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Category: My Scribbler’s Heart

My Summer 2021 Reading List

My Summer 2021 Reading List

Barring catastrophe, I’ll read a lot more this summer than this list. Books I’m proofreading, beta reading, writing, or reviewing for a particular purpose. Some nonfiction books, some spiritual reading, and books I read to or with my kids. But these books are the ones I want to get to this summer, just for me! I’m thinking of also adding a re-read of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind to the list because it’s been far too long.

What must-read book should I add to this list? (If you can’t tell, Christian or clean romance is my favorite, but I love books outside of those genres too.)

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4 Mass Books for Catholic Children

Whether your children are new to Mass, have been away from it, or are there every Sunday, they, like us, are prone to distraction. A child’s missal or book about the Mass can help them to understand the Mass and to follow along. Here are several to help re-focus and to comprehend. (My First Interactive Mass Book is currently sold out.)

My First Interactive Mass Book (Ascension Press)

Meet the Gentle Jesus, The Mass for Children (Liguori Publications)

The Mass Book for Children (Our Sunday Visitor)

The Holy Mass in My Pocket (Pauline Books and Media)

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Relevant Fiction Reviews: A Trip to the Circus

Relevant Fiction Reviews

I have fond memories of the circus, from elephant rides at the small circus that visited the local baseball field year after year to taking my children to see the animals arrive by train in advance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It’s a magical, wonder-filled world with a fascinating history. Let’s take a trip to the circus!

Relevant Fiction Reviews: A Trip to the Circus Share on X The Haunting at Bonaventure CircusThe Haunting at Bonaventure Circus by Jaime Jo Wright
The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus creates an appropriately spooky mood befitting the mysterious oddities of the circus. Told in split time, the story uncovers the truth about a series of killings attributed to The Watchman.

In the early 2oth century, Pippa, adopted by the prominent Ripley circus family, wants only to be seen, and as she begins to asserts her own will in the face of her domineering father and bossy fiancé, the secrets of her birth and the circus murders unravel.

In present day, Chandler, a chronically ill single mother set to renovate the abandoned circus buildings, must face her own struggle to see herself as capable and independent.

The last third of the book was my favorite as the threads of the plot begin to come together. The writing is solid, and the heroes are unconventional – a big plus! I’d have liked a bit more romance, but it’s the self-actualization of the heroines that drives this story. The circus setting, however, is the star in this book.

Against the backdrop of the hidden life of circus “freaks,” the novel also thoughtfully examines from where our value comes and in whose eyes our worth is best measured.


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6 Catholic Daily Devotionals Mom Will Love


Called By Name: 365 Daily Devotionals for Catholic Women

Edited by Kelly M. Wahlquist, Alyssa Bormes, and Allison Gingras

Called by Name

Called by Name is a 365-day devotional from WINE: Women In the New Evangelization designed to empower and equip you to draw near to Jesus and use your God-given gifts for the Church. With meditations on scripture and encouraging insights from popular Catholic authors and speakers in the WINE community, this is the perfect daily companion for women who want to connect with the heart of Jesus and live every day in the light of his truth and love.

Called by Name Devotional Bundle

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Anything But Groovy Blog Tour

About the Book:

Morgan is looking forward to junior high school and all the adventures it holds in store for her. But after a collision on the volleyball court, she wakes up on the first day of school trapped inside her mom’s teenage body circa 1974. It doesn’t take long for Morgan to discover that living life as a seventh-grader in the ‘70s and dealing with everything going on in her mom’s life back then — from uncool parents, to annoying older brothers, balancing friendships, and to ultimately doing what she can to survive bullying at the hands of the school’s biggest jock — is anything but groovy.

Take a trip back in time with @amandalauer23 and Anything But Groovy #catholicfiction #timetravel Share on X Leave a Comment