Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Day 3 | Five Fall Favourites 2026: Hobbies

Guys! It's day three of Five Fall Favourites! This week always flies by so fast. My TBR is rapidly growing. I've thought about making a "Ten Before the End" of 2026 list. With all these new TBR additions, I actually might need to just to keep up with all of the recommendations.

So far this week, I've shared mostly new books. Today I'm going to flip that and share mostly book's I read a while back, only one of today's titles is one that I read at the end of last year. Here are five titles that I'm very excited to share. I don't really read many nature books, so when I was trying to figure out what books to share, I decided what I wanted to write about instead the books that I like to use for my hobbies. By the end of this blog, you will know so much more about me and my hobbies.

For the last two years, on Wednesday I've shared non-fiction titles. This is my third year participating in Five Fall Favorites. The first year, it was my choice, Then the second year it was the genre prompt. For my third FFF it felt like I should keep up the tradition. (See how cleverly I called back to yesterday's blog. If you haven't read it, there is a link down at the bottom.) So, here are five non-fiction (factual) titles that I use for my different hobbies.

1. Friendship Bracelets 101: Fun to Make, Wear, and Share! (Design Originals) Step-by-Step Friendship Bracelet Patterns for Beginners, Kids, and Teens - Make Knotted Embroidery Floss Jewelry by Suzanne McNeil

Here a book simple enough to teach kids how to make friendship bracelets. It's filled with several different patterns and illustrated diagrams that show the order to make them. I had done some macramé before trying my hand at this book. I think I started making them when I was in sixth or seventh grade. I've made friendship bracelets on-and-off ever since. I started again after college and when I launched a Bookstagram where I share friendship bracelets beside books, I knew this was going to be a regular hobby again. I keep saying I'm going to launch some sort of online store, but for now I've only been selling these in person. If I have any updates, I will share on this blog.

View on Good Reads.

2. Finish Your First Novel: A No-Bull Guide to Actually Completing Your First Draft by Char Anna

This is the one nonfiction titles on this list, that I read last year. I have been doing to Novel Writing challenge in November for the last few years. Last year I didn't finish 50,000 words goal, but I had finished the last several years. Honestly my computer is full of messy first drafts, I'm not sure how to clean them up. I encountered Char Anna's book and realized it gives a very clear and easy to follow recipe for a focused and well plotted first draft. Meaning, I should be able to write a less messy first draft. She starts with creating characters and exploring themes for the book well before starting to draft. As I've tried to go back and read my pervious first drafts, I've found the most difficult part reading to less for little edit and more to refine the story. This book is written help writers prevent that trap. (If anyone has great editing or rewriting book recommendations, please share those in the comments.)

View on Good Reads.

3. Waiting in the Wings: How to Launch Your Performing Career on Broadway and Beyond by Tiffany Haas with Jenna Glatzer

When I decided to put together a nonfiction list about books that I use for my hobbies, I had to think about which book to share for this hobby. I've always loved stories and acting to me has always been a special way to bring them to life. I read this title back during 2020, after I had performed in 7-week long community theater show of Murder on the Nile. The show ran in January and February then closed right before my hometown shut down. After that high, I wanted to imagine what a career in acting would look like. This book is primarily about the business but touches on the craft. Presently, I'm rehearsing for community theatre production of Shakespear's Much Ado About Nothing, and again I am dreaming about what a career as an actor might look like. Maybe it's time for me to pick this book up again. It is filled with many interesting and a few cautionary tales about the realities of an often-glamourized business.

View on Good Reads.

4. Dear Ally, How Do You Write a Book? by Ally Carter

While Finish Your Novel is more of a practical how-to look at writing Dear Ally is more like an anthology of writing thoughts complied by a very accomplished Young Adult author. It's the perfect for teens who would like a peek into writing as a career. In each chapter she answers a different question about writing. Some of the chapters focus on the craft while others focus on the business and career aspects. I also read this title during 2020, by the time lockdown was over I was basically sure I wanted a career as a writer and actor. However, for now those are hobbies. This book is filled with interviews and tips from many other authors of young adult and middle grade books. It's perfect for teens (and adults) who would like a glimpse into the world of writing children's books.

View on Good Reads.

