The year is a little more than half over, and I've already read so many amazing books! Which is good, because this week's TTT prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "The best books I've read in 2018 (so far)." Here are my ten, with titles linked to my reviews.
And for something different and fun, I've included a favorite line or passage from each of them so you can have a little taste of what they're like!
A Flame in the Dark by Sarah Baughman (PG-13) ""This is where we see, without exception, the heart of the Christian faith: love. God's love for His people, and His people's love for one another, and for the world. We are to bear one another's burdens, to stir one another up to love and good works. That is to say, we are to admonish, encourage, help, and be patient, in love" (p. 159).
Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George (PG-13) "Obviously friendly was too high a word for what they’d been, but she’d enjoyed, well, not him exactly but the challenge of him. The pleasing clang of their minds butting together" (p. 194).
The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery (PG) "John Foster says," quoted Valancy, "'If you can sit in silence with a person for half an hour and yet be entirely comfortable, you and that person can be friends. If you cannot, friends you'll never be and you need not waste time in trying'" (p. 123).
Guns of the Timberlands by Louis L'Amour (PG) "It was midafternoon and the sun lay like a curse upon the town" (p. 66).
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (PG) "The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid" (p. 102).
Portrait of Vengeance by Carrie Stuart Parks (PG-13) "I believe the events of the past impact all that happens in the present" (p. 155).
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (PG-13) "She had that way of looking at him that made him feel like he'd built the world for her and given it to her as a gift just that morning" (p. 237).
Girl in Disguise by Greer MacAllister (PG-13) “I’d already applied to every possible position appropriate for a lady. Only the inappropriate ones remained.”
Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery (G) "It is the essence of adventure to see the break of a new day, Jane" (p. 125).
All photos are from my Instagram account except the ones that I read and reviewed before I became a bookstagrammer, which have just book covers.
Did you do a TTT list this week? Share a link in the comments so I can see! Have you read any of these books? Let's discuss them!
*Adds these to my TBR list*
ReplyDeleteSkye, oh, isn't that the best/worst thing about book blogs? Finding out about amazing books and then realizing wow, you want to read a LOT of amazing books now ;-)
DeleteIt is! XD
DeleteI like always having something to read, so it works out sometimes.
My list is getting pretty long.
Skye, yeah, the bst thing about a massive TBR list (and pile) is never running out of books and standing around going, "What should I read?" I haven't had to do that in like fifteen years, heh.
DeleteI haven't read any of these books, but I'll have to add some to my TBR. Thanks for sharing this list.
ReplyDeleteAbby, hope you enjoy the ones you decide to read! You're welcome, and thanks for stopping by :-)
DeleteI did a TTT . . . but I'd written in a scheduled it ages ago, and so I didn't know the topic had changed, oh well.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to read Speak Easy, Speak Love from your review but it looks like I will have to go through interlibrary loan . . . and that list for me is really long. I'm in the process of organizing and backing up my TBR list since currently most of it is on my library site.
Livia, yeah, she changed it up because of reasons.
DeleteI hope you can get SE,SL through ILL! I actually want to reread it this summer, even though I just read it a couple months ago. It's that delightful!
I always loved Anne of Green Gables so much, I could not bring myself to read any of her other books because I felt like none could ever compare to that series. But maybe I shall give Jane a try. I'll have to think about it. Happy Reading!
ReplyDeleteSarah, I felt that way for years too! I loved the Anne books, and my mom read the Emily of New Moon books and didn't like them because she thought they were "weird," so I just never read anything else by LMM. Then when I was out of college, I read the Emily books anyway, and they were different from Anne, but enjoyable. (I'm weird myself, so maybe that's why I liked them better than my mom, for whom "weirdness" has always been something to avoid.)
DeleteBut I hadn't read any others until a couple years ago, when I read The Blue Castle, and I LOVED IT. I just re-read it this spring, and I loved it even more. So I decided to try more of LMM's books, and I discovered Jane of Lantern Hill and reeeeeeeeeeeeally liked it too. So I'm going to try more of hers now too.
I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough for Anne (my daughter just turned 5 on Tuesday). Maybe in the mean time I will try some of the other LMM books and see what I think. I just loved the Anne series so much, I don't know how it could ever be topped! Or, maybe not topped, because nothing compares, but at least be equaled. You've given me a bit to consider, thank you!
DeleteSarah, happy birthday to your daughter! Five is such a fun age.
DeleteI think I've come to a place where I can read LMM's other books without comparing them to Anne. Appreciate them for what they are, and don't think of them in a comparing way.
I hope you try some. Blue Castle is VERY DIFFERENT from the Anne books, so that might be a good place to start? It's about an adult woman, not a girl, and just... very different. But still filled with the whimsy and lyrical beauty of LMM.
The only one on your list that I've read is Northanger Abbey. My third favorite Austen novel.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, it's my 3rd favorite too! Or maybe 2nd. It and P&P kind of tie for 2nd place, depending on which one I've read most recently ;-)
DeleteGreat list! I haven’t read any of these, but I liked that you included quotes. That was a good idea.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Thanks, AJ! It's the first time I've tried including lines from the books -- I think I'll try it again sometime.
DeleteI loved reading this! I read Jane of Lantern Hill a couple years ago, and really loved it. I’m excited to hear that The Blue Castle is on your list, too. I’ve heard such good things about it, and can’t qai to read it soon!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Theresa! I hope you love The Blue Castle as much as I do :-)
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