Favorite Books of 2019

Normally, it's hard for me to narrow down my list of favorite books in any particular year. This year, though, there were three standouts among the over 200 books I read.

This isn't to say there weren't other books I adored, loved, or cherished. There were plenty I enjoyed throughout the year. This is simply the short list of which ones stood out the most to me in 2019.

Finding Lady Enderly by Joanna Davidson Politano

Raina Bretton is a rag woman in London's east end when a handsome stranger appears in a dank alley and offers her a glittering smile and a chance for adventure. Rothburne Abbey has a unique position for her, one that will take her away from her hardscrabble life and give her a chance to be a lady. Things she could only dream of might be coming true. But some dreams turn out to be nightmares.

Merry Christmas!

May the Lord bless your family and you this Christmas season.

November Review {part 3}

Movies and Sports

November was quite busy with both movies and sports for me. This included hanging out with friends and family, which is always a special thing for me. I never take for granted that these incredible people are in my life.

Movies

There were quite a few movies out at the theater last month that looked quite interesting. The following are the ones I saw, and I enjoyed all of them. It was fun to not uncover a dud among the group. As often as I go to the theater throughout the year (not normally as frequently as it has been in recent weeks), it’s not unusual to stumble upon a movie or two that didn’t quite make the cut for me. It’s always a treat when I hit a streak of great and enjoyable films.

November Review {Part 2} + a FREE recipe

Thanksgiving

Food, family, and gratitude worked together to create wonderful memories during the holiday. Remember all those recipes I mentioned a few weeks ago? I got them all done! The seafood bisque was a bit treacherous to make (here’s a tip: when making a bisque, go ahead and get all the ingredients measured and prepped prior to starting and work quickly once you begin), but it turned out scrumptious. The cod pieces melted in my mouth, and I’m not even a huge seafood fan.

My favorite discovery was a tie between the pineapple cream cheese cobbler and the honey biscuits. I’ll be making both a few more times throughout the upcoming year, I think. They were delicious! The honey biscuits were especially fun, because the honey taste came through so beautifully. They were the first from-scratch biscuits I’ve ever made, and it was a fabulous recipe for my debut. It was simple and easy to follow while creating a lovely scent in my home while they were baking.

November Review {part one}

Late again, I’m afraid. The holidays and recovery from the busy week have caught up to me, apparently. I’ll try to do better next week, y’all.

The next few weeks here at Writing to Inspire will be a recap of my November. I'm eager to hear about yours too, so please share in the comment section as you're able.

NaNoWriMo

November’s writing challenge, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), was wonderful for me. I started out editing several chapters of an old favorite, but then I discovered writing crawls in the NaNo forums.

Writing crawls usually contain different tasks within a story format, and each task is writing related. For example, you might be challenged to write 300 words in 15 minutes, to sprint to 100 words, or to write for 30 minutes without taking a break. Some of the crawls even incorporate stretch breaks, snack times, and exercises to keep the back, wrists, and neck from getting too tight from being hunched over the computer (or pad of paper).