"What to Say Next" by Julie Buxbaum

Last summer, I read Julie Buxbaum's delightful Tell Me Three Things. Then What to Say Next released, and my sister highly recommended it, so I requested it from my library. (Remember how awesome my library is?) It turned out to be every bit as good as I'd hoped!

"The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck" by Bethany Turner

What if the nation's most popular erotic romance writer became a Christian and then fell in love with her pastor? This is the unlikely premise of The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck.

"The Mistletoe Inn" by Richard Paul Evans

As part of my fun endeavor to read most of the books that have been made into this season's Hallmark Christmas movies, I picked up the audiobook version of The Mistletoe Inn.

The movie premiered on Hallmark tonight (I'm writing this from a hotel room on Thanksgiving, though I probably won't get it posted until after I get home Monday), so I thought it was perfect timing, as I listened to the whole audiobook during my 7-hour drive to Denver yesterday ... but then my hotel, which is fantastic in every other way, doesn't get the Hallmark Channel. Seriously???

"Charming the Troublemaker" by Pepper Basham

Earlier this year, I read Pepper Basham's much-acclaimed A Twist of Faith. While I enjoyed it, I didn't love it like so many others did. Still, I liked it enough to want to come back for the sequel, Charming the Troublemaker ... a book that I ended up loving!

"ESV Illuminated Bible" + Giveaway

How blessed are we to live in a time and place where we can easily own multiple copies of God's word? I probably own 10 or so copies myself between the various versions and study Bibles I've collected.

So why did I need another one?

I'll be honest ... I didn't. But I was immediately drawn to the beauty of the ESV Illuminated Bible, and I wanted to see it up close.

"Christy" by Catherine Marshall

In the mid-90's, I was a big fan of the TV show Christy that aired on CBS, and I hated that it was cancelled before we knew who Christy would marry. (Apparently a series of TV movies wrapped up that mystery, but they aired on Pax TV, a station we didn't get, so I never saw them.)

My mom had a copy of Christy, so after the show's cancellation, I found the book and flipped to the end to see what happened ... only to close it in disgust, as Christy ended up with the "wrong" (to my 15-year-old mind) man. And that was the end of my journey with Christy ... until now.

Twenty years later, things look a little different, and I've relished this opportunity to read the Catherine Marshall classic!

"Alpha/Omega" by Kutless + Giveaway

For a time, I was a member of my church's worship choir. It was an amazing experience until I had to step away due to some health issues (which are thankfully under control now). Our director taught us some wonderful worship songs that I'd never heard before but that resonated with me on a deep level: songs like "Cornerstone" and "Great Are You Lord." So when I started listening to Kutless' new album and realized both those songs were on it, I knew that I'd found an album I'd love.