Goodreads tells me I read 51 books in 2023. That’s way down from previous years, and I feel good. I’ve had more quiet time to think. That said, there are some books I really want to read this year!
From those 51 books in 2023, here are my top picks:
Book of the year, nonfiction:Grace Over Grind by Shae Bynes. I listened to the audiobook for free through Hoopla, then bought the print book with workbook and went back through it again. Highly recommended for Christian entrepreneurs or Christians in the workplace, period.
Favourite re-read (fiction):Cascade Point by Timothy Zahn (science fiction novella)
Favourite re-read (non-fiction):My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, Edited by James Reimann
Feel-good reads: My respite goal this year was to read one of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books each month. I fell behind but did enjoy a total of 6 this year. Our theology is light-years apart, but this is pretty clean fantasy that makes me laugh out loud like few things do. Anyone sitting near me is in danger of having chunks of the best passages read aloud to them, like it or not. Brilliant writing, clever turns of phrase, nods to real-life things that I mostly miss catching, some mysteries that keep me guessing, and often an “awww” moment near the end.
This was a difficult year for me and my family. Hence the reduced reading count! Here are five things that refreshed me this year:
Prayer: Not a new practice for me; a major source of comfort and hope.
Praise: Also not new; praise music helps me keep grounded. Funny how often the right song would come on the radio just when I needed it.
Poetry: Nova Scotian writer Laura Aliese showed me I can enjoy poetry. This year I’ve dipped into a few books from other poets. The strong word choices have been inspiring.
Pilates: Toward the end of 2020, I discovered a wealth of free YouTube videos from Rachel Lawrence Pilates. Her friendly and accessible instruction has helped tame the body aches that crept in during the first lockdown.
Photos: For all the negativity on social media, Instagram became my online happy place in 2021. I don’t post (that might feel like work) and I only follow nature photographers, tourism shots, and Bible/inspirational quotes (well, and David Crowder because he makes me laugh). It’s been a lovely mini refuge when I needed it most.
I haven’t read either of these novels yet, but I’ve met both authors, and their work is highly respected. Hidden Secrets is in good company. The beauty of this is that when the winning book is announced, I can either celebrate for my “imaginary friends” if it’s my book or celebrate for one of my real-life writer friends (at least acquaintances!). Win-win!
The 2020 Word Awards winners will be announced June 13, 7pm Eastern Time (8pm Atlantic) online via livestream on Facebook and Zoom. It’ll be free for anyone to tune in. Link details TBA.
For the complete short-list, visit The Word Guild’s Media page and click on the short-list announcement link.
Friendship, self-discovery, love, and a celebration of reading—and of independent bookstores.
Maddie Cullen had a knack for engaging with her customers and knowing the right book to suggest. When she died, she left envelopes for her two employees and her estranged niece. Each woman’s letter included a Bible passage and a list of books.
Madeline, her niece, inherited the store but doesn’t want to keep it. Claire and Janet, Maddie’s employees who supported her through her final days, wish the new owner would just let them carry on the business as usual. As the three women work together, each also reading the books Maddie’s letter “assigned,” they develop a strong friendship and each grow toward the potential Maddie had seen in them.
Each woman’s point of view is written in a different tense: first-person past, third-person past, and third-person present. I always find that sort of delivery jarring, and I confess I also had a hard time connecting with the characters. All three were a bit of a mess at first.
I’m glad I stuck with it, because it’s a heartwarming story. As it progressed I grew to care for each of them. And I wish I could visit the bookstore!
For more about Katherine Reay and her books, and for book club resources, visit katherinereay.com.
I hope you’re doing okay in these uncertain days. The most important things we can do are to pray for one another (and for our leaders!) and to care for one another in whatever way we can.
One small thing I can do is to reduce the price of my ebooks — people who are spending more time at home need distractions from the never-ending news loops. Books are great for that, and books that remind us of God’s care are extra-valuable now. Many Christian authors I know have been able to reduce their prices, and we all seem to be saying “it doesn’t seem like much, but it’s something I can do.”
So for the rest of March and into April, each of my ebooks will be 99 cents worldwide.
For convenience, the buy links on my Books2Read page should lead to the appropriate country for Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Apple. Link: https://bit.ly/Books2ReadJanetSketchley
This applies for the three Redemption’s Edge novels (suspense/romantic suspense), the two Green Dory Inn Mysteries, and my daily devotional book. Feel fee to share this offer with your reading friends.
Goodreads tells me I’ve read 91 books in 2019. And that’s not counting Bible reading. Here are the books I’ve most enjoyed last year. Some were produced in 2019, some previously. Pop a note into the comments with your own favourites?
Can you
believe it? In a little over a month it will be 2020. Does that sound as
futuristic to you as it does to me? (Maybe I’m just showing my age.
<grin>)
I like to
make plans for the new year at the end of November.
Here are
six reasons to do so:
Making
New Year’s resolutions has a built-in expectation of failure. Let’s face it,
most resolutions get tossed aside before the end of January.
If
we leave planning until the end of the year, we don’t feel as if we have as
much time to fine tune our plans with January 1 looming before us.
We
may feel pressured by all the yearend advertising. Join this gym. Buy this
discounted bundle online. (Guilty.) Make this the year you do … (I’m sure you
can fill in the blank with any number of things.)
