Summer Snowflakes

So when I realized my next posting date was going to be right around Thanksgiving, I decided, why not ~~be lazy~~ take advantage of that and find a book tag for it! As it happened, I couldn’t find one that I loved completely, so I mashed up two ideas (which can be found here and here), shifted some things around, and added my own question at the end. Pictures will link either to my reviews or Amazon. 😊

Without further ado, THE TAG.

Mashed Potatoes: A Sassy Romance

The original tag had mashed potatoes as mushy and flat, but I like mashed potatoes. I would describe them as mushy, salty, and delicious, and I would also describe (some) sassy romances that way. So.

I read this book about a year ago, and I still remember how much I loved the nerd jokes, the quotes… and yes, the romance too. Some possible trigger warnings that I mention at the end of my review, but mostly, this book was a lot of fun.

Cranberry Sauce: A Book That Was Bitter to Begin

UGH. These books are actually so good, but the beginning of this one (and really, the entire situation they are in) IS SO ROUGH. The emotions and the hardships kill—somewhat literally.

Mac and Cheese: Book You Can’t Get Enough Of

When I was younger, it was Jude Watson’s Star Wars books. These were so awesome. They held all the spirit of the Star Wars movies, but featured tons of new characters, as well as cameos and reappearances of movie people. They were great.

Green Beans: Healthy Book to Recover from a Reading Hangover

Honestly, I don’t know if I’d call these healthy, but here’s what I’d recommend to get back into various genres:

Contemporary:

Also, almost anything by Sarah Dessen would be good for this, my personal favorite being Saint Anything.

Sci-Fi:

Because they’re basically the best.

Fantasy:

Also, probably Narnia. I think all these would get me raring for fantasy again, if I ever fell out of enjoying it (like that’ll ever happen 😉 ).

Turkey: Book You’d Serve to All Your Friends

I went over something like this in the last tag I did and I tried to be safe… so this time, I’ll just give ones I wish I could stuff into everyone’s face until they loved it.

Especially Michael Vey. I’m only up to book 4, but it’s a great series and more people need to know about it.

Cornbread: A Book that “Tastes” Delicious, But Crumbles Under Scrutiny

You won’t get far into my early posts without hearing me rave about the Heroes of Olympus series. And rightfully so. I ADORE it, truly I do, and my original review of the last book is full of well-deserved, raving love… but in my opinion, the climax is also a little rushed and the ending doesn’t come together quite as well as it could have. There are just a few plot points I wasn’t quite clear on and there was a lot more I feel like could’ve been done with the characters and the story. I kinda wish it had unfolded a little more like The Last Olympian did, as far as tying up ends goes.

Still, these aren’t huge issues I have, and like cornbread, I still love it forever.

Pie: A Book Your Life Would Be Incomplete Without

Apart from my earliest influences, these are the ones that REALLY made me love reading, and YA in particular. These would be my biggest and best book memories and influences.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: A Book with Much Hype and Noise… That You’ve Never Read

Because I’ve never actually seen the parade. :p

Anyways, the book would be:

While I like some contemporary, his books just don’t seem to be my type. Much like I’ve seen small sections of the parade, but sitting for however long it takes to watch the entire thing isn’t really my cup of tea. :p

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And there’s my little mashup child of a tag! I’m not going to tag anyone, but if you’d like to do it, totally leave me a link below! I’d love to see your answers. 😊

Quick and utterly unrelated sidenote: my editing service, Aberrant Editing, is running a contest for the best novel tagline, if you guys would like to check that out. We’ve extended the deadline to December 10th, so there’s quite a bit of time left. 😊 Here’s the link to the original rules if you’re interested. 😊

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

So, this is what I’ve been listening to pretty much everyday for the past couple of weeks.

It’s all so lovely and calming and several of the pieces are absolutely magnificent. I especially love Hope by Dyathon, starting at 56:09. It’s so simple, but the bittersweet emotions woven through it get me everytime. The whole mix is just gorgeous, splendid for studying, writing, whatever you really need, and currently (until the next song I hear and love, as is the way in my relationship with music) it is my new favorite thing. :)

So what have you been listening to lately? If you have a NaNo playlist, share it below! Can’t wait to hear from you all, and I’ll see you in the comment section.

In the Pages of a Dream Journal by Mariella Hunt. Some intriguing thoughts about dreams and the effects of recording them. :)

Waiting on the Lord by Faith. An oldie, but a goodie. Absolutely relatable and wonderful.

Word of the Week: Romance by Roseanna White. I just found this really interesting: it’s on the origin of the word "romance," which had quite a bit more to it than I originally thought.

