I am thrilled to be sharing pictures of this bowl I made for a dear friend. Her yarn looks great in the bowl! This is the first fabric bowl of the year I’ve finished and have quite a few more coming up. I share free tutorials on my YouTube channel on how to make fabric snippet bowls. They are a blast to make and you can get really creative with how to make the bowls. I hope you check it out!
Last year, I made quite a few scrappy ones with raw edges. This particular bowl does have raw edges but they are sewn a bit closer together. I have also explored with using yarn by couching the yarn to the bowl and creating a design. My journey is hand stitching so except that method in the tutorials. I do give tips on what part of the bowls you can machine sew.
Sometime this week, I will be sharing an intro video to the next bowl. Each tutorial includes tips and ideas in how to make them. This year, I’m exploring new designs with the bowls. A must watch because they will be unique and I will be expanding on a few methods I’ve already taught.
Stephanie
The name of my YouTube Channel is, “Stephanie’s Art Studio” or you can click on the link provided above to go straight to the channel. I hope you grab your fabric scraps, needle, threads, yarn-optional-and join me on this journey! You’ll love it!
I’ve been on the search for books on Systematic Theology, further Biblical teachings of Christ’s ministry and Christian application with a non-Calvinistic view point and came across Norman L. Geisler. I found information saying he is considered “moderate Calvinist,” and that he is not a “Five Point Calvinist.” I find that to be somewhat reassuring in my search for the reading material I’m looking for. I am definitely willing to give his books a read. You see, I’m not a Calvinist nor am I a protestant. That said, I am not closed minded from reading different viewpoints; I’m just looking for particular studies for the moment. Mater of fact, I respect and listen to a lot of what protestants have to say.
Also, I’m planning on reading the books in my father’s library on Systematic Theology as well as adding to my own library.
First, what is Systematic Theology according to Oxford Languages? The theology is “a form of theology in which the aim is to arrange religious truths in a self-consistent whole.” In a nutshell, the systematic view is to give an orderly format of the doctrines of Christian faith. And let me tell you, I have seen and heard many different viewpoints. Below are a few books by Geisler that I’m interested in reading.
The Big Book of Christian Apologetics: An A to Z Guide (A to Z Guides)
The Big Book of Christian Apologetics is a comprehensive resource designed to equip motivated believers with information to help defend and explain their faith. Examining nearly every key issue, person, and concept related to Christian apologetics, this book clarifies difficult biblical passages, clearly explains various philosophical systems and concepts, examines contemporary issues and challenges, and offers classic apologetic arguments, all with the aim of giving readers the background to intelligently and persuasively talk about their Christian faith with skeptics. An expertly abridged version of the Baker Encyclopedia on Christian Apologetics, this resource brings leading apologist Norman L. Geisler’s seminal work to the masses.
A Popular Survey of the New Testament
Understanding the New Testament is a daunting but exciting task. Our world is so different from that of the first century. Yet it is important to understand the context and content of the New Testament if we are to be faithful followers. Now in paper, this survey addresses the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions that readers of the Bible may have, such as: How can we tell if what is written in the New Testament is true history or just mythology? When were these books written and why? and What can today’s believers get out of letters addressed to people who lived two millennia ago? Written in an easy, informal style, this survey is accessible and enjoyable to anyone who wants to better understand the New Testament.
Defending Inerrancy: Affirming the Accuracy of Scripture for a New Generation
According to the authors, the doctrine of inerrancy has been standard, accepted teaching for more than 1,000 years. In 1978, the famous “Chicago Statement” on inerrancy was adopted by the Evangelical Theological Society, and for decades it has been the accepted conservative evangelical doctrine of the Scriptures. However, in recent years, some prominent evangelical authors have challenged this statement in their writings.
