Today’s Blog-tember prompt is right up my alley! I’ve loved reading my whole life, and I have two bookcases and several boxes of books in the attic to prove it 😉 It’s always been my favorite way to learn something new, be inspired, or relax and have fun. I love going to bookstores just to browse the shelves and see what catches my eye, and my Amazon cart is always full of new books I’ve heard or read about. If only I had an unlimited budget…those books would be on my bookshelf instead of in an online shopping cart! 😉 So with that, let’s jump into today’s prompt: a book I recently read, one I’m currently reading, and one I want to read.

The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck. I know anything by Rachel Hauck will be good, so I pre-ordered this one and got it the day it came out. I wasn’t disappointed! This is a story about a veteran, Haley, trying to find her place back in her hometown after her military service and a failed relationship. She sets out to restore an old wedding dress shop with the help of her late best friend’s ex-fiance. Her story is intertwined with the story of the shop’s original owner, who ran the shop in the 1930s. They both faced challenges, with the shop and with growing into the women God made them to be. It was a heartwarming story involving two sweet romances, with a couple of plot twists that surprised me and made it hard to put the book down! This book also mentioned characters from her two most recent books (The Wedding Dress and The Wedding Chapel), but this is a stand-alone book. I very highly recommend it!

Just a Kiss by Denise Hunter. I’m currently reading this third book in Denise Hunter’s Summer Harbor series. I love that the series takes place in Maine, just a few hours north of where I live! It’s not often I read books that mention towns and cities I’m familiar with 😉 So far, this is shaping up to be another excellent book and a great conclusion to the series!

The Happiness Dare by Jennifer Dukes Lee. I bought this one a few weeks ago, but haven’t started it yet. I’ve been dealing with some anxiety and uncertainty about the future, and I’ve often thought I just wish I could be happy. Here’s the publisher’s description of the book:

Would you like to be happier? No matter who you are or how you feel, chances are you would answer yes. And Jennifer Dukes Lee was no different. For years, she wrestled with a constant nagging sense that she wasn’t as happy as she could be. At the same time, she felt guilty for wanting something so “shallow.” After all, doesn’t God only care that we find joy in our circumstances? Or is it possible that God really does want us to be happy?

Determined to get answers, Jennifer embarked on a quest to find out whether our happiness matters to God and, if so, how to pursue it in a way that pleases him.

In The Happiness Dare, you’ll learn what she discovered, including how to:

Understand the five happiness styles and maximize yours

Overcome the four biggest obstacles that stand in the way of your happiness

Find your happiness sweet spot—the place, relationship, or activity that gives you the greatest sense of well-being

Discover what you can do in just five minutes a day to be happier

Will you take the dare?

Join Jennifer in the pursuit of your truest, most satisfied, and most faith-filled self.

I’m really excited to read this. One of my goals for this month was to make a dent in my stack of non-fiction books, and I think I’ll be learning a lot from this one! 

What have you been reading recently?