December 2019 Book Haul

Well, here we are, folks! It's the end of the year already, and I'm absolutely flabbergasted that 2019 is OVER. Where have the last twelve months gone?? Somehow, it just feels like we were celebrating New Years' and Easter, and now we're about ready to welcome 2020. SO MUCH has happened this year, and it's nuts, but I'm not going to harp on all that right now. 

Because right now is Book Haul time. Believe it or not, I only got one book for Christmas: C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy in one volume (from my awesome hubby -- I've been wanting to read that for so long!!). And sadly, I don't have a picture of it. All of the pictured books below were ones that I collected before Christmas. Enjoy!

Emily of New Moon // Emily Climbs // Emily's Quest // L.M. Montgomery -- The last few years have re-awoken my interest in Montgomery's novels. It was super exciting to find a box set of the Emily trilogy since I've yet to read any of the Emily books. 

Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway (Girls of Many Lands) // Kirkpatrick Hill -- I remember reading a few of these books growing up. Girls of Many Lands was a spin-off historical series that American Girls put out way back in the day. I seriously cannot remember if I've ever read Minuk or not, though.

Unlocking the Spell (Wide-Awake Princess, #2) // E.D. Baker -- The first fairytale retelling in this giant pile! I'm a bit disappointed I didn't find the first book in this series, but maybe I'll read them out of order. Don't judge. I believe this book is based on Snow White and Rose Red. 

Bella at Midnight // Diane Stanley -- Another fairytale retelling! This is a Cinderella one that I've yet to read. 

Enchanted (Woodcutter Sisters, #1) // Alethea Kontis -- Fairytale retelling #3 which is based on the Frog Prince. I haven't read this one yet, either. *le gasp* So many retellings, and so little time. 

Fairest Son // H.S.J. Williams -- AT LAST! I've been looking forward to this gender-swapped Snow White story since FOREVER. I can't believe I haven't gotten my hands on it until now. 

With Blossoms Gold // Hayden Wand -- Fairytale retelling #5 and probably one of THE BEST Rapunzel stories you'll ever read. IT IS AMAZING.

The Healer's Apprentice // The Captive Maiden (Haigenheim, #1 and #4) // Melanie Dickerson -- Sensing a theme here? Retelling count up to seven now for this month. I read both of these forever ago, but I don't remember them all that well. And I actually have very few Dickerson retellings, so I was happy to include these to Huntress and Fairest Beauty to make my Dickerson collection add up to four books total. 

Landon Snow and the Auctor's Riddle (Landon Snow, #1) // R.K. Mortenson -- This book looked so fun. Landon gets swallowed by a book. LITERALLY. HOW COOL IS THAT?

Once On This Island (Mackinac Island Trilogy, #1) // Gloria Whelan -- I loved this trilogy growing up!! I'm a Michigan girl at heart. 

Because colorful books -- why not a rainbow?

The Siege (Guardians of Ga'Hoole, #4) // Kathryn Lasky -- Slowly adding to my Ga'Hoole books. Some day I'll actually read this series. 

Pippi Longstocking // Astrid Lindgren -- Another childhood favorite. I can't believe I hadn't picked up a copy of this until now. 

The Family Under the Bridge // Natalie Savage Carlson -- I haven't read this, but it looked like such a cute story! It's about an older man who makes a family with a bunch of homeless kids. 

Shakespeare's Scribe (The Shakespeare Stealer, #2) // Gary L. Blackwood -- I really enjoyed the first book, so of course I'd jump on the second when I found it! 

Wishing Well (The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff, #3) // Jason Lethcoe -- This is another series that I'd never heard of, but the books just looked fun. Yeah, so now I have book #3, but not #1 or #2. #bookproblems

North by Northanger: Or the Shades of Pemberley (Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries, #3) // Carrie Bebris -- I don't think I've read any Austen fanfiction/other authors' continuations. But this one looked interesting, so I thought I'd give it a go. 

Shield: A Prequel to Medallion // Dawn L. Watkins -- Super excited about this one! A childhood favorite by one of my college professors! 

Mik-Shrok (Adventures of an Arctic Missionary, #1) // Gloria Repp -- Ever since I first read this trilogy, I've loved huskies and wanted so badly to visit Alaska. I love these books SO MUCH. 

King's War // Jill Williamson -- I CAN FINALLY FINISH THIS SERIES! I've been dying since this summer to know how it ended once I read King's Blood. 

Bitter Winter // Jaye L. Knight -- When one makes a Christmas order and needs some extra $$ to get the free shipping from Amazon (yes, I don't have Prime), you get the next Ilyon Chronicles book. #noregrets I seriously cannot wait for the final book in this series to come out, Daican's Heir. 

