Good Reads

Ahh, books.

do you ever think about the number of books you'll get to read in your lifetime? 

A few years ago, a friend told me that she figured out the average number of books she'd read in one year, (about 50) and worked out that if she lived to be about 85, at the most, she'd get to read only 2,000 more books in her life. 

Scary thought.

I don't know what my average 'books-per-year' number is, but it's probably in the 75-100 range. Still, with all the books in the world yet unread and yet unwritten, I want to consume, to glut myself on as many as possible.

In the past few months, especially with free time over the Christmas break, I got to polish several more off my to-read list, and wanted to share with you. Ratings are out of 5 stars.

The Baker's Daughter (****)

Secrets She Kept (****)

Both of these novels revolve around WWII and Nazi Germany. Secrets She Kept is actually a Christian novel, but the most complimentary thing I can say about it is that I didn't realize it was a Christian novel until about 2/3s of the way through. Very well written, not cheesy, and made me want to find more of the author's work. Both were very good.

In Bitter Chill (****)

Very well written mystery set in a small village in England. Setting goes back and forth between a crime that happened in the 70s to a related crime in present day. I really enjoyed this one. Not graphic.

Descent (****)

Another good crime mystery set in present day Colorado. 

Maude (***)

Maude is a true story about the author's grandmother, as related to her when Mabry was a child. Like many true stories, there is a fair amount of sadness and difficulty. Well written and very interesting peek into 1900s American life.

Miss Fortune series (***)

If you enjoy rompy mysteries, you might like the Miss Fortune series of books. Set in Sinful, Louisiana, an undercover FBI agent is in danger and must lay low for awhile. In the meantime, she gets caught up in a series of murder mysteries with a group of aging, gun-toting spinsters. Fun, pretty clean with some language. I've only read the first three books, but I liked them.

The Zombie Apocalypse Guide For Teenagers (****)

Not your average teen devotional, but so fun and actually a great way to use sci fy to teach biblical truths. A friend had seen this and mentioned it to me, so I bought it and used it as morning devos for our school days last semester. I really enjoyed it, and the kids did too.

The Power of a Praying Parent (****)

Nothing new about this gem that's been around for years, but I just went through it again over the past few months during my morning quiet time, and highly recommend it. Especially if you need help focusing and directing your prayer life.

Now for what's on my To Read shelf:

I'm currently about halfway through Tomorrow, When The War Began and am enjoying it. It was written in the early 90s but is easily relatable to today. 

My next devotional comes highly recommended by several friends and I'm looking forward to getting started.

New Morning Mercies

The Last Anniversary

I've read several of Moriarty's books like, Little Big Lies and What Alice Forgot and really enjoyed them. If you haven't discovered her yet, run to your library and grab What Alice Forgot. Good stuff. Just borrowed Anniversary for my Kindle and am starting it today.

These are the highlights of my recent book adventures. Have you read anything on my list? Or, if you have recommendations, I'd love you to share in the Comments. If you are on Goodreads, and want to be friends, just click HERE.

Happy Reading!

{alison}