5. Bastien Piano Basics: Piano Primer Level by James Bastien

When I started learning piano as a child, this was my first piano book. After college I was looking for ways to do music professionally, and substitute my income, so I started teaching piano. I use this book for my beginner students. I would highly recommend this book for teaching piano to kids. It starts kids playing the piano right away by numbering fingers and giving diagrams of hand positions. Gradually, it starts teaching kids how to read and play the notes. When I'm teaching, I also supplement it with flashcards and manipulatives to reinforce note reading. My most advanced student is now a fourth-year piano student working on Level 3. We've used this series since the beginning, so I can confirm can be used for teaching kids for the long term.

View on Good Reads

Conclusion

So, those are five of my favorite books for four of my different hobbies. The hobbies are writing, acting, making friendship bracelets, and teaching piano. All of these books I have read from cover to cover and enjoyed. Practically speaking, I have used the friendship bracelet book and the piano book, but I have not put into practice all the advice in the other three. I found them fascinating and encouraging books to support my hobbies and I hope others find them useful too.

If you have been reading since Monday, we are now halfway done. If you still have not entered the giveaway, the link is below. As well as links to our fabulous hosts and the other bloggers on Team Mouse. Go team Mouse! Check out all the hard work and care they are putting into their book recommendations.

Thank you again, and please come back tomorrow. I will be sharing another five book recommendations from my favorites. Tomorrow's list features two books that I read long before I started doing Five Fall Favourites and honestly, I was shocked when I didn't see them on a previous blog. I am excited to share those with everyone.

Hosted by Kate from Once Upon an Ordinary and Katja from Little Blossoms for Jesus!

Check out all the other Fall Favorites of Mouse!

Bella: E. G. Bella

Kate: Once Upon an Ordinary

Meagan: Blooming with Books

Skai: Inspirational Skai

Virginia: Books by Virginia

I love meeting new booklovers! Best way to do that is to follow me Instagram: @Skai_BooksAndBracelets
Read Monday's blog here: Day 1 | Five Fall Favourites 2026: Community/Neighborhood
Read Tuesday's blog here: Day 2 | Five Fall Favourites 2026: Traditions
Read Wednesday's blog here: Day 3 | Five Fall Favourites: 2026: Hobbies

Read Thursday's blog here: Day 4 | Five Fall Favourites 2026: Arts

Read Friday's blog here: Day 5 | Five Fall Favourites 2026: Family

Read Saturday's blog here: Day 6 | Five Fall Favourites 2026: Best of 2026

Don't forget to enter the annual Five Fall Favourites Giveaway! This year there is a US prize and an international prize. See full rules and exclusions at the link to enter.

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Day 2 | Five Fall Favourites 2026: Traditions

Welcome to day two of the Five Fall Favourites. I had so much fun checking out everyone's recommendations yesterday and my giant TBR pile has grown exponentially, well metaphorically speaking, not mathematically speaking. Today is Tuesday, so tonight I will be very busy with rehearsal. I'll try to get to read as many as possible today, but I will likely have to come back later to properly go through all the recs.

Yesterday's blog was a variety of different books all featuring communities that make an impact. For today, I had to reflect back on my own life to find books that all fit with "tradition."

When I first saw the prompt "traditions" for today, I had no idea how to connect it to books. So, I had to get creative and think about what "traditions" means to me. Personally, I don't see myself as someone set in tradition. Maybe it is because I've experienced a lot of change in recent years, but I don't feel like I have many traditions. Then I thought about my faith as a tradition, so I decided to let the prompt influence the genre I chose to share today. All five of today's books are Christian fiction. I like it when in stories characters allow their beliefs to influence actions. These main characters in all allow their faith tradition to help guide their behavior and choices. This list has many different types of books represented. It has romance, thriller, sci-fi, contemporary young adult, and children's fantasy. Let's get into the recommendations.

1. Spies, Lies, & Alibis by Natalie Walters

Cybil knew Ben as her cousin's childhood best friend, so when she meets him as an adult only his name is Miles and he's a financial investor for a crime lord, she knows something is wrong. Only she's too busy spying on her boss, a real estate mogul with shady connections, to deal with Ben. Ben is really an undercover FBI agent looking for evidence to bring down a criminal empire. Both keeping secrets, Ben and Cybil pretend they've never met before, but as the situation grows increasingly dangerous, they will have to work together to stay alive. Content warning: mild language, violence, kissing and Christian values.

Honestly, this is less of a Christan fiction book and more of a book where both main characters just happen to be Christians. It's a clean romance with lot of witty banter and hilarious high-stakes hijinks. For me, it was a good time of secret identities and spies. I hope this author writes more in this series because, these characters were just so fun.

