New Blog

I know I have posted this before, but I am FINALLY actually on a new blog that works! So we are moving! Although my whole blogging plan is undergoing some changes and the new blog will be a good bit different from what you are used to seeing here, it's still me! So you should totally check it out here.
And you should be sure to look at today's post, which is my review as part of the blog tour for Lauren K. Denton's Glory Road. There's even a giveaway, so hop on over and enter to win!

Blog Relaunch!

The rest of my new journey is finally here! As I stated in one of my earlier posts, I have just gotten my own website where I will be selling my very own subscription book boxes, but the blog aspect of my website was still in the works. However, I finally have everything put together, so as of today I am relaunching my blog on my new website!
I will still have this blog open and will often link some of the posts here to my posts on my new blog, so feel free to still explore here whenever you wish! But for now, check out this post on my new blog!

EDIT

Unfortunately, this relaunch has been postponed just a bit. I have had SO many issues with this new website! Therefore, I am having to find another host for my blog that will make this transition easier. But keep your eyes out for the real relaunch soon!

More About Recommended Reads

Hello friends!

As those of you who read my post from last week know, I announced that I am going to be relaunching my blog on another site and will begin selling my very own subscription box! (You can find the post I’m referring to here.) However, in that post, I announced that everything would be rolling out on a Tuesday, which would be today actually, but unfortunately that is not the case. Technology is super complicated, and for some reason it decided to hate me yesterday, and that bumped my relaunch back a bit. I’ve been having some issues with really complicated technical aspects to having a website, but we are getting it all figured out! So that’s great at least. I’m hoping to still relaunch before the end of this week, and as soon as everything is ready I will share it here and on all of my social media so that you know for sure, but I just have to wait and see how long it takes the powers that be to recognize all of the changes that I have made. So, for now, I’m going to share a little bit more about my subscription boxes!

My company is called Recommended Reads, or Recommended Reads Box, and as of right now we have six different box options to choose from, like I mentioned in my other post. We have The Original Recommended Reads Box, which is a box that simply comes with your choice of either one or two books, a bookmark, and a couple of bags of tea for you to try while you read. The Original Well-Loved Books Box is mostly the same, with a bookmark and a couple of tea bags, but it comes with three gently used books that someone else has once loved before. Both of those boxes—and their deluxe versions—have a survey that goes with them. You fill out the survey as part of your purchase process, and that helps us to know your preferences so that we can recommend to you the books that you will enjoy the most when we send them to you.

That brings us to the Deluxe versions of both of those boxes, The Deluxe Recommended Reads Box and The Deluxe Well-Loved Books Box. The Deluxe Recommended Reads Box comes with one book and a bookmark, like the Original version, but it also comes with your choice of either tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, and 2-3 goodies for you to enjoy, such as soap, lotion, candles, custom decals, bath bombs, etc. The Deluxe Well-Loved Books Box is the same, it comes with 3 gently used novels and a bookmark like the original, along with your choice of beverage and 2-3 goodies.

Then, we have the last two options, which are slightly different from the ones I just mentioned. I have two different Book of the Month Boxes, the Historical and the Contemporary Edition. Both boxes are basically the same, each month I will choose a book as the Book of the Month and if you subscribe to that box you will receive that book along with some sort of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, and 2-3 goodies that either revolve around the book that I have sent or the month you are receiving the box (such as next month’s box is a Valentine’s box so it might also contain Valentine’s Day-type goodies). The thing that makes them different is that the Historical Edition only comes with books that fall into the Historical genre and the Contemporary Edition only comes with books from the Contemporary genre, so that you can choose which one you would prefer to read. Or both, if you prefer!

I hope this has given you a little taste of what is to come, just as soon as I can get my website finally up and running! I absolutely cannot wait to share these new boxes with you, and to finally relaunch my blog. I’m still going to be writing about books, but there are also so many other things going on in my life now, especially since I’m less than for months away from finally graduation college, so I want to share about all kinds of other things as well. I hope you will follow me over to my new location once I can finally officially relaunch, and that you’ll love my new boxes as much as I do!

Happy reading!

Mackenzie Carol

New Year, New Adventures!

Happy New Year! I know, I know, I’m a bit late. And, I’m sure you’re honestly a little surprised to hear from me, considering the fact that I haven’t posted in weeks. I have been regretting that quite a bit recently, especially since I’ve been on Christmas break and have had a small amount of extra time on my hands. However, I’ve been using that time for other things and honestly, I think once you hear what I’ve been doing you just might like that better.

Over the past month, and even months before that, I have been working on starting a new blog, in a new location, so I’m super excited about that! I hope those of you who have actually stuck with me here on this blog will follow me to the new one, and I promise that I will be better about posting there than I have been on this one. I’ve already been working on lots of new ideas for posts—some about books, some about food, some about life—and I’ve read quite a few books since the last time I posted a review so there will be some new reviews coming your way too.