Now eminent apologist and bestselling author Norman L. Geisler, who was one of the original drafters of the “Chicago Statement,” and his coauthor, William C. Roach, present a defense of the traditional understanding of inerrancy for a new generation of Christians who are being assaulted with challenges to the nature of God, truth, and language. Pastors, students, and armchair theologians will appreciate this clear, reasoned response to the current crisis.
Note: Also, I would like to mention a book of his I’ve had on my wish-list and at first, the author’s name escaped my memory. I’m delighted to know he has written the book along with Frank Turek of whom I know his work.
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Foreword by David Limbaugh)
Geisler and Turek argue that Christianity requires the least faith of all worldviews because it is the most reasonable. A valuable aid to those interested in examining the reasonableness of the Christian faith.
A few years ago now, Atria Books sent me an ARC of The Princess Spy by Larry Loftis to review and I immensely enjoyed the story. Since then I haven’t had a chance to look at Loftis other works and I’ve recently discovered another book by him I would like to read and have added it to my reading wish-list plus, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I can’t wait to read them! They look so good. I have a feeling I will be shedding quite a few tears reading them. World War II stories do that to me. Let me know in the comment area if you’ve read these stories!
Stephanie Hopkins
The Watchmaker’s Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom by Larry Loftis
About the book:
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
New York Times bestselling author and master of nonfiction spy thrillers Larry Loftis writes the first major biography of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch watchmaker who saved the lives of hundreds of Jews during WWII—at the cost of losing her family and being sent to a concentration camp, only to survive, forgive her captors, and live the rest of her life as a Christian missionary.
The Watchmaker’s Daughter is one of the greatest stories of World War II that readers haven’t heard: the remarkable and inspiring life story of Corrie ten Boom—a groundbreaking, female Dutch watchmaker, whose family unselfishly transformed their house into a hiding place straight out of a spy novel to shelter Jews and refugees from the Nazis during Gestapo raids. Even though the Nazis knew what the ten Booms were up to, they were never able to find those sheltered within the house when they raided it.
Corrie stopped at nothing to face down the evils of her time and overcame unbelievable obstacles and odds. She persevered despite the loss of most of her family and relied on her faith to survive the horrors of a notorious concentration camp. But even more remarkable than her heroism and survival was Corrie’s attitude when she was released. Miraculously, she was able to eschew bitterness and embrace forgiveness as she ministered to people in need around the globe. Corrie’s ability to forgive is just one of the myriad lessons that her life story holds for readers today.
Reminiscent of Schindler’s List and featuring a journey of faith and forgiveness not unlike Unbroken, The Watchmaker’s Daughter is destined to become a classic work of World War II nonfiction.
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, Elizabeth Sherrill, and John Sherrill
“Every experience God gives us . . . is the perfect preparation for the future only He can see.”–Corrie ten Boom
About the book:
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker who became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler’s concentration camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the twentieth century. In World War II she and her family risked their lives to help Jews and underground workers escape from the Nazis, and for their work they were tested in the infamous Nazi death camps. Only Corrie among her family survived to tell the story of how faith ultimately triumphs over evil.
Here is the riveting account of how Corrie and her family were able to save many of God’s chosen people. For 35 years millions have seen that there is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still. Now The Hiding Place, repackaged for a new generation of readers, continues to declare that God’s love will overcome, heal, and restore.
This past Sunday, I met a dear friend at a local coffee shop and what a treat it was! We talked about many topics and our mutual love for nonfiction. My friend is currently listening to Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer and she highly recommend it to me. Later on, when I got home, I sent her a picture of the nonfiction book I’m reading. The title is, The Neighborhood Project by David Sloan Wilson. I received the book as an ARC many years ago.
This led me to further explore more nonfiction books to add to my to-read wish-list. Below are five new titles I have added. My wish is for you to be encouraged and inspired to read more and to explore nonfiction in a broader sense-if you haven’t already.
