12. The Church Mouse and more...

12. The Church Mouse. Graham Oakley. 1972. 40 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars, picture book, animal fantasy]

First sentence: In a busy little town, not very far away, there is a church and in the church there lived a mouse whose name was Arthur.

Premise/plot: Arthur, the mouse, lives in a church. He is thankful for his situation; it is safe thanks to the church cat, Sampson, being so biblically sound and prone to meekness and loving his neighbor. But he is lonely for other mice. So he becomes a mouse on a mission and recruits other mice to come and join him at the church--with the full blessing of the parson. In exchange for helping out around the church, the parson will pay the mice in cheese. Heaven on earth essentially for these mice. But will his plan succeed? 

My thoughts: I loved, loved, loved this one! I loved the story and the characters and the illustrations! I loved the little details. It is text-heavy. It may be a picture book, but, it is a picture book for older readers. I think it would work as a read aloud in very small groups. BUT I do think you'd need a good amount of attention span since it is a lot of text. Highly recommend.

   

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Sunday, May 17, 2026

KJV MacLaren

Genesis 20-23; 2 Samuel 15-18; Psalms 52-55; Daniel 3-4; Matthew 25;

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Joshua 22-24; Acts 9-10

NASB 1977 Ryrie Study Bible

Genesis 6-11; Joshua 5-6; Psalms 6-9; Matthew 5

Monday, May 18, 2026

NASB 1977 Ryrie Study Bible

Genesis 12-16; Joshua 7-8; Psalms 10-12; Matthew 6

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Judges 1-2; Acts 11-12;

KJV MacLaren Large Print Reference

Genesis 24-26; 2 Samuel 19-24; Psalms 56-58; Daniel 5-6; Matthew 26-28

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

KJV MacLaren Large Print Reference

Genesis 27-29; 1 Kings 1-4; Psalms 59-62; Daniel 7-8; Mark 1

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Judges 3-5; Acts 13;

NASB 1977 Ryrie 

Genesis 17-19; Joshua 9-11; Psalms 13-16; Matthew 7

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible 

Judges 6-12; Acts 14-15;

KJV MacLaren Large Print Reference

Genesis 30-31; 1 Kings 5-7; Daniel 9-12; Mark 2-3;

NASB 1977 Ryrie Study Bible

Genesis 20-25; Joshua 12-13; Psalms 17-18; Matthew 8

Thursday, May 21, 2026

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Judges 13-16; Acts 17;

KJV MacLaren Large Print Reference

Genesis 32-36; 1 Kings 8; Psalms 63-66; Obadiah; Mark 4

NASB 1977 Ryrie Study Bible

Genesis 26; Joshua 14-15; Psalms 19-21; Matthew 9

Friday, May 22, 2026

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Judges 17-21; Acts 18-19;

KJV MacLaren Large Print Reference Bible

Genesis 37-39; 1 Kings 9-11; Ezra 1-4; Psalms 67-69; Mark 5

NASB 1977 Ryrie Study Bible

Genesis 27-30; Joshua 16-19; Psalms 22; Matthew 10

Saturday, May 23, 2026

NASB 1977 Ryrie Study Bible

Genesis 31-33; Joshua 20-24; Psalms 23-25; Matthew 11

KJV MacLaren Large Print Reference

Genesis 40-42; 1 Kings 12-14; Psalms 70-71; Ezra 5-7; Mark 6

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Ruth; Acts 20

   

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This is a bizarre week for switching up Bibles. But I think things might settle down for next week.

Sunday, May 10, 2026

KJV Altar Bible

Job 1-9

NKJV Precious Moments

Psalms 6-13

NASB 77 (Moody Press Thinline)

Genesis 12-16

Monday May 11, 2026

KJV Altar Bible

Job 10-26

NASB 77 (Moody Press Thinline)

Genesis 17-21

NKJV Precious Moments

Psalms 14-22

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

KJV Altar Bible 

Job 27-42, Ecclesiastes

NASB 77 Moody Press Thinline

Genesis 22-26

KJV Scourby Audio

Deuteronomy 6-34

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

KJV Altar 

Song of Solomon

NASB 77 Moody Press Thinline

Genesis 27-3

NKJV Precious Moments

Psalms 23-26

Thursday, May 14, 2026

KJV Altar

Matthew 1-4

NASB 77 Moody Press Thinline

Genesis 33-36

NKJV

Psalms 27-32

Friday, May 15, 2026

NASB 1977 Ryrie

Genesis 1-2; Joshua 1-2; Psalms 1-2; Matthew 1

KJV MacLaren Large Print Reference

Genesis 15-17; 2 Samuel 11-12; Psalms 45-48; Matthew 19-21

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Joshua 12-16; Acts 5-7;

Saturday, May 16, 2026

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Joshua 17-21; Acts 8

KJV MacLaren Large Print Reference

Genesis 18-19; 2 Samuel 13-14; Psalms 49-51; Daniel 1-2; Matthew 22-24; 

NASB 1977 Ryrie

Genesis 3-5; Joshua 3-4; Psalms 3-5; Matthew 2-4

   

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Sunday, May 3, 2026

KJV MacLaren Reference Bible

Genesis 1-3; 2 Samuel 1-2; Psalms 37-39; Ezekiel 33-34; Matthew 15-16;

NKJV MacLaren Study Bible

Joshua 1-3; Acts 1

NASB 1977 Open Bible 

Genesis 1-2; 1 Chronicles 1-9; Psalms 1-5; Matthew 1-5

Monday, May 4, 2026

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Genesis 6-11; 1 Chronicles 18-29; Matthew 8-9; Psalms 10-15; 

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

KJV Audio Alexander Scourby

Genesis 1-50

Exodus 1-40

Thursday, May 7, 2026

KJV Audio Alexander Scourby

Exodus 13-40

Leviticus

NASB Moody Press Thinline

Genesis 1-5

Friday, May 8, 2026

Genesis 6-11

Saturday, May 9, 2026

KJV Audio Alexander Scourby 

Numbers 23-36; Deuteronomy 1-5

NKJV Precious Moments Bible

Psalms 1-5


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

   

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4. ESV Women's Study Bible. God. 2021. 2336 pages. [Source: GIFT] [Bible, study Bible, 5 stars]

First sentence: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 

Start date: November 29, 2025

End date: May 2, 2026

I loved, loved, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this Bible. It is the BEST of both worlds. It offers devotionals AND study notes. It also features articles, maps, timelines, illustrations, profiles cross references, glossary. It was just the right balance too. There are plenty of features that make this a true study Bible. YET it isn't as overwhelming as the ESV Study Bible. The devotions are present--obviously. But they are not carrying all the weight either.  The translation is the English Standard Version. (This is the 2016 text edition). 

It is double column, words of Christ in black. 

As I mentioned, I love this one!!! I loved the substance of this one. It was SOLID. It is probably the best Women's Bible I've ever owned, ever read. I can't think of a better. 

   

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