It’s been a really fun reading month! I’ve been racing through books I’ve been wanting to read because next month begins Christmas reading! Yay! So here we go.
The Unbound Bookshop by Rachael Bloome
Book 3 in the Blessings Bay series. I still love this series so much. And especially when there is a bookshop involved! Book 4 came out a few weeks ago but I might not get to it until after Christmas.
Hieroglyphs and Homocide by Tracy Higley
The first book in a new series—Clarissa Bell mysteries! I love the spunky Dr. Clarissa Bell, with her PhD in Egyptology, solving mysteries in 1923 Egypt. Fun rom-com banter with a good mystery. Book 2 just released—and it’s set at Christmas! So it goes on my Christmas reading list! Yay!
The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna White
Roseanna’s stories never disappoint. This WWII story about a real place in Paris captured me from page one. I love how her characters grow throughout the course of the book. As with most WWII fiction, the story is both uplighting and heart-wrenching.
The Voice We Find by Nicole Deese
Each Fog Harbor book has been amazing, and this was no exception. I love the way “voices” of many varieties are both lost and found in this story. Beautiful, redemptive, and full of faith.
Sense and Suitability by Pepper Basham
What a delightful story! A regency rom-com with plenty of nods to Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. But Simon and Emme have a chemistry that is all their own.
The Bear Pit by S.G. MacLean
Book 5 in the Damian Seeker series—and it might have been the most suspenseful yet! These books are set in the “Protectorate” years in England, when Oliver Cromwell ruled instead of a king. I don’t want to give anything away, but the ending made me open book 6 immediately after finishing this one!
The House of Lamantations by S.G. MacLean
The final Damian Seeker book, and a fitting close to the series. There is one more book tangentially associated with the Seeker series, but I’m going to breathe a little before I get to that one. If you like historical fiction and mystery/spy/suspense, you really need to check out S.G. MacLean’s books!
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
Finally finished listening to the trilogy! I do love this book so much because so many get their happy endings. Although I had forgotten that going back to the Shire isn’t as happy as expected. Still, it is my favorite of the three.
The Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
A friend of mine recommended this book to me a year or so ago. When I found the audiobook on sale a few months ago, I grabbed it. As I’ve talked to people, this tends to be a book people either loved or hated. I loved it. I thought she portrayed the real, raw emotions of a family ravaged by years of secrets. And when the story finally came out, I was spellbound by it. If you enjoy a family drama with some historical parts of the story, check it out. Caveat: This is a general market book and there are curse words throughout, mostly mild except in one or two instances.
I also read a non-fiction book this month, so here’s the info on that one:
Break, Blow, Burn and Make by E. Lily Yu
I found this book via a footnote in Karen Swallow Prior’s book You Have a Calling. And I’m so glad I did. Yu’s thoughts on a creative life and how that intersects with a life of faith were both compelling and thought-provoking.
On to November reading—and Christmas stories!
What Christmas fiction are you looking forward to reading?
The Roseanna White and Pepper Basham books look great. I so enjoy Return of the King. The Hobbits have been prepared for defending the Shire. I read that the Shire was based on Wales.
I will be reading a Linore Rose Burkhart Christmas novella soon.
I’ll have to check out that novella. I’m always looking for Christmas stories I haven’t read before.
Yes, the Pepper Basham and Roseanna White books were great.
I’d love to visit Wales one day and see if it is my imagination of the Shire. 🙂