15+ audiobooks I want to listen to this month which actually count as INSPY/ChrisFic reads —
I am off-setting my readings with audiobooks, as I am trying to curb a repeat of Spring where I had a high frequency of migraines. When you say ‘read’ a book – you are accepting some of us are reading print books *and* audiobooks?
I wanted to confirm this wasn’t format specific to ONLY print or ebooks?
A: As for “reading” a book, this can be print,
e-book, or audiobook. What ever works best for you. :)
First off, for me – more than anything, a reading challenge which INSPIRES me to re-focus on reading INSPY Lit is the best bit whilst finding readers & bloggers who share my passion for these stories is the best part of participating, as I love sharing the stories which enrich my reading hours irregardless if I’m reading INSPY or mainstream stories – however, having said that – sometimes I find it harder to find readers of #INSPY who love the same authors & stories. Thus, I am hoping to find new blogs to follow & new readers to talk to about the stories giving us #booklove throughout JULY whilst extending into convos throughout the year.
I am going to be focusing on the authors on my *70 Authors* List as well as newcomers I’ve found whilst browsing through Audible’s INSPY Romance section as I was gifted a membership to Audible for my 5th Blogoversary by my parents & they added the Rom package this Summer for my birthday!
Secondly, I have INSPY novels I’ve meant to read & review which have been shifted to my ‘backlogue’ which I want to highlight this July as well. The scheduled reviews I have for Clean Fiction & INSPY Lit as well as these backlogued review showcases are NOT going to count towards either the books I’ve read and/or the books I’ve reviewed for the reading challenge directly as I have an ethical conflict of interest in declaring them officially but they will be listed on this post as the stories I’m reading all the same. Some stories I am re-reading in order to continue a series as well such as the Coming Home series by Brenda S. Anderson; those won’t be counted either as technically they’ve been previously read & reviewed.
Jorie’s INSPY Reads for JULY 2018:
| Backlogue: |
Blog Tours: |
| Deadly Proof by Rachel Dylan | The Last Summer by Brandy Bruce |
| Fatal Mistake by Susan Sleeman | The Secret of Haversham House by Julie Matern |
| Memory Box Secrets by Brenda S. Anderson | Re-Reading the Coming Home series: |
| The Promise of Dawn by Lauraine Snelling | Pieces of Granite & Chain of Mercy |
| A Lesson in Hope by Philip Gulley | Audiobooks purchased during #CFSRS18: |
| Like there’s no Tomorrow by Camille Eide | Murder of the Marshes (1st pre-order)
Tara Thrope Mystery, no.1 by Clare Chase |
| Beyond
by Catina Haverlock and Angela Larkin |
The Widows of Malabar Hill (1st daily steal) Perveen Mistry, No.1 by Sujata Massey |
| The Time Key by Melanie Bateman | TBA – will be an inspy audio! |
| To the Moon & Back by Karen Kingsbury | All titles will be reviewed except the Re-Reads! |
| A Woman of Fortune | Where Rivers Part
& What Matters Most by Kellie Coates Gilbert |
It had been my intention to share
book reviews, however I ended needed to re-gain my stamina & get back into the heart of why I love to read! // 27 July, 2018 |
NOTE: Several of these selections from my ‘backlogue’ are cross-counting for the INSPY reading challenge and my #20BooksOfSummer challenge – such as – ‘Deadly Proof’, ‘Fatal Mistake’, ‘Memory Box Secrets’, ‘The Promise of Dawn’ and ‘A Lesson in Hope’. Only the audiobooks I’m purchasing this July will count towards the reading challenge officially.
With the exception of ‘Like There’s No Tomorrow’ & the novels of Karen Kingsbury, the stories listed in these columns are the ones I’ll be tweeting and/or blogging about for entries into the challenge. If you see the ‘♥’ I’ve listened OR read the story! The titles I won’t be reviewing will be mentioned on Twitter – either in a *thread, a singular tweet (either before or after I finish a story in full) or any combination therein whilst most likely it will end up on a post on my blog such as #WWWeds. Links on titles re-direct to one of these kinds of posts!
