I promised to post the 2nd half of my 2019 reading list and I'm finally taking the time to do so! I don't know about you, but I love to see or hear about what others are reading. I'm also going to make more of an effort this year to read some books from new authors I have not explored before. Of course, I still plan to read my fair share of Debbie Macomber and Karen Kingsbury in 2020. 

I have participated in the Goodreads Reading Challenge for the past few years and find that it keeps me moving forward. I did meet my 2019 goal of 24 books read in 1 year! (Check out what I read from January - June 2019.) 

Fiction: 

By Book or By Crook (Lighthouse Library Mystery #1) by Eva Gates. My friend at work was sharing his love of "cozy mysteries" and that this author and book would be a good place to start! I really enjoyed it and found out that "cozy mysteries" is an entire genre of books! I'm looking forward to exploring more.  

A Novel Crime, by A.C.F. Bookens. I believe this was her first foray into the cozy mystery genre. Not my favorite, but decent. Self-published, had several typos and some hard to figure out dialogue and scene changes. I'm willing to give her another try with her next book, Publishable by Death.

The Undoing of Saint Silvanus, by Beth Moore. Yes, that is correct, "THE" Beth Moore, who writes all the Bible studies and leads conferences, is now a fiction writer! I wasn't sure what to expect, but this novel did not disappoint. She paints complex word pictures and the character development was quite compelling and believable. 

Blossom Street Brides; Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy and Denim and Diamonds by Debbie Macomber.  The Blossom Street Brides was the finale in a series. I just loved it! The book, Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy, follows 3 angels as they come to earth to help get "their humans" back on track and is part of the Angels Everywhere series. All of Debbie's novels are like reading a Hallmark movie AND some of her books have been picked up by Hallmark! Maybe the Angel series will be one of them! 

Best Family Ever by Karen Kingsbury and Tyler Russell, her son. This is a great book for middle schoolers and older as an introduction to the Baxter Family Series and focuses on them as kids! A fun, easy read. 

Non-Fiction: 

Wisdom from a Father: One Dad's thoughts on life, by Joe Siccardi. Joe has become an online friend through the Five Minute Friday writing group! I really enjoyed his collection of past blog posts! Here is a link to his current blogs. 

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile. I enjoy personality tests and seeing what makes me and others "tick". The enneagram has been around for years but seems to be a "hot topic" currently. This is a great starting point to learn more. I found it fascinating! 

Lord, Teach Us to Pray: A Study of Personal Prayer, by Margie Burger. Margie is a good friend of mine. I read this to prepare for a weekend event I was leading on prayer and found it very useful for my own prayer journey as well. 

Joyful Intentionality by Allison Brown. It was a short book but powerful. Written by a colleague of Graham Cooke. 

Because of Bethlehem: Every Day a Christmas, Every Heart a Manger, by Max Lucado. I did this as part of a Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study. Very relevant to our times and meaningful. 

There you have it! What are you reading? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below!

If you are on Goodreads and want to connect there as friends you can find me under my name, Pam Dow.

You can find all of these books (print and Kindle) on Amazon or at your local library.

Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash