Bookish Flights: Themed Book Recommendations & Author Interviews

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In today’s episode, I am chatting with Esther Avant. With 20 years of experience in the health and wellness industry, Esther has guided countless individuals toward achieving their goals. As a health industry veteran, author, speaker, and coach, she’s helped people apply the same proven strategies used in weight loss to propel their careers and level up their lives. Esther is the co-owner of MADE By ME Coaching, the host of the Live Diet-Free podcast, and the author of To Your Health: A Lifestyle of Health, Happiness, and Confidence. 

In this episode, we dive deep into lifestyle transformation with Esther, who shares her insights on how to bring lasting change into our lives. From balancing self-compassion and personal responsibility to surrounding yourself with a supportive community, she offers practical advice to make a change.

Key Highlights:

• Esther’s Origin Story: Hear about Esther and what led her to focus on lifestyle change and wellness.
• Habit Formation & Lifestyle Changes: She lays out the steps to take to make these changes successfully. 
• Setting Goals and Staying Consistent: Esther talks about the power of consistency in achieving goals. 
• The 3 C's of Success: Esther introduces her 3 C’s for success—Consistency, Commitment, and Confidence. These pillars help build the foundation for long-term lifestyle improvements.
• About Her Book, To Your Health: Esther's book is a practical guide to wellness, complete with worksheets to help you take actionable steps. She recommends getting the print version to fully engage with the material.
• Book Flight: Esther shares the books that have had the biggest impact on her.

Connect with Esther:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Website
• Podcast

Books and authors mentioned in the episode:

• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• Kristin Hannah books
• Chasing Cupcakes by Elizabeth Benton
• Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

Book Flight

• Personality Isn’t Permanent by Benjamin Hardy
• The Book of Mistakes by Skip Prichard
• The Courage to be Disliked by Ishiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

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• Facebook
• Website

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In today’s episode, I am chatting with Jennifer Blanchard, a self-made bestselling author known for her books Fck the How*, Quantum Leap Your Life, and Manifest Everything. These books serve as roadmaps for manifesting your dreams and desires without needing to know the “how” ahead of time. Jennifer’s practical and easy-to-understand approach to intentional manifesting has helped many take control of their lives and start manifesting their dreams. With more than a dozen books under her belt, including works of fiction, Jennifer is also the co-author of Miraclefesting: Inspiring Stories to Help You Recognize and Create Everyday Miracles in Your Life.

Episode Highlights:

• Tapping into Childhood Dreams and Creativity: Jennifer shares how to reconnect with childhood dreams and creative desires while avoiding limiting beliefs from both yourself and others. 
• Creating Time and Space in Your Day: Jennifer offers insights on how to carve out time and space in your daily routine to explore creativity in a way that fits your life. 
• Writing Various Genres including Rom Coms and Her Newest Project
• Book Flight: Jennifer’s book flight features a selection of non-fiction reads to help you manifest your dream life:

Connect with Jennifer Blanchard:

• Instagram
• Website
• TikTok
• Purchase Jennifer’s Books

Books and authors mentioned in the episode:

• Nicholas Sparks books
• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
• After series by Anna Todd
• Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
• The Burnout by Sophia Kinsella

Book Flight

• E Cubed by Pam Grout
• The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte
• Playing the Matrix by Mike Dooley

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to today’s episode of Bookish Flights! This is a special one—our first BFF Book Club Meeting! The BFF Book Club is a monthly literary adventure where you read the book, join the club, and meet the author. I am thrilled to have Janyre Tromp on the show today to discuss her evocative novel, Darkness Calls the Tiger. 

Janyre is the award-winning and best-selling writer and veteran editor with a deep love for history. Her mid-20th century historical novels always simmer with a healthy pinch of deliciously creepy suspense and include Darkness Calls the Tiger, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye and O Little Town. Happy listening!

Episode Highlights:

• All about Darkness Calls the Tiger: Janyre shares insights into the cover design, her research process, and the techniques she used to immerse herself in the setting. We dive deep into the novel’s themes of courage, bravery, and revenge.
• About Janyre: Hear how she transitioned into writing, what her job as an editor involves and how she tackled imposter syndrome to become the accomplished writer she is today.
• Book Flight: Janyre shares some of her favorite 5-star reads from the past 6 months, perfect for your next literary adventure!

Grab a cup of coffee, settle in and our 1st BFF Book Club with Janyre Tromp.

Connect with Janyre Tromp:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Show Notes

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• Beyond Ivy Walls by Rachel Fordham
• The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali (discussed on Ep. 17)

Book Flight

• Marvelous by Molly Greeley
• Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate
• I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

Dessert Pairing

• The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

Also, thank you to Janis Robinson Daly for kicking off the show with an update about her latest novel, The Path Beneath Her Feet. Tune into Episode 32 to hear more about her unique story behind this series.

