Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / Leave a comment

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday suggestion, as per The Broke and Bookish, is “Ten Reasons I Love X” and you can place whatever you like in the spot of “X”.  Therefore, I am going to do “Ten Reasons I Love Janette Oke”.

  1.  When I first gave my heart to the Lord and became a Christian, the first Christian fiction books I read were books written by Janette Oke.
  2. I love every book that I have ever read by Janette Oke, although, unfortunately, I have not read them all. Her characters capture my heart.
  3. I love that many of Janette’s stories are Christian historical romantic fiction.  Maybe that’s why I decided that clean historical romantic fiction is what I want to write.
  4. Although I have only read five of the twelve books in Janette’s “Women of the West” series, A Gown of Spanish Lace and Drums of Change are two of my favorite Janette Oke stories. Drums of Change is a special favorite because it is about an Indian girl, and I have always had a fondness and fascination for the Indians.  My great-great-grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian woman.  Unfortunately, I never had the privilege of meeting her.
  5. One of my favorite series of all time is one written by Janette Oke, and that is the Love Comes Softly series.  In that series, Janette created two characters that all of her readers fell in love with, Marty and Clark Davis.
  6. Janette Oke cares about her readers and their opinions.  She originally wrote Love Comes Softly as a single book, but many of her readers wanted more, and so with the encouragement of an editor at Bethany House publishing, she wrote a second book, and the series eventually turned into an eight novel series. When readers still wanted more, Janette wrote four more novels, The Prairie Legacy series, where the series of Clark and Marty Davis and their family finally ended because at the end of twelve novels, Clark and Marty had reached their final years together and Janette nor her readers wanted to mourn their deaths.  So finally, the readers were satisfied, and Janette had cared enough about her readers to change one novel into a series of twelve novels, and that remains, maybe, the best loved series Janette has written.
  7.  Some of Janette Oke’s stories have been made into movies.  The Love Comes Softly series was made into movies, and I LOVE them!  (Well, the ones I have seen) I have the complete book and movie series of Love Comes Softly, including the Prairie Legacy series, although I have not read the Prairie Legacy series.  I plan to read all of these twelve novels very soon, and then sit down and watch the movies!
  8. I recently found a book at a bargain book store that is a book about Janette Oke written by her daughter, Laurel Oke Logan, and I can’t wait to read it and learn more about one of my favorite authors!
  9. Janette Oke also wrote another of my favorite book series and that is her Seasons of the Heart series.  It is a four book series.
  10. The biggest reason I love Janette Oke is because not only does she care about her readers, she also cares about future writers and those who write letters to her.  I wrote a letter to her back in 1996, when I was hoping to soon become a published author.  I sent her a letter expressing my love for her writing and I sent her a short story of my own and asked for feedback and advice on becoming a published author.  Now, you and I both know that successful writers don’t usually answer their own fan mail.  They don’t have time, and they don’t read stories fans send them asking for writing advice.  Well, I want you to know that Janette Oke did just that.  She read my letter and the story I sent and she sent me a two page letter responding with answers to some of my questions about publishing at the time!  She offered me some tips on my writing and encouraged me to keep writing!  This busy, successful writer took the time to personally respond to my letter!  What a sweet, caring woman Janette Oke is!  I am so glad that I was bold in writing to her.  I still have the letter she sent me in the original envelope it was sent in, and it still means a lot to me today!I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Janette Oke in person or having any other contact or correspondence with her, but she will always remain special to me for taking the time to encourage me in my writing, even if it did take me considerably longer to really get serious about my writing.

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / Leave a comment

This week on Top Ten Tuesday, as per The Broke and the Bookish, we are to post 10 Beach Reads, books we plan to read on the beach.  Not being a beach person, myself, I will post 10 Mountain Reads.  I would much rather spend a week or weekend in the mountains than at the beach, and mountains are as good a place to read as the beach.

So here are my top ten choices to take to the mountains:

  1.  

This mystery/suspense is just the kind of book to keep me turning pages as I sit outside a cabin enjoying the sounds of nature.

2. 

3. 

4. 

Yes, I am a huge Dee Henderson fan.  I totally loved her O’Malley series.  I can’t wait to dig into this one and all of her other books that I haven’t read yet.

5. 

I have never been a big fan of fantasy, but I find a growing interest in that genre, and Magonia sounds like a good read.

6. 

Another fantasy novel that has captured my interest.  I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet, though.

7. 

We gave T.V. up a long time ago, but my parents still watch a lot of T.V. and sometimes when I visit, I catch a show or two.  Interestingly enough, many of the shows are based on books, which makes me quite happy because I’d rather read a book than watch a T.V. show anyway.  So, after seeing an episode or two of “Castle” with my mom, I looked up the books.

