Happy Monday! ☕️ I’ve been a bit MIA and I’ve missed poking around blog land. How are you? I’ve been thinking a lot about my favorite hobby and decided it would be fun to share my reading themes/genres/buzzwords with you! If I can I will give you an example of a book I’ve read! Many of these are mashups of others, but I’ll categorize them under the MAIN subject they fall under. I won’t be necessarily going deeply into plot or content, so please check into it before reading yourself or handing to child. ♥️ If there’s heavy content, I’ll mention that, but MOST of the books I read are on the sweet 😅 end. This of course, it’s not an exhaustive list, but a few of my favorites from recent memories. 🥰♥️📚
Historical Mystery 💕~ Matthew Shardlake Series (Tudor Time period – gruesome), Maisie Dobbs (Interwar Time period), Man of Shadow & Mist by Michelle Griep, The Mysteries of Pendowar Hall by Syrie James are a few I’ve loved! Newer-to-me The Bangalore Detectives Club!
Historical Fantasy💕 ~Green Rider Series (check content), My Happy Marriage Light Novel Series, Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst, The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse, Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw, James Rollins (check content) and Michael Crichton (content). The Will of Many was fantastic.
Historical Fiction 💕~ Laura Frantz books, A Gentleman in Moscow, and author Catherine Richmond books, I loooved her Through Rushing Water. The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas was fantastic Biblical historical fiction. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini!
Nature/Seasonal Driven 💕~ Gladys Taber’s memoirs about her farm, Robert MacFarlane’s poetry book The Lost Spells. A lot of L.M. Montgomery’s novels has this, try Pat of Silverbush and Mistress Pat! The Summer Book by Tove Jansson! Susan Branch cookbooks/memoirs!
Character-driven Detectives 💕~ Commissario Guido Brunetti Venice Police Procedural Series (check content), Sherlock Holmes by Sir Conan Doyle (check content), Miss Silver Mystery Series by Patricia Wentworth (violence), Maisie Dobbs Series by Jacqueline Winspear (check content), and Hercules Poirot Mysteries (violence) by Agatha Christie.
Gentle, Sweet Regency Romance 💕~ Georgette Heyer is my favorite for these because they are silly and light, but generally well-written. Alissa Baxter has had a few I enjoyed! Mr. Gardiner and the Governess by Sally Britton was sweet. Unequal Affections by Lara S. Ormstrom is a lovely retold version of Pride & Prejudice that I thoroughly enjoyed. Sarah E. Ladd has some fun titles, too!
Victorian Literature 💕~ Elizabeth Gaskell is an absolute favorite here! I recommend Wives & Daughters, North & South, Mary Barton, and Sylvia’s Lovers, My Lady Ludlow, especially. After the books, there are amazing BBC film adaptations of some of her works. The Three Brides by Charlotte Mary Yonge and The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy. You have to work a bit hard at Victorian Literature, but you will be greatly rewarded! A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a wonderful place to start!
Character-driven “Middle-Grade” (genre doesn’t matter here, if well-written and character led)💕~ The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter are my favorites! I recently read A Snicker of Magic and it was so good. The Worst Witch Series by Jill Murphy is so sweet and has darling illustrations. My favorite lately was The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco! Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech! The Hobbit by J.R.R.T. goes without saying. Eva Ibbotson! Kiki’s Delivery Service 1&2!
Cozyish, Magical Realism 💕~ The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (check content), Emma M. Lion Series, Garden Spells and First Frost (check content) by Sarah Addison Allen are so cozy! Leif Enger! RAY BRADBURY!
(Well-written) Cozy Mysteries 💕~ (Think Hallmark + Crime 🤣) A Seaside Cafe Mystery Series by Bree Baker, Murder With a Hint of Pumpkin Spice by Laura M. Drake, Gladwynne Grant Mystery Series by Lisa R. Howeler, and the Northwoods Mystery Series by Annie McEwen!
