How precious are Your thoughts to me, O LORD ... how vast is the sum of them!

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Five Fall Favorites Day Two

Welcome to Day 2 of the Five Fall Favorites Party hosted by Rebekah Morris at Read Another Page! (Make sure you visit there for all the party details, including finding all the other participants.) Some of the best biking weather, especially down where I live, is in the fall. When the breeze has that distinctive autumnal quality, biking makes it extra delicious. Bikes with baskets are the best they can hold your book as you pedal to a special place to read it. 
 


One type of book that might be ideal for reading in that special place is a clean, Christian romance. Some of you don’t read romance, and that’s fine; the general romance genre is not my favorite. But I have read and loved a number of books where romance plays a part but isn’t all that the plot concerns. Here are my top five:




Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge

Elizabeth Goudge is one of my absolute favorite authors. Her books may be best classified as Christian literary fiction; they’re so much more than romance or any other single genre. Many don’t even contain much romance, though most deal with married characters. Green Dolphin Street was almost an anti-romance at times because the main marriage within the book didn’t work out quite as planned. Certain characters have to learn to work at love. It was amazingly deep; every page was a feast of either insight, beauty, or heartache, often all three. It’s set in the 19th century, split between one of the English Channel islands and New Zealand. Read my full review on Goodreads.




How Do I Love Thee? by Nancy Moser

This one is definitely a romance, but it’s one of the sweetest I’ve read. And it’s even better because it really happened! Elizabeth Barrett was a talented British Victorian poet confined to her bedroom because of ill health and a controlling father. Robert Browning adored her published poems and came to visit her, and against all hope, Elizabeth finally had a chance at a real romance . . . Find on Goodreads.




Least of All Saints by Grace Irwin

In 1920s Toronto, Andrew Connington is a non-believer who becomes an ordained minister because he believes Christian moral values should be propagated. His spiritual journey, as well as Irwin’s wonderfully realistic and intelligent writing, makes this novel a rich and affecting read. It wouldn’t be classified as a romance, but it contains an enjoyable love story. Find on Goodreads.



The Challenge by Carolyn

This is a definite romance, but I enjoyed it because it’s so different than any other romance, even Christian ones. In the beautiful Missouri countryside where they work with horses, David and Hope are thoroughly committed to the Lord, and He calls them to follow an unconventional courtship. Find on Goodreads.




Emmeline by Sarah Holman

I love Jane Austen, but her classic romances (which are actually more along the lines of witty social novels) can’t officially be filed under the genre we’re discussing. So why not select a beautiful retelling of one of her most popular novels, Emma? Set in 1930 at the beginning of the Great Depression in America, Emmeline is a sweet Christian romance along the lines of Grace Livingston Hill that follows the story of Emma, but with its own unique twists and additions. Read my full review on Goodreads.



What are your favorite clean, Christian romances?

Don't forget to enter the giveaway going on with fun prizes!

http://readanotherpage.com/2017/10/top-5-giveaway-blog-hop-romance.html
 

24 comments:

  1. I want to read Emmeline sometime! :D

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    1. I hope you get to sometime soon! It really is a fun, sweet book.

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  2. These look like the type of romance books I like. The ones where the romance isn't the main focus of the story. :) Thanks so much for sharing these. *shakes head over a growing stack of to read books*

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    1. Yes, those are my type of romance books!
      Haha, I know what you mean about the growing stack...

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  3. "How do I Love Thee" was such a good book. I am touched you included my book here. I'm adding a couple of these others to my to-read list.

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    1. Yes! I remember us talking about how much we both enjoyed it.
      I thought Emmeline was very fitting for my list. :) I so much enjoyed how you fit such strong Christian values into her story. They were in Emma, too, of course, but you made them more explicit.

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  4. These all sound like good books! My list of books to read it growing! ;)

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    1. Thank you! I'm getting a lot of new ideas for books to read, too, from all the other party rooms. :)

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  5. I loved Emmeline! ;) (And I just might have to try Green Dolphin Street.)

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    1. Yes! So glad you did. And Green Dolphin Street is an amazing book, one that you can really sink your teeth into.

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  6. Emmeline sounds like a sweet book. More books to add to my TBR! :)

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    1. Yes, it is a very sweet book! Happy reading! Isn't it encouraging to know how many good books really are out there?

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  7. Emmeline looks good, but I'm kind of confused.. Should the Vintage Jane Austen books be read in order or are they specifically stand-alone novels?

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    1. The Vintage Jane Austen books are stand-alone novels, so they don't have to be read in order. :)

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  8. How Do I Love Thee? is the one that caught my eye ... I want to read that one (and the rest of the series, too, I hope!).

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    1. Yes, yes! The rest of the series is amazing, too! How Do I Love Thee? was my favorite, but I really, really enjoyed the other three as well.

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  9. Green Dolphin Street and How Do I Love Thee? will be going on my TBR list!

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    1. Yay! I really recommend the other Elizabeth Goudge books and Nancy Moser's books about real women in history as well, but the two I mentioned represent my favorites.

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  10. Nice list! It's true that it's a little difficult to find clean, Christian romances. :/ The only one on your list I've read is Emmeline. ;)

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    1. Thank you! This was a good genre to pick because we can get recommendations from people with similar reading tastes. :)
      Yay for Emmeline!

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