Julie Andrews sang about them in Sound of Music. Oprah gave them away for years on her talk show. Their favorite things. Well, I'm nearing a big accomplishment on Facebook - 1000 likes on my blog page, and I'm celebrating the final push to reach this goal! I want to include my readers in the party by giving away my favorite things - books. More specifically, seven of my favorite books I've discovered through blogging. I've met each of these writers online or in person. Click on the title for links to posts where I've either reviewed or talked about the books:

A Beautiful Disaster (Marlena Graves) - Marlena has a deep and poetic soul. This memoir explores the beauty she's found in the things in her life that were far from perfect. If you struggle with feeling broken, these words will soothe your soul.

A Homemade Year (Jerusalem Greer) - I recommend this one all the time. It's full of story, teaching, recipes and crafts. Most of what I learned about the church calendar early on (at 37!), I read about here.

Cold Tangerines (Shauna Niequist) - The linked review is about Shauna's devotional book, Savor, which came out after I started blogging. I'd read her first two books before I opened up shop at Traces of Faith, but I love everything she writes. Her most recent book, Present Over Perfect, put her on the New York Times Best Seller list for the first time, but I thought for the giveaway, I'd have a lucky reader start at her beginning - Cold Tangerines.

Found (Micha Boyett) - I found a lot of my own story in Micha's memoir (see what I did there). She grew up Southern Baptist, but eventually explored other Christian spiritual practices she hadn't learned about as a child growing up in the church. Here, she writes about motherhood, her time with monks, and faith in general.

Out of the House of Bread (Preston Yancey) - This review is actually about Preston's first book, Tables in the Wilderness. I like his writing so much, I pre-ordered his second book as soon as I started hearing about it. While I liked both books, Out of the House of Bread gets the nod for one of my favorites.

Out of Sorts (Sarah Bessey) - She's Canadian, one of my all-time favorite writers, and the few times I've met her in person, she uses cool words like mum. My copy of Out of Sorts is written in, underlined and starred. This is Sarah's second book, and she's working on a third. Super excited for you to read Sarah!

Searching for Sunday (Rachel Held Evans) - Such a heartfelt book! Rachel is on a journey to find real religion. She isn't always sure she'll find it in our churches, but as she travels around teaching and promoting her books, she does find Jesus among his people. This book tells those stories.

So there you have it. Seven books I absolutely adore. I am way excited to give these away, and I want the winners to get back to me after they've read them, so we can talk all about it!! There are three simple ways to enter my giveaway:

1. Like my Traces of Faith Facebook page for the first time.

Click on the link above and hit like. Let me know you're a first-time like, so I can add you to the giveaway entry list.

2. Post a blurb about my Traces of Faith Facebook page on your own page.

Tell your friends or, if you're a fellow blogger, your readers, about my page. Don't just share a link though. Please add a sentence or two talking about why you like my page. Make it personal. Tag me in the post, and I'll get you entered in the contest.

3. Sign up as an email subscriber to Traces of Faith blog.

Email subscribers are a big deal to literary agents, and as I try to find a publication home for my first book, this step would help me a ton. Click on the above link to subscribe. I send out a weekly email (at most), including a roundup post every month on the 26th. First-time subscribers will also be entered in my favorite books contest.

That's it! We'll leave this contest open until I hit 1,050 Facebook likes or double my email subscription list. Whichever comes first. How's that sound? Please share this giveaway too! This is the first time I've purchased books on my own to give away (usually I work with book review sites or publishers). These titles mean that much to me. Let me know if you have any questions.