Stephanie Hopkins
The Book-Makers
A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives
by Adam Smyth
Description
The five-hundred-year history of printed books, told through the people who created them
Books tell all kinds of stories—romances, tragedies, comedies—but if we learn to read the signs correctly, they can tell us the story of their own making too. The Book-Makers offers a new way into the story of Western culture’s most important object, the book, through dynamic portraits of eighteen individuals who helped to define it.
Books have transformed humankind by enabling authors to create, document, and entertain. Yet we know little about the individuals who brought these fascinating objects into existence and of those who first experimented in the art of printing, design, and binding. Who were the renegade book-makers who changed the course of history?
From Wynkyn de Worde’s printing of fifteenth-century bestsellers to Nancy Cunard’s avant-garde pamphlets produced on her small press in Normandy, this is a celebration of the book with the people put back in.
Twenty Years
Hope, War, and the Betrayal of an Afghan Generation
by Sune Engel Rasmussen
Description
An intimate history of the Afghan war—and the young Afghans whose dreams it enabled and dashed.
No country was more deeply affected by 9/11 than Afghanistan: an entire generation grew up amid the upheaval that began that day. Young Afghans knew the promise of freedom, democracy, and safety, fought with each other over its meaning—and then witnessed its collapse. In Twenty Years, the Wall Street Journal correspondent Sune Engel Rasmussen draws on more than a decade of reporting from the country to tell Afghanistan’s story from a new angle. Through the eyes of newly empowered women, skilled entrepreneurs, driven insurgents, and abandoned Western allies, we see the United States and its partners bring new freedoms and wealth, only to preside over the corruption, war-lordism, and social division that led to the Taliban’s return to power.
Rasmussen relates this history via two main characters: Zahra, who returns from abroad with high hopes for her liberated county, where she must fight to escape a brutal marriage and rebuild her life; and Omari, who joins the Taliban to protect the honor of his village and country and winds up wrestling with doubt and the trauma of war after achieving victory. We also meet Parasto, who risks her life running clandestine girls’ schools under the new Taliban regime, and Fahim, a rags-to-riches tycoon who is forced to flee. With intimate access to these and other characters, Rasmussen offers deep insight into a country betrayed by the West and Taliban alike.
Warsaw Testament
by Rokhl Auerbach, Translated by Samuel Kassow
Description
Born in Lanowitz, a small village in rural Podolia, Rokhl Auerbach was a journalist, literary critic, memoirist, and a member of the Warsaw Yiddish literary community before the Holocaust. Upon the German invasion and occupation of Poland in 1939, she was tasked by historian and social activist Emanuel Ringelblum to run a soup kitchen for the starving inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto and later to join his top-secret ghetto archive, the Oyneg Shabes. One of only three surviving members of the archive project, Auerbach’s wartime and postwar writings became a crucial source of information for historians of both prewar Jewish Warsaw and the Warsaw Ghetto. After immigrating to Israel in 1950, she founded the witness testimony division at Yad Vashem and played a key role in the development of Holocaust remembrance. Her memoir Warsaw Testament, based on her wartime writings, paints a vivid portrait of the city’s prewar Yiddish literary and artistic community and of its destruction at the hands of the Nazis.
The Great Mosquito Huntand Other Adventures
by Elizabeth Manson-Bahr
Description
This book is the author’s answer to the question Who do you think you are? set in China, Russia, Egypt, Kenya, Fiji and the US during the 18th to 20th centuries. It describes the battle to discover the causes of malaria. Sir Patrick Manson, the author’s great-grandfather, known as Mosquito Manson, was the first scientist to prove that insects were vectors of disease, a discovery which led to the detection of the malarial parasite. He founded the Chinese Medical School in Hong Kong and the London School of Tropical Medicine. Among his pupils was Sun Yat-sen, the first President of modern China.
It is the story too of plagues and pandemics, of Scottish and German merchants who made their fortunes in 19th century Egypt and 18th century Russia. The author’s mother, orphaned by the Spanish flu, made her way to Africa where she served as a FANY in 1942, marrying Clinton, the third in the family line of tropical medical specialists. The chapters are interspersed with the author’s own childhood memories growing up in Fiji and Kenya.