However, that’s actually not the biggest news that I want to share with you today. Not only am I starting a new blog in a brand new location, I am starting my very own website. While this new blog will be on said website, that’s not the only thing that you will find there. As of this coming Tuesday, I will be rolling out my very own book subscription box! I have been toying with the idea for over a year, and now I’m finally ready to get it started. Isn’t that so exciting?!

As of Tuesday, you will be able to go onto my brand new website (which I will link here when the time comes) and explore my new blog location and the book box subscriptions that I will finally have for sale. I am just so excited that I finally get to share this with you! I absolutely love reading (obviously) and I always love recommending books I have loved to people, so I have been thinking of a way to turn those loves into something more for quite some time. And now, it’s finally time to make that into a reality! My store, the Recommended Reads Box store, will have 6 different book box options to choose from: The Original Recommended Reads Box, the Deluxe Recommended Reads Box, the Original Well-Loved Books Box, the Deluxe Well-Loved Books Box, and two different Book of the Month Boxes, one for lovers of Contemporary fiction and one for the Historical Fiction fans. Hopefully one of those boxes sounds like something you would enjoy receiving!

There will be more information about each of my boxes on my website, and I will be sharing more and more about everything related to my boxes—and even other things—on my new blog once it rolls out next week. I really hope you’ll find me there! I can’t wait to share this with you!

Happy reading!

Mackenzie Carol

A Moment of Honesty

Happy Thursday! Over the past few weeks, my Thursday posts have become a place for me to really get on my “soap box” and talk about the issues that have been on my mind and heart. I tend to be a very passionate person, and I often have an opinion about many of the issues I come into contact with from day to day, so I have really enjoyed being able to share those with you, and hopefully inspire you to really look at them differently. And for the time being, I will continue to do that whenever I have something to say. Hopefully you—my lovely readers—enjoy reading those kinds of posts.

Currently—August

Happy first day of August! I cannot believe August is already here, it feels like summer just started yesterday! And yet, here we are, with less than four weeks before I start my senior year of college. It’s bittersweet really, with this being my last summer before I become a college graduate, but I am also excited for all that is to come. So, I am moving forward with at least a little excitement, because I cannot wait to see all that this month, and the rest of the year, will bring. But for now, let’s just talk about what I’m up to right now! I’m currently…

Currently—July

Happy July! This is another linkup post that I haven’t done in quite some time, but I am so excited to be back to writing Currently posts once again! I’ve been up to so many things lately, but for today I’ll just keep it to the recommended topics. This month I am currently…

 

It's Not About Me?

 Do you ever make everything—or even just one particular thing—all about you? And then because of your selfishness you say or do something that hurts someone else…and you feel terrible? Please tell me it’s not just me. I’ve been doing this far too often recently and it’s been making me wonder, “Am I really this selfish?” Do I really care that much more about myself than about others around me? I suppose one could argue that since I am taking the time to ask myself these questions, then I must not be totally selfish, otherwise I wouldn’t care at all. But still, my actions haunt me.

Stealing Time

 If you have followed my blog with any degree of regularity over the past few years, I’m sure you have noticed the ebb and flow of my dedication to it. Some months—or years—I have posted regularly, and kept up with my reading, writing, and linkups, while others I have let it fall to the wayside and have done well to post at all. Mostly, this is because I have been in college (and technically I still am once summer break is over, I have one year left), but it is also because I haven’t been very faithful to use the gifts and talents that God has given me. I have quite a few hobbies, and while it is difficult to devote a decent amount of time to all of them on a regular basis, more lately, I have found myself completely neglecting to devote any time to them at all. The way this blog has gone over the past year or so in particular is an example of this.

 However, God has been tugging at my heart lately, reminding me of all of the things that He has created in me a love to pursue. More importantly, He has been gently nudging me to take a good look at how I choose to spend my time. Actually, He has been instructing me to take stock of my life and how I live it for quite some time now, but I have been a lot slower to listen. Why? Because I’m comfortable. Because I like spending my time however I like. Because I don’t necessarily enjoy being convicted. While all of those statements remain true today, I can’t actually let them govern my life. There is always going to be something I need to work on. And change is never going to be something I really enjoy. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, my life isn’t my own. I know that. Besides, God’s plans always turn out to be even bigger than my dreams (which is a topic I want to cover again, more in depth, on another day), so deep down I know that my best option is always to respond to God’s gentle prodding.

