It’s another month of our challenge: Tackle Your TBR Pile. So go dig through that stack taller than you of books you’ve been meaning to read and start reading away. Since this year is based on your TBR pile, I will not have a recommendations page, but I’m leaving the link here so it’s easier for me to set up NEXT year’s blog posts.
Find recommendations at Reading Challenge Recommendations, Crystal Caudill’s Reading Friends Facebook group, Avid Readers of Christian Fiction, or Inspirational Historical Fiction Index.
Don’t forget to comment at the bottom of the post for your chance to win a book off my prize shelf. *The list of prizes from my shelf can be found here.*
Reading Challenge 2025: Tackle the TBR Pile
If you’re anything like me, you have a TBR pile that is bigger than you can hope to read in a lifetime. This is the year we’re going to try an tackle at least twelve of those books. Head to your shelves and find books that fit each month’s challenge.
This Month: March – Author with the same starting letter as you
Next Month: April – Start or Finish a series on your TBR
Beyond All Dreams
by Elizabeth Camden
Review by: Crystal Caudill
Beyond All Dreams was another fantastic read from Elizabeth Camden. The story masterfully wove together the politics of DC at the precipice before the Spanish-American War, the building of the “new” Library of Congress, and romance that had to overcome great personal obstacles as well as political ones. I want to have Elizabeth Camden’s skill when I grow up. LOL I really appreciated the maturity and growth of the characters as they overcame their personal struggles with anger, scars from the past-both literal and metaphorical, stepping out of comfort zones, and standing up for what they believe. I highly recommend this read to anyone who wants a story with depth, rich history, healthy romance, intrigue, and characters who hang around in your head for days afterward.
Genre: Historical Romance, Edwardian
Plot Overview:
Anna O’Brien leads a predictable and quiet life as a map librarian at the illustrious Library of Congress until she stumbles across a baffling mystery of a ship disappeared at sea. She is thwarted in her attempts to uncover information, but her determination outweighs her shyness and she turns to a dashing congressman for help.
Luke Callahan was one of the nation’s most powerful congressmen until his promising career became shadowed in scandal. Eager to share in a new cause and intrigued by the winsome librarian, he joins forces with Anna to solve the mystery of the lost ship.
Opposites in every way, Anna and Luke are unexpectedly drawn to each other despite the strict rules forbidding Anna from any romantic entanglement with a member of Congress.
From the gilded halls of the Capitol, where powerful men shape the future of the nation, to the scholarly archives of the nation’s finest library, Anna and Luke are soon embroiled in secrets much bigger and more perilous than they ever imagined. Is bringing the truth to light worth risking all they’ve ever dreamed for themselves?
Purchase Links:
Amazon | Baker Bookhouse | Barnes & Noble | Christianbook.com
Giveaway
For your chance to win a print copy, comment with what book YOU read for this month. Use the Rafflecopter below for extra entries and to mark that you left a comment. Entries end on the 7th of each month at midnight EST, and the winner will be drawn sometime that week and notified by email. The winner will be announced on the Rafflecopter widget. *Giveaway Policies can be found here.
I did first name letter and read Surrender Bay by Denise Hunter. Love her and I’m trying to catch up on her older books. This was a great start to a series as well.
Yay! I’m so glad it was a great read!
I read the Lightkeeper’s Daughter by Colleen Coble. I really enjoyed it! I almost went with a book by Cathy Marie Hake and match first and last initials, but instead I matched my first name 🙂
Both are fantastic authors!
I read A Healing Touch by Suzanne Woods Fisher. It was a really interesting book.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
My first name stats with S, so I read “The Sound of Light” by Sarah Sundin. I always enjoy reading her books, and this one was no exception!
Yay! She’s still on my TBR even though I own several of her books.
I chose an author using my first name initial, and I read The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson. It really was the perfect rom-com. I loved the humor, the characters, and the story.
Fun! I might have to check that out.
Oddly enough, I had a hard time finding a book with an author whose name started with a “B”
I finally found and read The Spinster by Bree Wolf. It wasn’t my favorite book in the world, but was an easy enough clean read.
I’m glad you were able to get through it!
I started Crossroads of Awakening Memory, by M.D. House. I had forgotten that fantasy novels take some time to get into, so I haven’t finished it yet. But so far I’m enjoying it.
I’m glad you’re pushing through and enjoying it!
I was filling out the rafflecopter for April, and I realized I never filled it out for March. And I specifically zinged through Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright at the very beginning of April to hope to count it for March.
oops! DId you enjoy it?