| Audiobooks borrowing via audible: | Love INSPIRED Suspense: |
| Like There’s No Tomorrow
by Camille Eide |
Buried | Untraceable | Backfire***
by Elizabeth Goddard |
| Like a Love Song by Camille Eide | ♥ Lakeside Hero | Her Holiday Protector by Lenora Worth*** |
| Fool’s Rush in | Swinging on a Star
by Janice Thompson |
Targeted for murder*** | Undercover Protector by Elizabeth Goddard |
| The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen | ♥ Shielding His Christmas witness
Callahan Confidential by Laura Scott |
| #LibraryReads I’m borrowing: | |
|
Fried Chicken & Gravy by Sherri Schoenborn Murray |
Redemption | Coming Home | A Baxter Christmas
Love Story | by Karen Kingsbury |
| After the Rain: Brides of Weatherton
♥ (Novella 1) by Leah Atwood |
Claiming mariah | The Promise of Breeze Hill**
by Pam Hillman |
| ♥ Anna’s Courage by Kristin Noel Fischer | The Second Half by Lauraine Snelling |
| Finding Peace by Melanie D. Snitker | ♥ The Christmas Quilt by Patricia Davids*** |
| Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist | ♥ The Only Witness | Callahan Confidential
by laura scott |
| Audiobooks borrowing from library:
An Amish Kitchen by Beth Wiseman An Amish Cradle by Beth Wiseman |
Hope Harbour | Hope Harbour series
by Irene Hannon |
NOTE: ‘Lakeside Hero’ is the first book in a series which moves through Love INSPIRED Romance & Love INSPIRED Suspense. **Unsure if my purchase request for ‘The Promise of Breeze Hill’ will arrive in time to be read during JULY. ***These titles were read and loved by Mum and I’ve been meaning to read them in order to discuss the stories.
UPDATED: Reading List entries | 27th JULY, 2018
One concern I have is the length of some of the audiobooks I’ve selected to listen to this month. I’ve been trying to find audiobooks under 10 hours, especially keen on the audiobooks I’m finding which are between 4 & 7 hours – however, there are a few I will be purchasing which are by authors who are co-sponsoring the reading challenge with their selected bookaways. If those go higher than my projected hours per story, I will give them preference as I was delighted to have found them available!
This list is also a ‘tentative’ list of what I’ll be reading – as aside from the backlogue & scheduled reviews I am working on this month, the rest of the INSPY reads are truly up in the air in regards to which stories I’ll feel rooted inside & which authors will truly capture my heart as I’m reading their stories! I might add / subtract what I’m reading or reshuffle the list – therefore, every so often during the month, I’ll be sharing my reads in progress whilst updating via my Twitter feeds as well!
I wanted to take a moment to talk about the wonderfully lovely collection of audiobooks I’ve discovered via Audible – both the ones which I can ‘borrow’ & the ones which I am presuming will be future purchases of mine as they ‘sound’ blissful!
| Audiobooks to borrow via audible: | Audiobooks avail for purchase: |
| A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter | Fatal Frost by Nancy Mehl |
| Hope Harbour by Irene Hannon | A Defense of Honour by Kristi Ann Hunter |
| An Heiress at Heart by Jennifer Delamere | Deadly Proof | Lone Witness by Rachel Dylan |
| Lady Jayne Disappears
by Joanna Davidson Politano |
The Captain’s Daughter
by Jennifer Delamere |
| Love is Come: Power of the Matchmaker by Heather B. Moore | The Heart’s Appeal by Jennifer Delamere |
| Heart of the Ocean by Heather B. Moore | A Light on the Hill by Connilyn Cossette |
| Catch of a Lifetime by Candee Fick | Lies Jane Austen Told Me by Julie Wright |
| Love Remains by Sarah M. Eden | The Other Side of the Bridge
by Cameron Wright |
| The Sheriffs of Savage Wells by Sarah M. Eden | The Lemonade Year by
Amy Willoughby-Burle |
| Mist of Midnight | Bride of a Distant Isle
by Sandra Byrd* |
Check Me Out by Becca Wilhite |
| My Fair Gentleman by Nancy Campbell Allen | The Stars Above Northhumberland
by Anita Stansfield |
| The Secret of the India Orchid
by Nancy Campbell Allen |
A Rumoured Fortune
by Joanna Davidson Politano |
|
Beauty and the Clockwork Beast by Nancy Campbell Allen |
My Dearest Enemy by Jennifer Moore |
| Lucky in Love by Kasie West | Leveraging Lincoln
by Stephenia H. McGee |
| The Distance Between Us by Kasie West | A Changed Heart by Tracey J. Lyons |
| A Miracle of Hope by Ruth Reid | The Heart of an Agent
by Tracey J. Lyons |
| Amish Promises: Neighbours of Lancaster County
by Leslie Gould |
Miss Wilton’s Waltz by Josi S. Kilpack |
| She Walks in Power by MaryLu Tyndall | Ashes on the Moor by Sarah M. Eden |
| The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden | Beneath the Bellemont Sky
by Ranee S. Clark |
| The Rose of Winslow Street by Elizabeth Camden | A Tangled Inheritance
by Chalon Linton |
| The Inn at Ocean’s Edge by Colleen Coble | High as the Heavens by Kate Breslin |
| Love in the Details by Becky Wade | All Fall Down by Julie Coulter Bellon |
| Heart of Stone by Jill Marie Landis | An Amish Heirloom (anthology) |
| Write Me Home by Crystal Walton |
Of all the audiobooks listed in the available to purchase column which ones do you think I ought to consider moving up my “#tolisten” list & grab right now to hear during #CFSRS18? Talk about your AWESOME variety of #INSPYREADs avail via Audible!
