What's On My Nightstand \\ July 2012

I still have several reviews in the works, but I'll at least tell you if I'm for or against these books. :) I'm trying to keep up a better blogging schedule, so instead of posting several reviews in one week and then nothing for months, I'm scheduling one post every Tuesday. Hopefully it'll stick, though school is right around the corner.

Books I Read:

1. Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore. A YA novel about humans, angels, and demons (and all of this in Christian fiction). I thought it would weird me out but I ended up really enjoying it. Even if you're skeptical, you should check it out.

2. Touching the Sky by Tracie Peterson. The second book in the Land of the Lone Star series. I liked it much more than the first, but Peterson's style has become a bit tiring for me. I'm losing the ability to believe that all people "back then" spoke so properly, and if one more person gets kidnapped/held hostage/or faces some sort of life and death situation in the last chapter I might not be able to handle it. (Still, it was a good love story.)

3. Travelers Rest by Ann Tatlock. This was my first Tatlock, and I really enjoyed it. I'll be reading more from her.

4. Forevermore by Cathy Marie Hake. My sis told me to read this book, so on her recommendation I picked it up from the library. Why have I not read any of Cathy Marie Hake's books before now? I don't know. In a word Forevermore is charming. I have to read more of the series.

5. The Widow of Saunders Creek by Tracey Bateman. Whoa. I'm trying to branch out more in fiction, and this book is more along the lines of Angel Eyes. It deals with the supernatural, namely the possibility of ghosts. This is Christian fiction as well, so you can expect Bateman to stay close to biblical truths when presenting her characters with ghost-like appearances and the like. It's a really good story wrapped in a bit of suspense, and I enjoyed it a lot. Full review coming soon.

6. A Charmed Life series by Jenny B. Jones. The entire YA series in one, A Charmed Life includes So Not Happening, I'm So Sure, and So Over My Head. I won this collection in a giveaway and I really liked it. Jenny B. Jones is an author I've only read in Brio Magazine and SUSIE Magazine, so I was interested in her book-length fiction. She is an hilarious author, and I definitely want to read more of her books. I'm donating this book to a 7th grade reading teacher's class library, where I'm sure plenty of teenage girls are going to enjoy reading about Bella's crazy but ordinary life.

My Nose Is Stuck In:

1. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Still, I know. This book is so big, though, that I'm taking my time working through it. I love this book.

2. Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong with Mark Tabb. This is an amazing, eye-opening story that gives me the chills every time I pick it up. I'll definitely be rooting for you, Lomong!

That's about it for now. I'm moving from my fiction frenzy to all non-fiction for a while, which I'm quite a fan of. I'm considering challenging myself to read only non-fiction until the next Nightstand post, but, I admit, I'm a little scared. I might just try it though. I'll let you know next month if I succeeded.

Please leave links to your posts in the comments. I can't wait to add more to my to-read pile!

2012 Reading Goal: 32 of 50

Happy reading,