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Send us Fan Mail

Niyati Goel currently resides in San Francisco with her husband. She has explored more than 21 countries collecting unforgettable experiences along the way. While Niyati’s heart belongs to traveling, it also finds comfort within the pages of books; her earliest literary love being Ayn Rand. Now, she is embarking on a new journey as a first-time author, aiming to merge her love for both travel and literature in a way that will captivate and inspire readers worldwide.

Episode Highlights:

• A Love for Travel and Storytelling: Niyati shares how her passion for travel evolved into writing middle-grade novels (ages 6-10), turning her real-life adventures into imaginative stories. She discusses the serendipitous journey that led her to become an author.
• Her adventure series of books about Asva: This series is filled with themes of friendship, compassion, resilience, and empathy.
• How she chooses her books to read: Getting herself back into a reading habit and using the New York Times bestseller list. 
• Book Flight: Her book flight includes novels by Ayn Rand that have deeply influenced her, particularly by fostering a sense of bravery and independence. 

Connect with Niyati:

• Author Page
• Instagram
• Website
• YouTube Channel
• Purchase The Adventures of Asva books

Books and authors mentioned:

• The Boxcar Children by Gertrude C. Warner
• Enid Blyton books
• Jeffrey Archer books
• Putin by Philip Short
• The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
• First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Ayn Rand Book Flight

• The Fountainhead
• Atlas Shrugged
• Anthem

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Send us Fan Mail

In today’s episode, I am chatting with Kit Tosello. Kit is an award-winning writer of small-town contemporary fiction with a big heart, as well as insprational essays and devotionals. With her eye trained on the beauty hiding in plain sight all around us, she arranges words with tenderness, humor and ultimately, hope. When not writing, Kit can be found in the loose tea shop she operates with her husband, exploring the great Pacific Northwest, or enjoying the “great indoors” — bookstores & libraries. Most likely with a matcha latte in hand. 

Episode Highlights:

• The Color of Home: Kit shares her journey to publication and the emotions of the journey.
• About Kit
• Book Flight: Featuring older protagonists in a Coming of Old Age book flight.

Connect with Kit:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website
• Loose Tea Shop
• Purchase The Color of Home

Books and authors mentioned:

• The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold (Bookish Flights, Ep. 61)
• Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• The Kitchen Devotional by Baker Publishing Group
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• Jane Austen novels
• Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
• Where Trees Touch the Sky by Karen Barnett

Book Flight

• Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jessie Sutanto
• Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Send us Fan Mail

In today’s episode, I am chatting with K.W. Foster. She is the author of deliciously haunting and spicy fantasy romances featuring morally gray women and the men (and women) who love them. Originally from the Midwest, she now resides in the Mid-Atlantic with her husband and two big fluffy dogs. Her debut novel, A Curse of Breath and Blood, came out yesterday —congratulations K.W!

Episode Highlights:

• Writing Process: From the intricacies of cover design to what she has learned about herself through writing.
• Creativity: Discover how K.W. fosters her creativity through both writing and her time spent outdoors.
• Reading: We reminisce about the joys of reading aloud as a child, discuss  DNFing (Did Not Finish) books and explore true leisure time through reading.
• Book Flight: Her curated book flight featuring titles with morally gray female characters in fantasy settings, reflecting her own storytelling style.

Tune in for a deep dive into the world of morally gray characters.

Connect with K.W. Foster:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website
• Purchase A Curse of Breath and Blood

Books and authors mentioned in the episode:

• Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene
• Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling
• First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
• Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
• Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

Book Flight

• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
• The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Send us Fan Mail

Jaime Formato is a writer, elementary school teacher, and tiefling rogue from northern Florida. Her days are spent hanging out with kids and reading, and the nights are for D&D, hockey, and writing. She lives in a little house by the woods with her amazing husband, their beautiful children, two cats that don’t love her enough, two dogs that love her too much, and a whole lotta nature. Her novel Roll for Initiative, a geeky coming-of-age story came out in Fall 2022. 

Episode Highlights:

• Screening books for your children
• Different types of books
• Reading aloud
• Attention span and reading

Jaime’s book flight features middle-grade novels that highlight courage and creativity.

