Summer Reading

I am linking up with the Clutter Free Classroom.

My summer reading list keeps growing.  I don’t know much about Daily 5 so I kind of want to check out Daily 5 and Cafe.  I listed out a lot of the books I wanted to read this summer for Jessica Stanford’s linky party.

My ongoing read that has been so rewarding is 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  Her blog www.aholyexperience.com is amazing!  The insight and photography she shares daily always lift my spirits and often bring tears to my eyes. The book is about finding joy in the midst of despair and in everyday life.  She shares that joy is found through expressing gratitude to God by counting the gifts in our lives.  So I am working on my gratitude list while reading the book.  I am reading it very slowly because I find something transforming and life altering in every chapter (if not every page). I have always struggled with negativity, stress, and being a worrier, so finding my way back to joy through focusing on heavenly things and gratitude to Christ has been so transforming the last few months!


The other main books I want to finish this summer are The Children’s Civil War and Dance with Dragons.  I tend to prefer fiction to nonfiction, so I have been trying to really spend some time with the Children’s Civil War for months.  I actually am very interested in studying different periods of American history from how they affected children. Dance with Dragons is Book 5 in Song of Ice and Fire.  Anyone been watching Game of Thrones on HBO?  This is the series the show is based on.  When I got married 8 years ago, my husband introduced me to SciFi/Fantasy.  I definitely prefer Fantasy novels to SciFi.  I have read many genres of fiction over the years, but most important is finding an author who develops good plots, characters, and writes well. 

With all the controversy over 50 Shades of Grey, I am a little curious about it but have heard it is very poorly written.  I enjoy Fantasy and Paranormal Romance books because there is a lot more to the plot like crime fighting, magic, or intrigue.  I am suspicious that with 50 Shades there will not be enough to the plot to keep my interest.  I have read a lot of Laurell K. Hamilton’s books, but I lost interest when they became too focused on the dirty stuff and her writing is not that great anyway.

With trying to be more heavenly focused, 50 Shades probably wouldn’t be the best read for me right now anyway.

Authors worth reading:

For Fantasy: The Song of Ice of Fires series by George R. R. Martin is worth reading. I also enjoy the authors Anne Bishop and Jacqueline Carey.  The Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey is amazing!  I enjoy it every time I read it!  They are a little darker, but she writes beautifully and the plot is always intriguing and complicated.

For classic literature, I love Jane Austen.  The list of classics I would like to read though is huge.  I need to sit down and find the time make the time. 

For Christian authors, I love Francine Rivers, Lori Wick, and Karen Kingsbury.

For regency Romance novels, I enjoy Stephanie Laurens and Johanna Lindsey.  (They might be formulaic, but they write much better than most Romance novelists).

My favorite Young Adult authors are Ann Rinaldi, Libba Bray, and Sharon Creech.  For Juvenile novels, I enjoy Andrew Clements, Louis Sachar, Scott O’Dell, Blue Balliett, and most Newberry Award winners.