Lately I’ve been reading a lot of YA and light fiction, rather than following the 2016 Reading Challenge that I would like to complete this year. I do plan to get back to it before long, but for the past few weeks, the lighter fare has been a nice diversion. Here’s a list of some of my recent reading (and listening)… and just so you know, because I’m supposed to tell you: I may get commissions for Amazon purchases made through links in this post.
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. Southern fiction recommended awhile back by my friend Sherry. I loved the characters… and the house!
Dying Declaration by Randy Singer. Currently only 99 cents on Kindle. If you enjoy legal suspense, I recommend it.
Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock. Enjoyable family drama.
Keeping the Castle by Patricia Kindl. Fun Regency-style novel with a Jane Austen flair. Not great literature, but I did enjoy the writing style and the wacky story line.
A School for Brides: A Story of Maidens, Mystery and Matrimony by Patricia Kindl. Sequel to Keeping the Castle, and one of Sonlight’s 2016 Summer Readers. To be honest, I liked the first one better.
The Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielson. I don’t even remember where I saw the first one recommended, but once I read it, I had to finish all three.
The False Prince- The Runaway King
- The Shadow Throne
Miss Julia Inherits a Mess by Ann B. Ross. Book 17 of the Miss Julia series. Listened to on audio, because that’s the best way to experience Miss Julia!
The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry. I have read these before but not straight through in order. On the recommendation of my friend, Michael Ann, I listened to Books 1 and 2 while I was driving on our move. Then I ended up reading Books 3 and 4 with the Kindle app on my phone, in little snatches and grabs while we were unpacking and settling in that first week. Some people check Facebook when they have a few minutes down-time. Me? I read books!
- The Giver
- Gathering Blue
- The Messenger
- Son
Violet Dawn by Brandilyn Collins. Another re-read, which grabbed my interest as I was unpacking, since it’s actually set nearby, in a fictional town on a fictional lake just a few miles north of here. Book 1 of the Kanner Lake series.
The Beloved Stranger by Grace Livingston Hill
. Yet another re-read. I have an old hardback, ex-library copy of this vintage novel which was originally published in 1933. I actually have quite a few GLH books… some vintage editions, some paperback reprints. The stories are just so “precious” and usually quite unbelievable. But oh-so-wholesome. They make me smile.
Beverly Gray’s Career by Clair Blank, copyright 1935. This is another vintage book in my collection that I hadn’t read before. While I was on my 1930s kick I decided to give it a try. It’s part of the Beverly Gray College Mysteries series. I was not impressed. Way too much “telling” in the writing style and not enough “showing.” But it was still interesting, just from a “what were YA novels like in the 1930s” perspective.
What have you been reading lately?
