October Reads

Easiest banana bread... 5 ripe bananas, splash of maple syrup if not ripe enough, 1tsp baking soda, 2 cups oats. Puree it all into a batter, pour into a parchment paper-lined bread loaf pan. Bake at 350F for about 35min! 

Pretty full reading month! I listened to a lot of audio books while packing and then I was too exhausted for much besides cozying up for a home renovation episode and chapter or two before falling asleep! 

Grown-up reads 

📖 Bible study: I still haven't finished my nice slow reading of Luke thanks to re-reading a few things through various translations and studying them more thoroughly! It's so different from how I used to read the Bible, always focusing on quantity over quality and trying to get through a lot quickly. I am loving this approach!

📖 The Baxters (Christian, fiction)... This was the final book in the Baxters series, at least for now! I have loved getting to know these characters and I look forward to trying out the show, whenever that may be. I definitely plan to re-read these someday too... Maybe even as a buddy read with my daughters when they're older?! This book is a prequel and would work just fine as the first book you read or tucked somewhere else in the series. 

📖 Before We Were Us (Christian publishing house but I'd just call it clean fiction)... I for some reason love amnesia stories and enjoyed this one. It also finally got New Hampshire onto my list of books by location!

📖 Birth Without Fear (secular, nonfiction, pregnancy/birth)... Overall good read but not my favorite. Did contain a few curse words.

📖 Expectant (Christian, nonfiction, pregnancy book)... I liked this book fine but do think it would have served me better during my first pregnancy. 

 📖 Forgiving Paris (Christian, fiction)... Second to last Baxter Family book, at least for now (Not sure if she plans to write more or not)! I knew I might have a harder time with this one because it would be going back in time to an affair. I did not enjoy those first few chapters but I did see their place in the story. Hard read, but I liked it! This one is one of the standalone ones but I can't imagine you'd enjoy it much if you hadn't read at least the first five Baxter books.

📖 Holy Hygge (Christian, nonfiction)... I loved this book! I love the secular hygge concept but I also easily see it as a holy, spiritual, mission-focused choice. I finished this one October 1st but still feel quite inspired by it.

📖 How Not to Die (secular, nonfiction, health)... I didn't fully re-read this one, just read and took notes on one chapter for someone else, remembered just how much I love this book and the way God's beautiful food creation so perfectly heals + nourishes our bodies, then lingered a bit, skimming old favorite parts again. What a book! I may re-read it next year.  

📖 Scrappy Cooking (secular, cookbook)... My girls and I adore her first cookbook and use it all the time. We also love her YouTube channel. This book, however, was a flop for us. It's still a great cookbook (with the same awesome format as the first), we just weren't personally interested in any of the recipes. I was very glad this was a library book and not a purchase. 

For my kids' shelves:

📖 Betrayed (Christian, middle grade, fiction, mystery)... I really enjoyed book 1 but this sequel was unfortunately a one-star read for me. I don't plan to finish the series.

📖 The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (secular, middle grade, fiction)... I really enjoyed this prequel to the Mysterious Benedict Society series. In fact, it's my favorite of the series. My oldest will adore this!

📖 A Family Apart (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, TGTB book list)... I enjoyed this exciting orphan train story and will definitely continue the series.

📖 The Found Boys (Christian, middle grade fiction)... I did like this one fine but I went into it with his Green Ember and Jack Zulu books in mind so didn't love it as much as those.

📖 Glimmer Girls #2: Dolphin Wish, #3: Miracle in Music City, and #4: Light Up New York (Christian, middle grade, fiction)... Cute stories, good messages. These will definitely appeal to my girls who loved the first book. Note- Amazon has these numbered incorrectly. #1 is London Art Chase. 

📖 The Happy Prince and Other Fairy Tales (secular, middle grade, classic, TGTB)... I think it's fair to say that I liked half of the stories and was ambivalent about the other half, just overall didn't love any of it.

📖 The Incredible Journey (secular, middle grade, fiction)... I put this one off for a while, probably because of the old cover, but it was a good one. There were several beautifully-written passages and I know my animal-loving kids are going to love it.

📖 Left Behind: The Kids, #12: Earthquake (Christian, YA, speculative/dystopian)... I liked this one fine but I think it was surprisingly my least favorite of the series so far.   

📖 The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt (secular, middle grade, nonfiction)... Good, informative read.

📖 Redwoods Pioneer (secular, middle grade, historical fiction, TGTB)... Pioneer books tend to be a hit around here, so how fun to read one set in the Redwoods! 

Library picture books we particularly enjoyed: Angel in the Waters (secular, fiction, pregnancy/birth) // Your Brave Song (Christian)

Also, shout out to Simple and Delicious Vegan cookbook this month. It's my only unpacked cookbook right now so just in October alone we made her lentil shepherd's pie, chili sin carne, and oatmeal chocolate chip bars- plus I used the cream sauce from the scalloped potato recipe to make a rice casserole (broccoli, onions, chickpeas, rice, cream sauce). We also made the lasagna soup from her blog for several lunches.  

🎄Also! My mom just brought to my attention that The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has been turned into a new movie by the makers of The Chosen! We are hoping to be able to go see it in theaters soon!