Favorite Books

A huge group of bloggers are participating in a book party at Rebekah Morris's blog "Read Another Page." It goes on until this Friday, the 30th. Six blogs (including Rebekah Morris's) are posting their top five favorite books in two genres each day. Every day they offer a prize, and to top it all off, there is an amazing grand prize. You can enter in numerous ways. I'm having a blast at the party so far, and I'd highly recommend heading over there to join in the fun!

Since this has thrown me into a bookish mood (which I'm always in anyways), I'm going to post a few of my favorite books in the mystery, historical fiction, and spiritual warfare genres. Enjoy and be sure to enter the giveaway!

For the longest time, mystery was my favorite genre. Lately, historical fiction and fantasy have overruled it, but I still love to immerse myself in a great mystery novel. I am, however, struggling to find good, clean, mysteries for teen readers such as myself. I love ones that keep you guessing and send shivers up your spine. Any recommendations? Following are some of my favorites from a few years ago.

The "Red Rock Mysteries" series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry are wonderful adventures full of twists and turns. I've thoroughly enjoyed each one I've read; my only complaint is that they are over too quickly!

Another series I re-read repeatedly when I was younger was the "No Place Like Holmes" books by Jason Lethcoe. They keep you flipping pages and are just the type that I described above. I wish they were written for my age level!

Yet a third series of delightful mysteries is the "Adventures of the Northwoods" by Lois Walfrid Johnson. They also qualify as historical fiction, set in Wisconsin. I really had fun with both the mystery, and the struggles of the times.

An abundance of these novels decorate my shelves. I can't get enough of good historical fiction. I don't have a specific time period that I enjoy most; I'll read whatever time period I can get my hands on!

At the end of 2015, I discovered Molly Evangeline and her first series, "Pirates and Faith." They are an exciting series set in the Caribbean Sea, 1702. I also appreciated the length of each book; there's nothing better than a good, long book that you can escape to!

Recently, I discovered book one in the "Out From Egypt" series by Connilyn Cossette. Counted With the Stars follows an Egyptian woman through the plagues and the Exodus. It contains a very unique perspective that I enjoyed. I don't agree with all the aspects of the book, but for the most part, it was in sync with the Biblical account.

Francine River's series, "The Mark of the Lion" is powerful! I did a post on how it affected me that you can read HERE. This is set a little after the time of Jesus in Rome and Ephesus. It is graphic, but an amazing series nonetheless.

On a lighter note, I also had fun reading the "Black Stallion" series by Walter Farley, and am now re-reading it with my sister. For anyone who loves horses, these novels are a must!

I've had a great time reading all of Susan Marlow's novels. She has several series for various age groups. Each series is centered around tomboy Andrea Carter living in Fresno, California in the 1880s. My favorite of her series is "Circle C Adventures."

Lastly, Lauraine Snelling wrote a short novel taking place during the Mount St. Helens eruption called "What about Cimmaron?" I enjoyed the unique perspective of the characters.

I don't think that this is technically a "genre," but for my purposes it is. I haven't read too many of these, but I'll share the ones that I have because I've loved them!

Rachel Starr Thomson has a series called "The Oneness." While I've only read the first few, I've been intrigued by the way that the author portrays the spiritual realm.

I've read multiple books by Josh McDowell that are also jam-packed full of the spiritual. To name a few in "The Powerlink Chronicles:" Under Siege, The Deceivers, and Truth Slayers. All were very challenging. I'd recommend all three for teens and adults—mostly teens.

Perhaps this has helped you find more books to add to your to-be-read list. I hope so! If you have read any of the above mentioned books, I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts on them. What are your favorite books in these genres? I'd love to hear your input and make sure you go enter that giveaway right away!

Why I Disappeared . . .

You may be wondering why I disappeared. This time, I have a good reason. :) Multiple, actually. I don't even know where to begin.

I suppose I should start with the biggest reason I've vanished from the blogging world. If you know me either in person or follow Andi's Blog, you should know that my family was threatened by the Chimney Fire. My area was put under mandatory evacuation and our power was out for multiple days. After about two long weeks of watching the smoke and then flames, the fire was stopped nearly a mile and a half away from my house. So, I was a little bit preoccupied and blogging was not on my list of top priorities. Prior to that and since then, I have had school work to do, and now I'm focusing on catching up. I'm also in the process of beta-reading two books for some great friends and trying to get back to my own writing project(s) after a rather long and unintentional break.

However, I am just so grateful that the Lord saved my home from the flames. Thank you to everyone who was praying for me. Those prayers had a lot to do with stopping the fire!

I've been writing a few posts, but felt like this one needed to be written first, so you knew that I was still doing well. :) Keep your eyes out for those upcoming posts!

Oh yes, and as a side note, today is National Buy A Book Day. An author I follow did a great post about it that you can visit HERE.