8. 

Yes, this too, is a book that a T.V. show is based on.

9. 

This book was suggested by a speaker at a writers’ conference I attended in November 2015.  It sounded intriguing and so it’s on my TBR list, and since the title is “The Poisonwood Bible”, it sounds like a good mountain read.

10. 

Thought the cover copy made this book sound fascinating.

So, do you prefer to read your books on the beach or in the mountains?

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / 6 Comments

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday as suggested by The Broke and the Bookish is “Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed” and we are to share whether we love the books more or less or have complicated feelings about them.

So, to preface my list, I will say that some of the books here are ones I love less because in the home I grew up in, my books, music, t.v. and movies weren’t really monitored.  However, my husband and I have strong convictions about what we believe our children should and should not be exposed to, and because of that, I have learned to love many of these books more and some of them less.

  1.  All of the Curious George books.  I have to say that I love them less because George always gets into a mess of trouble, but never really gets a consequence.  Instead he usually gets some type of reward.
  2. The Berenstain Bears books — I love more because the children are taught lessons, they have consequences and yet, their parents show them unconditional love.
  3.  Amelia Bedelia books — I love more.  These books are just so much fun!  Amelia takes everything so literally, and it’s fun to share with my children how complicated our language can sound.
  4.  The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.  I have come to completely LOVE these books, so much so that I read them over and over again.  They have wonderful messages like unconditional love, consequences for choices and actions and the fact that these consequences don’t always just affect the person who made the choice or committed the action but those around them as well, and sacrificing for others.
  5. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee — I love more because as a parent, I now not only love the lessons that Jem and Scout learn, but I love the example that Atticus sets before them;how he teaches them to stand for what they believe in and to think for themselves and not just do what others do, and that every person matters.
  6. I know this may be more of a movie item than a book item, but I used to have some of these in storybook form as a young girl — The Disney Princess stories.  I love them much less because they are so unrealistic and they set up little girls for heartbreak and struggles in real life.  I loved these stories as a child, and when I grew up and got married and realized that not everything is “happily ever after” and my “Prince Charming” isn’t always going to be “Prince Charming”, I struggled because things weren’t always the way I wanted them to be.  Fortunately, I was also taught that my marriage vows need to be taken seriously, and I learned that marriage is work — work on the part of both the man and the woman.
  7. Stephen King’s horror stories — I don’t love at all anymore.  As an adult, I now find horror stories disturbing and I do not enjoy them at all.  I find many of King’s horror stories too graphically gruesome as well.
  8. Dean Koontz’s suspense novels — I love more because they give me the heart-pounding suspense and action that I used to like about King’s books without the graphic gruesomeness.  Some of them also hint at the paranormal, which I still have a fondness for.  (Yes, I am an X-Files fan).
  9. Winnie the Pooh books by A.A. Milne – I love more because they are sweet, innocent stories that involve a wonderful cast of lovable animals, who aren’t perfect but who stick together and help one another whenever needed.
  10. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McClosky – I love more because I learned that it is based on fact – a police officer really did stop traffic to allow the mama duck and her babies to cross a busy Boston city street safely.  Then we vacationed in Boston not long after I had read the book to our oldest son, and when walking through Boston Commons saw the statues that are in the park that represent the mama duck and her ducklings.  It’s a wonderful memory, and we took a photo or two of our son with the statues.

I realize many of these are children’s books, but that is because those are the ones that came to my mind for this topic.  Besides, for the past almost twenty-three years, I have been reading what I consider much more appropriate reading material and I could give you a whole list of books that I totally LOVE now.  Actually, that may have been a topic on a past Top Ten Tuesday, or something like it.

How about you?  Are the books you love more or love less than years ago from your childhood, teen years, or adulthood?

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday list as per The Broke and the Bookish is “Ten Books I Picked up on a Whim”.  Therefore the following list is a list of books I picked up at a bookstore, yard sale or used bookstore, without prior knowledge of the book, just because the book jacket print made me want to read it or because I found the cover very intriguing.  However, I rarely pick up a book solely based on the book cover, even on a whim.

  1.  

I found this book on the Bargain Book rack in a book store.  I was intrigued by both the cover and the back cover print.  It sounded like a strange and unusual story, which it did, indeed, turn out to be.  It also is the first book in a trilogy.  I liked this story, but it wasn’t a favorite, and I’m not sure that I will read the next two books in the trilogy.

2.