New Direction

This morning, I find myself at a crossroads. (And I'm sharing this picture of the beach because that is where I do my best thinking. And I just love it). I love this blog, and I love reviewing books and sharing what I read, but I’m just not sure if I am going to continue with my blog the way that it currently is. Book reviews are great, and I love sharing them, and I will always post my reviews on Goodreads and other bookish sites that I frequent. But do I need a blog only to share my reviews whenever I happen to finish a book? That seems to be giving my blog too small of a purpose. What about actually making this blog into something? That’s also a thought that has crossed my mind a few times. What if I keep the book focus, but make it into something more? I love the idea of that, but do I have the time? I feel like there’s always something going on, between work, school, ministry, relationships, and everything else that clutters up our lives, and I’m just not sure if I would remain devoted to my blog or if it would get pushed too far down on my list of priorities.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, this is what I’m praying about right now. I'm praying about whether or not I should take this blog in a new direction, develop the old one, or just let it go. I’m trying to decide what I think the best thing to do is, and if I do decide to move forward with this blog, what exactly I feel like I should write about. And how much of a focus I want to have on books moving forward. Of course, if I do move forward with the blog, I will continue to post my reviews here every time I read something. However, I’m not sure if I want to keep the focus purely on books, or if I want to transition more into a focus on things that are more life-applicable. Like things God has been teaching me. Or things I have learned as I’ve gone through my life. Or just advice.

I have a lot to think about, and I’ve actually been thinking about this for a few weeks now. So, what I think I have decided for now, is to just give being consistent a try for now. I’m going to continue posting reviews—probably one book a week for now—and I’m going to get back into Top Ten Tuesday (on the That Artsy Reader Girl blog), and I think I’ll add one post a week where I just talk about life. That way, I’ll still keep up with my reviews, I’ll still be talking about books, but I’ll also be talking about reality. Because I have a lot to comment on that as well. Oh, and of course, I will still be keeping up my monthly Must-Have posts. Because I absolutely love talking about new releases. And that’s how I keep up with what’s coming out in the months to come.

So, I hope you’ll join me on this journey! I can’t promise that it will be smooth the first couple of weeks, and there will probably be a few bumps when I start back to school, but this is the plan for now, and I’m going to do my best to hold myself to it! Unless I feel like God is calling me to take a different direction of course. But for now, I’ll still be here! And I’d love to hear from you, about anything, whether it’s about books or life or what I’m writing or anything in between!

Happy reading!

To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.

I’m Still Alive!

December Numbers and January Goals + A Linkup

It’s 2017!!! I don’t know how that’s possible, considering it was just 2015, but somehow it is, and that means it’s time for another year of resolutions! But this year, since I’m a little older and hopefully a little wiser, I’ve decided to cut the resolutions for a change. I never really follow through with them, and I always get disappointed when I fail, so I decided it would be a good idea to do something a little bit more achievable this year. Therefore, I’m going to continue to write these numbers and goals posts in the hope that I can get better at accomplishing them, and I’m going to attempt for the first time ever—which is weird since I’m a writer—to write a journal entry every day this year. Let’s see if I can keep these resolutions!

November Numbers & December Goals + A Linkup

How is it already December? I know, I know, I say that every single month, but I really feel like this whole semester has just flown by at warp speed. However, I don’t exactly think that is a bad thing, because I’m super excited to finally be on winter break, after this week is over that is. As has been the case the last couple of years, November has been a really unproductive month for me as far as blogging is concerned, so I’m excited to hopefully finally have some time to devote to blogging! Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to this last month!

6 Books Read

Honestly, I am pretty disappointed by this, but I am not surprised. I only read six books last month, and I was hoping to read at least one more this month, but since I had finals to prepare for and a youth retreat to chaperone, I had a feeling that wouldn’t happen. So while I wish I had read more books, I’m not super surprised or disappointed that I didn’t. Besides, the books I did read—The Lady and the Lionheart, Trust My Heart, Always Watching, The Silent Songbird, Finding Margo, and A Lasting Impression—were all really enjoyable novels (and can you see how behind I am on posting my reviews? 😭).

6 Books Purchased

Now this I am super happy about! I only thought I would end up purchasing two books this month, so that was my goal, but then Cyber Monday happened, and I ended up getting four more! I’m super pumped about that, as the six extra books will help me to get closer to owning all of the books in a couple of series that I love, so I’d say I had a pretty successful month in this regard. Anyway, I bought two new books that I read—The Silent Songbird and Finding Margo—and I also found four slightly used novels (and only spent $10, for all of them combined 😂) that I really wanted to get. So, not only did I add those two new books to my shelf, I also added The Fiddler, A Reluctant Courtship, A Necessary Deception, and The Dandelion Field, which means now I finally own all the books in those three series!

0 Workouts Completed

Well, are you really surprised? My goal was only to complete 4 lousy workouts, and yet somehow I managed to keep from doing a single one. However, this doesn’t surprise me either, as working out isn’t exactly my favorite thing.

