Book Blogger Hop

I don't often participate in Hops, but this one jumped out at me, demanding my attention!

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!

This week's question comes from Ellie who blogs at Musings of a Bookshop Girl:

"If I gave you £50 (or $80) and sent you into a bookshop right now, what would be in your basket when you finally staggered to the till?"

If I were to be truly sensible, I'd say "Sorry, I already have too many books!" And I'm not kidding - my room at university is tiny, so most of my books are stored in a giant box in my wardrobe, or in piles on my floor. One day, the floor will cave in and I'll finally meet my downstairs neighbours... I also have seven shelves full of books at home, as well as a giant box under my bed and one in the attic. Not to mention all the books piled on my desk that my dad keeps reminding me about whenever I call home...

But hey, maybe my fiancé will let me start storing books at his house? :)

If so, I'd definitely buy the following (going with the pricing on christianbook.com):

A Place of Peace is #3 in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series by Amy Clipston, one of my favourite Amish authors. It came out a few months ago but, being a poor student, I haven't got around to buying it yet. I do still have some Christmas money left and I've been contemplating buying some new clothes...but maybe I'll get this? I can always darn my socks a fourth time!

Lilly's Wedding Quilt is #2 in Kelly Long's Patch of Heaven series. I'll admit, I already read an ARC of this (look out for a review soon!) and it was FANTASTIC! I loved her first book but this was even better. It's not often that I consider buying a copy of a book I have on my Kindle, but I know I could read this again and sigh over Jacob and Lilly's romance a second time. And a third... (P.S. Check out my review of this book over at The Christian Manifesto. They'll be running a 5-book giveaway of Lilly's Wedding Quilt on the 21st, so keep checking back for updates!)

I have read SO many excellent reviews of A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell. I've yet to read one of her books, but I did get She Walks in Beauty as a Kindle freebie this month. I'm definitely going through a Historical Romance phase right now, and while I love my Westerns (I'm looking at you, Mary Connealy and Kelly Eileen Hake!) this book looks incredibly appealing. How can you resist that cover? So pretty!

Ann H. Gabhart is another new author, although I have had my eyes on her Shaker series for sometime. But Angel Sister is another one that's been popping up on blogs and GoodReads over the past few months. It's an early 20th century historical novel, possibly entirely devoid of romance (!), but looks incredibly intriguing. Plus, isn't the little girl just so cute? I watched a film with my fiancé a few months ago, about which he said "You'll like this film, it has a cute little girl in it." I'm rather predictable in that respect! Stick a toddler or a baby on a cover and I'll be sure to admire it.

...you see my point? This book has two appeals - babies AND the Amish! I read one of Mindy Starns Clark's suspense novels set amongst the Amish (another review to look out for) and really enjoyed it. And while I do like to read a good mystery every now and then, The Amish Midwife is more my kind of book! It has a bit of a mystery in it, too, according to the synopsis. I'm intrigued by the idea of a joint-authorship. It's worked in the few cases I've read, so I'd definitely be interested in reading this one.

A Man of His Word by Kathleen Fuller was actually released in 2009, but I'm putting it on this list as I adored her novella in An Amish Love. And yes, it's another Amish novel - but they're just so sweet! And I always feel the need to do some knitting or sewing once I've finished one of these books. Which is quite handy, as most of my jeans are falling apart right now. Maybe I should stop spending all my spare money on books and visit a clothes shop instead...

I've been wanting to read one of the Love Finds You books in quite some time, and Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas by Janice Hanna jumped out at me from my wishlist. The idea of a headstrong female writer acting as a matchmaker sounds like it'd make a great read, and I do love my small-town prairie stories. To be honest, I have most of the Love Finds You historical romances on my wishlist as they all look so good!

Come on, doesn't this cover look exactly like a scene from Little House on the Prairie? Which, by the way, I'm slightly obsessed with right now. I've yet to read a novel by Kim Vogel Sawyer but Courting Miss Amsel looks like a good place to start as the reviews are excellent.

But looking at the piles of books around my room, I'll have to resign myself to admitting that I really don't need $80 worth of books right now. But if God feels the need to bless me with new books, I definitely won't be complaining!