My Top 10 Reads Of 2019

Last year I put together an informal favorite reads list at my Birdhouse Books page on Facebook.  It was interesting and thought provoking looking back at my reading trends - and favorites - for the year, so I wanted to share here for 2019.  This is, of course, a highly subjective list, based on my reading preferences.  It is not intended as a critical 'best list," but truly a list of favorites.

10. Lies in White Dresses by Sofia Grant - Historical novel set on a ranch in 1952 Reno, Nevada, where three women wait out their divorce residency.  A lovely look at women's lives, friendships, choices.

9.  No Judgments by Meg Cabot - Women's fiction about an artist who waits out a hurricane in the Florida Keys, only to find new purpose rescuing pets that were left behind during the storm.  First in the Little Bridge Island series.  Light, breezy, and so life affirming!

8.  The Sky Above Us by Sarah Sundin - Historical fiction about a pilot and Red Cross volunteer stationed in London during World War II.  Second book in the Sunrise at Normandy series.  A love story that wonderfully evokes 1940's Britain.

7.  The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr.  "All love stories are ghost stories in disguise."   A gothic historical novel about a poet, a postmortem photographer, a mysterious chapel made of glass, and a ghost (or two).  An evocative and totally unique book.

6.  Lethal White by Robert Galbraith - Mystery about London detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin, who work together to solve a mystery involving a member of Parliament.  Fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series.  I think this the best book yet in my favorite current mystery series.

5.  The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff - Complex triple storyline historical novel about three women working in Special Operations during World War II.  Dazzling storytelling and such a moving and unusual look at women during the war.

4.  Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts - Historical fiction about Maud Gage Baum's unlikely friendship with a young Judy Garland on the set of The Wizard of Oz.  In a book with Frank Baum and Judy Garland, Maud Gage Baum somehow manages to steal the show!

3.  The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan - Historical novel (with a mystery) about a middle aged woman who travels to London during World War II when her adult daughter goes missing. She becomes involved in a twist-filled adventure as she learns about her daughter's double life.  A perfect combination of cozy mystery and historical suspense.

2.  Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy - Historical fiction about Marilla Cuthbert and her life before Anne of Green Gables.  A fascinating look at a beloved character from children's literature in a novel rich with descriptions that read like poetry.

1.  The Lieutenant's Nurse by Sara Ackerman - Historical fiction about an Army nurse stationed in Hawaii during Pearl Harbor.  A love story and mystery in a book that beautifully evokes 1941 Hawaii.

What were YOUR favorite reads of 2019?   I'd love to hear from you about the books you loved most.

10 Memorable Books

Every month or so on Facebook there is a thread that goes around about 10 memorable books.  You are to post your books and share the thread with your friends.  As a lifelong book lover, I participate every single time, and always find my book choices change a bit.  I thought it would be fun to share my list with you and ask for your 10 memorable books as well.   I may have to revisit this list again later with a new one.  Reading is like that!

1 The Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace - These are my desert island books! This series tells the story of 3 girls from age 5 through their 20's, in turn of the century Minnesota. 

2 The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder - Childhood favorites. I love everything about these books.

 

3 The Keeping Days series by Norma Johnston - Another series with a turn of the century setting. This series tells the story of a family, a young girl who wants to be a writer, and her friends.

 

4 Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Two sisters, one practical and one romantic, seek love.

 

5 The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - I love the way this series has given a love of reading and imagination to a new generation.

 

6 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Perhaps the Great American Novel.

 

7 The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler - A noir detective story set in Los Angeles. For years I reread this book every summer. 

 

8 Time and Again by Jack Finney - Time travel, love, history, old New York. 

 

9 Possession by A.S. Byatt - Poetry and poets, romantic passion and a passion for words. A beautiful book.

 

10 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire - A twist on The Wizard of Oz, and a wonderful fantasy world on its own.

 

I would love to read your 10 memorable books in the comment section, below. 

Friday Fave: Overdrive - The Library Comes To You

Happy Friday!

If you love books, I have a great app for you today.  It is available for: iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, Windows computer, Mac,  Kindle, or Nook.   