The Demon of Unrest
A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
by Erik Larson
Description
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War—a simmering crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two. One of Time’s Most Anticipated Books of the Year
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.
Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.”
At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans.
Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink—a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late.
It is hard to believe that December 6, 2022 was the last postdate! I had decided to take a much-needed break but wow! Time flies! I have missed blogging exceedingly and I am delighted to be back at it. What have I been doing meanwhile? Well, there is so much. I have been story writing a bit, crafting a lot, creating art, reading some and writing in my journals quite a bit. Needless to say, I have been hunkered down this winter. Not that the south sees extreme cold winters mind you. I just use that as an excuse. Ha!
Lately, I’ve been making miniature wood houses, dioramas and dollhouse accessories. I’m having a blast! Back in the mid to late 1990’s I collected miniature tea sets and whatnot. I must confess, I miss those days of collecting miniatures. The combination of that past love and seeing people’s new works of dioramas sparked a fire in me to start creating miniatures. Was it a couple years ago or maybe it was last year, I had worked on a few miniature wood houses but nothing really came of it until now? Yes, indeed.
I’ve got so many ideas and I’m just getting my feet wet. Recently, I’ve made quite a few and I do have many of them available in my Instagram shop for sale. Plus, I have five Book Nook’s I’m creating for family this year. Excited! You should see my list of everything I want to create and the list keeps getting longer. There is simply not enough time on the day! I look forward to sharing more with you all and if you haven’t already, please follow my blog and stop by on Instagram to say hello or you may do so in the comment area below! Blessings to you and yours!
In the last few years, I’ve been going through cycles of reading slumps-for various reasons- or just wanting to listen to stories rather than reading a physical copy. That said, despite by fiction genre reading slump, I’ve stayed the course with my non-fiction reading.
In the last few weeks, I’ve gotten back to reading more fiction regularly and selecting paperbacks and hardbacks from my personal library. Turning back and reading fiction I’ve already read helped me get my groove back. What a wonderful feeling of rediscovering your passion for stories all over again.
Four out of five of these books listed were recommend to me by a friend who is a fellow book blogger. She had texted me pictures of her latest book piles and I was so intrigued by the titles; I quickly did a search on the descriptions on a few of them and knew they are what I would intent on reading.
Which one stands out to you? Have you read any of these titles yet? I can’t wait to get acquire these books!
Disclaimer: I do not support, control or endorse the adds that are showing on my blog.
Stephanie Hopkins
The Immortals of Tehran by Ali Araghi
A sweeping, multigenerational epic, this stunning debut heralds the arrival of a unique new literary voice.
As a child living in his family’s apple orchard, Ahmad Torkash-Vand treasures his great-great-great-great grandfather’s every mesmerizing word. On the day of his father’s death, Ahmad listens closely as the seemingly immortal elder tells him the tale of a centuries-old family curse . . . and the boy’s own fated role in the story.
Ahmad grows up to suspect that something must be interfering with his family, as he struggles to hold them together through decades of famine, loss, and political turmoil in Iran. As the world transforms around him, each turn of Ahmad’s life is a surprise: from street brawler, to father of two unusually gifted daughters; from radical poet, to politician with a target on his back. These lives, and the many unforgettable stories alongside his, converge and catch fire at the center of the Revolution.
Exploring the brutality of history while conjuring the astonishment of magical realism, The Immortals of Tehran is a novel about the incantatory power of words and the revolutionary sparks of love, family, and poetry–set against the indifferent, relentless march of time.
The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson
A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.
Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy—and one final scavenger hunt.
When Miranda returns home to Los Angeles and to Prospero Books—now as its owner—she finds clues that Billy has hidden for her inside novels on the store’s shelves, in locked drawers of his apartment upstairs, in the name of the store itself. Miranda becomes determined to save Prospero Books and to solve Billy’s last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy’s past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda’s mother has kept hidden—and the terrible secret that tore her family apart.
