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Lynda Tschabold's avatar

I’m half way through You Could Make This Place Beautiful, by Maggie Smith.

Recommended by a beautiful talented friend of mine!🥰 I love it.

Also, I hope SPL orders The Talk for it’s middle schools! I’ll recommend it.😊

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Andrea Bass's avatar

I'm glad you're enjoying the Smith book! I LOVE the cover. It's so pretty.

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Mary Hutto Fruchter's avatar

Another great list! 7 books is impressive. Have you ever listened to Jennifer Knapp or Jars of Clay? I agree with your comment about Christian music. I don’t like any stories that are more about preaching than about the story, but there’s a few artists that I liked in college and still listen to.

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Andrea Bass's avatar

I was OBSESSED with Jennifer Knapp and Jars of Clay in middle and high school. JK was my first concert. I still enjoy some of their stuff.

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

I’m so intrigued with your description of Study For Obedience! I also had a great reading month in January and look forward to continuing on my reading journey - wherever it takes me.

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Andrea Bass's avatar

I love the idea of being open to wherever your reading journey takes you. I think that mindset allows readers to find the best books.

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

One of my reading goals for this year is to not let my book choices be dictated by what’s shiny & new. If I find an author that I love, I want to give myself to take a deep-dive into that author’s backlist (I did this last year with an author and it was highly rewarding). I also want my reading to not be pressured by a goal to read a certain number of books each year - I read for pleasure, not for a metric to achieve!

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Andrea Bass's avatar

Love that! So well said.

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Jessica Grosman's avatar

So, I won’t be reading the new Kiley Reid book anytime soon…it’s everywhere at the moment and if I feel compelled at a later date to read it, I will. From what you wrote, I’m not missing much by skipping it for now.

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Martha Anne Toll's avatar

I am so glad to see the shout out to Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water. I read it when it came out in the US and was absolutely blown away. I hope it gets for attention in America.

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Andrea Bass's avatar

He's an author who deserves a lot of attention, for sure. I'm eager to read his second book.

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Martha Anne Toll's avatar

Me too!

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