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My 10 Favorite Books: A Special Series

My 10 favorite booksThe beginning of the year brings about many resolutions. For me, it also brings looking forward to another year of reading great books. I know many of you are the same way!

Therefore, each day this week, I have asked one of my friends to share their 10 favorite books. The lists are as unique as the guests. By the end of the week, you’ll have 50 great books to add to your 2014 reading list. (Links included are affiliate links.)

I’m going to start things out with my 10 favorite books.

Fiction Books: I am a BIG fiction lover, so this book is heavy on the fiction titles.

Anne of Green Gables: For almost as long as I can remember, I have adored Anne Shirley of the Green Gables series. It has been many years since I have read these books, but they will always be my favorite. This winter I think I am going to curl up and read them all again.

Someone Knows My Name: Without question, this is my favorite historical fiction book. It is the journey of a woman taken into slavery as a child and her life’s story. I tell everyone I know to read it and have bought it multiple times because I keep giving my copy away.

The Shoemaker’s Wife: This book is a close second to Someone Knows My Name. It’s a wonderful story of love and dreams that starts out in Italy and then ends in the US after World War II.

City of Dreams: A Novel of Nieuw Amsterdam and Early Manhattan: This is another all time favorite of mine. It takes place over several generations starting in the 1660s and is about a family of apothecaries and doctors. The writer used real medical journals to write about the various procedures that these medical practitioners used.

The Red Tent: It has been years since I first read this book, but it still is a stand-out for me. The Red Tent is set in biblical times and uses the four wives of Jacob : Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, who teach their daughter about midwifery. It’s fascinating.

The Other Boleyn Girl: This was the first book I read by Philippa Gregory, who is one of the world’s best historical fiction writers (in my opinion). She is a fabulous researcher and writes wonderful books. The Other Boleyn Girl is part of her famous Tudor series and is about Anne and Mary Boleyn and their mutual love for the king. I think it is her best series.

Harry Potter: The whole series is epic. There’s no way to pick just one. The characters and setting stays with you long after the books are done. Someday we’ll get to Hogwarts.

Non Fiction Books

One Thousand Gifts: Ann Voskamp’s New York Times best-selling book will forever be a favorite of mine because it was so life changing. If you have not read this book on gratitude, add it to your list.

Churched: My husband’s memoir about growing up in a fundamental Baptist church is funny, raw and honest.

Sabbath: This is one of the few books I have read multiple times. Angie and I did

jessicaturner-graphic1I hope you are as excited about this series as I am! Please share in the comments if you have read any of these books, or about your favorite books.

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10 Comments

  1. OOOHHH!!! I will need to make a note of all the one’s I haven’t read. Never mind the three foot pile of unfinished books I already have… This is the year I put the phone down and READ. (I actually think I’ve forgotten how!)

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  3. I’ve added a lot of books to my Goodreads “to read” account. Do you use that app? It’s how I record what I’m reading and what I want to read someday! I can’t wait to read my daughter the Anne of Green Gables series, like my mom read them to me. I also love historical fiction along with many other books…some favorites are:

    1. To Kill a Mockingbird – if you haven’t read this classic, you must.
    2. All 3 Khaled Hoessini books – beautiful stories on the people of Afghanistan and their strength. I’ve been to an author’s lecture and was amazed by his story.
    3. The Glass Castle by Janette Walls. Beautiful memoir of remembering her parents alcoholic past but not allowing that to shape her future
    4. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. Historical fiction, a story of slavery and not belonging in either house on the plantation.
    5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Another classic that I waited entirely too long to read.
    6. Sarah’s Key and the Book Thief. Both about the Holocaust, with their powerful stories told from different sides
    7. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. A WWII memoir. Read it before the movie comes out later this year.
    8. My Name is Mary Sutter. Historical fiction, about a woman becoming a nurse in the Civil War
    9. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Amazing. No summary could do it justice!
    10. Shauna Niequist’s 3 books – I especially loved Cold Tangerines, and am now determined to make many of her recipes from Bread & Wine.

    Reply

    1. I love Khaled Hoessini! I just bought his most recent for my Kindle. I have also read Sarah’s Key and the Book Thief. I love books about that period. Shauna is a friend and I love her writing.

      I don’t use Good Reads. I just can’t keep up with it. I add books I want to read to my Amazon wish list. 🙂

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  5. I love Philippa Gregory! I’m reading The White Princess on my Kindle now.

    Have you ever read Charms for the Easy Life? I think you’d like it.

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  6. Just recently finished God’s Smuggler – a true account of smuggling Bibles in to Communist countries behind the Iron Curtain. How God worked is still blowing my mind. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers will still be one of my all-time favorite reads.

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  8. I loved The Red Tent! I don’t see it pop up on many lists like this so I guess I got excited. I also really enjoyed “Day After Night”, also by her.

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