Bighearted and trenchantly observant, The Bookshop of Yesterdays is a lyrical story of family, love and the healing power of community. It’s a love letter to reading and bookstores, and a testament to how our histories shape who we become.
The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks
In the middle ages, a famous poet told a story that mocked a strong woman. It became a literary classic. But what if the woman in question had a chance to tell her own version?
England, 1364: When married off at aged twelve to an elderly farmer, brazen redheaded Eleanor quickly realizes it won’t matter what she says or does, God is not on her side—or any poor women for that matter. But then again, Eleanor was born under the joint signs of Venus and Mars, making her both a lover and a fighter.
Aided by a head for business (and a surprisingly kind husband), Eleanor manages to turn her first marriage into success, and she rises through society from a cast-off farm girl to a woman of fortune who becomes a trusted friend of the social-climbing poet Geoffrey Chaucer. But more marriages follow—some happy, some not—several pilgrimages, many lovers, murder, mayhem, and many turns of fortune’s wheel as Eleanor pursues the one thing that all women want: control of their own lives.
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, in West London after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.
Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home.
When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list…hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.
Her Lost Words by Stephanie Marie Thornton
From A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to Frankenstein, a tale of two literary legends–a mother and daughter–discovering each other and finding themselves along the way, from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Marie Thornton.
1792. As a child, Mary Wollstonecraft longed to disappear during her father’s violent rages. Instead, she transforms herself into the radical author of the landmark volume A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she dares to propose that women are equal to men. From conservative England to the blood-drenched streets of revolutionary France, Mary refuses to bow to society’s conventions and instead supports herself with her pen until an illicit love affair challenges her every belief about romance and marriage. When she gives birth to a daughter and is stricken with childbed fever, Mary fears it will be her many critics who recount her life’s extraordinary odyssey…
1815. The daughter of infamous political philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, passionate Mary Shelley learned to read by tracing the letters of her mother’s tombstone. As a young woman, she desperately misses her mother’s guidance, especially following her scandalous elopement with dashing poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary struggles to balance an ever-complicated marriage with motherhood while nursing twin hopes that she might write something of her own one day and also discover the truth of her mother’s unconventional life. Mary’s journey will unlock her mother’s secrets, all while leading to her own destiny as the groundbreaking author of Frankenstein.
It has been quite a while since I’ve last read books on Christian Theology and I feel even more compelled today to come back to this genre.
I’m curious about the books I have listed below and will be reading them at some point in time. Have you heard of these books? Have you read any of them?
The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission (Biblical Theology for Life) by Christopher J. H. Wright
In, The Mission of God’s People, Wright shows how God’s big-picture plan directs the purpose of God’s people, the church. Wright emphasizes what the Old Testament teaches Christians about being the people of God. He addresses questions of both ecclesiology and missiology with topics like “called to care for creation,” “called to bless the nations,” “sending and being sent,” and “rejecting false gods.” As part of the Biblical Theology for Life Series, this book provides pastors, teachers, and lay learners with first-rate biblical study while at the same time addressing the practical concerns of contemporary ministry. The Mission of God’s People promises to enliven and refocus the study, teaching, and ministry of those truly committed to joining God’s work in the world.
Far as the Curse Is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption by Michael D. Williams
God’s covenant with his people is an unfolding historical drama with personal and earthly dimensions that are often overlooked. In this study of the meaning and scope of the covenant, Michael D. Williams highlights the goodness of the physical realm and God’s redemptive intentions for his creation.
The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink
This classic work of Arthur W. Pink invites readers to discover the truth about seventeen attributes of God, including his sovereignty, immutability, patience, love, faithfulness, and much more.