I found this book at a used book store, and I loved Raggedy Ann as a little girl, so I bought this book on a whim based on some favorite memories.  I have not read it yet.

3. 

I purchased this book at a yard sale.  The front cover print above the title reads “The Forgotten Story of One of the Most Influential Figures in American Music”.  That intrigued me.  So, a rarity for me, I based my decision to purchase this book solely on the words on the front cover.  It is still on my To Be Read list, and I may read it with my youngest son this year for school for part of his music education.

4.      and 5.  

I purchased these two books just because I recognized the author’s name as someone I connected with on Facebook.  I do not know Alice J. Wisler.  I only know of her from what little I have seen her post on Facebook.  These books are also still on my TBR list.

6.  

I bought this book at a used book store because of the front cover and the fact that I have always had a soft spot for teddy bears.

7.  

I purchased this book simply based on the author’s name.  I was sure that I had read a book some time ago that was also written by Patricia Sprinkle and was sure that I had liked it, and that was why I bought this book.  Still on my TBR list.

8. 

I purchased this book at a bargain book store because it is a light mystery.  It is part of a series called “A Seaside Knitters Mystery” and I have always enjoyed a good mystery.  Many of my favorites are light and charming mysteries solved by unusual characters, not detectives.  This book is also still on my TBR list.

9. 

I purchased this book at a bargain book store because of the title and the fact that it says at the top of the cover that it is “A Novel of Ireland”.  As a writer, I am always interested in stories, fiction and nonfiction, about storytellers or writer/authors.  I also have come to love stories of Ireland after reading several of Maeve Binchey’s wonderful novels.  This is also still on my TBR list.

10. 

This one was also published at a bargain book store, and of course, because it is a fictional story about writers.  This book also remains on my never ending TBR list.

I thought this list would be difficult to put together.  I didn’t think I picked up many books on a whim, but when I started digging through my books, I found out that I do a lot more purchasing books on a whim, if they are bargain priced, than I thought.  Of course, what do you expect from a bookaholic?    😀

How about you?  Do you purchase books on a whim?

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / 4 Comments

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday as deemed by The Broke and the Bookish is “Ten Websites I Love that aren’t about Books”.

  1.  The Rabbit and the Dragonfly  This is my favorite place in Lancaster County.  I love the decor, the atmosphere, the friendly people, the food and beverages.
  2. African Wildlife Foundation     One of my dreams is to go on an African safari to photograph the wildlife there.
  3. National Wildlife Federation  Just because I love animals.
  4. Photo Art  I love photography and I love to see great photographs taken by other photographers.
  5. Chicken Soup for the Soul A great place to find inspiration.
  6. 10 Minute Novelists Because I love to write even more than I love to read.
  7. ACFW – American Christian Fiction Writers This website is much more beneficial if you are a member of ACFW, but this is a great website for Christian Fiction Writers.  They offer contests, critique groups, groups that help to encourage you to set and meet writing goals and so much more.
  8. Pinterest  It’s not just about books; it’s about EVERYTHING!  I don’t go on the Pinterest website very often because I like it so much that when I’m on, I have trouble getting off!
  9. Dogs, Dog Breeds, Dog Health In all honesty, I don’t know if I love this website yet.  I only had eight websites that I truly love and have looked at with any regularity that have nothing to do with books.  Therefore, I simply googled “dogs” because I love my dog and found this website.  It looks fascinating.  I’m sure I’ll be reading several of the articles on the website and checking it out from time to time.
  10. So sorry, but I do not have a number 10.  As a busy homeschool mom, I don’t have a lot of time to spend visiting a bunch of websites.  Therefore, I keep my website visits to the sites that are most important to me, which, as a writer, happen to be about writing books or reading books.

How about you?  Do you really have 10 websites that you love that have nothing to do with books?

 

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / 12 Comments

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday, as suggested by The Broke and the Bookish is “Ten Childhood Characters You’d Love to Revisit as Adults”.

  1.  Max from Where the Wild Things Are
  2. Henry Huggins
  3. Hansel and Gretel
  4. Heidi
  5. Madeline
  6. Alice from Alice in Wonderland
  7. Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  8. Fern from Charlotte’s Web
  9. Ralph Moody from Little Britches
  10. Caddie Woodlawn

This list was a challenge because a lot of the books that I read growing up either had animals as characters or had the child grown up before the book or series was finished.  How about you?  Did you come up with a list?

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / Leave a comment

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday’s list as suggested by The Broke and the Bookish is: Ten of my Most Recent 5 Star Reads.

