Here are 100 books that Beneath a Southern Sky fans have personally recommended if you like
Beneath a Southern Sky.
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I tell people when I meet them that when I married my husband, I got roots. I moved a lot as a child, living in small country towns to suburbs of big cities, and my favorite place by far is in the country, surrounded by nature, feeling that sense of belonging. My husband and I live in his great-grandparent's house in the country, next door to his mother, who still lives in the house where she grew up and raised my husband. There is nothing I love more than sharing my love for Jesus with readers through fictional situations that could really happen.
Paper Dolls takes place in the fictitious town of Habakkuk, where everyone knows everyone else. Besides feeling as though I’m part of this sisterhood of women, I love how the author’s focus of this book is to allow me to get to know all of the women equally. Most books will start out with one main character, then the next in the series shares about another, and so forth. Kara Hunt steps outside the box and introduces all the women equally in the first book, making me want to read about each one of them more in-depth in the subsequent books. This series is full of humor, romance, suspense, mystery, and a lot of sisterhood love.
I tell people when I meet them that when I married my husband, I got roots. I moved a lot as a child, living in small country towns to suburbs of big cities, and my favorite place by far is in the country, surrounded by nature, feeling that sense of belonging. My husband and I live in his great-grandparent's house in the country, next door to his mother, who still lives in the house where she grew up and raised my husband. There is nothing I love more than sharing my love for Jesus with readers through fictional situations that could really happen.
Karen Kingsbury was the second author who made me fall in love with Christian fiction. I read the redemption series all at once and fell in love with how this author drew me into each book and into the lives of the characters. Ashley quickly became my favorite of the Baxter children, and (only God) would she and I experience some of the same events in life at the same time. I was able to grieve and heal and feel the emotions that I needed to release from my own life and the pain I was experiencing through the pages of the books. I still, to this day, read anything that Karen Kingsbury writes because her writing feels so divinely inspired.
Book 1 in the bestselling 5-book Christian fiction series that has sold nearly 2 million copies!
A story of redemption and love at all costs, from Karen Kingsbury, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “heart-tugging and emotional” (Romantic Times) life-changing fiction, co-authored with Gary Smalley.
Redemption is the first book in the original Baxter Family Series, which has gone on to captivate tens of millions of readers and is currently being made into an original television series, produced by Roma Downey and Will Packer.
A Shocking Betrayal Kari Baxter Jacobs is furious, hurt, and confused. Her husband, Tim,…
I tell people when I meet them that when I married my husband, I got roots. I moved a lot as a child, living in small country towns to suburbs of big cities, and my favorite place by far is in the country, surrounded by nature, feeling that sense of belonging. My husband and I live in his great-grandparent's house in the country, next door to his mother, who still lives in the house where she grew up and raised my husband. There is nothing I love more than sharing my love for Jesus with readers through fictional situations that could really happen.
Sharon Srock introduces us to Garfield, a small town in Oklahoma. Callie is the first woman we meet, along with her friends who have a Bible study with a different variety of cheesecake every week. While Srock may not be as well-known as Karen Kingsbury, she writes such emotion in her pages that I cannot put the books down once I pick them up. This author is amazing as she has created twenty books (and counting) from this one small town, with the characters intertwining with each other’s lives. Each with their own storylines (nothing cookie cutter about her) and each their own voice. Truly remarkable and definitely a favorite of mine.
A baby is dead and Callie Stillman blames herself. Haunted by memories of a tiny coffin, Callie can't understand how God could expect her to put her heart on the line a second time. But the evasive little girl in her Sunday school class is so obviously in trouble that Callie finds her resolve cracking.
They can’t trust anyone
Iris and Samantha Evans are living on borrowed time. Deserted, orphaned, betrayed, and deceived, they need rescuing in the worst way.
Looking for clean romantic suspense with spiritual undertones?
Look no further than the Acts of Valor series by Rebecca Hartt. With thousands of reviews and 4.7-5.0 stars per book, this 6-book series is a must-read for readers searching for memorable, well-told stories by an award-winning author.
I tell people when I meet them that when I married my husband, I got roots. I moved a lot as a child, living in small country towns to suburbs of big cities, and my favorite place by far is in the country, surrounded by nature, feeling that sense of belonging. My husband and I live in his great-grandparent's house in the country, next door to his mother, who still lives in the house where she grew up and raised my husband. There is nothing I love more than sharing my love for Jesus with readers through fictional situations that could really happen.
This pick was a hard one, to decide which series of this author was my favorite. I picked this one because I absolutely love Jess. She is written in such a realistic and beautiful way. I couldn’t help but see some of myself in her. While this is the third book in this series (I highly recommend you read all three, in order) it was probably the one that stuck with me the longest. Brenda Anderson writes realistic, emotionally filled pages, drawing the reader in as though we belong. The storylines are all different and genuine and the characters all have their own personalities and quirks. There isn’t a book from this author that I don’t love and I highly recommend them all.
When flowers and chocolate collide, romance is sure to bloom.
Family has always been the one constant in Jess Beaumont’s messy life, so when her parents separate, she puts “Operation: Planting Hope” into action. All she has to do is recreate the circumstances that helped her parents fall in love. Unfortunately, that includes the daunting task of restoring the family cabin’s gardens. When the handsome candy store owner shows up to help, she’s certain she has all the elements required for her parents’ love to bloom again. After all, flowers and chocolate are the perfect ingredients for romance.