This free app lets you access the digital collection from your library to download books in eBook format (i.e. Kindle) or audiobook.   

I have used this on my computer, Kindle, and iPad, and I really love it.  I often listen to audiobooks via Overdrive when I am working here.

Here's how it works:  You go to the Overdrive link (just click here!).  On the right side of the page you can type in your zip code and see if Overdrive is available at your local library system.  If it is, you can download the app for your computer or device of choice.  Then you log into Overdrive with your library card and download audiobooks or eBooks to your heart's content!  The books have a lending period similar to what you will find at a traditional library (i.e. 2 - 3 weeks) and you check them out online and return them online as well.

I am a great fan of eBooks (Kindle) and also enjoy audiobooks when I am working.  I cannot recommend this app highly enough for book lovers.

Friday Fave: Fantastic Fiction

Happy Friday!  Hope you're having a great day.

My Friday Fave this week is the website Fantastic Fiction.  This site is a great resource for readers, with bibliographies of other 30,000 authors. If you enjoy reading series of books, as I do, you can look up an author or book at this site, and then find out the series order.  

You can see good examples here:  Laura Ingalls Wilder (the Little House on the Prairie books for children) and Mazo de la Roche (the Jalna series, a wonderful family saga set in Canada, 1854 - 1954).  

I hope you enjoy this site as much as I do.  Just be warned - your "To Be Read" list is sure to grow!

What is your favorite series of books?  Please leave a comment below.

Rereading: So Nice I Read It Twice

There are two types of book lovers:  those that reread, and those that don't.  Count me in as an enthusiastic rereader.   Rereading to me is comfort food, like buttered biscuits or Motown music or an afternoon nap.  

My Kindle has only enhanced my love of rereads.  Now I can carry a little portable library with my favorite books.  This is a booklover's dream.

Here is a list of books that I have reread a number of times.  Vintage children's books are my first reading love, and that is reflected in this list.

Children's Books

Nancy Drew (I grew up with the matte cover books with yellow spines)
the Ginnie and Geneva series - Catherine Woolley
The Luckiest Girl - Beverly Cleary
the Betsy-Tacy series - Maud Hart Lovelace (my all-time favorite series)
the Little House books - Laura Ingalls Wilder
the All of a Kind Family series - Sydney Taylor
the Keeping Day series - Norma Johnston
Caddie Woodlawn - Carol Ryrie Brink
The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare
A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett
the Five Little Peppers books - Margaret Sidney
Gone Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away - Elizabeth Enright
the Betsy and Billy series - Carolyn Haywood
children's mysteries by Georgia author Wylly Folk St. John
Beverly Cleary's books - especially Ramona the Pest and Beezus and Ramona
the Narnia books - C.S. Lewis
the Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Cheaper by the Dozen - Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Indian Captive - Lois Lenski
The Witch Family - Eleanor Estes
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E.L. Konigsburg
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth - E.L.
Konigsburg
The Borrowers - Mary Norton
Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren
The Crystal Tree - Jennie Lindquist
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Velvet Room - Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Teen Books

the Franzons series by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
Red Sky at Morning - Richard Bradford
The Cheerleader - Ruth Doan MacDougall
Seventeenth Summer - Maureen Daly
Meet Me in St. Louis - Sally Benson
Seventeen - Booth Tarkington
I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith 

Books for Grown-Ups
 
A Room With a View - E.M. Forster
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Rebecca - Daphne DuMaurier
Diana - R. F Delderfield
Jubilee Trail and Calico Palace - Gwen Bristow
The Winthrop Woman - Anya Seton (I love many of her books)
Portrait of Jennie - Robert Nathan
the Jalna series - Mazo de la Roche (my favorite adult series - highly recommended for anyone who loves family sagas)
Gospel - Wilton Barnhardt
Possession - A.S. Byatt
Time and Again and From Time to Time - Jack Finney
The Long Goodbye - Raymond Chandler (probably my most re-read book)
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough
The Best of Everything - Rona Jaffe
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (my favorite classic novel) 

I would love to hear from you.  Are you a rereader?  What books do you enjoy reading again (and again)?