Archeology Anything 💕~ James Rollins (Sandstorm!) , Dan Brown, and Michael Crichton (check content on these three), Karabos by Lyndsey Llewelyn, Kate Mosse (check content)!
Family/Found Family Stories 💕~ The Story Girl and The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery, Jane of Lantern Hill by Montgomery. Melissa Wiley’s The Martha and Charlotte Years Series. Authors O. Douglas, Molly Clavering, and D.E. Stevenson are wonderful! Carol Ryrie Brink! Noel Streatfield! Gary D. Schmidt (tear-jerkers!)!
American Midwest/West 💕~ Laura Ingalls Wilder Series, Laura Frantz, multiple Carol Ryrie Brink (Caddie Woodlawn, Magical Melons, The Winter Cottage)! The Native Patriot by Pegg Thomas, Leif Enger! The Virginian by Owen Wister! Maud Hart Lovelace!
Character-driven Experimental/Sci-Fi/Time-Travel 💕~ Timeless Series by Gabrielle Meyer (a few of these were meh for me, but I enjoyed the Jack the Ripper one – time travel with a unique twist), Connie Willis’ historical time travel! and the Thursday Next (check content) Literature time travel police. Orion the Starborn and Orion and the Door of Echoes by K.B. Hoyle are both great!
Lighthouses 💕 ~ jury is still out on finding a favorite! 🤩 Do you have recommendations? The Tides of Time by Sarah M. Eden was pretty good, had time travel, too! Pelican Point by Irene Hannon and Mysterious Magic of Lighthouse Lane by Erin Stewart were recent ones that were ok!
Indigenous/Native American 💕~ The Brave and others by James Bird (check content), Birchbark House by Louise Eldrich, Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon (check content). The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson was fantastic.
Classic Christian Nonfiction 💕~ C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, anything Amy Carmichael, Mother Teresa, Oswald Chambers, Lilias Trotter, Charlotte Mason, Watchman Nee, A.W. Tozer, Edith Schaeffer, Ruth Bell Graham, etc!
Poetry 💕~ Wendell Berry, Jane Kenyon, Jessica Powers, Emily Dickinson, Robert MacFarlane, among many, many others!
Character-driven Thought-Provoking Philosophical/Spiritual Vein💕~ Elizabeth Goudge (A City of Bells, The Scent of Water, Pilgrim’s Inn and her children’s books, A Little White Horse, Henrietta’s House, and Sister of Angels), Jane Austen (Persuasion, Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Lady Susan) and Kazuo Ishiguro ( Remains of the Day and Klara and the Sun). Never thought I’d end up here by Ann Liang. Liang has several I’ve enjoyed (check content). Gabrielle Roy and Niall Williams! What you are looking for is in the library by Michiko Auyama! Leif Enger!
Character-driven Literature Themed 💕~ Thursday Next Literary Detective Series (language, check content), The Invisible Library Series by Genevieve Cogman (check content) and The Great Library Series by Rachel Caine (check content)! These last two lean heavily into Historical Fantasy, too. I looooved Deron R. Hicks Shakespeare Mysteries for children !
Sweet Fairytale Retellings 💕~ Fairest Son by H.S.J. Williams (gender-bent Snow White) , To Love A Beast and Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer, Bluebeard and the Outlaw by Tara Grayce, and The Winter Prince by Constance Lopez. I highly recommend, Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham (check content). Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg, and Belle: Amish Beauty & Beast by Sarah Price was a cheesy, but fun mashup! East by Edith Pattou was a darker, extremely well-written ‘East of the Sun’ retelling. Joanna Ruth Meyer is consistently a great loose fairytale re-teller author, too! Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett was fun! Britain Kalai Soderquist’s Glass Roses: A Victorian Fairytale!
How about you? Have you ever thought about your favorite things in books? What are your favorite genres/tropes/buzzwords? 📚💕☕️