More about The Attributes of God:
Bible scholar Arthur W. Pink became a prolific and highly influential evangelical author over the course of the twentieth century, beginning with his monthly magazine Studies in Scriptures. Many of his books began as articles in this small publication, including The Attributes of God. In this work, Pink sets out to reveal the true character of God. He believes that in order to truly know God, we must first submit to God and follow in his footsteps. The people that do know their God shall be strong (Dan. 11:32).
It is the author’s hope that those who listen to these words shall be blessed and see their lives transformed by the power of God.
“Journal writing, when it becomes a ritual for transformation, is not only life-changing but life-expanding.” – Jen Williamson.
A little writing warm-up is just the ticket to get you started. When you open your journal or notebook to a blank page, oftentimes you feel as if that blank page is like not knowing a destination to choose. Quite frankly, writing takes you on unexpected destinations. One of the best ways to get started -there are many- is by practicing with questions.
Grab your paper/notebook and preferred writing tool and let’s get started. First, begin writing the words below. Be sure to allow enough space to write your sentences.
Book
City
Mountain
Restaurant
Person
Movie
Start with the first word in the column, which is book. Write the title of the book you last read and your general thoughts on the story or the information you read. Then move on to, city. What was the last city you visited other than the one you live in? What did you do? Below is the selection of questions to answer for each word in the column.
Mountain: What is the name of a mountain you visited and explored? Write your experience.
Restaurant: What is the name of the last restaurant you ate at and were you with anyone? Write about that and what you ate. Was the restaurant busy? Describe the atmosphere.
Person: Who was the person you last talked to and what was the conversation about and feeling?
Movie: What was the title of the last movie you saw? Who were the actors who starred in the show? What was the movie about? Did you like it?
You can have a lot of fun with this writing exercise and there are endless basic topics like these to get you started. Whether you are a beginner writer or a seasoned one, this exercise is great for any level of writing. Who knows, you might find a story idea for a book inspired by the warm-up.
Lists are fun to write. Especially, lists about what you want to write about. My lists normally contain stories I want to write, blog posts, books I want to read, books to review, daily or weekly to-dos and so on… I try my best to keep the list updated, but not always. I actually skip a day or two. Okay, I’ve been known to skip a week or even a month. Yikes! I know. Is it unreasonable for me to say that we’ve all probably done that? Afterall, writers are known for their procrastination’s. I like to journal in the morning to start my day and sometimes I compile my list there. Not always, mind you. Months, even years down the road, I will find loose sheets of paper with lists on them scattered in odd places. I love organization but it is not my strong suite in a couple areas. Did I just write that out loud? Finding lists, you write years later in odd places is actually fun. When you read them, you’re either eye rolling, laughing or thinking how far you’ve come in your writing. Same goes for reading journals you’ve kept over the years. They’re always full of surprises.
Past written lists can even spark forgotten memories and give you more material to write about. Like this blog post for example. The list I found was one I write last September on a pink notepad and it contained blog post topics I want to write about. Did I accomplish those tasks? Err… not exactly but in my defense, I was busy making books to use as journals and paper-crafting. No time like the present to tackle that forgotten list. What is on that list, you ask. Well, I wrote about regular blog posts I used to post and new ones I wanted to start. For example, cover crushes. I loved writing about book covers that catch my eye and I’ve sorely neglected that series. I’m still in the thinking stages about bring that back and if there are any changes, I want to make to it. Other items on the list mentions daily blog posts, regular monthly themes of writing and crafting. I’ve also added to that list! I want to write more about my journey of continual education and what I discover on that-at times-rocky road. I have to remind myself to pace myself. There is so much material and I want to read and study it all at once! I want to know everything about everything. An impossible undertaking, I know. I digress.
Lists are important to me. Are they important to you? Do you relate to my thoughts on the subject? Have you found forgotten lists from years past?
Not only does the design of a book help catch a reader’s eye but the title does as well. I’m drawn to clever book titles and how the writer decides what to caption the story. Often times, when I’m reading a book, I look for the phrase in the story or a situation that the writer was inspired to use to create the title.