16 Blog Posts Published

Unfortunately, this didn’t meet my goal either, but at least it was still a decent number, and not only eight or ten as I’ve previously fallen down to at this time of year. I still managed to get a decent number of posts out there, and since I enjoyed writing them, I’m pretty happy about that. I just hope this month will be better since I will be on break by Friday.

Now on to my goals for this month!

Read 7 Books

Hopefully I will get the chance to read much, much more than this since I will be on break, but I’m going to aim low so that I will be more likely to actually reach this goal!! Besides, I’m always excited when I’m able to read more than I thought I would be able to, so I’m hopeful that by having a more manageable goal, I’ll be more likely to enjoy the number I’ve read at the end of the month.

Purchase 2 Books

Again, this is a low number, but since I’m not going to count any books that I get for Christmas, but rather only ones that I purchase, I think that it’s probably smart to keep this number small. I know of two books that are coming out that I really want to get, and I’ll be happy with just those two. Besides, most of my extra spending money—that I don’t responsibly save—will be going towards Christmas presents rather than things for myself. So, I think this is actually a pretty decent goal.

Publish 18 Blog Posts

This just seems to be my go-to number every month, so I figured why not aim for this many again, and see if I could actually post all of the posts I’m planning on posting. Every once and a while there is just a book I don’t end up wanting to read, or a Top Ten Tuesday theme I don’t really relate to, and I end up skipping one of my planned posts from my calendar. However, I think 18 is a really decent number to go with, so I’m hopeful it will work out this month.

Workout 1 Time a Week

I know that this still isn’t very much of a goal, but considering how terrible of a job I did last month when it came to working out, this is actually probably shooting pretty high. However, since I don’t have school after this week, I’m hoping that maybe I will actually be able to meet this goal for once. We’ll see!

Well, that’s what I’ve been up to this past month and my goals for the days to come!

Now on to the linkup!

FEATURES

First, I'm featuring Michele from Living Our Days and her fabulous review of a book about parenting.

Second, I'm featuring Rachel from Garay Treasures and her post about what makes her happy.

RULES

 -Link back to Spreading His Grace, Bows and Clothes, or both

-Subscribe to both blogs and follow each of us on at least one social media

Mackenzie: Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

Sarah: Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin'

-This linkup has no theme so we encourage you to link any of your recent posts. Also note that we have the right to delete your link if it isn't appropriate. However, we are super excited to read about your passions and are so glad that you've decided to join us!

An InLinkz Link-up

To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.

October Numbers & November Goals + A Linkup

How is it November already?! The past few weeks have completely flown by, and I can't believe it's already almost Thanksgiving and the end of the school semester, at least for me. I only have four full weeks left, and it it still feels like I just started a couple of days ago. But, my numbers/goals posts have become one of my favorites to write, so I am excited about that! Let's get to it!

Currently—May

        I can’t believe it’s already May! Although I am so glad that it is, it doesn’t feel possible that it is already this late in the year! It feels like it was just New Year’s, and yet, here we are, with summer fast approaching and warmer weather upon us. Here’s what I’m currently up to this May!

Celebrating: I’m celebrating that I’m finally on summer break! I’ve worked so hard on homework and class assignments for what seems like forever, so I’m so glad to finally have a lengthy break stretching before me. There are no limits to all of the things I can accomplish!

Currently—June

        Today I am linking up with bloggers Anne from In Residence and Jenna from Gold in Bloom as they do their Currently posts for June.

Currently I’m…

        Going to Chattanooga! I’m going for a 6-day camping trip up in the mountains sometime this month with my entire family—aunts, uncles, and cousins included—for some rest, relaxation, and good family fun. With plans to go hiking, adventuring, and go-karting, I just know this trip will be a blast!

        Wearing my new lace ‘Cinderella’ dress from Lauren Conrad’s Cinderella collection. It is my absolute favorite dress, especially because it looks wonderful with my go-to cowgirl boots and a colorful necklace. Plus, it twirls just enough to make me feel like a princess.

        Sipping sweet tea, as always. Since I’ve mostly sworn off sugar as of last November, it isn’t the same old sugary tea I’m used to, but adding Stevia instead does make it sweet enough for my sweet tooth.

        Reading With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin. I haven’t gotten very far yet but, up to this point, I am fascinated by the storyline. I’ll let you know how it is once I’ve finished it. Hopefully I’ll be able to review it by Tuesday, but I make no promises.

        Playing Phase 10, Clue, and The Settlers of Catan with my family. Those are just a few of our most-played games, but they are some of my favorites. Although I’m not so great at Clue, I can hold my own, and that’s enough for my competitive nature. That and the fact that I sometimes win at the others.

        Happy June!