Welcome to day four of Five Fall Favorites — the annual autumn celebration of all things bookish!
If you’ve read my previous three posts (Day #1, Day #2, & Day #3) this week, feel free to skip on down to today’s theme. And if not, here’s a brief recap!
Every day this week (6 days in all), I and a group of other book bloggers are sharing posts centered around certain bookish themes, and packed full of some of our favorite book recommendations from the past year. I’ll link to a number of those blogs at the end of this post, but for even more links and information, you should check out our hosts’ sites!
Five Fall Favorites is hosted this year by Katja at Little Blossoms for Jesus and Kate at Once Upon an Ordinary (click on their blog names, or the graphics below to visit their blogs). Thank you both so much!
Giveaway
In addition to book recommendations, there’s also a giveaway again this year!
Two winners will be drawn (one international, and one in the U. S.), and contacted after the week is over. Check out the prize graphics below to see what you could win!
To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is click HERE!
FREEBIES
Lastly, every day this week, certain participating bloggers will be sharing freebies of their books! These books will only be free for a couple of days at most, so be sure to snag your copies right away! A list of the freebies each day will be available at either of our host’s blogs (HERE or HERE).
Today’s Theme
Today’s theme is the arts!
I’ve had a lot of fun with this one, picking books that I feel embody the arts in a variety of ways, from poetry to painting to woodcarving. The arts, and being creative in general, mean a lot to me, and I really enjoy participating in them and reading books about them! What creative endeavors do you gravitate toward?
All the books I share this week are ones that I’ve either read in the past year, or are currently reading/re-reading, so please feel free to leave any questions you might have about the books below, and I’ll do my best to answer.
Also, I’ve reviewed many of these more thoroughly on Goodreads, so if you’re interested in reading my thoughts – and other reviews – you can find the Goodreads link under each book, or by clicking on each book’s title. I’m slightly behind in my reviews, but hoping to catch up in the next week!
Let’s hop in!
A RENEWED HOPE
Author: Robyn Sarty (with poems by Scarlett Luna Strange and Selina De Luca)
Genre: Fantasy fairy tale retelling romance
Target Audience: YA (Young Adult)
What Stuck Out to Me: I chose this book both because it’s such a cute story, but specifically for the arts theme today because of the included poetry. I don’t read enough poetry, but I really enjoy it, and the short, evocative poems sprinkled throughout this made for such a lovely fairy tale feeling as I read.
Another neat thing about this book is that it apparently wasn’t originally planned for the multi-author series it’s part of. The series organizer suddenly had to come up with a story to fill a gap that had come up, and she created this story in a very short amount of time, with help from several other authors who contributed poetry. That in itself is a touching story about the power of creativity and community in the arts, I think.
I do wish this book was longer so we could get to know the characters and world more, but as is, it’s a sweet short story. Sarty’s writing style is precise and vivid, and I enjoyed the wit and cleverness of the protagonist.
The “royal contest” aspect of the plot is also one I find fun, and throwing in an unreasonable father character to make it even harder added good tension. This is a cute, happily-ever-after read that’s great for when you need a quick and refreshing palette cleanser of a fairy tale. I’ll look forward to reading more from this author!
Tricky Content: Brief kisses, poisoning, prejudiced father
I’d Recommend It To: Readers 12+ who enjoy short and sweet fairy tale retellings with clean romance, fun twists, characters you can root for, and lovely poetry.
Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!
FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER
Author: E. L. Konigsburg
Genre: Classic/historical fiction
Target Audience: MG (Middle Grade) +
What Stuck Out to Me: I read this one on the recommendation of a friend this year, and absolutely adored it. And seeing as it’s a tale of children running away to live in a museum, I felt it fit the arts theme pretty well.
This story is charming, honest, fun to read, and unexpectedly heartwarming. It gave me Box Car Children vibes, which I loved, as that was one of my favorite series growing up. Younger me would have read this and started daydreaming about running away to “survive” in a museum (probably best that I didn’t read it until adulthood, haha).
I enjoyed the cute sibling dynamics, the narration twist was fun, the setting was very vivid, and Claudia was refreshingly relatable. Also, the grandchildren surprise? So sweet.
Their poor parents though.
Here’s a quote that I loved: “I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It’s hollow.”
Tricky Content: Cheating at cards, children run away, lying and stealing
I’d Recommend It To: Readers 8+ that enjoy adventurous middle-grade tales with cute sibling relationships, tales of exploration and learning your place, and honest, heartwarming themes.
Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!
OF PINE AND PRETENSE
Author: Laurie Lucking
Genre: Fantasy fairy-tale retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and Cyrano De Bergerac
Target Audience: NA (New Adult)
What Stuck Out to Me: This is such a sweet story, and I thought it would be such a fun story to include in the arts theme today due to the strong wood-working elements woven throughout. I rarely read books that focus on woodcarving like that, and would like to see it explored more.
