Read-alike Guides - Eat, Pray, Love

If you liked Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, you might enjoy one of these books:

 
Enlightenment for Idiots by Anne Cushman
A disillusioned freelance writer travels to India to write a how-to book on enlightenment. Cushman writes with wit and knowledge of her subject, evoking an India that fills the senses and stirs the spirit even as it occasionally turns the stomach, You will laugh with and root for Amanda as she comes to terms with her messy life. (F Cus)

Hold Me Tight and Tango Me Home by Maria Finn
Like Gilbert, Finn is a divorced woman who chooses to recover by embracing life. She learns about life from tango lessons—love and loss, how to follow and lead, how to live with flair, and how to take risks and find out what you really want. She also explores the culture, history, music, moves, and beauty of the Argentine tango. (793.3 Mor)

How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill
A former executive loses his job and develops a brain tumor. He takes a job at Starbucks under a young black manager, whose positive character helps him heal and understand the value of respecting others. This is a moving tale of a privileged person whose life falls apart but who is able to pull himself up again. (647.95092 Gil)

The Motion of the Ocean by Janna Cawrse Esarey
Janna and Graeme go on an unusual honeymoon—a 17,000-mile, two-year voyage across the Pacific. Follow their quest to resolve the uncertainties so many couples face—how to know if you've found the One; how to balance couplehood and selfhood; and whether to jump ship or navigate together when the waters get rough. (910.9164 Esa)

Now is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker
A woman reaching mid-life shrugs off all she has done in order to discover who she might be. Kate has been profoundly unhappy for some time, dreaming of rivers, until she takes off for the Colorado and the Amazon. This story resonates with spirituality, the feminine, and exotic travel. (F Wal)

Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman
Nearly 25 years ago, Gelman left behind her lifestyle and marriage to begin a world odyssey that continues to this day. Using a well-paced and fluid writing style, she describes observing orangutans in the rain forests of Borneo, canoeing in Indonesia, eating psychedelic mushrooms in Mexico, and skirting landmines in Nicaragua. (910.4 Gel)

A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena De Blasi
Chef and food writer De Blasi chronicles her relationship with Italian bank manager Fernando and her move from St. Louis to Venice to marry him. She recounts her effort to adjust to marriage and a new country, binding her love of Fernando to her love of food in one delicious narrative. (945.31 De B)

Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks
Bestseller Sparks and his brother take a three-week spiritual journey to the world’s most holy sites in an attempt to cope with their grief over the deaths of their parents and only sister. “I began to think of the trip less as a journey around the world than a journey to rediscover who I was and how I developed the way I did,” says Sparks. (813.54 Spa)

Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd
Kidd and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, describe their introspective, New Age odysseys together to Greece, Turkey, and France as Sue grappled with midlife challenges and writer's block and Ann struggled with heartbreak and post-college career questions. They also find a new understanding and appreciation of each other. (818 Kid)

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
Poet and travel writer Mayes describes her experiences in Tuscany during the restoration of her country villa. In her mind, cooking, gardening, tiling, and painting are never chores, but skills to learn, arts to practice, and activities to enjoy. Above all, Mayes’ observations about being at home in two very different cultures are sharp and wise. (945.5 May)

Also by Elizabeth Gilbert:

Committed
Continuing the personal narrative begun in Eat, Pray, Love, Gilbert chronicles how the United States government gave her and her Brazilian-born lover, Felipe, an ultimatum—marry or Felipe cannot enter the country again—and how she tackled her fears through research and personal reflection on the institution of marriage. Written in conversational, easy-going style, this tale is intriguing and insightful. (306.81 Gil)

The Last American Man
Gilbert explores the meaning of manhood through the life of Eustace Conway, a countercultural man who lives in a teepee in the Appalachian mountain wilderness. She excels at capturing Conway's inflexibility and inability to keep friends, his "man of destiny" monomania, and his superbly honed, altogether rare skills. (813.54 Gil)

Stern Men
In Gilbert’s only novel to date, a spunky young woman born into the midst of a feud between two factions of Maine lobstermen, attempts to negotiate an end to the conflict. The coming-of-age tale is peppered with lobster lore and a cast of sly villains and oddball characters. Authentic dialogue and atmosphere lights up this entertaining, thought-provoking romp. (F Gil)

Staff Selections - Katie, Circulation

What is your favorite genre? I'm not picky. If a book can make me laugh, cry, and/or teach me something... then it gets my vote, regardless of author, genre, subject, etc.

