Winter can be a a hard season for many of us sunshine-loving souls, but one good coping strategy is to warm up a cup of cocoa, find a cozy
chair and warm blanket, and get lost in a good book.
Here are 11 books that I found easy to get lost in.
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION by Lloyd C. Douglas
When Robert Merrick's
life is saved at the expense of the life of an eccentric but adored
surgeon, the carefree playboy is forced to reevaluate his own path.
Merrick embarks on a course of anonymous philanthropy, inspired by
reading the doctor's private papers. An engaging and dramatic story of
personal redemption and private sacrifice, this spiritual tale has
served as an inspiration for both the stage and screen.
(I LOVED this book and the movie)
LIFE AND DEATH IN SHANGHAI by Nien Cheng
In August 1966 a group
of Red Guards ransacked the home of Nien Cheng. Her background made her
an obvious target for the fanatics of the Cultural Revolution: educated
in London, the widow of an official of Chiang Kai-Shek's regime, and an
employee of Shell Oil, Nien Cheng enjoyed comforts that few of her
compatriots could afford. When she refused to confess that any of this
made her an enemy of the state, she was placed in solitary confinement,
where she would remain for more than six years.
"Life and Death in
Shanghai" is the powerful story of Nien Cheng's imprisonment, of the
deprivation she endured, of her heroic resistance, and of her quest for
justice when she was released. It
THESE IS MY WORDS by Nancy E. Turner
A moving, exciting, and
heartfelt American saga inspired by the author's own family memoirs,
these words belong to Sarah Prine, a woman of spirit and fire who forges
a full and remarkable existence in a harsh, unfamiliar frontier.
Scrupulously recording her steps down the path Providence has set her
upon--from child to determined young adult to loving mother--she shares
the turbulent events, both joyous and tragic, that molded her and
recalls the enduring love with cavalry officer Captain Jack Elliot that
gave her strength and purpose.
FROM ASH AND STONE by Julie Daines
Lady Margaret Grey of
Hartfell wants for nothing. The daughter of a knight, she has a loving
family, wealth, and even a secret romance with the blacksmith's son. But
all that is torn from her one fateful night when her home is attacked
and her family killed. She is left with nothing but bitterness, an
unwavering mistrust of men, and a strange and mysterious curse that
allows her to feel the thoughts of anyone who touches her.
Now, after six years away, Margaret is returning home for one reason: revenge.
BEAUTIFUL SCARS: A LIFE REDEFINED by Kilee Brockbank & Lori Highlander
Kilee Brookbank was a
typical sixteen-year-old, but her last ordinary day erupted in an
explosion that consumed her house, burning forty-five percent of her
body and sending her to the brink of death. After thirty-eight days of
surgeries, skin grafts, physical therapy, and excruciating pain,
Kilee had to discover how to live again.
With unwavering support from her mom, Lori, and the rest of her family,
Kilee faced her journey with determination, strength, and a positive
attitude that inspired not only her community, but people around the
world.
A SONG FOR THE STARS by Iliama Todd
As the second daughter
of a royal chief, Maile will be permitted to marry for love. Her fiancé
is the best navigator in Hawaiʻi, and he taught her everything he
knows—how to feel the ocean, observe the winds, read the stars, and how
to love.
But when sailors from a strange place called England
arrive on her island, a misunderstanding ends in battle, and Maile is
suddenly widowed before she is wed.
Finding herself in the
middle of the battle and fearing for her life, Maile takes John
Harbottle, the wounded man who killed her fiancé, prisoner, and though
originally intending to let him die, she reluctantly heals him. And in
the process, she discovers the man she thought was her enemy might be
her ally instead.
AN ASSEMBLY SUCH AS THIS by Pamela Aidan
In this first book of her Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman
trilogy, she reintroduces us to Darcy during his visit to Hertfordshire
with his friend Charles Bingley and reveals Darcy's hidden perspective
on the events of Pride and Prejudice.
As Darcy spends more time
at Netherfield supervising Bingley and fending off Miss Bingley's
persistent advances, his unwilling attraction to Elizabeth grows—as does
his concern about her relationship with his nemesis, George Wickham.
PLAIN AND SIMPLE: A JOURNEY TO THE AMISH by Sue Bender
"I had an obsession
with the Amish. Plan and simple. Objectively it made no sense. I, who
worked hard at being special, fell in love with a people who valued
being ordinary."
So begins Sue Bender's story, the captivating and
inspiring true story of a harried urban Californian moved by the beauty
of a display of quilts to seek out and live with the Amish. Discovering
lives shaped by unfamiliar yet comforting ideas about time, work, and
community, Bender is gently coaxed to consider, "Is there another way to
lead a good life?"
WORTH THE RISK by Heather Moore
When Alicia moves back to
Pine Valley to help her mom through a serious addiction, the last
person she wants to see is her teenage crush, Jeff Finch, who destroyed
their friendship in one single disastrous night.
But Alicia is
determined to not let anything about Jeff affect her, especially since
she hasn’t seen him in ten years. All she knows is that he’s living a
successful and charmed life, and she is more than happy to keep anything
between them in the past.
But when he shows up with a date at the
restaurant where she works, Alicia realizes she’s still not over her
feelings, and Jeff is definitely looking at her in a way he never has
before.
A LANTERN IN HER HAND by Bess Streeter Aldrich
Bess Streeter Aldrich
knew what she was writing about. Her protagonist, a strong-minded
pioneer woman named Abbie Deal, was modeled on her own mother, who in
1854 had traveled by covered wagon to the Midwest.
In A Lantern in Her
Hand, Abbie accompanies her family to the soon-to-be state of Nebraska.
There, in 1865, she marries and settles into a sod house of her own. The
novel describes Abbie's years of child-raising, of making a frontier
home able to withstand every adversity.
THE PRINCESS BRIDE by William Goldman
What happens when the
most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all
time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her
dreams?
What's it about?
Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants.
Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties
Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies,
Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.
