Heidi's Haven

I just finished reading  Forgiving My Daughter's Killer  by Kate Grosmaire, and I wanted to share my thoughts on the book.  This book is the story of the Grosmaire family and the tragedy that they went through. Ann Grosmaire, the author's daughter, was shot and killed by her boyfriend, Conor, who had always been very close with the family. Immediately, the family began praying for Conor. The family visited Conor in prison, telling him that they forgave him. The Grosmaire's also worked with Conor and his family to reduce his prison sentence. They wanted him to use the time he would have spent in prison to do volunteering and work that Ann would have done had she survived, as they wanted his sentence and punishment to be meaningful. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to like a story about forgiveness. The people who write the books who were able to forgive someone who did something so awful always seem so strange and unrelatable. They seem like sup

I recently read 40 Days of Decrease  by Alicia Britt Chloe, and I really enjoyed it. This book is split up into 40 chapters, one for each day of Lent leading up to Easter, with a fast for each day in order to prepare us to be awed by Christ's resurrection. For each day, Chloe gives a narrative of what Jesus was doing in the days leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection, reflection material and questions, the day's fast (usually a concept, such as regret, collecting praise, avoidance, isolation...), information on Lent origin and theories, and finally a short related Bible reading. At the end of each chapter, there is space to take notes. I am not very familiar with Lent or the Biblical narratives given about Jesus, so I really learned a lot from this book. I also thought the fasts were really helpful, and definitely manageable. Though this book is designed to be read to lead up to Easter, it can be read and be helpful at any time. I read this as an eBook, w

Hello again everyone! Today I want to share with you an AMAZING book that comes out today- Gabriel and the Swallows by Esther Dalseno! I binge read this book the past two days and I absolutely loved it. The blurb online says "A lonely farm boy. A girl with swallow's wings. An ancient city buried in a volcano. A mystery old as blood and bone." Just seeing this, I really had no idea what I was getting into or what the book was going to be about. The book takes place between the 1950s and 1980s in Italy and follows Gabriel, who is about ten years old at the beginning of the book. Gabriel is a poor farm boy who doesn't have friends at school and is bullied. One day, Gabriel finds an injured bird and brings it home. It is then discovered that it is actually a little girl with a swallow's wings, and not a bird at all. They call her "Volatile", and she quickly becomes an important part of their family. There is all sorts of danger and mystery

Hello everybody! Today I'm super excited to be sharing the book covers for Oftomes Publishing's 2016 releases! I know that you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I totally do. I love to have books with beautiful covers that I want to show off on my shelves. Every single one of these covers are beautiful and I can't wait to have them on my shelves. I'll show you a picture of the cover, and you can see the blurb listed on the Oftomes Publishing website. First, there is Into The Forest by Freedom Matthews. I'm a total sucker for faeries and wings, so I automatically love this cover. The enchanted-looking forest and the girl with the wings just look so cool! The link to the book is here.  This book comes out May 2016. This book is Mist & Whispers by C.M. Lucas, out this April! This book looks like it is going to be full of magic and fantasy, and I cannot wait! More information on this book can be found  here. Here w

As a blogger, an English major, and a writer for The Odyssey, it's probably not a surprise that I spend a lot of my time writing, whether that's blog posts, papers, or other assignments. While writing takes up quite a bit of my time, I still do have lots of time for other things. Here are some things I do when I'm not writing... Reading Knitting/crochet Sleeping (naps are SO underrated) Going out with friends Binge-watching things on Netflix Taking walks outside (when it's nice out) Watching BookTube videos Online shopping Random internet browsing Sewing/crafting Playing games Daydreaming Those are just a few of the things that I like to do when I'm not writing. What do you like to do when you're not writing? xx Heidi

Looking through my bookshelf here at school, I realized that I have a ton of books that I really need to read. I say this for a couple of reasons. First of all, I still have unread books that I had on my TBR way back in October. Secondly, there are a few series that I need to read the last book of that I really need to get to and finish. So I think that March reading will be dedicated to reading the books I've been meaning to read for months and finally finishing some series. Here are all of the books I hope to read this month. Outlander  by Diana Gabaldon- I'm currently reading this one, and it's taking me quite some time. I'm really enjoying it, but I'm just not speeding through it like I normally read.  Gabriel and the Swallows  by Esther Dalseno The Selection  by Kiera Cass The Battle of the Labyrinth  by Rick Riordan The Last Olympian  by Rick Riordan Anna and the French Kiss  by Stephanie Perkins Wedding Night  by Sophie Kinsella I'm re

Hello everyone! Today, I would like to introduce you all to Esther Delseno, the author of many wonderful books, including Gabriel and the Swallows,  which comes out on March 11.  Born in Australia, Esther has a love for travel, traveling all over the world before settling in Berlin with her family. I really think this travel gives her such an interesting perspective in her writing. Her currently available works include Totoro's Garden  and Drown , a retelling of The Little Mermaid- you can find more information on her works  here. Gabriel and the Swallows  is the first book in The Volatile Duology, and how cool does that name sound?? I cannot wait to read this book! Have you read anything by Esther Dalseno? xx Heidi

Hey guys! So this month was actually pretty successful for reading. Seeing as how it was a shorter month and I've been really busy with school, I am super proud of myself for how much I read. In February, I read 13 books. I can't believe that I read so much, it doesn't really seem possible! Anyway, here are the books that I read this month, and my ratings... The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey 4/5 stars Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 5/5 stars The Resurrected Ones: A Story of Life, Death, and Resurrection by Richard K. Thomas 1/5 stars The Martian  by Andy Weir 5/5 stars Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 5/5 stars The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket 5/5 stars The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket 4/5 stars The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket 3/5 stars The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo 3/5 stars Carrie by Stephen King 4/5 stars The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket 4/5 stars Winter by Marissa Meyer 5/5 stars