Who are your favorite authors? I’m slightly obsessed with any and all works by Maggie Stiefvater (Likewise, I enjoy stalking reading her blog: Words on Words). I’m also fond of J.K. Rowling, Ellen Hopkins, Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, and Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

What are you reading now? The Book of Container Gardening by Malcolm Hillier, Eat Right 4 Your Type by Peter D’Adamo, Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, and Easy Elegance: Creating a Relaxed, Comfortable, and Stylish Home by Atlanta Bartlett.

What have you read recently? Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater; The Complete Herb Book by Jekka McVicar; Beastly by Alex Flinn; and Eat Cheap, but Eat Well by Charles Mattocks.

What is your favorite classic? The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams – sad, but oh so touching.

What is your all time favorite book/series? The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold; The Cook’s Herb Garden by Jeff Cox; Shiver, Lament, and Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater; Small Spaces: Maximizing Limited Spaces for Living by Elizabeth Wilhide; Angus, Thongs, and Full-frontal Snogging (and the rest of the Georgia Nicholson Confessions, too!) by Louise Rennison; Eat This, Not That! 2010 by David Zinczenko; Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson; Evernight by Claudia Gray; The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons by Dan Brown; The Healthy Lunchbox by Rallie McAllister; Fairest and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine; Big Ideas for Small Spaces by Christine Brun-Abdelnour; Twilight by Stephenie Meyer; [the nest] Home Design Handbook: Simple Ways to Decorate, Organize, and Personalize Your Space by Carley Roney; Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, Don’t Throw It Out: Recycle, Renew, and Reuse to Make Things Last by Lori Baird; and Crank by Ellen Hopkins.

What are your favorite recommendations? See my all time favorites, I recommend them all! I’m frequently on the children’s side of the library shelving and so I’ve racked up a rather long list of cute and clever books that you’re never too old [or too busy] to flip through. Amongst my favorites are: Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein; Baby Food, Fast Food, and Dog Food by Saxton Freyman; Spot It by Delphine Chedru; Duck! Rabbit! and Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; and Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis.

Staff Selections - Melissa

What is your favorite genre? I like suspense, non-fiction, and clever or unique books.

Who is your favorite author? Bill Bryson hasn't let me down... yet!

What are you reading now? Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin (downloadable book), 1 Corinthians (downloadable too!), How Did You Get This Number: Essays by Sloane Crosley, and Psychology Today, one of our circulating magazines.

What have you read recently? Best European Fiction 2010 edited by Aleksandar Hemon, Stop Getting Ripped Off: Why Consumers Get Screwed, and How You Can Always Get a Fair Deal by Bob Sullivan, Service Included: Four Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch. Since I am a big fan of listening to books, I’ll include these books on CD that I have listened to: SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Kerplunk!: Stories by Patrick F. McManus, Dog on it: A Chet and Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn.

What is your favorite classic? Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

What are your all time favorite books/series? Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert E. Barry (along the lines of The Giving Tree, less the sad ending!), the Nancy Drew mysteries by Carolyn Keene, the Trixie Belden series by Julie Campbell and Kathryn Kenny, the Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J. Sobol, and the Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lindgren (growing up I so tried to be like Pippi!). Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mysteries and the works of Charles Dickens are favorites too. In juvenile non-fiction I love the Enchantment of the World series, especially the Slovenia and Croatia ones—shelving them led to a vacation there!