This entire tale was super fun and creative. Rumpelstiltskin + Cyrano de Bergerac is a really intriguing combination, and this mixed them in a very fun, original way. I read it in one setting, not wanting to put it down and wait to find out what was going to happen. And I happily called the twist!
Diedre was a very sweet, determined protagonist, and while I found myself wanting to grab her by the shoulders and try to talk sense into her sometimes (haha), I couldn’t fault her for any of it. Oran intrigued me too! I felt like we just got to scratch the surface of who he was and what he’d been through. In particular, his journey of learning not to think less of himself for what had been done to him is something I’d love to see more of – the themes there were really powerful.
The supporting cast also felt very real. I enjoyed seeing the parents play a part in the story, and the tension/mystery they added. And of course, there was one character in particular who I couldn’t stand…for good reason. The romance was slightly more of a focus than I usually prefer, but what was there was still super clean and sweet. And the action! I wasn’t expecting the events of the last third of the book, and they kept me on my toes. It’d be lovely to read more of these characters’ journeys.
Tricky Content: A few kisses, kidnapping, injuries, fighting, non-detailed conversations about the horrors of war
I’d Recommend It To: Readers 13+ who enjoy sweet romances, mysterious plots and twists, loyal kitty companions, and beautiful themes of trusting the Lord with the unexpected and difficult.
Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!
RETURN TO THE BEWILDERNESS
Author: John Otte
Genre: Short story collection (fantasy, contemporary, superhero, romance, horror)
Target Audience: YA (Young Adult)
What Stuck Out to Me: I’ve had the privilege of meeting this author and hearing him teach a number of times over the years at writers’ conferences, so when I got a chance to read this ARC this year, I jumped at it!
I don’t often read short story collections, but this was a really fun one! There’s such a range of genres and types of stories here, which made it a good pick for the arts theme today. The fact that we as creatives, as writers, can jump from one story and one genre to the next so quickly and produce great stories in any of them, is so cool to me.
I won’t go into detail for fear of spoilers, but my top favorite stories here (mostly thanks to the characters and themes) include: Burying the Demon, Blind Spot, A Roll of the Dice, and Project PanOptic. I also really enjoyed the author’s commentary after each story. Getting to learn about the origins of each one, possible other routes he explored, and crossovers to his other books was very neat.
So many of these stories were outside my typical genres (superhero, thriller, horror, contemporary romance, etc.), so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I happily enjoyed all of them! The author’s writing style is very engaging, and even when some of the more historical story details flew over my head (haha), the characters and their adventures held my interest from the start.
Tricky Content: Minor swears and innuendos (nothing explicit), action and peril, fighting
I’d Recommend It To: Readers 13+ who enjoy a creative mix of genres, fast-paced tales, compelling plots, and heartfelt themes.
Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!
THE MEMORIES WE PAINTED
Author: Caitlin Miller
Genre: Christian historical fiction romance
Target Audience: YA (Young Adult)
What Stuck Out to Me: I read this one for the first time a couple of years ago, and am currently in the middle of a re-read, and I’d forgotten just how much I love this book. It fits so well for today’s theme thanks to the protagonist’s affinity for painting/art.
Books with honest chronic illness/disability representation have always been near and dear to my heart, especially in recent years, and this one is especially well-written. You can so clearly see the author drawing on her real-life experiences, and her faith, to write the protagonist’s journey. I’ve never had polio, or had to use a wheelchair, but I can deeply relate to many of the emotional and spiritual struggles she does.
And yet, despite some hard topics, this isn’t a depressing book. It’s a touching, hopeful one that explores themes of trusting the Lord, finding the good in difficult situations, and sticking close to the people who see and love you for who you are. The romance is very slow-burn and equally sweet.
In addition, the vividly-described historical setting and beautiful prose drew me right into the setting. You really get the sense that you’re in 1950’s New York, and even though I sometimes have a hard time staying engrossed in historical fiction, I don’t have that issue with this book. It’s a lovely story that leaves me contemplating my own relationship with my health, friends, and the Lord.
Tricky Content: Several kisses, illness descriptions, divorce, grief, death
I’d Recommend It To: Readers 13+ who want honest disability/chronic illness representation, sweet slow-burn romance, vivid historical settings, and touching faith-based themes.
Here’s the link to add it on Goodreads!
Because there are so many bloggers participating in Five Fall Favorites, we’ve been split into teams! There’s no competition – only the opportunity to ensure everyone’s posts are shared.
I’m part of Team Mouse (see the adorable graphic below), and I highly encourage you to check out the rest of my teammates’ posts for their recommended books today. That’s where I’m headed!
Here’s the list of bloggers in Team Mouse (click each name to visit that site):
- Kate @ Once Upon an Ordinary
- Meagan @ Blooming With Books
- Skai @ Inspirational Skai
- Virginia @ Books by Virginia
Thank you so much for joining me today! Have you read any of the books I shared? Are there any that stick out to you? I’d love to hear from you, so drop a comment below, and we’ll meet again tomorrow for Five Fall Favorites day #5!
Remember to go enter that giveaway HERE!