If
we “test run” our resolutions next month, we can do so with a minimal number of
onlookers. (Hey, even the gyms are less crowded in December.)
And
if we start in December, we can see what works and what may be best set aside.
But don’t forget to give yourself grace since many of us are especially busy
during the holiday season.
And
if you’re just coming off the writing high of trying to pump out 50,000 words
in November (NaNoWriMo), you may feel as if you can conquer the world. Why not
start before the feeling fade? (I will be away for part of the weekend. A dear
friend’s mother passed away this past week, and the service is on Saturday.
However, I’m hoping to hit 50K before getting on the road. It would be the
first time ever.)
Many of us
choose a word for the coming year. And if we’re Christians, we may feel the
Lord has laid something on our heart. That is the case for me this year. I
believe 2020 is to be my personal year of contentment, which is not to be
confused with complacency.
So, just
how can our Word of the Year line up with our List of Goals? (Notice, I didn’t
call them resolutions.)
Here are
six of my goals, all of which should lead to greater contentment. (Hint: It’s
best to frame goals as positive statements. Negative ones just make us feel as
if we’ve failed up to this point.)
If
you know me, you realize I am eclectically interested and eclectically
involved. Call it the Oo, Shiny Syndrome, the Butterfly Syndrome (I have a
tendency to flit from one thing to the next to the next), or just call it Oh,
Squirrel! Regardless, my goal is to focus more on the task(s) at hand and only
pursue something new if I’ve thought it through and maybe, just maybe, set
something else aside. (That is almost painful to commit to. Who says we can’t
spin two dozen plates at the same time?)
Narrowing
my focus means it’s far more likely than I can do some of those things I’ve
been planning for years, things like publishing a novel and a nonfiction book.
There, I’ve said it. I won’t only be content if I birth these two book babies,
I will be ecstatic.
Between
a gym membership, online fitness site memberships, and the DVDs I have on hand,
there is no reason I can’t be stronger and healthier by the end of 2020 than I
am now. That plus the fact that I actually like to exercise. Yes, I am one of
those weird people.
Hand
in hand with getting more exercise is the importance of eating a nourishing
diet. To all of you who do, kudos! Really! By the end of 2020, I want to be
consistently eating more healthfully. I’m not committing to perfection,
whatever that may mean, but the more I eat healthy foods, the more I want to do
so. I already know that. It’s just a matter of putting the knowing into
practice—and using all those fancy gadgets and cookbooks I’ve purchased, hoping
they’ll motivate me to do better.
My
To Be Read (TBR) pile is monumentally high. Plus, several of my favourite
authors will be releasing new books that I will be tempted to buy over the next
12-13 months. Contentment doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t buy some of these
books, but it does mean I will deliberately get to some of those books I have
neglected far too long.
And
speaking of books, I have numerous versions of the Scriptures—and access to the
others online. While I will be using some of the Bible study tools I have on
hand, I don’t need anything more than my Bible to grow in my faith over the
coming year. The plan is to focus more on reading God’s Word than being
distracted by all the shiny study resources that are sure to come to my
attention.
So, what
about you? Do you have a word for 2020? Have you set some goals for yourself?
I’d love to hear about it.
May 2020
overflow with the very richest of blessings!
Tweetable: 6 Reasons to make your plans for the new year at the end of November. Via #StephBethNickel #2020 #newyearsresolutions #goals [Click to tweet]
Steph Beth Nickel
Photo credit: Jaime Mellor Photography
As an editor, Steph Beth Nickel has the honour of coming alongside writers to help them polish their work. As the coauthor of Paralympian Deb Willows’s memoirs, Steph has been blessed to work with this amazing woman. And as a future self-published author, with the Lord’s help, Steph has taken brave steps toward publication.
Goodreads tells me I’ve read 99 books in 2018. And that’s not counting Bible reading. Here are the books (and new-to-me music) that I’ve most enjoyed this year. Some were produced in 2018, some previously. Pop a note into the comments with your own favourites?
My top picks from 2018:
Book of the year:Oathbringer, by Brandon Sanderson (epic fantasy)
Christian living:The Dream of You, by Jo Saxton
Contemporary novel: Dear Mr. Knightley, by Katherine Reay
Fantasy novel:The Wounded Shadow, by Patrick W. Carr
Favourites revisited: The full “Cobra” series, all 9 books, by Timothy Zahn
Mystery/suspense novel:Guilty Blood, by Rick Acker
Science Fiction novel:Skyward, by Brandon Sanderson. Also notable: For Us Humans, by Steve Rzasa, Cold Welcome, by Elizabeth Moon, and Thrawn: Alliances, by Timothy Zahn
Series of the year: I’m liking the new Smithwell Fairies cozy mystery series from Karin Kaufman
Surprisingly fun:The Adventurer’s Guide to Successful Escapes, by Wade Albert White
Thriller: Stealthy Steps, by Vikki Kestell (techno-thriller)
New-to-me songs that blessed me most: “Living Hope,” by Phil Wickham, “Who You Say I Am” by Hillsong Worship, and “You Say” by Lauren Daigle… And “Even If,” by Mercy Me. Wow.