72 books like Annie's Song

This book was my first experience with Mary Balogh and I instantly became a fan. She is now one of my favorite romance authors. This book broke my heart in the best of ways. Sydnam is injured from the war. He is missing an eye and an arm. Still, he managed to easily make me, and Anne, swoon over his artistic soul. Anne is a single mother with a background just as heartbreaking as Sydnam's but I never doubted for a moment they would end up happily ever after. I rooted for them all the way. 

This was the first book in Tessa Dare's Castles Ever After. I love Tessa's modern characters set in a historical backdrop. Isolde is a woman that knows what she wants. She is forced to go up against Ransom, a stubborn Duke who is visually impaired, in a fight over a castle they both believe they own.  

Also, I would just love to say how much I love when Tessa Dare gives her characters an unusual pet. In this case, Isolde has an ermine. Animal antics add so much fun to her stories! 

This book made me laugh. It made me cry. It made my heartbreak and ultimately it gave me a beautiful love story I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

I had stopped reading children’s and teen fiction for a couple of years, for the first time in my half a century of life, and then I read A Curse So Dark and Lonely.

There’s a different sort of adventure here, and I think I related to Harper a little bit extra because I have a chronic illness and when it flares up, my limp is so very obvious. It felt good to see magic + that realism.

The combination of magic, a protagonist I could connect to, and fairy tale elements made me start opening the covers of other books I’d bought and shelved.

Ok, confession time, I don't remember which book in the series Drew first appears in but if I recall this is the book that really focuses on him and Belinda. 

I don't read a lot of Inspirational fiction but I absolutely love the Love Comes Softly series. It was the first romance series I ever read. I read the series initially as a teenager but I have gone back and re-read a few of the books as an adult. 

This book has Drew who is missing an arm as a romantic interest for Belinda. The series also features Clark who is the romantic interest in book one and the patriarch of the family in the rest of the series who loses his leg in one of the later books. I adored his story and how him and Marty deal with accepting his injury. However, since Marty and Clark are already… show more.

The Nowhere Girls tells the story of a diverse group of girls who come together, and in finding their own strength, raise their collective voice to avenge the rape of a fellow classmate. I love the truly empowering message of this book: That we (as individuals, and society as a whole) have the ability to raise each other up, and demand that survivors’ stories are seen and heard. This book came out in 2017, directly in the midst of the #MeToo movement going viral—and not by accident. This is one of those books that holds a mirror up to society, perfectly reflecting not only the problem, but also offering a model for change and justice.

Beverly Cleary's kid's books have been enjoyed by many generations of readers. I loved her true to life, tinged with humor books as a reader, teacher, and writer.

Like me, many readers wonder about the lives of people we admire and luckily Cleary has written a riveting, direct, and insightful memoir that helps us connect her fiction with her real-life experiences. Throughout Cleary comes across as someone we wish we knew.

You may not realize that the reason many came across the Oregon Trail was because of their religious and moral beliefs. Christians on the Oregon Trail highlights many well-known Oregon pioneers and details how their Christian beliefs inspired them both on the trail and once they arrived in Oregon. Some of those detailed are: Jason Lee, the Whitmans, Reuben Lewis, and many others. The book gives you also some of the theological underpinnings of the pioneers. 

This story takes place in the 1800's in the area where I live, so it holds a special connection for me. But beyond that it is an interesting tale of real-life struggles and overcoming those obstacles. The book describes frontier life in an authentic and stirring way. The local author knows the history and facts of the area and weaves them well into the story.

This story stayed with me for some time after I read it. The main character's situation was so palpable my heart ached for her. Any book that touches my heart is a must-read for all my friends. The setting is winter; to really understand it, read it then. It will add to its power. The courage both characters show when facing the odds is heartwarming.

Jane Kirkpatrick, a New York Times bestselling writer of over 35 books, specializes in fictionalizing true stories of prominent women in history who are often unknown to today’s readers. Something Worth Doing, a historical novel, brings to life the story of Abigail Scott Duniway, an early suffragist and pioneer in the 19th century Pacific Northwest. As a married woman and mother of eight living children, Kirkpatrick weaves together Dunn's challenges as a newspaper publisher, primary breadwinner, and national speaker fighting for the rights of women and the vote. 

Kirkpatrick, a psychologist, illustrates the universal pulls between career and family in a male-dominated sphere. One of my favorite genres is historical fiction and Kirkpatrick backs her novels with significant historical research.