What to read? FICTION

OK, this post is for my friends who are always calling me from the library wanting to know what author I had recommended. I read A LOT in the summer and I typically re-read books in the summer from my favorites list. I try to balance fiction with nonfiction and these are some of my favorite FICTION PICKS:

I picked up reading Christian fiction about 7 years ago. We were going through a terrible time with a business failing and besides juggling the store, church obligations, sending my kids to public school for the first time (!), taking care of 3 year old Erin, taking a part time afternoon job to help with income...we were stressed out. ALL THAT TO SAY, I was having trouble getting to sleep at night (so many things on my mind) and I picked up a book my mom was reading...I haven't stopped since! Oh yes, and it is a free hobby if you have a library nearby!

I love family, I love purity,and I love a good romance. I'm all about a Cinderella story. LORI WICK books are all so good for this. She writes a lot of period books, and they were what I started on. Many are quick reads (250 pages) and have good story lines. She also has some wonderful contemporary books like Sophie's Heart, Pretense, and Bamboo and Lace.
My favorite book is The Princess, and I've read it about 5 times! Good books to take on vacation!

When I started to look for something different I ran across a book on display at my local Wal Mart that looked interesting. WOW, I was on to something. The book had just been published and I like to think of myself as one of DEE HENDERSON's first BIG FANS. I could not get enough!
Dee Henderson writes Christian suspense books. Her most popular series (and I mean millions and millions sold) is the O'Malley Series. There are 7 books in this series and they are so good I have read them about 3 times through! Really, the books take place in Chicago and I have wanted to go to Chicago and meet the O'Malleys! Oh, yeah, I'm crazy!

She has another series (4 books) that are also suspense about the military and the first one is TRUE DEVOTION. These books were really eye-opening about Navy Seals and war time. I liked them and I have NO military background. After she became very famous the book publishers went back to her earlier writings and published God's Gift and The Marriage Wish. These are good, but I can't say enough about the O'Malley series.

Another suspense (more mystery) writer I like is TERRI BLACKSTOCK. This summer (this week) I'm re-reading her SUN CHRONICLES SERIES and I'll probably read the NEWPORT 911 series. She is a former secular writer who gave her heart to the Lord and started writing really great Christian fiction. One of my favorite parts of her book is her comment pages in the back of the book. She reveals her heart about the book and a challenging Biblical principle she learned while writing the book. She seems like a very real person with a heart for Him. Personally, I didn't care for her latest series, I think it is called Last Light. It was a little freaky to me.

KRISTIN HEITZMANN gets very little publicity but I haven't read a book of hers I didn't like. Her books are a little historical fiction/romance/suspense. The HONOR SERIES is 4 books long and easy read. Great strong female characters make her books great for us ladies!
I don't buy many books but I do have her DIAMONDS IN THE ROCKIES series (3 books). They are California, gold rush, strong lady and mysterious mountain man books. GREAT READ. She followed them up a few years later with a contemporary book called Secrets. GOOD STUFF TOO. She has several stand alone books too (not a series).


KAREN KINGSBURY books are HOT right now! I haven't read all of her books because they are all contemporary and honestly, I can't handle the real emotional struggles of some of her characters and conflicts. HOWEVER, I do love and HIGHLY RECOMMEND some of her books. THE REDEMPTION SERIES is about the Baxter family and this family is precious! They end up in all kind of situations that we all will come in contact with: cancer, affairs, health crisis, pregnancies, drug use, adoption, etc. Karen Kingsbury handles these situations so well! This 4 book series evolved into an 8 book series, and then she is now completing the last 4 books about families connected to the original books. These are good!

I would also HIGHLY RECOMMEND from Karen:
ONE TUESDAY MORNING and AFTER TUESDAY MORNING,
A THOUSAND TOMORROWS and ABOVE THE CLOUDS,
LIKE DANDELION DUST (this is being made into a movie for late 2008)

OK, Other FAVORITES:

LYNN MORRIS/GILBERT MORRIS - DR CHENEY SERIES, (historical fiction, so good!)

MINDY STARNES CLARK -
THE MILLIONAIRE MYSTERIES and her SMART CHICK SERIES! (FUNNY!FUNNY!)




LIZ CURTIS HIGGS -
BOOKENDS (one of the funniest books I've ever read!)


That should be enough to read for this summer, if you haven't read much before! I have other books that are good, but these are at the top of my list. Please leave me a word if you have some other suggestions...I'M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A NEW AUTHOR TO LOVE!

Thank you Jane who fed my habit over the years by sharing your books with me!

TWO OTHER THINGS I SIMPLY MUST ADD...(for those of you who made it to the bottom of this post):

**At different times during the last few years I have slipped into craving a fiction read. I mean, I would get up in the morning and couldn't wait to get back to my story. Well, it's not good to be so thirsty for fiction and not thirsty for the WORD. I wouldn't encourage anyone to get so into reading that they forget that they must MINE TRUTHS from THE SOURCE. Reading is simply entertainment that needs to stay in it's place.

**Also, and I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't really mean it...don't read a lot of romance if your own romance is floundering. Heroes and Heroines all have the perfect words and unbelievable brilliantness in all situations. Hello! They've been edited and re-edited! If you ever start to compare characters to people in your life, you need to back off the heroes and seek some good counsel from THE HERO.