Welcome to Day 4 of Five Fall Favorites, hosted by Kate at Once Upon an Ordinary and Katja at Little Blossoms for Jesus! If you have missed my previous posts, you can find them here: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. Today’s prompt is “Arts”! It took me a while to think of 5 books that fit with this theme, but I finally got them. So without further ado, here are my five recommendations for books featuring the arts!
NOTE: All cover images link to the books’ Goodreads pages.
1. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield
I first read Ballet Shoes many years ago, and I loved it! It tells the story of three orphaned sisters who go to a dancing and acting school. It was fun reading about the girls’ different experiences in the school and their individual talents and interests. (Note: the girls perform in some plays that have magic and ghosts. I just skip over these parts, and it doesn’t affect the story too much.)
2. All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes
This is an excellent book from one of my favorite authors! The dual-timeline story includes one plotline about a boy in the 1800s who was abandoned as a baby and raised by a group of artisans who work in different trades (gardening, printing, glassblowing, etc.) and another plotline about a man in the 1900s travelling to Venice to find and translate a rare historical book with the help of a bookshop owner there. (And of course the stories end up being related to each other.) The artisans add an interesting art element to the story, and the Venice setting is so beautiful. Amanda Dykes’ writing is always so beautiful and lyrical, as well.
3. Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes
Another Amanda Dykes novel! This one is focused more on the performing arts. Mercy, a former Hollywood star, moves to Colorado after a scandal breaks out, ruining her career. The story mainly centers on her solving the mystery of what happened to her old pen pal from the area and a lost train car that contained an important mailbag. There are also some fun theatrical aspects. Like always, Dykes’ writing style is beautiful in this one.
4. Novelists in November anthology from Wild Blue Wonder Press
Novelists in November is an anthology containing eleven short stories, all with author main characters and set during the fall season! There are so many good stories in this collection, and there’s a little bit of everything here: contemporary, historical, romance, and mystery! I appreciated how all of the stories have strong Christian themes (and the lovely fall vibes are an awesome bonus ;))!
5. The Storied Life: Christian Writing as Art and Worship by Jared C. Wilson
This one is a non-fiction title about writing as Christians. There is a good mix of theology and philosophy about how writing should be an act of worship and what makes for good Christian writing, insights about the author’s own writing journey, and practical writing advice such as how to overcome writer’s block or where to begin when you’re ready to publish. Read my review of The Storied Life here.
And those are my five favorite books about the arts! To find more recommendations, check out the posts from the other members of Team Squirrel!
Stephanie @ Books Less Travelled
To see the whole list of bloggers participating this year, find more fun book recommendations, and find today’s freebies (!!), check out the hosts, Kate’s and Katja’s, blogs by clicking the buttons below!
Finally, remember to enter the Five Fall Favorites giveaway! The giveaway is open through September 26th (11:59:00 P.M. EDT). You can check it out here!
I will be back again tomorrow for Day 5 of the party!
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