What are your favorite recommendations? Audio and downloadable books...to rest my eyes and feel like a kid being told a bedtime story! Our new Gale online resources, especially Books & Authors—it helps patrons find books they’ll like! Oh! You want titles and authors? Here goes: Revenant by Michael Punke, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown, The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Rigged: the True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil by Ben Mezrich, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood by Jimmy Carter, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25.00, and the Search For the American Dream by Adam Shepard, Heft on Wheels: a Field Guide to Doing a 180 by Mike Magnus, Super Crunchers: why thinking-by-numbers is the new way to be smart by Ian Ayres, Londonistan by Melanie Phillips, The Sociopath Next Door: How to Recognize and Defeat the Ruthless in Everyday Life by Martha Stout, Poisoned Nation: Pollution, Greed, and the Rise of Deadly Epidemics by Loretta Schwartz-Nobel, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and Kabul Beauty School: an American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez. For Fun: The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland, Year of Wonders: a Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks, Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, The Broken Window: a Lincoln Rhyme novel by Jeffery Deaver, The Uglies series by Scott Westerfield, and The Don’t Know Much About... series of books by Kenneth C. Davis. Authors I recommend are: Bill Bryson, Clive Cussler, Vince Flynn, Ridley Pearson, Patricia Highsmith, Brad Thor, and Barry Eisler.

Reading Lists - Westerns

Primarily set in the Western U.S. from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the 20th Century, Westerns feature the exploits of cowboys, scouts, Indians, gunslingers, and lawmen. The mythic feel of the West and the struggle to survive take precedence over historical accuracy.

The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie
Guthrie explores the role of the West as a place for escape and redemption as young Boone Caudill flees his abusive father in Kentucky and becomes a wild mountain man in the rugged West. In addition to Caudill, The Big Sky introduces Jim Deakins and Dick Summers, three of the most memorable characters in Western American literature. (F, LP)

The Branch and the Scaffold by Loren D. Estleman
Estleman’s westerns, like his mysteries, are dark, gritty, and feature loners who operate under a personal moral code. He writes biographical westerns as well as a series featuring lawman Page Murdock. This sharp, funny novel is about Isaac C. Parker (1838–1896), the notorious federal “Hanging Judge” for Arkansas and the Indian Territory. (LP)

Broken Trail by Alan Geoffrion
In this Spur Award winner for best first novel, cowboy Print Ritter and his young nephew find adventure while driving horses to Wyoming, and they attempt to rescue five young Chinese girls from being forced into prostitution. Based on historical documents and more than five years of research, it is the basis for the AMC cable network's production of the same title. (F)

The Dark Island by Robert J. Conley
The Real People series combines powerful characters, gripping plots, and vivid descriptions of tradition and mythology. In the sixth title, Squani, the son of a Timuca woman raped by a Spaniard and taken in by the Cherokee, goes on a dangerous, painful journey of discovery that leads him to the Spanish and a confrontation with his heritage. (LP)

From Where the Sun Now Stands by Will Henry
Appreciation for the land and the people who live there—especially Indians—resonates in Henry’s novels. This classic Spur Award winner examines Nez Perce Chief Joseph, continually betrayed by a government with which he only wants peace. The tale is narrated by Heyets, an old man reflecting on memories of his youth. (LP)

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Lonesome Dove, a Pulitzer Prize and Spur Award winner, is the ultimate Western adventure. Two former Texas Rangers hear rumors of opportunity in the newly opened territory, and they decide to head north. Their dusty trek is filled with troubles, violence, and unfulfilled yearning. This epic tale is descriptive with a relaxed pace. (F)

The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman
Maltman won a Spur Award for best first novel for the story of two generations of the Senger family. When Aunt Hazel is released from the state mental hospital, she brings a hidden part of the family history—an account of their involvement with the neighboring Dakota and its subsequent role in the Sioux uprising. (F)

The Pumpkin Rollers by Elmer Kelton
Kelton is known for his less-than-mythic heroes and elegiac tone. He writes of the disappearance of the West with great historical detail, complex characters, and evocative landscapes. Here, Trey McLean, a pumpkin roller (farmer), wants to become a cattleman, but he encounters frustration and danger on the way to his goal. (F, PB)