~*~

What books did you add to your shelves this month? Any literary Christmas gifts? I'd love to know! Share in the comments below! 

God bless!

How NaNo Went

I'm not really sure what I was thinking this year. For four years, I ignored NaNo in order to complete my college studies. I missed it desperately, but there was absolutely no time to write 50K between homework assignments.

Once I graduated, I thought: Certainly, now I'll have more free time to write. And last year, that was more or less true. As a mother of a seven-month-old, I still had quite a bit distracting me, but my daughter was old enough where she could sit by herself and play while mommy wrote.

THIS YEAR. HOWEVER. My daughter is now one and a half years old, running everywhere, getting into everything, etc. etc. And then we also threw in a newborn on top of that. I was so happy our son arrived early (especially considering my wish to NOT give birth during NaNo), and since he would mostly sleep the first few weeks of his life NaNo would be a cinch, right?

Ha. No.

Let's just say newborns and NaNo really don't mix. There was VERY little sleep involved. I'm a stubborn, crazy idiot who thought she could write 50K while nursing a newborn and keeping up with a rambunctious 18 month old.

Oh yeah -- and get this. A week into the month, my husband started experiencing horrific stomach pain and had to go to the ER for emergency appendix surgery. I'm an extremely emotional person when it comes to the people I love, so the day of his surgery I wrote a grand total of 145 words. *shakes head* That kind of stress I don't handle well.

Thus, it was not an auspicious start to this NaNo. I was behind for most of the month, by about 6,000 words or so. There were days when it felt like I was pulling teeth to get even 500 words out, and all I wanted to do was to go to bed.

I did mention I was stubborn, right? In spite of everything, I didn't want to quit. How in the world could I call myself a decent writer if I didn't even TRY? I was NOT quitting. I ended up doing most of my writing between 10pm and midnight, which was when both of my kids were asleep. Thankfully, my husband was typically doing homework about the same time, so it was nice to have a buddy to work alongside of.

And then on November 29th, I finished my 50K.

After so much stress about writing, it was glorious to finish a whole day early. I'm still a little in shock that I finished.

My advice to those writing mommies out there: NaNo with a newborn really isn't the greatest idea. Unless you're way better with managing your time and making schedules than I am.

But how about the story?

I was working on The Twelfth Kingdom, one of my 12DP retellings. Initially, I began the month with 120K already written on the tale, and the 50K allowed it to grow up to 170K.

And it's still not finished.

My goal originally was to have the first draft of this story completed by Christmas. I doubt at this point that'll happen. So, right now, I'll be so happy if I can finish the book by the end of January. And hopefully wrap it up in NO MORE than 200,000 words. Secret of the Hazel Tree ended at 198K on the first draft, and I would be so happy to finish this book in fewer words.

Ha. We'll see.

But snippets, shall we? I don't think it's fair to drag you through the entire month of NaNo with me and not share a few snippets. Since it's closing in on the end of the book, much of what I wrote would be spoilers, so I'm afraid I have to be extremely picky when sharing these.

~*~

“But what about the shoes?” Bethjasmine asked. She had yet to wear out a pair, but Josette knew their governess’s tirade with the tattered slippers that morning had left a marked impression. “If we keep dancing, they’ll keep wearing out.” 

This time, no one wanted to bring up the option of dancing barefoot. As thin as the slippers themselves were, they were still a necessity when dancing underground. 

“Let them wear out,” Laris grumbled. “The king will keep paying for new ones, since we’ve got to have them. Rancune will be stumped that we’re improving. And Severamer can have a fit when she can’t figure out what’s going on. All of that makes me pretty happy.” 

Issie continued to hug her shawl. “That sounds awfully rebellious to me.” 

Aleevity shook her head. “Well, I never considered myself a rebel, but if this is what it takes to become one, I’m for it.” She caught the look in Nattalaris’s eyes and snapped on it. “And don’t you dare say anything about me agreeing with you. I promise you, it won’t happen again.” 

~*~

A movement of something dark caught the corner of his eye, and he looked towards it. “More coming in that direction, m’lord.” 

Waedan didn’t turn, but tossed his eyeglass at Tarren. “Tell me how many.” 

Tarren accepted the instrument. “It looks like another three regiments or so. Probably close to… Waedan!” The words caught in his throat as the eyeglass exposed the newest threat against Fort Kalt. “They’ve got ladders!” 

Waedan grabbed the eyeglass back. “Pere save us,” he breathed, looking at the black-garbed teams carrying the ladders through the snow. “They mean to breach us.”

~*~

At length, they went over a bump larger than normal, and Tarren nearly cried out as the wagon crashed down on the opposite side. 

