The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck

The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! I loved how it told the story of a 100 year old wedding dress, but also how it told the story of two women who live(d) in very different times and in the end to find out they were connected was like icing on the cake! I will definitely be reading more of Ms. Hauck's work in the future!

Review: House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson

House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bailee Cooper and her sisters have been summoned to the summer home they haven't visited in 15 years by their father. Bailee and her sisters are curious as to why he wants to have them all together in this place that doesn't hold very good memories for any of them. They also hope to finally get some family secrets out in the open, but they find when one secret is shared it seems to lead to other secrets and what they thought about the way things were when they were little is not at all the truth about the past.

An excellent read about a family how it deals with and has dealt with mental illness, and how God's love can overcome.

2012 Chunkster Challenge

This challenge is found at chunksterchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/12/chunkster-challenge-2012-sign-ups.html.

 

Definition of a chunkster:

A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature, whether non-fiction or fiction. A chunkster should be a challenge.

If you read books in large print, your books will need to be 525 pages or more. The average large type book is 10-15% larger or more so it’s a fair estimate.

The rules:

• No audio books. (There are exceptions to this rule.)
• No e-books allowed. This was discussed in much detail in the 2011 challenge. The short version: a chunkster isn’t a challenge if you’re reading it on an e-reader. (There are exceptions to this rule.)
• This year for the first time, essay, poetry, and short story collections will be allowed. Collections have to be read in their entirety to count. If you’ve needed a reason to finally pick up your copy of The Collected Works Of ____ now is the time.
• Books may crossover with other challenges.
• Anyone may join. (If you don’t have a blog, just leave a comment on this post with your challenge level and your progress throughout the challenge.) 
• You don’t need to list your books ahead of time.
• Once you’ve picked a level, that’s it. You’re committed to it!

You must pick a level of participation:

1. The Chubby Chunkster – this option is for the readers who want to dabble in large tomes, but really doesn't want to commit to much more than that. FOUR Chunksters is all you need to finish this challenge.
2. The Plump Primer - this option is for the slightly heavier reader who wants to commit to SIX Chunksters over the next twelve months. 
3. Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? - this option is for the reader who can't resist bigger and bigger books and wants to commit to SIX Chunksters from the following categories: 2 books which are between 450 - 550 pages in length; 2 books which are 551 - 750 pages in length; 2 books which are GREATER than 750 pages in length (for ideas, please refer to the book suggestions page for some books which fit into these categories).
4. Mor-book-ly Obese - This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to EIGHT or more Chunksters of which three tomes MUST be 750 pages or more. You know you want to.....go on and give in to your cravings.

This challenge runs from January 1, 2012-December 31, 2012.  I did not "sign-up" for the actual challenge, I'm just going to do this one "on my own" to see how many I read.  

2012 Christian Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Margaret over at www.creativemadnessmama.com /
www.christianhistoricalfiction.com.  The goal is to read 24 books in this genre throughout the year.  I've participated in this one the last two years and really enjoyed it, so I look forward to doing it again this year!

Here is my list of books ... I will add to it as time goes on (all books for this challenge will be counted for other challenges as well) :

1. The Maid of Fairbourne Hall (Klassen) -- 1/7/12
2. Before the Season Ends (Burkhard) -- 1/20/12
3. A Whisper of Peace (Sawyer) -- 4/2/12
4. This Fine Life (Everson) -- 4/4/12
5. The Lightkeeper's Daughter (Coble) -- 4/17/12
6. The Lightkeeper's Bride (Coble) -- 4/24/12
7. The Lightkeeper's Ball (Coble) -- 5/1/12
8. The Wedding Dress (Hauck) -- 5/29/12
9. 
   

2011 Reading Challenges Recap

I thought I take a minute and recap how I did on the reading challenges I joined this year.  I'm afraid I didn't do as well as I should have, nor as well as I wanted to.  I'm not sure why, but it seemed that especially during the last few months of this year I just didn't read very much.  I hope this is not a trend that carries into the new year.

I joined a total of 6 reading challenges this year and here's how I did:

• 2011 Chunkster Reading Challenge = 3, which means I didn't even qualify for the lowest level of this challenge. (I really thought I read at least one more that qualified, but if I did, I didn't mark it down.)
• 2011  "Show Me the Free" Reading Challenge = 11.  Again, one short of qualifying for the lowest level of this challenge.
• 2011 - 100+ Reading Challenge = 72.  WOW -- way short.  :-(
• 2011 YA Reading Challenge = 25, qualifying me for the 2nd level (Fun Size) of this challenge.
• 2011 eBook Challenge = 11, qualifying me for the 2nd level (Fascinated) of this challenge.
• 2011 Christian Historical Fiction Challenge = 24, which means I did complete this one, but barely as I didn't finish that last book until Christmas day.

Here's to doing better in 2012!!

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Absolutely loved it!! Just a touch of suspense/mystery and a great story with a romance that you know will come to fruition, but aren't really sure how until the very end.

Review: Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Loved this take on the story of Cinderella! Haddix definitely puts a different twist on the story, and shows a girl using her brain!!