BOOKS!

I love, love LOVE lists . . . and books!  I'm always paying attention when people say they're reading something interesting.  I'd like to say that I read to improve my mind and my life, but the truth is that I read to compare reality and to escape reality.  Mostly, my life is super great!  I have SO much to be thankful for, SO many reasons to honestly say that LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!  Sometimes, though, life is boring, and sometimes life is difficult.  No matter which of these mindsets I'm in, reading someone else's story makes me see that either my life is great or (when my life isn't going so great) my life could obviously be worse.  Reading is a way to travel and stick my nose in other people's interesting business without leaving my house and without offending anyone with my nosiness.

"Top 10 Favorites" list that I made in 2013:
  1.  The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
  2.  So B. It by Sarah Weeks
  3.  Onward Crispy Shoulders by Mary Perry
  4.  Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbett
  5.  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  6.  The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchey
  7.  Blessings by Anna Quindlen
  8.  The Shack by William P. Young
  9.  The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
10.  Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

I'm not sure if that's still my top 10 favorites, but it's a decent list.  When someone asks for book recommendations, I usually give him or her my favorite authors or my favorites in that person's favorite genre.  Today I feel like writing out the complete list.  I do not read self-help books or instruction books or nonfiction (although an occasional biography or autobiography is on one of my lists).  Those kinds of books put me to sleep.  For the most part, I read fiction only.  If I want to grow spiritually, I read the Bible.  (Reminder . . . I would never judge anyone for their reading choices, and I expect the same respect.)  I also don't just read Christian fiction.  My favorite kinds of books involve believable characters living life.  Many of the books on my lists would be offensive to many people because of bad language and immorality.  I don't like the bad language or the immorality, but I look past those things to get the overall story and the day-to-day life of characters that are not living my life.  So if anyone picks a book to read from my lists, he or she would be wise to look up the book on Goodreads to get an idea whether or not the book might be offensive in any way (or ask me . . . I'll be honest).  Speaking of Goodreads, I've logged every book I've read since at least 2008 (https://www.goodreads.com).  My name on Goodreads is "Michelle Hofacker" (some places, I make my name some version of "Polar Mom," but I guess I wasn't feeling inventive when I set up my Goodreads account) if you want to find my lists on that website.

Favorite Authors:
  1.  Maeve Binchy (I prefer novels to short stories, but everything she writes is brilliant!!!  Sadly, this author died, so her list of novels is complete.  I've found a couple authors that might be somewhat similar, but I haven't read enough of them to know for sure -- Marcia Willett and Sharon Owens.)
  2.  Lisa Samson (I own and have read every novel she's written except the young adult books.)
  3.  Richard Paul Evans (Not sure about the "Michael Vey" series, but I've read several of his other books and loved them.)
  4.  Jan Karon (The Mitford Series -- I literally felt depressed and cried when I came to the end of the Mitford Series.  Thankfully, she wrote some more a few years later.)
  5.  Charlotte Bronte
  6.  Emily Bronte
  7.  Eleanor Porter (and the other authors that finished the Pollyanna series)
  8.  Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum series)
  9.  Jane Austen (A little difficult to read, but great stories.)
10.  Francine Rivers (I haven't read all of her novels, but the ones I've read were good.  The best one was The Last Sin Eater.  That one was hard to put down!)
11.  Louisa May Alcott
12.  L.M. Montgomery
13.  Kristin Hannah (Modern popular fiction isn't usually "my thing," but her books are very interesting.)

Books by other authors that I thought were amazing:
-- The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
-- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
-- The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
-- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
-- The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
-- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
-- Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
-- The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Authors that are good, but not my favorites -- still interesting, though:
Jodi Picoult
Cecelia Ahern
Marilynne Robinson
Nicholas Sparks
Leisha Kelly (This author grew up in the same county I did.  She tragically died in a car accident several years ago.)
Ann B. Ross (Miss Julia series)
Charles Dickens (Difficult to get through, requires serious concentration, but worth it.)
Anne Bronte (Ditto previous comment.)
Karen Kingsbury
Anita Shreve
Lawana Blackwell
Kate Morton
Anna Quindlen
Gil McNeal
Kate Jacobs
Elizabeth Bass
Fannie Flagg

Since I'm ALWAYS in the middle of a book (I have a book in my purse just in case I have to wait somewhere and have the chance to read at least a paragraph.) and always buying or borrowing books by new authors, this list will always be changing and lengthening.  As of today, though, this is a pretty good representation of my recommendations :-)