The Springtime in Surrey Tag! (a bookish challenge 🌸)

I saw this tag when I stumbled across Katja H. Labonté’s main author blog, Little Blossoms for Jesus, and realized I’d only been subscribed to her book reviews blog. I most enthusiastically subbed to her author blog…then spent way too long binge-reading the reviews of vintage films on her movie review blog.

Katja’s epic, guys.

(AND NOW I HAVE WAY TOO MANY VINTAGE MOVIES I WANT TO WATCH)

Anyway, I’m excited to do this tag, inspired by the Springtime in Surrey anthology that’s coming out this July! 👀

And I apologize in advance for not linking any of the books I mention. It’s too much work finding them all, linking them, and then navigating to the unwieldy “open in a new tab” WordPress feature. *groans* You should be able to find all the titles by searching them up on the internet! 😉 😝

---

Rules

• There are 2 prompts per week for the month of July, one for the first 3 days of the week (Monday-Wednesday) and one for the last 3 days of the week (Thursday-Saturday). You’re welcome to catch up anytime.
• Feel free to use any social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, blog, Youtube…
• Share about books that fit into the categories, and have fun!  
• Use the hashtag #thespringtimeinsurreytag and tag @wildbluewonderpress!

Categories

Each category is based on a novella from the collection. 

• Jesus, I Am Resting: A book set in an era you love
• The Cottage on the Hill: A book featuring an art form you love [aka dancing, painting, writing, playing piano, etc…]
• If I Knew You Were Coming: A book with a family you love
• Her Heart’s Home: A book featuring your favourite romance
• The Tussie-Mussie: A book that feels like spring
• The Odd Duck Society: A book with your favourite “vibes”/feels [aka a book with an atmosphere you enjoy]
• Fear Not Tomorrows: A book that encouraged you spiritually [doesn’t have to be a Christian or nonfiction book]
• Courage to Stay: A book set in the country [open to your interpretation of what “the country” means to you] 

The Tag

Jesus, I Am Resting: A book set in an era you love

Roseanna M. White’s The Number of Love. It’s set in England during WWI and features code breakers and every British you could wish for. And a darling romance.

‘Nuff said.

Read it.

The Cottage on the Hill: A book featuring an art form you love [aka dancing, painting, writing, playing piano, etc…]

Ooo, I’m thinking of something right now. It’s on the tip of my tongue. Oh! Veiled in Smoke by Jocelyn Green. The heroine, Meg, is an artist and it’s so cool to see how that colors her point-of-view. I love it.

I also absolutely LOVED how piano played a part (no pun intended) in Karen Witemyer’s A Worthy Pursuit. That was so beautiful and satisfying. (And inspiring, seeing as how I’m writing a novel about a pianist myself. *winks*)

Also, Vanessa Hall’s Untold! Molly is an incredibly talented pianist and I adore how her love of piano was incorporated into the story.

And if one counts sewing as an art form (it counts in my book…once again, no pun intended), then I’ll shout out another of Witemyer’s books, A Tailor-Made Bride. That was the first I read of hers, and will always be one of my favorites. The heroine is a dressmaker and the creativity involved in that was so cool to read about.

If I Knew You Were Coming: A book with a family you love

The Wingfeather Saga. The family relationships in that one hit so hard and only add to the many reasons for why I adore that series. You gotta read it.

Also, Julie Lessman’s Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Cousins O’Connor series are all about the same family. She’s a queen at writing families, maybe because the author came from a large family herself. 😉 Each person is so distinct, realistic, and lovable. I could rant about their incredibly well-written family dynamics all day, so I’ll leave it here!

Weirdly enough, I’m intimidated by the thought of writing a large family. It’s so easy for certain people to fade into the background or be poorly developed. But the nice side to that is, once you’ve developed everyone, there’s enough story material to last a lifetime! 😜

Her Heart’s Home: A book featuring your favourite romance

Excuse me.

Did you just say my favorite romance?

*hides under a pillow, overwhelmed at the thought*

I’m going to go with a book I usually don’t bring up for its romance, but it deserves some airtime. Amanda Dyke’s Yours Is the Night. The romance was heart-achingly sweet and tender, and you just need to read it right away, so what are you even waiting for???

Just arm yourself with some tissues.

Cause you’ll need them.

EDIT: I should’ve used this opportunity to rant about Elizabeth Camden’s Beyond All Dreams. THE ROMANCE IN THAT. MY HEART.

The Tussie-Mussie: A book that feels like spring

Anne of Green Gables. Of course. It just gives such lovely spring vibes, with its themes of the beauty and magic of nature. Wouldn’t you agree?

The Odd Duck Society: A book with your favourite “vibes”/feels [aka a book with an atmosphere you enjoy]

This is a hard one to answer, because my favorite books all have amazing vibes. I’ll just say anything set during WWII. Roseanna M. White’s The Codebreakers series stands out in my mind, though I know there are some others lurking just beyond my memory at the moment. *glares at brain*

A British 40’s atmosphere never disappoints.

(Also, Rebecca Ross’s The Queen’s Rising has almost all the vibes I love in fantasy. It’s so aesthetic.)

Fear Not Tomorrows: A book that encouraged you spiritually [doesn’t have to be a Christian or nonfiction book]

It would be a cruel and unusual form of torture to choose simply one, so here’s a small list…

• Amanda Dykes’ Yours Is the Night – the themes were so beautiful and powerful and gave me such comfort
• Pretty much any Julie Lessman book. I don’t know how she does it, but every time I read one, I think, wow, I really needed this.
• Wishtress and the Out of Time series by Nadine Brandes. They are wildly faith-building.
• The Lord of the Rings and Narnia. The two epic classics that every most new fantasy writers blindly plagiarize. Including me. There’s something about spiritual truths told through fantasy that make you see things in a new, truer way. (I suppose, now, I also have to say S. D. Smith’s The Green Ember series and Andrew Peterson’s The Wingfeather Saga. Those really affected me.)

Disclaimer: just because a book did not make the list in this post does not mean it didn’t make the list in my heart 😇

Courage to Stay: A book set in the country [open to your interpretation of what “the country” means to you] 

*thinks*

*mutters “set in the country” to myself*

*thinks some more*

I should read more books set in the country. All that’s coming to mind is Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

This is part of why I’m so excited for Springtime in Surrey! 😍

Maybe I’m having a hard time thinking of books because I live in the country, and thus have a stricter interpretation of what the country means to me. 😂

---

About the Anthology!

Springtime in Surrey, the first collection releasing with Wild Blue Wonder Press, is a Christian anthology featuring eight lovely stories. With a mix of historical and contemporary, romance and women’s fiction, a dash of mystery here and there, real-life themes presented in a loving way, and a vintage feel, this story is sure to charm lovers of Christian women’s fiction.

Find the Book!

Preorder on Amazon!

Add on Goodreads

More about the anthology

---

Tell me some of your answers in the comments! And please feel free to steal this tag in order to rant about your favorite books! What’s a book you’ve read that’s set in the country? What book gives you spring vibes? And what book has an atmosphere that you absolutely love?