Again, I’m not sure how many audiobooks I’ll get to this July, but I’m looking towards the long-term in regards of listening joy – just to take the moment to shift through the list of what is available and finding a heap is readily available to ‘borrow’ is an unexpected blessing! Mostly, as my local libraries are a bit behind the times in regards to offering INSPY Lit as digital or CD audiobooks. They have some available but in contrast to mainstream literature (especially on the digital end!) they are falling a wee bit short! Therefore, I’m thankful to my Mum & Dad for adding the Audible Romance package to my membership as without it, I might not have had the pleasure of listening to so many lovely INSPY stories as #AudioReads!
I am also going to be listening to a heap of lovelies outside of INSPY in the Rom package as the months go by, as I have a penchant for #HistRom and #HistoricalMysteries – of which, they have a lovely cross-section of choices! Not to mention a load of other categories I might not have realised would be available – including a bountiful of Georgette Heyer novels I want to dig into as it was a topic of interest on my #SatBookChat!
Speaking of @SatBookChat, I’m thinking I’d love to host at least one #SatBookChat this month focused on #INSPYReads to cross-relate to the challenge and my love of INSPY overall. More details will follow as I knit up the details – if you want to let me know this would interest you, kindly leave me a note in the threads!
Three of the audiobooks on the list I’ve shared are going to be my purchases for JULY. Hence why I was curious if you’ve read any of the titles – either in print, ebook or audio – depending on your personal reading preferences? I’d love to hear your thoughts – why I ought to consider them and which 3 stand out in your mind as “the ones” I ought to pick!
R
emember how I said this Summer is spilt between the #INSPYREADs of JULY + my #20BooksOfSummer?
You’ll find the details for the other half of my #SummerReads on the original post I wrote last Summer. The post has been updated to reflect I’m reading those selections *this!* Summer instead, whilst I need to pick a 20th book to read as I already read & reviewed “Ignoring Gravity” this Spring in-sync with the sequel which released. I will be releasing the guest feature I had meant to run concurrent to the book & interview showcase as due to my health, I was unable to feature it as scheduled.
Concurrent to all of this bookish loveliness – I’m still finishing the stories I had hoped to read in JUNE which include the following:
- A Reckoning in the Back Country (a Samuel Craddock Mystery) by Terry Shames – which continues my readings of this lovely series I discovered a bit earlier in the year!
- See Also Proof (a Marjorie Trumaine Mystery) by Larry D. Sweazy – rather wickedly one of my favourite dramatic crime series and this is the third installment of the series!
- Trial on Mount Koya (a Hiro Hattori Novel) by Susan Spann – I’ve been smitten by this Cosy Historical Mystery series for four years now!
- A Nest of Vipers (Ruritanian Rogues series) by Richard Storry, narrated by Jake Urry – this is an audiobook I’m currently listening to and finding it as wicked suspenseful as the first installment!
- The Curve of Time (a Memoir) by M. Wylie Blanchet, narrated by Heather Henderson – the second audiobook I’m currently listening to about life in the Pacific Northwest of a woman who raised her kids with a fierce appreciation for the natural world!
- Beyond the Moon (the sequel to Destiny’s Gambit) by R.J. Wood – I couldn’t get inside the sequel in June as I was still having trouble reading and focusing on the stories.
In fact, I have these next in queue and you’ll be seeing my ruminative thoughts within the first fortnight of JULY!
Knowing myself as well as I do, I’ll most likely throw in a bit of Non-Fiction, a dash of Fantasy and a few Historicals for good measure! The key thing I’m striving towards is to *end the repetitiveness* of migraines which rendered me unable to either read a print book or listen to an audiobook in JUNE. I struggled so hard to get back into reading, June was quite the depressing month for me in regards to what I could enjoy ‘reading’ as I have a new after effect I haven’t run into previously; something I blogged about recently when I showcased one of my #AUdioReads for #Audiobookmonth despite the fact my queue of audiobooks for June were greatly put on ‘hold’ until my head hurt less and my focus resumed.
Since my favourite part of these reading challenges are the bloggers I’ll be ‘meeting’ as I read, I’ll be updating this section as I start to visit the bloggers who are participating in #CFSRS18.
