Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Soliciting Your Suggestions!

Hello, everyone! Yes, I am soliciting your suggestions. And to make sure I was using that first s word right, I looked it up. The meaning I’m going for here – “to ask or seek, earnestly or pleadingly; appeal to or for.” Yup, that’s what I’m doing.

As you know, I’m always reading and always looking for new book ideas. So I want your help to find more books to enjoy. And at least as importantly, I want to review the books that you want to hear about. If you can answer (or help me with in any way) any of the questions below, please do so in a comment!

·         Is there a book that you’re wondering if I’ve reviewed? I probably know if I have or not, so ask. J

·         Is there a book that you don’t think I’ve reviewed, but would like to see a review of? Maybe even (*delightedly*) several books? I really love books. J Again, ask! I’m not allowed to read most romances that are being written more recently (in other words, Jane Austen, yes, a newer author, probably not).

·         How about movies? I’m far from being a complete movie junkie who watches tons, but I’m always open to suggestions. Have you seen a good one that you want my thoughts on? Maybe a period drama? Maybe something newer?

·         We’re really getting off the book theme here, but do you have a singer to recommend? You probably have noticed that most “modern” music (ie, the stuff enjoyed by many teens [yes, I called it “stuff” not “music”]) is not something I enjoy. But Christian singers? Or at least ones who are clean?

·         Do you have an author who you’ve really enjoyed, but think that maybe I haven’t read? Suggest them (yes, plural). I love finding new authors. It might be an author who you think I’d enjoy reading some books by and then interviewing. It might just be an author who you think I’d like to check out!

·         Do you have any random suggestions for or thoughts about this blog? No, this has nothing to do with reading, but yes, I’m still curious. If you’re shy, comment for this under the anonymous setting. J

There you go! Surely most of you can think of SOMETHING for a question or two. J I’d love to have tons of suggestions! Feel free to leave a long list if you’d like (I would totally love that ;). I will try to reply to your comments as I publish them, so check back.

And if you can think of a book, movie, singer, or someone/something else that doesn’t fit into the above categories, but that you think would interest me, mention them too.

P.S. If none of the above questions brought a suggestion to mind…have you read a good book (or two or three or four or five etc) lately? Tell me the title. J I’m always curious what others are reading.

Now comment! I’m dying of curiosity down here. Really.

10 comments:

Miss Dashwood said...

For books I would suggest...
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller by Sarah Miller


For movies... (not sure if you've seen any of these or not!)
Amazing Grace
I Remember Mama
National Velvet
Treasures of the Snow (great Christian film!)
So Dear to my Heart
Little Dorrit (BBC miniseries)
Cranford (BBC miniseries)
Up (Disney-Pixar)
Fiddler on the Roof

For music...
I highly recommend the Irish Tenors, as well as Charlotte Church's earlier work if you like classical crossover (which I do. :D) I'm not sure what your music tastes are though, so I'm not sure if I can offer many suggestions.

Ella said...

Some really good christian singers are Sara Groves,Bethany Dillon,MercyMe,Brandon Heath,and Nicole Nordman.
Some books that you might enjoy are Mysteries of Middlefield series by Kathleen Fuller,SummerHill secrets Series by Beverly Lewis, and The Princess Adelina by Julie Sutter.
I hope that helps!

birdienl said...

I don't think I've commented here before, but I've been following your blog for a while now and really like reading your posts, especially about period drama and Christian novels (a.k.a. almost every post!), because those are subjects I'm very much into as well

Here are some suggestions from my personal reading list (Though as I'm from The Netherlands, and books arrive usually a few years later here than in the English speaking world, you might have read most of these already):
- I'd love to see reviews of anything by Lynn Austin, I think she's one of the best Christian authors. An interview would be great too.
- Maureen Lang
- Tricia Goyer
- Julie Klassen
- Deeanne Gist
- I haven't read them myself, but I'm very curious after the modern Austen retellings by Debra White Smith, which is a Christian author.

Good luck with my list!

Ella said...

I thought of two more book series you might enjoy.
Adventures in the Northwoods and Viking Quest both of which are written by Lois Walfred Johnson.

Charity U said...