I have written reviews of all of these books on Amazon.com.  However, I wouldn’t say that all of these are “recent” as I do not give out “5 Star” reviews easily.  To me, 5 stars are for books that are outstanding, in their story line, in having well developed characters that I love and care about and hate to say goodbye to and in the quality of the writing.

The last book on this list, I read and reviewed in September of 2013, #9 I read and reviewed in December 2014, #’s 1-3 are the most recent – I read and reviewed those in 2016, all the rest I read and reviewed in 2015.

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2.  

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9.  

10.  

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / 11 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is “Ten Characters Everyone Loves but I Just Don’t Get” or “Ten Characters I Love but Others Seem to Dislike” as per The Broke and Bookish.

Again, I’m going to have to tweak my list.  I have no idea for the first theme but I can easily tell you ten characters I love, but I do not know if others dislike them or not.  So, my Top Ten Tuesday theme this week is “Ten Characters I Love”.

  1.  Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. He is a wonderful, wise, loving father and exceptional role model, not only for his own children but for the entire community.
  2. Peeta of Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  Peeta is a sweet, devoted, loving and protective love interest.  He is the kind of love interest I believe every woman dreams of.
  3. Lucy of The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.  She is brave, intelligent, innocent and kind-hearted.
  4. Samwise Gamgee of The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien.  Sam is honest, faithful, loyal, wise and innocent.  He is the kind of friend everyone needs.
  5. Einstein, the golden retriever in Watchers by Dean Koontz.  Einstein is a highly intelligent, faithful dog.  All dog lovers would love to have a dog like Einstein.
  6. Dave Richman of The Negotiator of the O’Malley series by Dee Henderson.  He is a strong, intelligent, protective man.
  7. Jarrod Monahan of Kissed by a Cowboy by Debra Copton.  Jarrod is witty, charming, sexy, strong, and romantic.  He knows just how to warm a woman’s heart.
  8. Jake Bloom of Fire and Water by Betsy Graziani Fasbinder.  Jake is brilliant.  He’s an exceptional artist.  He is a romantic, loving husband.  He’s also temperamental and dangerous because he is tortured by a mental/emotional illness.
  9. Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck of A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Devereaux.  Nicholas is exactly what the title of the book says he is and this is one of the greatest romance stories I have ever read.
  10. Jean ValJean of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.  Jean ValJean is a man who is strong, physically, mentally and emotionally.  Yes, he ends up imprisoned because he steals a loaf of bread to try to feed his starving family, and yes, he escapes from prison, but he does so many noble things and proves himself redeemed, honest and trustworthy.

 

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

The theme for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday as determined by The Broke and Bookish is “Ten Books to Read If You Are in the Mood for Something Sci Fi”.  However I am substituting “Romantic” for “Sci Fi” because I have not read any Sci Fi books.

1.   A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux

I read this book years ago but it still stands out as my favorite love story because I             have always loved stories of knights in medieval times, and this story has that plus a         wonderful spin on it.  It includes time travel.  Ms. Deveraux does a wonderful job                 capturing and holding my attention.  She creates wonderful characters and I just get       completely swept up in this story.  I hope to reread this treasure again soon.

2.  The O’Malley series by Dee Henderson (I know we are supposed to give a list with a          total of 10 books, but this is a series and it’s nearly impossible to choose just one                from the series.)  This series is so good.  I totally love it.  Each story has a suspenseful        plot and the characters are so well developed that I felt like I really knew them.  I fell        in love with the characters and was sad when the series came to an end.  I would still        like to see more books about these characters, but I will definitely read this series              over again, probably several times.

3.  Fire and Water by Betsy Graziani Fasbinder

This story drew me in immediately and held me fast.  Jake and Kate have such a                   strong love for one another, but they face some serious struggles.  I kept routing for         them throughout the story.  I think I loved Jake just as much as Kate did and as he               sank deeper and deeper into his mental illness, my heart ached for both of them.               After finishing the book, I was affected as no other book had ever affected me.  I                 literally had to take a week or two to process the story and to deal with the emotions     it had evoked within me before I could move on and read another book.

4.  Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I read this story years ago and my husband and I went to see it performed on stage in     the early years of our marriage.  It still remains one of my favorites.  Who can ever             forget Catherine and Heathcliff?  I look forward to reading this story again soon as           well.

5.  The Hunger Games trilogy (I know, again this is more than one book.  I can’t help it.)          I just love the love between Catniss and Peeta.  Peeta is the kind of loving man any            girl would want to have loving her.

6.  Kissed by a Cowboy by Debra Clopton

If you want to know why I like this book so much, you can read my review.