Sackett’s Land by Louis L’Amour
L'Amour employs Western landscapes, characters, and virtues, making them synonymous with the best American traits. His action-filled stories of the Sackett family cover 200 years of history. In the first book, set in the early 17th century, Barnabas Sackett is declared an outlaw in England and flees his homeland to seek adventure and fortune in the new land of America. (F, LP)

Shane by Jack Schaefer
Shane is the traditional Paladin hero, a man who rides into the community, rousts the badmen, and rides out again, bringing justice to a lawless land. Shane rides into the valley where Bob Starrett's family lives, and Bob, 15, tells about Shane's winning ways as he helps the homesteaders break the power of the Wyoming cattlemen. Shane has been a favorite Western for over 60 years. (LP, 813.54 Sch)

Tallgrass by Don Coldsmith
Coldsmith’s numerous novels focus mostly on Indian life during the expansion of the west. His stories capture the spirit of the West with evocative settings, characters, and themes. In the first of the Great Plains saga, white settlers begin to take away the lands of the Pawnee and other tribes after the Santa Fe trail opens. The novel covers nearly 300 years of history with seven loosely connected stories. (F)

Vengeance Valley by Richard S. Wheeler
Conned out of his money and land, Hard Luck Yancey stumbles upon black Telluride gold beneath a Sisters of Charity miners' hospital, a discovery that pits him against ruthless mining barons and greedy outlaws. A bookish mining engineer rather than a typical gunslinger, Yancey is an unconventional hero fighting for what is moral and right. (PB)

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
Doig’s realistic depiction filled with historical and landscape details, lyrical writing, and love of the land tie him firmly to the Western tradition. The Whistling Season looks back on Montana's storied past. Hired as a housekeeper on an early 1900s Montana homestead, the irreverent Rose endeavors to educate her employer’s sons. (F)

Read-alike Guides - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

If you liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, you might enjoy one of these books:

Blood Work by Michael Connelly
Eight weeks after a heart transplant saves his life, former FBI agent Terry McCaleb discovers that his new heart came from a murder victim, leading Terry to become involved in tracking down the killer. This first Terry McCaleb mystery is a character-driven, complex thriller. Terry, like Salander and Blomkvist, finds himself manipulated by outside forces.

Cover Her Face by P.D. James
In the first Adam Dalgliesh novel, Mrs. Maxie must contend with her son's sudden engagement to her new parlor maid at Martingale manor house, Sally Jupp. The next morning, the whole village is shocked by the discovery of Sally’s body. Like the Millennium trilogy, this character-driven series has a moody tone and delivers one compelling read after another.

The Devil’s Feather by Minette Walters
When five women are killed in Sierra Leone, journalist Connie Burns suspects a mercenary of acting out his sadistic fantasies. Her attempt to expose him is complicated by her experience as a hostage in Baghdad. This theme of contemporary evil confronted by a woman (who goes into hiding to solve a crime related to her own personal trauma) will be familiar to Larsson’s readers.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
Fans of Swedish mystery fiction will enjoy this first series title. Inspector Kurt Wallander, a local Swedish police officer whose own personal life is falling apart, copes with a wave of anti-foreign sentiment when he investigates the murders of an elderly couple. Later in the series, stubborn Linda Wallander joins her father on the force as a rookie.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
The Adelia Aguilar series features absorbing, detailed plotlines with intricate details, propelled by the tempestuous relationship between a brilliant but antisocial woman and her occasional lover. In the first novel, medical expert Adelia is sent to medieval Cambridge to exonerate Jewish prisoners accused of murdering four children.

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo
From World War II to the present, this book follows the adventures of a freedom-seeking war martyr and an alcoholic police officer who is drawn into a mystery with past origins. Norwegian author Nesbo writes slow-building suspense using strong characters whose inner lives are slowly revealed, multilayered plots, and portrayals of the dark side of Scandinavian society.

Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
When her six-year-old neighbor falls to his death and no one is willing to suspect foul play, Smilla Qaavigaaq Jasperson starts investigating on her own. Danish author Hoeg offers an original, elegantly crafted, savage story. The plot is cryptically clever, beginning with an individual and ending with a discovery on a larger scale.

Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears
In this dazzling historical mystery, John Stone, financier and arms dealer, dies falling out of a window. The quest to uncover the truth behind his death plays out against the backdrop of Europe's first great age of espionage, high-stakes international finance, and the start of the 20th century arms race. With plenty of narrative twists, this is as engrossing as Larsson’s contemporary setting.

Straight into Darkness by Faye Kellerman
In 1929 Munich, Inspektor Axel Berg hunts for a serial killer as the pressure to find a scapegoat intensifies, and he must fight for fairness for the accused and even his own career. An intriguing protagonist, Berg is flawed yet compassionate and heroic, forced to confront enormous odds in brutal times. Politics, prejudice, and revenge form the backdrop for murder in this historical mystery.

Sun Storm by Åsa Larsson
When a body is discovered in her hometown, a young lawyer is called home to northern Sweden, only to become trapped in a web of betrayal, religious fanaticism, and death. Like Salander, Rebecka Martinsson is a strong but troubled lead female character. Åsa Larsson uses psychological insight to reveal her characters and builds to a violent, explosive ending that Stieg Larsson fans will love.

Also by Stieg Larsson:

The Girl Who Played with Fire
Millennium, the magazine Blomkvist publishes, is about to do a story exposing the Swedish sex-trafficking trade when the authors of the story are both murdered, and Salander’s fingerprints are found on the gun. Larsson jumps between Blomkvist’s attempts to investigate the murder (and, he hopes, prove Salander’s innocence) and Salander’s own efforts to tie the killings to her past.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
Blomkvist again sets out to prove Salander innocent of murder. To do so he must expose a decades-old conspiracy within the Swedish secret service that has resulted in, among other travesties, a lifetime of abuse for Salander, whose very life threatens to expose the deadly charade. Larsson amps up the suspense and adds great courtroom drama to the trilogy’s stunning conclusion.

About Stieg Larsson - A leading expert on right-wing extremist organizations, Stieg Larsson was the editor-in-chief of an anti-racist magazine called Expo. He died in 2004. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was made into a film in Sweden in 2009, and an American version is set to be released in 2012.

Staff Selections - Jeanne, Reference

What is your favorite genre? Historical fiction, home improvement and decoration, and l'amour, toujours l'amour.

Who are your favorite authors? Jayne Krentz (aka Amanda Quick), Mary Balogh, and Jane Austen.

What are you reading now? Green Home Improvement: 65 Projects That Will Cut Utility Bills, Protect Your Health, and Help the Environment by Daniel D. Chiras.

What have you read recently? Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick and Money-Wise Makeovers: Modest Remodels and Affordable Room Redos by Jean Nayar.

What is your favorite classic? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Actually, I like all of hers! Also, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

What are your all time favorite books/series? Hank the Cowdog series by John R.Erickson,  The Izzy Spellman series by Lisa Lutz, The Chet and Bernie mystery series by Spencer Quinn, The Arcane Society series by Amanda Quick and her alter ego–Jayne Krentz, The St. Leger series by Susan Carroll.

What are your favorite recommendations? My favorite authors to recommend are Maeve Binchy, Katie Fforde, Carl Hiaasen, Jennifer Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Lisa Lutz. Last, but certainly not least, I suggest Dr. Dog by Babette Cole. That’s the world’s best book!

Reading Lists - Bonnet Fiction

“Bonnet fiction” is a term for Christian fiction that usually focuses on Amish or Mennonite communities. The plots often involve events that cause characters to reexamine their commitment to their faith, ultimately reaffirming their choices. Beverly Lewis is a popular author in this genre.

The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Choosing to forsake her feelings for an outsider and enter into a marriage of convenience, Amish Carrie faces huge consequences, as both she and her husband, Daniel, bring broken hearts and buried secrets into their relationship. This first novel is a welcome reminder that it is never too late to find your way back to God.

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
Nomi longs to escape the confines of her strict religious life just like her mom and older sister have. She's stuck in a backward Mennonite town ruled by an over- zealous pastor, and rebelling seems to be her only option. This episodic, introspective first novel is bold, tender, funny and intelligent, In a twist on the genre, Toews explores belief and belonging in a coming-of-age story.

