Nancy Drew Vibes Book Club

Calling all Nancy Drew fans! Or thriller/mystery fans!

For 2023, I’m hosting the Nancy Drew Vibes Book Club on the Fable app, an app for hosting book clubs. We will read books with Nancy Drew vibes – think intrepid girl detective.

Not all books will neccessarily be YA, and we may even do books that crossover into fantasy. You don’t have to have actually read Nancy Drew to participate, as long as you enjoy mysteries and thrillers.

Our first read is The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. We offically start reading on January 4th and wrap up on February 18th.

On the app, there are checkpoint dates, but they are just suggestions. You can read the book as quickly or as slowly as you want. This is just for fun, so you don’t have to read every book the club reads if you don’t want to.

One of the things I love about the Fable app is that you can read books within the app. When you sign up at my link, you also recieve a $5 credit to spend on books.

If you have any questions about how the book club works, don’t hesitate to ask. Also, if you have any suggestions for the club’s next read, let me know in the comments. I’ll take all reccomendations, and we will vote on the next book to read.

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday – Characters that Remind Me of Myself

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Girl. To find out more about the top ten theme, or to join in the fun go here.

I haven’t done a Top Ten Tuesday in awhile, and this was such a fun topic, I had do it even though it’s going up so late in the day. So here are the characters that I relate with in some way:

1. Lost in a Book – Belle. Belle’s curiosity reminds me of my own. I would’ve totally gone in the west wing of the castle to see what the Beast was hiding. In this book, Belle enters a book world, another place I would go to see what was there. I’ve also always identified with the “there must be something more” feeling.

2. Little Women – Jo. One of my first ever bookish heroines, I identified with Jo’s tomboy spirit, and I always had long, long hair. I would hardly let my mother even trim it. I may have finally cut my hair a little shorter, but I still identify with Jo’s dream of becoming a writer.

3. The Lunar Chronicles – Cress. I’m little, and even now that I’m grown, people still think I’m younger than I really am (which I like now 🙂 ). I also get anxious around big groups of people I don’t know, and would prefer to stay home. I do well with computers, not on a hacker level or anything, but I am my family’s go-to tech person.

4. Secrets Can Kill (Nancy Drew Files) – Nancy Drew. I couldn’t leave Nancy off the list. I lived in a small Illinois town (just like Nancy) when I flew through all the Nancy Drew files. Also, I’ve always had a thing for mysteries and true crime. I love solving the mystery before the book is over and I’m rarely ever wrong or unable to do so. I know it’s a clever mystery if I haven’t figured out who the baddie by the time I’m halfway through the book.

5. Pretty Little Liars – Aria. I enjoyed this series and the tv show. I relate most to Aria, because she is the creative one – she enjoys photography, art, writing ect. (In the tv show, she’s also the littlest one.)

6. Wendy Darling Series – Wendy. This series is so good, and I think one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was because I really connected with Wendy. I’m the oldest of four, so I totally understand the need to protect and care for younger siblings. She loved to read and was interested in always learning more.

7. Worlds of Ink and Shadow – Charlotte. This is a fictionalized story of the Brontes. I related to Charlotte, as the oldest sister. Her father was a minister, my father is also a minister. Her family didn’t have a lot growing up, but her and her siblings created their own worlds to entertain themselves. That is much how it was growing up was for me too. We didn’t have much, but we did have our imaginations and we ran wild with them. If you love Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte, you need to read this book.

8. Before She Ignites – Mira. Mira loves animals, and even had her own dragon! Who wouldn’t want a dragon? Also, she experiences a lot of anxiety.

And in a throwback:

9. The Saddle Club – Stevie.  Stevie was the one I most related to in the Saddle Club series. She was a little disorganized and a bit of a tomboy, and of course, loved horses.

10. The Babysitters Club – Claudia. Claudia loved junk food and had long hair she always styled different ways. She also loved Nancy Drew. 🙂

 

What book characters do you most relate to and why? Let me know in the comments.

Some Favorite Reads

One question I am often asked, “What is your favorite book?” For an avid reader, that is a difficult question to answer. There are so many wonderful books, that it is hard to choose just one or even two or three. After thinking about this for awhile, I finally chose five books that are not necessarily my only favorites, but are books that impacted me in some way. So here they are:

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I already talked about this book once in my “Why I Write” post here. This book was one of the first classics I ever read and is partially responsible for inspiring me to become a writer.
2. Sinister Paradise by Carolyn Keene. This is a Nancy Drew Files mystery, a series which was written after the original mystery books. I enjoyed the original series as well, but the Files upped the game by involving murder and more romance. Nancy was also older. I could have picked any of these books, because I loved all of the Nancy Drew books, although I distinctly remember this book because it was one of the books that I owned, and thus read a few times. My love of mystery novels came from reading so many Nancy Drew books, and I always tried to figure out who the killer was before Nancy.
3. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. I was actually in college before I read this children’s classic, but it had such heart and wild horses, that I instantly loved it. In fact, once I read it, I knew I had to visit the islands (Chincoteague and Assateague) where the story takes place. The islands were so beautiful, that I had my wedding on the beach of Assateague.
4. Vinegar Boy by Alberta Hawse. This is a story about the boy who brings vinegar to Jesus at his crucifixion, and his life is changed forever by the events he sees. It was a touching story, one I could not put down, and it was the first book I remember that made me cry.
5. Beauty by Robin McKinley. This was the first fairytale retelling I ever read. A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, it captivated me and began my love of fairytale retellings. It’s a magical story that takes you to another time and place.

Hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favorite books. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite from the list!