Tag: favorite books

Top Ten Favorite books by authors I like

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading, top-ten-tuesday11 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

If you are new to my blog, I just wanted to share with you that I co-host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea (no, you don’t have to drink tea to participate), and you can find a link to it at the top of the page.

The link party is for all book-related posts from reviews and recommendations to …well, anything related to books at all. Including Top Ten Tuesday if you want to link your top ten there too!

Now, on to today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt, which is: My Favorite Books by My Favorite Authors (Pick your ten favorite authors and your favorite book written by each one of them.) (submitted by Cathy @ WhatCathyReadNext)

I’ll be honest, I don’t know if these authors are all “favorites,” but they are authors I enjoy.

Jan Karon

Jan’s book A Light In The Window is my favorite because it is the  one where the romance between Father Tim and Cynthia begins.

If you have not read this series, it centers around an Episcopal  priest in his 60s who finds love and fatherhood late in life. The 15-book series features sweet, challenging, and thought-provoking stories of faith with a myriad of quirky, fun, and lovable characters.

Lilian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts is my favorite in Lilian’s The Cat Who series. The series is about journalist, and later former journalist, Jim “Qwill” Qwilleran, and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, who help him solve various mysteries.

In this one, a close friend of Qwill’s passes away and he travels to where she lives to find out what happened to her. During the visit he meets a precocious little girl (he is older and in a relationship but has no interest in children), an abused young woman, and other interesting characters.

C.S. Lewis

I still have a lot of C.S. Lewis to read so this book could change, but I really liked The Magician’s Nephew from the Chronicles of Narnia series.

The Chronicles of Narnia are about a magical land called Narnia where children disappear into from the modern world and become kings and queens and meet magical creatures. There is much more to it than that, but that is the short version. The Magician’s Nephew is very magical and where the story of the chronicles really begins.

Agatha Christie

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans is my favorite book so far from Christie.

I know that this is not one mentioned as much when someone talks or writes about Agatha Christie but it is one of my favorites because there is a little bit of romance in it and a lot of humor between the main characters Bobby and Lady Frances “Frankie” Derwent.

A body is found at the bottom of a  cliff by the ocean and when Bobby reaches the man, he isn’t in good shape but manages to utter five  words: “Why didn’t they ask Evans?”

Bobby decides to find out who “they” are and who in the world was/is Evans and why no one asked this person whatever they were supposed to ask him.

Craig Johnson

I have a lot more to read of Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series, but so far my favorite book is The Dark Horse.

Here is a quick description of it from Goodreads: “Wade Barsad, a man with a dubious past and a gift for making enemies, burned his wife Mary’s horses in their barn; in retribution, she shot him in the head six times, or so the story goes. But Sheriff Walt Longmire doesn’t believe Mary’s confession and is determined to dig deeper. Unpinning his star to pose as an insurance investigator, Walt visits the Barsad ranch and discovers that everyone in town–including a beautiful Guetemalan bartender and a rancher with a taste for liquor–had a reason for wanting Wade dead.”

Anthony Horowitz

Moriarty is my favorite book of Horowitz’s so far, but I have a lot more of his to read. Moriarity takes place after Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis, Moriarty, have plunged over the Reichenbach Falls.

Now Pinkerton detective agent Frederick Chase arrives in Europe from New York to find the man who wants to take Moriarity’s place as the most sinister criminal in Europe. Horowitz was given permission by the Arthur Conan Doyle Trust to write this and another book, Silk, using Sherlock Holmes’ character.

L.M. Montgomery

The Blue Castle, which I wrote about in a series of posts earlier this spring, is my favorite of L.M. Montgomery’s books for a variety of reasons. It is poetic, thought-provoking while also being sweet, romantic, and enchanting

You can find my posts about the book here.

Carolyn Keene (or whoever wrote this one)

Nancy Drew: The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes is my favorite Carolyn Keene book so far.

The Nancy Drew books were written by several different authors under the same pseudonym and this one, about a trip Nancy takes to Scotland to investigate a theft at her great-aunt’s house. This one was not only fun but it was full of interesting facts about Scotland. 

P.G. Wodehouse

A Damsel in Distress is my favorite read by P.G. Wodehouse so far. Full disclaimer, I have only read three of his books, but this one, featuring many romantic misunderstandings, is so much fun and full of hilarious moments, if you can push through the old style writing.

Here is a quick description from online: “When Maud Marsh flings herself into American George Benson’s cab in Piccadilly, he believes he has met a damsel in distress. George traces his mysterious travelling companion to Belpher Castle, home of Lord Marshmoreton, where life is hilariously muddled.”