View on Good Reads.

2. There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

Finlay has struggled with panic attacks, depression and eating disorders since her brother's death. She hopes that spending her senior year in her brother's favorite place, Ireland might help her rediscover her faith, like it helped him. Before she arrives in Ireland, she meets Hollywood star, Beckett Rush on the airplane. He's known as a playboy, and the last thing a troubled girl trying to clean up her act needs. Only he's staying at the bed and breakfast her host family runs while he's in Ireland shooting a movie. Beckett offers to be her tour guide as Finlay follows the journey in her brother's travel notebook. Content warnings: mild language, kissing, mental illness including grief, depression, eating disorders, and mentions s*icide, and Christian views.

I tried reading this book last year, but then I watched the movie based off this book, and I lost interest. The movie while cute, following the plot, but it barely touches on Finlay's internal struggles with grief, mental illness, and insecurity. I was glad I waited to read the book until this year. I would not have been ready for it last year. While the movie was more about the love story and finding herself, the book was about struggling to keep her faith through the bad and the good. I found it overall a stronger, more impactful journey.

View on Good Reads.

3. When the Day Come by Gabrielle Meyer

Libby lives two lives simultaneously. When she goes to sleep in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg, she wakes up in 1914 Gilded age New York City, and when she goes to sleep in 1914, she wakes up in 1774. On her twenty-first birthday she will have to give up one life. In Williamsburg she lives a simple life as a public printer helping her family keep the business afloat after her father's death. While in New York, she's amongst lives among the upper-class. She feels so much more love and meaning in her 1774 lifetime, but the schemes of her 1914 mother may put that at risk and make her choice considerably harder. Content warnings: some language, kissing, r*pe without any explicit descriptions, violence, major character death and Christan views.

This description was so hard to write without giving too much away. I hardly ever enjoy historical fiction, but this sci-fi twist made it into a high-stake adventure, as she lives her lives and wrestles with her belief in God's sovereignty. This book has two wars, romance, and science fiction. I can't say more without giving stuff away, but for readers who enjoy historical fiction, war stories, romance, or science fiction, especially readers who love "genre blends," this book is for you.

View on Good Reads.

4. Some Like It Scot by Pepper Basham

Katie is a travel writer who since her sister's death hasn't wanted to put down roots anywhere. Graeme is a Scotsman, loyal to his family and their ancestorial home. Katie is spending three weeks staying in the recently renovated Scottish manor Craighill House at their Edwardian experience trial run to write about it ahead of its grand opening. Quickly her travel blog is taken over by her awkward adventures and misadventures with Graeme, and her #HotScot adventures might just earn her a coveted editor position. Content warnings: mild language, grief, kissing and Christan views.

When I started this book, it was slow, there was so much backstory and history. As the story unfolded it was a beautiful reflection on grief and continuing to live. This story was a contemporary romance full of funny moments and lovable characters. My favorite characters were Graeme's young nephew and his dog. This one was about characters returning to their family traditions as well as to their faith.

View on Good Reads.

5. Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is a modern Christian fiction classic. During WWII four siblings are sent to live in a manor in the English countryside. Peter, Susan, Edward and Lucy discover a wardrobe that leads to another land where it's always winter, an evil witch opresses the land, and the return of a lion is fabled to be their salvation. This beloved allegorical tale has entertained and informed for generations. Content warning: violence, peril, major character death, and Christan views.

I first read this story as a kid and when I decided to write this blog on my favorite Christian fiction books, it felt like the right traditional book to finish with. All the Chronicles of Narnia books are a tradition that I hope to one day pass down.

View on Good Reads.

Conclusion

I hope everyone enjoyed five of my favorite fiction books that follow my faith tradition. Four of the books were ones that I read earlier this year. At least one of them, I found because of a previous Five Fall Favourites recommendation. For readers who enjoy a clean romance with zero spice and all the chemistry, I would recommend any of the romance books on this list. Do you have any other great Christan fiction books you would recommend?

Thank you for reading today. Remember to check out all the other fabulous blogs, and if you haven't signed up for the drawing at the end of this week, do that too. Details are below.

For tomorrow's blog, I will be going rogue and doing one of the alternate prompts with my own twist, so please come back and see what five books I recommend. Hint: they are books that I frequently return to because they are a wealth of knowledge for my leisure activities.

Hosted by Kate from Once Upon an Ordinary and Katja from Little Blossoms for Jesus!