“Wait! Stop the horses, A!” Roughly, he grabbed the side of the wagonbed with his left hand. “I’m walking for a bit.” He tumbled out a bit ungracefully, but thankfully didn’t embarrass himself by faceplanting on the road. 

Q leaped out behind him, wincing and rubbing his seat. “Coming with you, friend. I don’t think a body can manage much more of that.” He frowned up at A. “Are you deliberately driving over the biggest rocks and bumps?” 

A scowled from the driver’s seat. “Of course not! You two just have soft bottoms; that’s all. You’d think the time we spent at the fort would have toughened you up some.” 

Q only shook his head. “I still think you should have let me drive.” 

A’s hands tightened on the reins. “You always want to do everything!” 

“That’s because I do it right.” 

“I’m doing fine!” A retorted hotly. “I haven’t driven off a cliff like you said I would.”

“Yet!” 

~*~

Tarren felt his eyebrows lift in surprise. “You don’t approve?” 

“Of the king’s behavior?” Oberran growled. “No, and no. Now mind, he’s my cousin, so I’m allowed to say what I want about him. You keep your tongues clean. But blast the man for a perfect idiot. He’s shown little sense in that situation or in any since.” 

~*~

A declared he didn’t care what the duke called him; he was just interested in trying the Cathair feast. “I’ll go as a pig herder if that’ll get me to the dining table,” he said honestly. 

~*~

Josette tried to come to her sister’s aid. “It wouldn’t be proper, Prince Austuce. She’s…” 

“No, forget proper,” Laris snarled. “I’m not afraid of stepping out of propriety, but I might hurt the poor runt! And what would your honored father say if I drew blood on the lord of the Lower Home?” 

“My honored father,” he replied evenly, “was the one who suggested it.” 

Laris’s fingers tightened around the sword hilt. “Then I’ll meet you in the courtyard.” 

~*~

God bless!

November 2019 Book Haul

With NaNo going on all month (post on that to come soon), I really didn't expect to be adding many books to my shelves this last month. November was already crazy, seeing as I had a newborn on my hands in addition to a one-and-a-half year old. Add in a busy week of being with family for Thanksgiving and an emergency appendix surgery for my hubby... yeah, November was nuts. Looking back now, I'm surprised I had any time to go shopping at all.

However, I will say that book mail is DA. BEST. Sometimes, you don't need time to go shopping. You just need to check the mailbox. *grins*

So, here's November's book haul.

Sorry for the dark coloring; I don't feel like editing the pic.

The Rope Trick // Lloyd Alexander - After reading the Prydain Chronicles and the Westmark Trilogy, you can bet I'll pick up any Lloyd Alexander book I can.

Writing Magic // Gail Carson Levine - Who knew that the woman who introduced the world to fairytale retellings also wrote nonfiction? I'm pretty excited about this one.

By the Shores of Silver Lake (Little House, #5) // Laura Ingalls Wilder - The ONE Little House book I didn't have yet. SCORE.

Florence Young: Mission Accomplished (Christian Heroes: Then and Now, #23) // Janet and Geoff Young - I remember reading a lot of missionary stories growing up, and these are the types of stories I want to be able to share with my kiddos.

The Princess // Lori Wick - A friend of mine a long time ago told me this was her favorite book, and I completely forgot about it until I came across this copy in a thrift store. I'm not familiar with the author, but it's definitely a score at a thrift store price.

A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith // Lori Smith - The title of this one jumped out to me. I've never read anything like this before, and it's Austen, so I'm pretty excited about it.

The Book Thief // Markus Zusak - I don't normally go for the books that have all the hype, but I've wanted to read this one for a while. And it was $1. It was a no-brainer.

Captive Treasure // Milly Howard - A book from my childhood. I grew up with a lot of books from BJU Press, and I loved them all. This one always reminds me of Lois Lenski's Indian Captive, as both books basically have the same plot.

Silas Marner // George Eliot - Classic in a gorgeous hardback. I'm always up for that.

Sew, It's a Quest // Do You Take This Quest? // My Kingdom for a Quest // Honor: A Quest In // Hair We Go Again // Kendra E. Ardnek - BOOK MAIL. MADE MY DAY. I just realized recently that I've only read the first two books in this series. *le gasp* Now, I can fix that! Super exciting.

The Dragon's Flower // Wyn Estelle Owens - Also BOOK MAIL. I'd completely forgotten I'd won this giveaway until this showed up in my mailbox. A Rapunzel tale worth the read. Review here on KiriBeth.

~*~

And that's it, folks! What books did you add to your shelves in November? Any favorites in the ones I hauled above? Let me know in the comments!

God bless!