Eyes at the Window by Evie Miller Yoder
Miller's moving debut relates the saga of Amish settlers in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the 19th century, when simple survival is a triumph. Seen through the eyes of eight characters who alternate chapters, the story centers on how the mysterious death of an infant in 1810 reverberates for the next 50 years. This is highly readable and anachronism-free historical Christian fiction.

A Gift of Grace by Amy Clipston
In the first of the Kauffman Amish Bakery series, Rebecca Kauffman's sister Grace, who left the Amish behind years earlier, is killed in an accident. Rebecca and her husband must raise Grace's two teenage English daughters in their Old Order Amish community. Complex relationships and cultural tension make A Gift of Grace a compelling read. The included recipes are an added bonus!

Leah’s Choice by Marta Perry
An Amish woman relies on her faith as she is courted by both Daniel Glick, widower and newcomer to Pleasant Valley, and Johnny Kile, her former fiancé, who seeks reconciliation after choosing to leave the community. Perry’s richly detailed, character-driven, heartwarming novel, the first in the Pleasant Valley series, is sure to become a reader favorite.

Levi’s Will by W. Dale Cramer
Running away in the middle of the night, 19-year-old William Mullet flees a dogmatic father, a pregnant girlfriend, and his Old Order Amish community in Ohio. It's 1943, and William enters an unfamiliar world, enlisting in the military, and begins living a lie that becomes more complicated with each turn. Will is a complex hero with complicated relationships, and his story is an original one.

A Man of His Word by Kathleen Fuller
When Amish wife Moriah Byler is abandoned by her husband, she fears that she'll never find a man of his word. What Moriah doesn't know is that Levi's twin, Gabriel, has loved her for years. The characters are well drawn and the plot involves a sweet but winning romance in the first Hearts of Middlefield novel.

The Outsider by Ann Gabhart
When one of Gabrielle's visions comes to pass and a doctor is brought in to save the life of a young man, a chain of events that challenge Gabrielle's loyalty to the Shakers is set into motion. The War of 1812 setting, two points of view, detailed descriptions of the Shakers and their stringent religious beliefs, and light touch of romance make a fascinating addition to the genre.

Plain Paradise by Beth Wiseman
When Linda discovers that she was adopted and that her mother, an "Englisher," wants to become a part of her life, her world is turned upside down and she begins to question God's plan for her. Wiseman’s vivid, lifelike characters populate entertaining, engaging, believable stories. Like the rest of the Daughters of Promise series, Plain Paradise is a real page-turner.

The Sommerfield Trilogy by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Twenty-three years ago, Marie left her Old Order Mennonite family and faith to begin a new life with Jep Quinn. But her husband's early death cut her dreams short. When her aunt leaves Marie a house and small café in Sommerfield, Kansas, she heads back home. Sawyer tells a good story with plenty of emotion and conflict. Her characters leap off the page and touch the reader's heart.

The Storekeeper’s Daughter by Wanda Brunstetter
Naomi helps her widowed father run a store, manage a household, and raise seven children. There is no time to think about courtship or having her own family, though her heart yearns for Caleb Hoffmeir. Naomi’s days continue unchanged—until the day her baby brother disappears from the yard. The first of Brunstetters’ Daughters of Lancaster County series is bittersweet but heartwarming.

When the Heart Cries by Cindy Woodsmall
In the first Sisters of the Quilt novel, Hannah Lapp wants to marry outside her Old Order Amish community. Before Hannah and Mennonite Paul Waddell can marry, tragedy strikes and Hannah faces losing her place in the community forever. A powerful, emotional writing style, subtle subplot, and shocking conclusion make this a great read.

A Widow’s Hope by Mary Ellis
Hannah Brown, childless and widowed after six years of marriage, needs a change. She sells her farm, puts her sheep on a truck, and heads to Ohio to live with her sister. The first in the Miller Family series is a gentle tale of renewed hope that puts readers in the middle of Amish life. Hannah’s flock of sheep adds a unique twist!