Francine Rivers

A Voice in the Wind (from the Mark of the Lion series). This first book in a series that takes place in Jerusalem during Roman rule fascinated me and kept me on the edge of my seat. It follows the story of a young Jewish girl named Hadassah who is made a slave in the home of a Roman leader.

Have you read any of these? And who are some of your favorite authors?

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Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Favorite Books from Ten Series

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading, everyday musings13 Comments

|| Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. ||


This week’s theme is: Ten Favorite Books from Ten Series (We all have a favorite book in our favorite series, right?) (submitted by A Hot Cup of Pleasure)

I thought this one was going to be harder than it was because I haven’t finished a lot of series and didn’t really think I’d read books from a lot of series. It turns out I have read quite a few books from series, even though I haven’t yet finished some of them.

Once I had my list, I also realized I had three children’s book series listed, but I think that’s okay since some of them I’ve read recently with my daughter.

Anyhow, without further ado – ten favorite books from ten series:

  1. A Light in the Window by Jan Karon (the second book in The Mitford series).

This one was a little hard for me because I like so many of the books in this series, especially the first book. I also loved book ten Home to Holly Springs, even though it was one of the darker in the series. I love A Light In the Window, though, because it is the start of the love story between Father Tim and his wife Cynthia.

Another favorite is A Common Life, which is the story of their wedding. I also love the Christmas one and …. I could go on and on with this series.

2. The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun from The Cat Who series.

 I just read this book in the series this year and I loved it for a variety of reasons. One, it took Qwill and the cats away from their normal setting and two it just showed a totally different side of Qwill. It was also just really well written.

I shared a review of it here: https://lisahoweler.com/2024/05/06/book-recommendation-the-cat-who-talked-to-ghosts/

3. Mums and Mayhem by Amanda Flower (A Magic Garden Mystery)

It took me more than a year to get ahold of this final installment of this cozy mystery magical trilogy but I was glad when I finally found it on Hoopla. It was worth the wait and tied the series up nicely.

4. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)

It’s sort of cliché to choose the first in the series, I suppose (though this one wasn’t actually published first) but it is my favorite of what I have re-read of the series so far. I read the series as a kid but I don’t remember all of the books so I am re-reading them with my daughter. So far this is my favorite of them but I may update that later.

5. A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers (The Mark of the Lion series)

I’m choosing the first in the series again, but this is my favorite from the series, which I first read in high school. This is a Christian Historical Fiction book that takes place during the rule of Rome. It’s very hard to put down.

6. Love and A Little White Lie by Tammy L. Gray (A State of Grace series)

Oops. It’s another first in the series. But it was my favorite! Ha! I loved this realistic inspirational romance that wasn’t cliché and dealt with real issues about faith, love, and personal flaws. It also had some humorous moments with and observations from the main character.

7. The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson (A Walt Longmire Mystery)

The Longmire mysteries can be dark at times and so I don’t read them often, instead choosing to space them out and take breaks with fluffier reads in between. I’m still in the beginning of this series so I’m sure there will be other favorites as well. I chose this one but there is actually a book of Christmas-themed short stories about Walt that I loved even more. It wasn’t really a book from the series, though, so I chose this one.

I love Johnson’s writing and how he weaves humor into serious moments. Walt’s relationship with his Native American friend Henry Standing Bear will go down as one of the strongest and coolest in literary history in my mind.

8. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (The Little House on the Prairie series)

It was hard for me to choose a favorite from this series because I like a few of them about the same. I chose this one because it’s when we meet Nellie Olson, who wasn’t as big of a part of Laura’s real life as the TV show made her out to be. I love the part where Laura tricks Nellie into going into the creek and Nellie ends up getting leeches stuck to her legs and starts screaming.

The other book I almost chose was These Happy Golden Years because Almonzo and Laura start to court more in earnest. But I also love The Farmer Boy…okay..better move on from this one or I’ll add them all.

9. Paddington Abroad by Michael Bond (The Paddington Bear series)

I had to choose a book from this series because the series has been so much a part of my and Little Miss’s life. We have read this series a couple of times and Little Miss loves when I read the books to her and do all of the accents of the characters.

There have been a few times she has fallen asleep and I’ve kept reading because I’ve gotten so caught up in these cute stories about Paddington bear. I like this book because Paddington and the Browns travel to France and they have so many different and exciting adventures.

10. EDIT: Previously this was listed as Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (from the Anne of Green Gables series) but it was actually Anne of the Island that I enjoyed more. I switched them in my head. Sigh. Sorry about that to people who already commented.

Most people would choose Anne of Green Gables as their favorite from this series and I absolutely love that book but I also love Anne of the Island because I love that Anne and Gilbert really start their romance in this one. Anne is growing up and learning about who she is and what she truly wants in life and it’s just a fun adventure.

What are some of your favorite books from a series?