Connect with Jaime:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Purchase Roll for Initiative

Books mentioned:

• Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter
• Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
• The Baby-sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin
• A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry
• Grady Hendrix books
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Good Inside by Becky Kennedy
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• Little Women by Louise May Alcott
• The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link
• Flip Turns by Catherine Arguelles

Book Flight

• Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt
• Lost Kites and Other Treasures by Cathy Carr
• Air by Monica Roe

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Send us Fan Mail

In today’s episode, I am chatting with Alina Adams. Alina is a New Your Time best-selling author, soap opera insider and pioneer in online storytelling. She was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated with her parents to the U.S. at age 7, where she learned English by watching American soap operas at their home in San Francisco. Alina’s childhood and immigration experience was the inspiration for her two latest historical fiction novels, “The Nesting Dolls” (2020) and “My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region” (2022). 

Episode Highlights:

• A Deep Dive into Soap Operas and Figure Skating: Tune in to hear how these passions have shaped Alina's life and career.
• The Immigrant Experience: Alina shares her unique perspective on growing up in America after immigrating from the Soviet Union at age 7.
• Birobidzhan: Discover the first Jewish Autonomous Region and its significance in Alina's work.
• Author of Many Genres: Explore Alina's diverse writing portfolio, including Regency romance, historical fiction, soap operas, and non-fiction.
• Book Flight: Alina’s book flight features family sagas that reflect the immigrant experience, offering rich stories of heritage and resilience.

Don't miss this insightful conversation with Alina Adams, where history, culture, and storytelling intertwine!

Connect with Alina Adams:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Purchase The Nesting Dolls or My Mother’s Secret. 

See the full list of books talked about on the show HERE. 

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Send us Fan Mail

In today’s episode, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by my dear friend, Jacqui Lents from the Jacqui Just Chatters podcast. We covered a lot of ground, discussing everything from my TBR list and favorite episodes to inspiring guests and whether there might be some book writing in my future. You'll also get to hear the story behind Bookish Flights and how it all began. This conversation takes a deep dive into motherhood, military life, and finding your center amidst the chaos.

A huge thank you to everyone who submitted questions for this episode! You're all doing incredible things, and I’m excited to highlight a few of you:

• Jacqui Lents (@jacquilentsauthor) – She did an outstanding job as host today! Don’t miss her featured in our only 2-part episode (Ep. 19 & 20)!
• Bound Sisters Podcast (featured on Ep. 86) - Featured on Ep. 86, these sisters run their own fabulous podcast. 
• Ashley Terpstra (@ashleylovesliteracylittles) – A reading specialist and dear friend who was featured in Ep. 8, who is passionate about literacy for littles.
• Shakyra Banos (@shakyracanchaney) – Jacksonville’s best photographer!
• Jessica Fowler (@therapybookspodcast) – Hostess of the What Your Therapist is Reading podcast.
• Alexis (@alexisthestylist888) – San Diego’s best hair stylist.
• Eli Gardner (@abrakadabraink) – Featured on Ep. 98, Eli is not only a talented author but also runs a horse rescue.

Join the BFF Book Club

This episode was sponsored by Bethany House. Learn more about the Treasures of the Earth series by Kimberley Woodhouse HERE. 

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

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• Facebook
• Website

Send us Fan Mail

In today’s episode, I am chatting with Hannah Mae. Since day one, Hannah Mae and her two sisters were instilled with a love of God and His Scriptures by their loving parents. Encouraged by her friends and family, Hannah transformed her game design, Celestial, into her very first book. Now, she can’t imagine life without writing.

Episode Highlights:

• The Ocarina Instrument: Discover the unique instrument Hannah plays. To learn more, check out David Erick Ramos.
• Her Creative Journey: Explore how Hannah's creative life led her from designing a video game, Celestial, to writing her first novel.
• Flying Faith: Learn about her blog and podcast that reflect her faith and creative life.
• Book Flight: Hannah shares the books that influenced the writing of Celestial.

Connect with Hannah Mae:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website
• Podcast
• Purchase Celestial

Show Notes

Some links are affiliate links, which are no extra cost to you but do help to support the show.

Books and authors mentioned in the episode:

• Linore Rose Burkard books
• Secrets in the Mists by Morgan L. Busse
• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Fight Like a Girl by Lisa Bevere
• Royal & Ancient by Amanda Lauer
• The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Of Fire and Ash by Gillian Bronte Adams

Book Flight

• Searching the Scriptures by Charles Swindoll
• This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti
• Shadowcast by Crystal Grant

The BFF Book Club is becoming a family affair! ❤️ This our FREE virtual book club, where we read together each month and have live author chats.

Each Family Book Flight pairs our BFF Book Club pick with:

• One chapter book for growing readers
• One picture book for our littlest readers
• A few family conversation starters + a simple activity

Three books. One common theme.

→ Join us here: https://bookishflights.kit.com/bfffamily

Support the show

Be sure to join the Bookish Flights community on social media. Happy listening!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website