May 2022 Spell the Month in Books Linkup

Welcome to the second Saturday of the month – which means it’s Spell the Month in Books linkup day!

Spell the Month in Books is a linkup hosted here on Reviews From the Stacks on the second Saturday of each month. The goal, inspired by a hashtag I first encountered on Instagram, is to spell the current month with the first letter of book titles, excluding articles such as ‘the’ and ‘a’ as needed. That’s all there is to it! Some months there are theme challenges, such as “books with an orange cover” or books of a particular genre, but for the most part, any book you want to use is fair game! To participate, simply make a post, comment, or picture of the books you choose. They can be books you physically own or simply titles you have come across. Most of the time I create a virtual bookstack from titles on my Goodreads shelves. If you make a list, please share a link to your post in the comments so that I and other participants can see! There is also a Spell the Month in Books button which you can use in your posts. To use it, copy the code from the box below my list and paste it into your blog editor in HTML mode (for WordPress users, insert a “Custom HTML” block and paste the code there).

Theme: Books I want to read this summer ☀⛱👒🕶

M – Mystery on Magnolia Circle by Kate Klise

About the Book: On the first day of vacation, ten-year-old Ivy Crowden falls down the stairs and breaks her leg. Stuck in a plaster cast, she’s certain her summer is doomed. Not even Teddy, her neighbor and best friend, can cheer her up because he’s dealing with his own pain: the loss of a beloved dog.

But when Ivy witnesses a possible burglary from her living room window, her summer takes a sudden turn from meh to mysterious. Who are the criminals? Might a classmate be involved? And . . . uh-oh. A second mystery is nipping at Ivy’s heels. Cue the best friends, the best dog, and the best chance that summer can be saved!

Juvenile Contemporary Fiction

Published August 2021

Comments: This book is a 2022-2023 Sequoyah Award nominee. I want to read a few of the nominees this summer so that when children or parents ask about them next fall, I not only recognize the title but can also talk about which ones their children might like best and find similar titles when requested.

A – Abide in Love (Cliff Walk Cousins #2) by Cecily K. Wolfe

About the Book: Eight years ago, Ruby Travers met a sweet, smiling boy as they traveled across the Atlantic on a luxury ocean liner with their families. Countless letters have passed between them, and Matthew is certain he is in love with the vivacious, beautiful girl he spent hours with on that boat long ago. When he finally returns from Europe intent on meeting her again, will Ruby’s affection be dangerously engaged when he reveals his true feelings? 

Young Adult Historical Fiction; Clean/Christian Romance

Published October 2021

Comments: Cecily Wolfe’s books are a perfect summer treat! It’s been a while since I read the first book in this series (which is a spinoff of another series I loved), so I may have to go back and reread Faithful in Love (which I reviewed here) before opening this one. High hopes for this!

Y – You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World by Alan Noble

About the Book: “You are your own, and you belong to yourself.” This is the fundamental assumption of modern life. And if we are our own, then it’s up to us to forge our own identities and to make our lives significant. But while that may sound empowering, it turns out to be a crushing responsibility–one that never actually delivers on its promise of a free and fulfilled life, but instead leaves us burned out, depressed, anxious, and alone. This phenomenon is mapped out onto the very structures of our society, and helps explain our society’s underlying disorder. But the Christian gospel offers a strikingly different vision. As the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, “I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” In You Are Not Your Own, Alan Noble explores how this simple truth reframes the way we understand ourselves, our families, our society, and God. Contrasting these two visions of life, he invites us past the sickness of contemporary life into a better understanding of who we are and to whom we belong.

Nonfiction – Theology/Christian Living

Published October 2021

Comments: I initially checked this out from the library last year when it was published, but I don’t think I got past the first chapter because I was overwhelmed with school at the moment. However, since Noble’s previous book (Disruptive Witness) is easily one of my favorites, I wanted to come back to this one and try again to read it. I just checked it back out again, and I’m looking forward to designating it as my morning coffee read.

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What books do you want to read this summer? Is anyone else reading children’s books to prepare for the next school year, or is that just me?

Until the next chapter,

Jana