So to start my blog off, I would like to talk about my top ten favorite books/series. Beings we are all in quarantine, I felt like I should make some suggestions if any of you are so bored you want to pick up a random book! I have read so many books and series but I have narrowed it down to only ten, otherwise we would be here for a while!
1. The Christy Miller Series by Robin Jones Gunn
This serious is my all time favorite series! It follows a girl named Christy Miller and her adventures, relationships and struggles in high school. The first book starts off when Christy travels to her aunt and uncle's house in California for the summer. While she's there, she makes some new friends and starts an unexpected relationship with a surfer. I don't want to give much away but that's the gist of those books. Robin has also written a few series extending off of it: The College Years, The Married Years, and The Baby Years. She likes to write books about previous characters from her past books and that's one thing I really enjoy about her books.
Genre: Young Adult Christian Fiction/Romance
Amount of Books: 23
2. The Baxter Family Series by Karen Kingsbury
The Baxter Family series is a humongous series. It follows the family of John and Elizabeth Baxter through many generations with their six kids and their adult lives and struggles with faith and other things. I am still working my way through them but they are super good! These books are considered adult fiction but there is nothing maturity wise in them that would be a problem for people in middle school or high school to read in my opinion. Karen has just recently released a series based off the Baxter's for kids and it follows John and Elizabeth's kids as they grow up. I also very much enjoy Karen Kingsbury's other novels and series she has written, check her out!
Genre: Christian Fiction
Amount of Books: 32
3. Montana Rescue Series by Susan May Warren
I finished this series within the last year. I really enjoyed it, it is a mix of adventure with the rescuing of people, romance and all tied up into Christian values. This series follows members of the Peak Rescue team, consisting of Kacey, Sam, Pete, Ian, Sierra, Gage, and Ty, in Montana as they navigate their lives but mostly their love life and their family life. There are a few short novellas telling the story before a few of them met or after they met. *Fun Fact* Susan May Warren lives in Duluth, Minnesota!
Genre: Christian Fiction/Romance/Adventure
Amount of Books: 8
4. Way of Women by Lauraine Snelling
I was very surprised that I ended up loving this book as much as I did. I found it randomly at a thrift store saw who wrote it and just dove right in without really reading about it, but I don't regret it in the slightest! This book starts off right before Mount St. Helens erupted and it follows three women who find themselves in alarming circumstances and they end up being connected in someway or another. One woman is looking for her husband and son who were suppose to be on the mountain, the other is a reporter trying to get a good story, while the last one is looking for her husband who was working on the mountain to pay for his daughters chemo treatment. Like I said before, I loved this book and I highly recommend it if you enjoy historical fiction. I think it's cool to see scenarios that could've happen when Mt. St. Helens erupted and step into their shoes to see what it was like to go through that.
Genre: Historical/Christian Fiction
5. Alaskan Courage by Dani Pettrey
Oh boy, don't even get me started on this series. I cruised through theses six books I very much enjoyed this series no complaints whatsoever. The whole series is based in Alaska and follows the McKenna family, Piper, Gage, Cole, Kayden, Ben, and Reef as they navigate different relationships in their lives. Each family members gets involved in some kind of crime one way or another. I definitely think this is the best suspense series I have every read, highly recommend.
Genre: Christian Suspense/Romance
Amount of Books: 6
6. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
This is my favorite Nicholas Sparks book. It follows Ronnie Miller, a 17 year old, and her brother Jonah, a 10 year old, as they go to their dad's house for the summer. While they are there, Ronnie forms relationships with a girl named Blaze and a guy named Will. The three of them go through so much during this book, I won't say what but it's a good read. Ronnie is also a very good pianist who takes after her father which will have a decently large part in this book
Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction/Romance
7. 9/11 Series by Karen Kingsbury
If you like learning about 9/11, this is a perfect three book series for you. It's actually super crazy and interesting how the book starts off. In the first book, a firefighters helmet is found with a little girls picture in the inside and through a crazy mess a stranger gets mistaken for someone's dad and husband. It's really good. The second follows the people from the first book, and the third book follows the son of a man who passed away in the towers and his life as a firefighter. I liked this series very much.
Genre: Christian Fiction/Romance
Amount of Books: 3
8. O'Malley Series by Dee Henderson
I really like how Dee combined the family aspect with the crime aspect in these books. This series follows the O'Malley family a group of adults who found each other when they were younger in an orphanage and they legally changed all their last names to O'Malley. They all grew up in rough childhoods and were in different circumstances but through it all they formed a wonderful, loving family. Katie is a negotiator, Marcus is a Marshall, Lisa is a forensic pathologist, Jack is a firefighter, Rachel is a child trauma therapist, and Stephen is a paramedic, as you can see they have used their past experiences as motivations in their jobs to keep other safe. I thought that the O'Malley series was pretty encouraging to those who have been through a lot in their lives and, even though they are fictional, they are proof of what good can come out of bad experiences.
Genre: Christian Suspense/Romance
Amount of Books: 8
9. The Mother-Daughter Book Club Series by Heather Vogel Frederick
The Mother-Daughter Book Club series is another series I didn't anticipate to enjoy as much as I did. It's about a book club that a few mothers make and their teenage daughters are not pleased because they don't even know each other. By the end of the first book though, they are all best friends. The rest of the books follow the girls as they got through school and explore the adventures of being a teenager. If anyone is looking for books to read with their moms or a series to do in a book club, I suggest this one. Most of the books already have a group reading guide included in the back.
Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Amount of Books: 7
10. Unlocked by Karen Kingsbury
I loved this book, so inspirational. The main characters are Ellie and a boy with autism named Holden. They were best friends when they were little until Holden got diagnosed with autism when he was three so Ellie's parents wouldn't let them see each other anymore. When Holden got autism, he got locked in his own little world and his only connection to the real world was music and his old friend Ellie. Years later their paths cross in high school and Holden, and Ellie knows she knows him but isn't sure how and then they form a relationship. I will stop there before I give to much away, but that is basically what Unlocked is about. This book has a good message about friendship and coping with a disorder like autism.
Genre: Christian Inspirational Fiction/Romance
I hope you guys enjoyed this list! I loved putting it together and I would give almost all of these books a five star rating. Do you have any recommendations?? If so feel free to comment below!