Midweek Mix-Up: 2 Books I’m Reading Now, and Horse Rides

Welcome to today’s version of midweek mix-up! I hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I do compiling them! Now, on to . . .

Books of the week:

Completed books:

Ready or Not, by Chautona Havig

This book ended up being just as good as Mom had told me. I really enjoyed the story, and when William finally told Aggie his secret, I was relieved. I’ll be putting up Mom’s review of the book soon—since she reviewed it already, I won’t repeat her.

For Keeps, by Chautona Havig

After finishing Ready or Not, I had to read this second book in the series. Aggie’s struggles in learning to be a homeschooler and her fight against chicken pox were rather amusing to read about. The romance (very clean romance, but definitely romance) was fun to watch as well. I’m planning to post Mom’s review of this book soon too.

Books currently in progress:

Here We Come, by Chautona Havig
Progress: 57% read

After finishing Ready or Not and For Keeps, I was especially glad to know we have the third and final book in the series. As a writer, I’m looking forward to seeing how the climax works to finish off the series. As a reader, I’m looking forward to seeing how Aggie’s fiance and she get along—and if the children start behaving. Currently, Aggie has been on a huge emotional roller-coaster, and is feeling pretty burned out. I still haven’t decided if the tension is stronger in this book than in the last two, or if it’s just different—I’ll probably have to finish the book to decide.

More Than a Carpenter, by Josh and Sean McDowell
Progress: 6% read

I did get a bit further in this this week. Right now I’m reading about why Jesus is different from other famous prophets—and what the name “Jesus Christ” means. Fascinating book.

Next on the to-read list:

The Sound of Diamonds, by Rachelle Rea

This is Rachelle’s debut novel, so I don’t have any experience with knowing what her style is like. I’ve heard about this book for several months now, and recently she offered advanced reader copies, so I asked if I could be an advanced reader. I’m looking forward to reading this book—and knowing what she reads, I’m hoping it won’t have too much romance in it!

Memory of the week:

I helped give my baby sister her first “horsey-ride” the other day. She seemed to enjoy it—and her brothers loved being the horses for her!

Useful posts this week:

• These Books Are Free On Kindle! — Some fascinating books here—ones that I want to read soon. I need to learn to get into more classics—I love them, but it takes some determination to start reading them.
• Which Copy is Best For Your Home Page? — Very helpful information about home pages, and what length and content makes the best conversion rate. Now, to put this information to use!
• 100 Books for 1st Graders to Read — This one was recommended by Mom. She said that some of the books here are ones she wouldn’t tend to like, but others are very good.
• 5 Ideas for Author Newsletter Content — A fun, inspiring post for creating a good newsletter. I have a feeling I’ll be referring back to this next time I’m writing the LRD Newsletter.
• For The Sake of Research — A very humorous post on the things an author has to go through to ensure they have the setting right. What happens if you video the interior of a bank?
• Yielded or Tossed? — An encouraging devotional—the perfect start to my day. Katie’s words are always so challenging to me, and yet so true. Much to think about from this post.
• The Weekend Edition — Seekerville, a daily blog for writers, always has these fun “weekend” posts. They’re just about my most favorite posts of the week! If you’re a writer who wants encouragement, I’d recommend checking this blog out. It is mostly geared toward romance writers, but many of the tips they share are really helpful no matter what form of fiction you write.
• The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People: INFOGRAPHIC — Fascinating infographic, and I highly recommend checking out the interactive version on podio.com. I especially found it interesting that out of twenty-six people, only eight did any actual work between 12 am and 5 am—almost everyone else was asleep during that time.

Resource of the week:

A post, resurrected from the archives of my bookmarks: 9 Best Tools to Make Writers More Successful, Organized, and Effective. Who knew that gem was there? I completely forgot! But those tools look very useful. There are several programs mentioned in the comments as well that look handy. I’m planning on checking out SquareSpaceNote and The Timeline Project as soon as I’m done here.

What did you come across this week that you found particularly inspiring or helpful?