Beautiful Books 2017: How’s the Writing Going? Silhouette by Victoria. HER NANO NOVEL SOUNDS SO UNIQUE, OKAY. CHECK IT OUT. I AM FASCINATED.

Blog Tour: There Was Always Laughter by Sarah Holman. As a fellow Christian homeschool graduate, this book sounds so good to me! I think these are stories me and my siblings would absolutely relate to, haha

I don’t have an answer by Taylor Bennett. I relate to this post so much, even now, after almost a year in college. I don’t have the answers for what my life’s gonna be. But I know God does and, together, we’ll rest in that. :)

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So, what did you think of the posts? Do you keep a dream journal? How's your NaNo novel going? Can't wait to hear from you all, and I'll see you in the comment section!

A couple weeks ago, I was reading a post by a blogger I don’t know very well and she was talking about a difficult time going on in her life. When I got to the end, I was about to comment “I’m praying for you”—but just before I hit “publish,” I stopped. It occurred to me that I say that often, on Facebook, in blog comments, wherever it seems appropriate, that “I’m praying for you,” even if I don’t know the person very well, sometimes even if it’s our first interaction.

It simultaneously occurred to me that that was a little weird. After all, I didn’t really know her. This was maybe the third or fourth time I’d commented on one of her posts. Suddenly, something about praying for her seemed too close, too personal. I didn’t know her like that, to comment on her blog for one of the first times and say that I was praying for her and her situation.

I hesitated, wondering if I ought to post the comment after all, or perhaps just skitter away to the next blog post and pray for her in the privacy of my own thoughts. But I was going to pray, I realized, regardless of whether or not I told her, and I figured, we're family in Christ, right? This is what we're supposed to do, and it might help her to know that somebody really cared. So I went ahead and made the comment; I told her “I’m praying for you.”

I don't tell this story to sound like a “good Christian,” and I don’t know if anyone else has ever felt this way; I just know that that these are the thoughts that occurred to me, forcing me to linger several extra minutes before I could bring myself to make the comment. And in the days after, the incident got me thinking, forcing me to consider, until I figured out why I want to be comfortable telling others I'm praying for them, why I say it so often, and why I always mean it.

Original Photo from Pixabay

It’s pretty straightforward actually: for the simple reason that we are family in Christ. And that makes us close enough. I don’t have to know all of your problems to know that we share a God and that, because of this, I want to support you in the midst of whatever you’re going through. You don’t have to tell me everything that’s going on (in many cases, it might even be better you don’t), but I promise I will still pray about it. Because we are family in Christ, you are a part of me and I am a part of you (1st Corinthians 12:12-14, 25-27. Galatians 3:26-29. Ephesians 4:15-16. John 17:20-23). You are important to me. Whoever you are and whatever you’re going through, you matter to Christ and you matter to me.

So, yes, I will pray for you.

And if you’re not a believer in Christ, does this exclude you? Absolutely not. See, I believe all people matter to Him, matter enough that He died for you and for me, before we were even born, knowing that we would start our lives in sin (Romans 5:6-11), knowing that we would spend much of our time rejecting Him, through our actions if not our words, knowing how we would hate Him and ignore Him and smear His very name. But He did it anyway, because He loves us, because He is love, because we are His creation, because all of us are important to Him. My God is love to all creation, and you, dear one, are a part of that. You are important to me. Whoever you are and whatever you’re going through, you matter to Christ and you matter to me.

So, yes, I will pray for you, too.

That said, I’d like to end this post by asking: is there anything I can pray for you today? You don’t have to tell me all the details, you can private message me if you need to, or you can just comment saying you’d like prayer, and I will gladly hop on that. You matter to Christ and you matter to me, and He loves to hear people call His name, to obey His command to pray, to hand their problems over to Him, and trust Him to handle the worst of it. It’s a way we can come together, in trust and in love, growing closer to Him and to each other.

Regardless of whether you comment or not, know that I’m praying. Know that I care. Know that you matter. To Christ and to me.

I have failed, rather epically lately, at getting these up on time, and for that I do apologize. To make up for it, I come bearing a song as well! (never mind that it’s Monday, and I’m supposed to post a song anyway).

Hunting Prince Dracula (a review) by Skye. Not certain this series is for me, but it sounds really well-written, and the review's really good. Check it out. :)

Why I Said Yes by Talya. This is an older one from before she left, but I think the message is super important.

Living Grace by Esther Noe. I don’t really have words for this, but it is a beautiful and vital reminder of the difference between saved by grace and living in grace. Absolutely amazing.

Kindness by Faith. Amen and Amen. I simply share these as I go back and read them, lol.

Is it Writer’s Block? by Mariella. A good point and great to remember: don’t let perfectionism keep you from writing. :)

And now for the song! It’s really fun, really true, and really awesome.