It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #3

  

    Hi! Welcome to my third It's Monday! What Are You Reading? blog post, part of my monthly Week of Book Memes event. (To check out what I posted during my last Week of Book Memes, click HERE.) I'm so excited to be able to make this a regular, monthly post on my blog. It's definitely stretched me and grown me as I've gotten used to writing these posts about what's on my bookshelf!

 

    Last time I posted about this, I mentioned that I'd been stuck on a couple of books. It's true I haven't been reading as much as I've been writing. Last week, though, I went ahead and checked out some new books and flew through them! I'm feeling newly inspired by those, and I hope that taking a break from the books I have a harder time concentrating on will give me the tenacity to go back to them.

    Well, onto the bookshelf!

  

    Last week, I finished reading A Wilted Willow and The Rebellion.

 A Wilted Willow was an absolute joy to read. I can't find the words to describe it in a way that wouldn't be undermined by the actual beauty of getting lost in the book. Everything about it is so well written, and I was super, super blessed to get a chance to read it in the first place.

Next week I'm participating in the author's blog tour for the book, so stay tuned for that!

(Note: You can find my review of the first book in this series, The Coronation, HERE, and my personal interview with the author HERE!)

The Rebellion was another book I'd been waiting to read for some time now, and I'm happy to say it did not disappoint! I often found myself squealing over the sweeter scenes, inspired by the deep spiritual truths, and generally rooting for and feeling with all the characters! I will definitely plan to post a full review on here during the coming weeks. I'm so excited to share this amazing story with all of you.

    On the blog I reviewed Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. I know it's not typical "book blogging material", but after reading it for school I was so impacted by its complexity that I had to share my thoughts on it. You can find my full review HERE.

    Right now I've reading Shandong: The Revival Province, To Darkness Fled, Leepike Ridge, and The Comedy of Errors. (My TBR list is getting higher by the second!) I'm also participating in NaNoWriMo this year and recently finished my third full-length novel, which was exciting! It's a part of a trilogy, a type of story I've never tried before.

Synopsis: Many have heard of the extraordinary explosion of Christianity throughout China in recent decades. Few, however, know how it occurred. Paul Hattaway draws on thirty years' experience in China and numerous interviews with church leaders to provide insights into how the living God brought about the largest revival in the history of Christianity.

In a narrative full of jaw-dropping stories, the China Chronicles document the acts of the Holy Spirit throughout China, where phenomenal growth has occurred in the furnace of intense persecution. Hattaway starts his account with Shandong Province, which is home to almost one hundred million people. On multiple occasions, God has revived his Church in Shandong by pouring out his Spirit with great power and grace. As a result, Shandong today could be rightfully called "China's Revival Province."

Synopsis: They have no choice. Chased by an evil prince, Achan, Vrell, and the Kingsguard knights flee into Darkness. They head north, for Tsaftown and Ice Island, where they must free an army that can help them fight for Er’Rets.

 
Darkness sickens Vrell. How long can she keep her secret without being caught? Achan already suspects her of lying. If she is not careful, he will suspect her of treason as well. She hopes he will let his suspicions go until they reach her home. 
 
Achan wanted freedom, but this new journey has bound him more than ever. Sir Gavin’s claims are so far fetched. First, that there might only be one God, and second, that this God chose Achan to push back Darkness, the magnificent curse of Er’Rets. Him. Achan. Barely a man himself.
 
Each setback Darkness brings seems minor compared to the one choice only Achan can make. What will he choose?

Synopsis: Thomas Hammond has always lived next to Leepike Ridge, but he never imagined he might end up lost beneath it! The night Tom’s schoolteacher comes to dinner and asks Tom’s mother to marry him, Tom slips out of the house and escapes down a nearby stream on a floating slab of packing foam. The night and stars lull Tom to sleep, and when he wakes, he has ridden his foam raft all the way to the ridge, where the stream dives underground. Flung over rapids and tossed through chasms, Tom finally hits shore, sore but alive. What Tom finds under Leepike Ridge—a dog, a flashlight, a castaway, a tomb, and buried treasure—will answer questions he hadn’t known to ask, and change his life forever. Now, if only he can find his way home again. . . .

Synopsis: Two sets of twins are separated at birth by a storm at sea: a pair of masters (both named Antipholus) and a pair of servants (both named Dromio). Years later, the Antipholus-and-Dromio pair raised in Syracuse happen to visit Ephesus, where the respective twins reside—providing the basis for ongoing incidents of mistaken identity, within a lively plot of quarrels, arrests, and a grand courtroom denouement.

Based on a pair of comic dramas from ancient Rome, The Comedy of Errors presents a spectacle of pure farce in the spirit of utmost fun and—as the title suggests—hilarious confusion. One of Shakespeare's earliest dramatic efforts, the play abounds in his trademark conceits, puns, and other forms of fanciful wordplay. It also foreshadows his later and greatest comedies, offering students and scholars a valuable key to the playwright's development.

    Next week, I'm looking forward to reading more of all the books listed above, and possibly getting to The Unmapped Sea and How To Train Your Dragon. (It depends on whether I go to the library or not. We'll see!)

Synopsis: Lord Fredrick Ashton may not feel ready to be a father, but with a little Ashton on the way, he's sure about one thing: The wolfish curse on his family must end soon, before the child is born. Penelope willingly takes on the challenge; when Lady Constance's doctor prescribes a seaside holiday, Penelope jumps at the chance to take the three Incorrigible children to Brighton, where she hopes to persuade the old sailor Pudge to reveal what he knows about the Ashton curse.

But the Ashtons are not the only ones at the beach in January. The passionately temperamental Babushkinov family is also taking the winter waters. The Incorrigible children may have been raised by wolves, but the Babushkinov children are the wildest creatures they've ever seen. Is it more than mere coincidence that these untamed children have turned up in Brighton just as Penelope and the Incorrigibles arrive?

Synopsis: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is a truly extraordinary Viking hero known throughout Vikingdom as "the Dragon Whisperer"...but it wasn't always so. Travel back to the days when the mighty warrior was just a boy, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans. Can Hiccup capture a dragon and train it without being torn limb from limb? Join the adventure as the small boy finds a better way to train his dragon and become a hero!

    Thanks for taking time out of your day to peek at my bookshelf! I have tons of fun putting these posts together and I hope you enjoy reading them, too.

    What about you? What books have you finished/are currently reading? Have you heard of any of the books on my list? If you also put a It's Monday! What Are You Reading? post on your blog, please link to it in the comments so I can see and enjoy it.

    The Week of Book Memes has just begun! Join me tomorrow for a unique Top Ten Tuesday list...