Oh, this is exactly what I wanted! THank you SO much. :) I'm delighted. :)

MISS DASHWOOD: love "Scarlet Pimpernel." "Johnny Tremain" is another good one. I've read "North and South", didn't love it, but it was fine. P. G. Wodehouse is a fun author! Not sure if I've read that one or not. I read several of the books by Streatfeild...I know for sure "Ballet Shoes," not sure about this one. Will put the rest of those on my list!
As for the movies...I desperately want to see "Amazing Grace." :) And "Cranford." Just watched "Little Dorrit" recently! Really enjoyed that one, a review is coming soon! "Fiddler on the Roof..." I like the first 1/2, not the second so much. And "Up" I didn't really like either. (My favorite animated ones are "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Ratatouille." :)The rest of those...on my list! :)
I will look into the Irish Tenors. I do have Charlotte Church's "Prelude" CD (the Best of CC) which is a favorite of mine. I especially love her duet of "The Prayer" with Josh Groban! :) I don't know what kind of music to say I like. Singers like Josh Turner (country), Michael Buble (dunno), Katherine Jenkins (ummm...high soprano?), Susan Boyle, etc. :)
Thank you SO much, Miss Dashwood! Great lists. :)

ELLA: I haven't read any of those you suggested, so they're all going on my list! Thank you tons, I can't wait to read them. :)

BIRDIENL: I don't think I've seen you here before either...welcome! I'm glad you enjoy my posts. :) Yeah, I write a lot of posts about period dramas and Christian novels! A review of the period drama "Little Dorrit" should be coming in a few weeks.
Okay, let's see here. Lynn Austin. Trying to remember what she wrote...looked it up on goodreads. Are they romances? Because I'm not allowed to read most of those, sadly. But if they aren't predominately romances, then I will do my best to get ahold of some and will review them! And if I like them, yes, I'll do my best to arrange an interview.
Again, is Maureen Lang a romance writer? I have come across Tricia Goyer before, but am not allowed to read her books. :( Wow, her "Swiss Courier" book looks interesting! Maybe I can read it, I'll see. :)
Julie Klassen...I read one of her books before the no-romance ban came on, so to speak. It's reviewed...let me grab you a link real quick. Here: http://austenitis.blogspot.com/2011/05/apothecarys-daughter.html I liked that book. :)
Deanne Gist, again, romance. Sorry!
I haven't heard of those re-tellings before! goodreads.com (where I research most of my books) just went down temporarily, (as I'm writing this looong comment) so I can't look them up now. However, I'm remembering! If I read and enjoy them, a review will come.
Again, thank you so much for the suggestions! Can't wait to check them out. :) And how cool that you live in the Netherlands! I don't think I've known anyone who lives there before.

ELLA again: I will check into those series as well! They sound interesting. Thanks to the ideas!

Again, THANK YOU everyone! You're making my day. :)

birdienl said...

What do you consider romance exactly? When this is the main plotpoint? Or when there is kissing involved? I'm not judging, I'm just curious. Because most novels, even Christian ones, have some kind of romance as a subplot and it would be tricky to find novels to read then, besides adventure.

Personally, I don't think either Lynn Austin or Maureen Lang's novels are romance novels. Tricia Goyer's Swiss Courier has only very little romance in it, other than already established relationships.

birdienl said...

Oh, I just thought, maybe you could try Jeffrey Overstreet's The Colours of Auralia series. I don't know if you like fantasy, but this is Christian Fantasy of the very best sort!

Ella said...

Your welcome!

Charity U said...

Birdienl, good question. What DO I consider a romance? I'd say anything where the main storyline is girl meets guy, falls in love, has some problems, overcomes problems, marries guy. I don't mind kissing (as long it's pure, if you know what I mean). If it's a semi-minor subplot, I can probably. Finding books with absolutely NO romance is pretty much impossible. But if a book is categorized by the publisher as a romance, or if you would call it a romance (a love story, basically), then I probably can't read it.

Make sense? :)

birdienl said...

Yes, thanks for explaining it! In that case I think I 'agree' with what I said in my previous comment about the books of Lynn Austin, Maureen Lang and The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer.

I'll keep an eye out for any other books I come across. Here in The Netherlands we have a magazine published by the Christian bookstores which tells of all the new publications coming out. I devour those magazines! Do you have anything similar in the USA?