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Emily C Gardner

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25 Bunny Books perfect for Spring
13 Wintery Children’s Books
A Bible Literacy Book Flight
An Advent Book Flight
An Epistolary Book Flight

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You know that saying about the best laid plans....? Yeah, that’s what happened to my slow and contemplative TBR for autumn. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Current situation: I have a bookmark in various places in each of these books. What I don’t finish will be going with me on an upcoming vacation. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Do you stick to your planned TBR or are you more spontaneous with book selections?

Thanks for the ARC, @shadowmtnpublishing! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This sweet, Downton Abbey-esque romance was the perfect palette cleanser after the creepy intricacies of The Shadow of The Wind (which I finished on Friday - holy moly what a fantastic book). It also allowed me to sleep decently while my husband was gone at a fall camp out. 😳 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Promises and Primroses is the beginning of a series and I’m sure I will return to the Mayfield family again.

350 plus pages in and I’ve lost count of how many times my jaw has dropped open reading this book. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you...” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I returned my library copy yesterday and caught the librarian’s eye with a 👌🏻 after hearing her tell a volunteer shelver how good this book was. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #readwithtst

Books and birthdays always go together around these parts - they are a favorite thing to both give and receive. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My little one turned three yesterday and this set of 10 Hairy Maclary books from grandparents was a hit. The scraggly little pup and his band of quirky friends (I’m partial to Schnitzel von Krumm with his very low tum) get up to all sorts of a doggy mischief. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Lynley Dodd is a New Zealand author who knows how to appeal to readers of all ages. It’s a gift to find kids books I don’t mind reading over and over and over again. Her rhyming prose are clever and include interesting words not often in American vocabulary. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And how can you resist the argyle border on those covers?

Couldn’t let the page turn on my @idlewildco calendar without immortalizing one of my favorite book collections with the author. ⚡️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When I studied abroad (10 years ago 😳), one of the things I brought home was a copy of the first book in the Harry Potter series from different countries. It is a privilege to travel and I love that these books nod to both a treasured series and a treasured time in my life. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Do you have a book or collection of books that’s extra special or reminds you of a specific time in you life? I’d love to hear about them!

In the 6 years we've been married, my husband and I have lived in 5 homes: 1 borrowed (thanks Gpa + Gma!), 2 rented and 2 owned. It wasn't until we moved into and spruced up our current abode - a small cape cod with generous yard - that I felt like our space truly reflected our style and priorities. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Our house and our sensibilities will always be a work-in-progress but I love having landed on some evergreen elements that will follow us wherever we go. In addition to my mom (whose style I love) and Joanna Gaines (after watching endless re-runs of Fixer Upper in the delivery room waiting for our baby girl to arrive, I was able to identify some looks I could put an Emily twist on), @thenester has been a big influence on how I view my home. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Myquillyn's first book, The Nesting Place, helped me get over my fear of nail holes and quirks. I took her original Cozy Minimalist course and was inspired to curate the things I love in a way that's inviting but not overwhelming. Her second book is coming out October 23rd and it's all about being a Cozy Minimalist - having more style with less stuff. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When you pre-order the book by Oct 3rd you get FREE access to all of her seasonal online courses ($116 value) until. My book is pre-ordered and I am so looking forward to these courses as we usher in new seasons. I treated myself to the Fall course in the middle of work busyness last week and it was perfect: 40ish minutes of inspiring content and a host of well-curated resources (including that 👌🏻playlist I mentioned the other day). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ None of this is sponsored and I'm not even on the launch team for this book. Just very happy with my pre-ordering choices.

Picked this up from the library and got 35 pages in before realizing that I needed to own a copy. Looking forward to reading along with @topshelftext and lots of other book buds. If you aren’t convinced about this book, let me offer a couple of favorite quotes thus far... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “I had never known the pleasure of reading, of exploring the recesses of the soul, of letting myself be carried away by imagination, beauty, and the mystery of fiction and language.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn’t have to understand something to feel it.”

Thank you, @hqstories + @harpercollinsus for the free books. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I think Wuthering Heights is an overrated classic (*ahem* #literaryconfessions), but am I thrilled to have this gorgeous edition on my shelf - I am. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My dislike of the entire story aside, I do think Heathcliff is an interesting character. In Ill Will, Michael Stewart imagines the past that produces such a tragic, tortured Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s novel. This seems like a great dark, but not scary, book to pick up in October. (Hardcover is out, paperback out in Jan.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If you’ve been around here for a bit, you know that I’m an HSP who can’t do thrillers or gruesome mysteries. But I’m discovering an affinity for gothic novels, things with a slow creep and subtle chills. Maybe that’s why I loved Rebecca and have a soft spot for Northanger Abbey... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My current read - Shadow of the Wind - also has the gothic vibe. Any other recommendations?

What a week... Work deadlines for our annual leadership conference have snuck up on me and some distracting health hiccups have made it pretty quiet around here. So I’m jumping into #fridayintroductions to say Hi! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m Emily, SoCal native living in Eastern Pennsylvania with my youth pastor husband and two small kiddos. We love to be outdoors, find new coffee shops (like the one in this photo from a couple weekends ago), and go on road trips. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I feel like I say the exact same thing in every one of these introduction posts, so if you have a question - book life, mom life, spiritual life, whatever - throw them in the comments or in the box in my story and we’ll get to know each other that way 😊. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Have a great weekend, Book Buds!

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