October reads...

Tomorrow we head off to Derbyshire and I'm SO excited for a break away with my hub and Bubba. Things have been a little hectic around here lately, and the thought of the Peaks, Chatsworth tea shop and catching up with friends and family is feeling VERY appealing right now.

I've not read so much this month... for various reasons (you just need to read this post to know why!) but I thought I'd share what I have read, and what I've just piled up on my Kindle for this trip away... I've also linked up with Jess at Catch a Single Thought to share the book love (thanks Jess for starting this!!)

So here goes...

What I've read...

Very Valentine: Adriana Trigiani. I have to admit, I really enjoyed this one. The main character is very real and totally loveable in an, at times, frustrating kind of way, but I absolutely loved Trigiani's writing style and got totally sucked into this one. Valentine Roncalli is a New York vintage shoemaker, trying to save her family business while juggling a new man on the scene and her rather interesting, and very funny, family at the same time! There was a sequel to this one called Brava Valentine, which I also polished off at break-neck speed (and I believe there's a third one coming out!). I feel very excited to have been introduced to this new author, and intend to read some more of her stuff in the near future!

L'Abri: Edith Schaeffer. I love to read a good autobiography every now and again, and I have to admit I'd read this one before! This was a repeat read as I just love the combination of Edith's creativity, the Alps and a record of God at work. All my favourite things in one book! It's a golden oldie (I think it was printed in the late 70s) but its a fab story of how the now HUGE L'Abri movement started and its one I nabbed from my Grandparents bookshelves when I was a uni student.

If you don't know what L'Abri is all about, you can check that out here but seriously worth a read if you like some insight into Francis and Edith Schaeffer as a couple and the ministry they started in Switzerland.

The Girls Guide to Homemaking: Amy Bratley. I picked this one up as a recommendation from someone else and found it very enjoyable. It appealed to the vintage idealistic part of me which likes to think that life was wonderful back in the 1950s, but the whole point of this book is that the protaganist has a wake-up call and realises its not. I wasn't convinced one chapter in, if I'm honest, but I definitely got more into it as the book went on and found the main character to be quite loveable in a very realistic (not perfectionist) kind of way. There were some unnecessary side storylines, I felt, but it was a good read although I have to admit to being a little disappointed by the ending (OK - I love happy endings and wanted it to finish with the line "and they lived happily ever after" - is that so very bad?!)

The Sister Circle: Nancy Moser and Vonette Bright

I'm currently just finishing this one up, so I can't comment on the ending yet, but this has been a fun, christian-fiction, typically american story. I have whizzed through it and, although its definitely not a life-changer, it has definitely been an enjoyable read. Its the story of 50-something Evelyn who, after the early death of her husband, opens up her home as a boarding house, to a rather eclectic mix of women who learn, gradually, to live together, not withstanding a few hurdles along the way! It was a freebie for the Kindle on Amazon as well, so no complaining there!!

What's on my Kindle list... 

This is what I'm going to start wading through this week and into November!