Bloggers of whom I’ll be leaving commentary for:
Ponderings of a Poet & Procrastinator
As I finish reading and/or listening to the STORIES listed on this post, the titles for the stories themselves will become ‘links’ to either my reviews OR the tweet *threads I shared on Twitter about my thoughts, reflections & ruminations. Not all the stories I’m reading this JULY for #CFSRS18 will be reviewed. This was the most appealing part of the challenge for me – where we can simply get credit for the books we’re reading but without the worry of having to ‘review’ all of them! Therefore, this is one challenge where I can sit back and relax into the STORIES without thinking of what I want to ‘jot’ down as I read – in regards to the story, the characters, the world-building, the turns of phrase and all the other aspects of stories I regularly blog about whilst #amreading!
As a 5th Year Book Blogger, the last time I remember ‘reading’ for the sake of reading without thinking about how I wanted to ‘talk’ about the book I was reading pre-dates being a book blogger! I’ve been mindful of taking ‘breaks’ from blogging all the books I’m reading but somewhere along the line, I developed a pattern of reading & blogging all the stories I was reading without any firm breaks between them! Now that I have a more open calendar for my blog’s scheduled reviews & guest features, I am finding myself more akin to reading without thinking about blogging except to perhaps update my in-progress notes of the stories (as I want to reinstate my entries for #WWWeds) or perhaps, write a different kind of ‘after I’ve finished’ the stories series of posts where their not quite ‘reviews’ per se but rather the random thoughts of a reader reading without a scheduled post in mind.
About midway through JULY, I’ll also be releasing the reviews of the colouring books I’ve received from Hachette Books – as per each audiobook I’ve had the joy of hearing, I’ve gained traction towards having ‘finished’ pages within the colouring books to share with my readers! I’m also using the colouring books my Mum & Dad gifted to me over the past few years and I’ll do a special post featuring those pages as well – as the best JOY in listening to audiobooks is being able to ‘colour’ as I drift inside the stories and find myself happily absent for the duration of the story! I mentioned this process of mine at the end of my post for #AudiobookMonth!
The day before the Fourth of JULY (which is a major holiday in my country) I had the joyful news of *winning!* one of the books being given away during #CFSRS18! I had to submit three choices before finding out I’m going to be receiving a PRINT copy of:
A Thousand Sleepless Nights by Teri Harman – published by Cedar Fort
I hadn’t even realised this was a CF title! I was going strictly by the synopsis of the stories, seeking out #newtomeauthors whilst including one on my list I already knew I loved reading in the past! There are two new publishers being spotlighted during this challenge (Shadow Mountain & Covenant Communications) of whom I haven’t had the chance to read a story by in the past. Some of the authors I am considering for my audiobook purchases are Shadow Mountain authors – of whom are writing #HistRom in a style which sends my heart aflutter with wicked anticipation to be #amlistening!
I initially was going to be reading ‘A Thousand Sleepless Nights’ during JULY but as this title won’t ship til the conclusion of the challenge itself, I shall be enjoying it sometime in August! I will say, ahead of reading the story – after having such a strong reaction to the film “The Notebook” I have a gut feeling I’m going to have a similar emotional experience reading this lovely as the premise is rather similar and the ending? Ooh dear my… I have a feeling it’s going to be a soul-crusher but I was hoping a bit more uplifting than ‘The Notebook’ which truly gutted me into oblivion without sparing any ounce of me and of which took months to recover from having seen! I have a penchant for dramatic stories and this one also includes *typewriters* says the girl eyeing her 1930s Royal,… how could it not be a pick of mine?!
Be sure to scope out which books are being given away to try to win one yourself!
Which stories & authors are you wicked happy to be #amreading during #CFSRS18? Do we share any books & / or authors in common? Are you moving between formats like I am or are you strictly reading one format in particular? Are the authors your reading ones you already belove or are they #newtomeauthors?
{Sources: Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #SummerReads banner, #20BooksOfSummer and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
I’m a social reader | I love sharing my reading life
🧺Hope Harbour by @IreneHannon
🕵️♂️The Only Witness #CallahanConfidential No2 by @laurascottbooks
🌼A Stranger's Wish by #GayleRoper
🕵️♂️Her Holiday Protector #MenOfMillbrookLake No2 by @LenoraWorth#INSPY #Contemporary | #RomSusp | #Amish pic.twitter.com/Y7uyRPIFND— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter 💜🦝 (@joriestory) July 20, 2018
🍄#iLOVEaudiobooks!
🦋#migraineur #bookblogger
🥳celebrating a 1st pre-order!
🌻Mum & daughter #LoveINSPIRED #Suspense RALs/o @ClareChase_ @laurascottbooks @LenoraWorth@thelitbitch @jamsreadsbooks #amreading | 💜🎧📖 pic.twitter.com/aNpAeXVUXV
— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter 💜🦝 (@joriestory) July 23, 2018
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- #20BooksOfSummer 2017
- #CFSRS18
- 70 Authors Challenge
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