Titles matter in the scheme of things when it comes to not only selling a book, but by giving a reader’s imagination of what is inside. What and how the story is weaved and so begins the world building.
In this post, I’m sharing three book titles I came across recently that has captured my interest. -Stephanie Hopkins
The Lost Chapterby Caroline Bishop
Pub Date May 3rd 2022
England, present day.
At eighty years old, Florence Carter is content with her life. A widow in her twilight years, she spends her days making intricate lino prints in the company of her dog and cat, and her neighbors’ daughter Alice, a shy young woman troubled by a recent trauma. But when Flo learns that a long-lost friend has written a novel based on their time at finishing school, she’s forced to confront a secret from her past…
France, 1957.
In post-war Lyon, Florence and Lilli meet at a strict finishing school for girls. Florence—or Flo as she’s known—is a demure young Englishwoman who is expected to enter society and make a good marriage. Lilli, meanwhile, is a brash American with an independent spirit and thirst for adventure. Despite their differences, they forge a firm friendship that promises to last a lifetime—until a terrible betrayal tears them apart. Now, as Flo reads Lilli’s book, she struggles to separate fact from fiction. Desperate for answers, she decides to take a road trip to France to find Lilli, and she invites Alice and her mother Carla to join her, in hopes the change of scenery will lift their spirits. But when they reach Lyon, it’s Flo who needs help as the buried truth from long ago threatens to overwhelm her.
The Lost Chapter is a poignant novel about the power of friendship and a beautiful reminder that it’s never too late to start writing a different story.
Hook Them or Lose Them (An Author’s Guide to Catching Readers on Page One) by D. Leitao
Pub Date 25 Apr 2022
Description
Yes, you can hook your readers from page one.
This book is based on a workshop I gave a while ago. Even as I was preparing the workshop, trying to distill the essence of crafting hooky stories in simple, easy-to-understand concepts, I was amazed.
Nobody had ever explained this to me.
Most of the books and courses on writing and structure don’t really touch on that. Truly. You could do all the steps in Save the Cat and totally miss how to hook readers because this information simply isn’t there.
I realized I had found something special; an easy way to help writers identify what works and doesn’t for their beginning paragraphs, and how to get the readers hooked in their stories. And that’s why I’m putting it in this book; because I think my explanation can help writers.
When I say help, I truly mean help, I don’t mean tying writers down with another concept that might stifle their creativity. This book is not about sticking your writing into a box or following rigid rules. While it provides tips and techniques to help you craft stories that readers won’t quit, the advice is simple, easy, and flexible enough not to hinder your writing style or dampen your inspiration. Still, it should quench many of your doubts on whether your writing is hooky or not, so that you can spend more time creating and less time worrying.
I’ll also provide you with advice for beginnings and examples of efficient first paragraphs so that you’ll never again freak out wondering how to start your book. Instead, you’ll feel confident that you can hook your reader from the first page.
The Shell and the Octopus – A Memoir by Rebecca Stirling
Pub Date 26 Jul 2022
Description
This is the story of Rebecca Stirling’s childhood: a young girl raised by the sea, by men, and by literature. Circumnavigating the world on a thirty-foot sailboat, the Stirling’s spend weeks at a time on the open ocean, surviving storms and visiting uncharted islands and villages. Ushered through her young life by a father who loves adventure, women, and extremes, Rebecca befriends “working girls” in the ports they visit (as they are often the only other females present in the bars that they end up in) and, on the boat, falls in love with her crewmate and learns to live like the men around her. But her driven nature and the role models in the books she reads make her determined to be a lady, continue her education, begin a career, live in a real home, and begin a family of her own. Once she finally gets away from the boat and her dad and sets to work upon making her own dream a reality, however, Rebecca begins to realize life is not what she thought it would be—and when her father dies in a tragic accident, she must return to her old life to sift through the mess and magic he has left behind.
Layered Pages 