7.  Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund

This story is a wonderful story about a lonely lighthouse keeper and a young woman       who ends up on the same island after a storm.  Emma, the woman, seems to be                     unwanted at the home where her brother, Ryan was taken in.  She is intrigued by               Patrick, the lighthouse keeper and reaches out to his little boy.  It’s wonderful to read     how the relationship between Emma and Patrick grows.

8.  Prison by Toni V. Lee

This is just a fun story that includes danger, suspense and romance.  The two main             characters are very entertaining and I couldn’t help but chuckle often while they were   falling in love.

9.  Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble

This book is a wonderful book about an old love rekindled and old hurts healed.  It’s          got suspense, danger, and romance and wonderful characters.

10.  Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke

I will refrain from including this entire series because I haven’t read the entire series       yet, but I know I’ll love the books I haven’t read as much as the ones I have.  This                 series is Janette Oke’s most popular series.  It follows the life of pioneer woman                 Marty and the man she marries for convenience, Clark Davis.  This series was made         into a series of movies which I recently ordered on DVD from Amazon.

 

Top Ten Tuesday

/ kellyfbarr / Leave a comment

I know I’m late posting, but it is still Tuesday.

I decided to join the Top Ten Tuesday determined by The Broke and The Bookish.  Therefore, today’s Top Ten Tuesday is focused on “Books I Recently Enjoyed that Weren’t my Typical Genres”.   NOTE: After completing this list, I realize that it is actually not exactly following The Broke and the Bookish’s topic, because I must’ve missed the word “enjoyed” when I read the topic. My list is definitely  Books I Recently Read that Weren’t my Typical Genres, but obviously, I didn’t “enjoy” them all.

Details about NEW <b>Mystery</b> <b>Mountain</b> <b>Four</b> <b>by Marie</b> <b>Grace</b> <b>BOOK</b> (Hardback ...

1.  Mystery Mountain (Book Four) by Marie Grace

This book has so many plot lines, I really can’t say what specific genre it is.  However, I read it and found it hard to follow because of the long list of characters that were difficult to keep straight as well as the multiple plot lines.  Also, by the end of the story, since another book is planned, the author didn’t really tie up any loose ends or resolve any of the plot lines.  For more information you can read my review.

2.  Inspirational Reflections by Ian J. Roberts

I don’t normally sit down and read through an entire book of poetry, but I did this one.  It was a fast, easy read.  I felt most of the poems were fairly good but did find that most focused on the same theme or topic.  I thought since it was “Inspirational” a little more variation that included more Biblical truths would have been more enjoyable.  You can read more of my thoughts on the book by reading my review

.Lady of Devices

3.  Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina

This is the first ever Steampunk book I have read and I loved it.  Shelley created wonderful characters with an interesting and exciting plotline.  She also offered a couple of wonderful scenes that were reminiscent of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, one of my favorite classics.  This is the first book of Shelley’s series and I look forward to reading every single one of them.  Feel free to read my review.

4.  A Just Man by Helen Daniel

This is a sweet story that follows several generations of one family through the trials and successes of their lives.  However, I found it a bit calm for my liking.  I prefer a book with a bit more meat and a little less perfection.  This is not my usual genre choice either and you can learn more by reading my review.

5.  The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson

This book is and isn’t my typical genre.  It is because it includes romance and history.  It is not because it is a fairy tale retelling.  This was the first book I have ever read by Melanie Dickerson and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I am sure I will read more books by Ms. Dickerson in the future.  Check out my review for more about this good read.

6.  Beneath the Pines by Sandra Gowan

To be quite honest, I don’t remember much about this story.  That could be because I felt the plot was rushed and the characters not fully developed.  You can read more about my disappointment about this story by reading my review.

7.  The Big House on Adams Street by Alberta Sparks

This was a wonderful heartwarming story outside of my typical genre.  I enjoyed this story and its characters very much.  Read more at my review.

8.  When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Coffey

As a supernatural story, this book is out of my normal genre.  However, I found this story intriguing.  It held my attention and I couldn’t decide what I thought of the main character.  To find out more read my review.

9.  20 Short Ones (20 Short Stories) by Dan Salerno

I don’t typically read short stories, but I did enjoy most of the stories in this book.  All of the stories in the book are about relationships.  No, they are not all romantic.  Read my review for more details.

A Thousand Sleepless Nights

10.  A Thousand Sleepless Nights by Michael King

To be quite honest, I read this book because it was written by a gentleman I have had the pleasure of meeting on several occasions.  He writes a completely different genre under a different name and I really enjoy those books.  But I have to say I was not disappointed with this story.  It was well written and very realistic and believable.  Read my review.