To Read or Not to Read ~ Maressa Mortimer

 

I love reading. But I love reading my books, or rather, my kind of books. I would devour books at top speed, but if it was a book issued by school, it would be left at the bottom of the pile. Only because I had been told to read it. Isn’t that odd? Sometimes I would regret shuffling it down the stack of library books, for the book turned out to be a lot better than I thought.

Did that help the next time I was told to read a particular book? Not at all. Even now, particular people telling me a book is a must-read, waving it at me, makes that book drop down the TBR Pile at alarming rates. Even if I had been planning on reading it some time anyway.

Now you know my stubbornness, you might be surprised to know that I review for three different Book Tour companies. “Doesn’t that count as someone telling you what to read, and even when to read?” You would think so! But I get to choose what I read, and in what month. So maybe that is what makes the difference?

The Nature of Small Birds, by Susie Finkbeiner

A few of the books have been hard work, although I will always read to the end of a book. Some books have been fine, or nice. Several books have been amazing. This week, I read one of those amazing books. It was by a fellow Christian writer, and I had been looking forward to her book, as we had a brief chat on the Book of Faces about her book. Even vaguely knowing the writer makes me want to read their books.

This book, The Nature of Small Birds, didn’t have that much to do with birds but dealt with adoption, family relationships and trusting God. I loved it. It was such an intriguing, soothing read, full of helpful wisdom and blessings. I had to read it before a certain date, but that was no trouble at all. My perverseness in rejecting must-read books didn’t stand a chance. Here is the link to my review.

I can't wait to start reading The Trials of Isabella M. Smugge!

There is another reason for not reading a book. That is because I know it’s going to be so amazing, I don’t want it to end, so I don’t even start. At the moment I have one book like that winking at me: The Trials of Isabella M. Smugge by our Ruth! I can’t wait to read it, but I don’t want it to end either. I have been desperately waiting for this book ever since I read the last lines of The Life of Isabella M. Smugge. And now it’s here, sitting on my shelf, making my fingers itch to read it. But then I will finish the book. And Ruth hasn’t finished book three yet.

At the moment I’m reading through some of my TBR books, getting my days back into a kind of rhythm after a mad few months. Life has been messy and disorganised, leaving me to read and write at the weirdest of times or not at all. With the kids’ schoolwork starting and classes at set times, life is getting back on track, and I’m rushing through a murder mystery, counting the pages till I’m going to settle in with Isabella. The humbug has gone already, by the way.

Maressa Mortimer is Dutch but lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, England with her husband and four (adopted) children. Maressa is a homeschool mum as well as a pastor’s wife, so her writing has to be done in the evening when peace and quiet descend on the house once more. She loves writing Christian fiction, as it’s a great way to explore faith in daily life. Because of her interest in writing, Maressa is part of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion For Writing, an anthology encouraging people to write.

Her debut novel, Sapphire Beach, was published in December 2019, and her first self published novel, Walled City, came out in December 2020, followed by Viking Ferry, a novella. Beyond the Hills is the second book in the Elabi Chronicles, and was released on June 18^th 2021. All of Maressa’s books are available from her website, www.vicarioushome.com, Amazon or local bookshops.