As a children’s author, poet, bookseller, and librarian, I surround myself with books and sometimes books of faith. I remember the joy I felt reading many Bible stories with my parents as a child. It took months to journey from the battle of David and Goliath to the bravery of Queen Esther, and then onto Jesus’ miracles. Exploring something new, I decided to tell these stories through short poem, so a family could read an entire book in one sitting. I truly appreciate when faith-based books work to build the love of God for young readers. Thankfully, more books exist now to show young readers what a faith-centric life looks like.
We’re pulled into this story right from the title of Mitchell’s book.
Inquiring minds wonder: What miracle happened at one o’clock? Soon we discover a father who’s beginning a very long journey to find Jesus, the only one who might heal his dying son. The problem is Jesus is preaching far away in Cana. What if the man’s son passes away before he can return to him? Still, the father walks for miles and miles until he finds Jesus, who instructs the man to return home, for his son will be healed.
Could a miracle have happened at one o’clock, as soon as Jesus spoke, miles away from the sick child? We can all be inspired by this grown man who had the faith of a child and believed.
Stunning retelling of the story of Jesus healing the officials son that will teach children about the instant power of Jesus' words.
Based on the healing of the officials son in John chapter 4, this wonderful storybook will teach children about the instant power of the words of Jesus, and that they should trust Jesus because he is Gods Son.
Stunningly illustrated by Catalina Echeverri, author and illustrator of several bestselling childrens books and all the storybooks in the Tales That Tell the Truth series from The Good Book Company.
This book is perfect for children aged 3-6 years old…
I’m an English author and an ex-nurse (psychiatry). Many years ago, when I was writing for magazines and floundering for direction, I met a woman who’d been hurt by ritual satanic abuse. She disturbed me badly, and I began to research the subject, becoming passionate about showing how evil affects people, and how fear and mind games are woven into the fabric of life, carrying on through families. I’ve also loved discovering beautiful prose and how to express the complexities of the human condition. I was reading my mum’s cast-off Victoria Holt novels at age seven, so perhaps I should add my other passion—simply books.
The late, great James Herbert is still, in my opinion, incomparable in the genre of British horror. I devoured most of his books as a teen, but stumbled on Shrine only a few years ago. This, and so relevant today, is a study on mass hysteria—a frightening enough concept—but it isn’t that which lingered. For me it was one particular scene. The story centres around a church, and the protagonist, an investigative journalist, decides to look into how the entire village became a shrine to what was basically a vision. This leads him to a small privately owned ancestral estate, and it is here, in this small dark church with high wooden pews, where the bone-chilling encounter takes place. I have to say I’ve never read a more visual description of encroaching dread than this. Brilliantly executed. Second to none.
Now a major film called The Unholy starring The Walking Dead's Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
In James Herbert's horror novel Shrine, innocence and evil have become one . . .
A little girl called Alice. A deaf-mute. A vision. A lady in shimmering white who says she is the immaculate conception. And Alice can suddenly hear and speak, and she can perform miracles.
Soon the site of the visitation, beneath an ancient oak tree, has become a shrine, a holy place for thousands of pilgrims. But Alice is no longer the guileless child overwhelmed by her new saintliness.
None of them knew what was coming, and none of them will ever be the same again...
Detective Jelani is a tough, veteran cop. His younger partner, Detective Madigan, is brash and confident. But they were not prepared to become embroiled in a series of cosmic events they could never…
I’m a child of the Cold War. Until the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989 this strange standoff between the Soviet Union and the Western allies informed everyone’s life, but my own case was particular because my father served in the Royal Air Force. For three years he was even in command of three squadrons of nuclear bombers. With a background like that, how could I not be interested in the larger picture? Since then I have gone on to write novels with all kinds of settings but the other side of the now defunct Iron Curtain has always held a fascination... and has directly led to at least three of my own books.
Is there a Czech theme going on here? Well, the Czech lands have always produced artists, musicians and writers of the highest calibre and although he may not be widely known, Škvorecký is one of them. From exile in Canada following the Russian invasion of 1968, he wrote this extraordinary and fantastic novel about a miracle (a holy statue is seen to bow its head) in a Czech village in the first year of communist rule. Of course such irrational things couldn’t be allowed and the priest is condemned as a hoaxer. But now we’re in 1968 and everything is up for discussion including this forgotten event. Seen through the eyes of the author’s picaresque character, Danny Smiřický (who was present at the original miracle but unfortunately had dozed off at the vital moment so never actually saw St Joseph move), the whole story is relived and discussed. Part farce,…
This energetic and hilarious novel is made even more important by the current final thawing of the long, Communist winter in Czechoslovakia. Moving between 1948, when our hero Danny Smiricky falls asleep in church while a miraculous event occurs, and 1968, when he observes the miracle of Prague Spring, The Miracle Game is a sharp look at the strange, sad, and silly things people do to survive.
As an Indian writer of contemporary fiction revolving around family, relationships, emotions, and hope, I am constantly on the lookout for similar novels to take inspiration from them and learn how to build beautiful, well-etched characters and portray heart-wrenching emotions. I love books that make me cry as they give me a fulfillment like nothing else. I love characters that are likable and make me feel a strong connection with them. And I like to write similar characters in my books as well. The readers of my novel The Fragile Thread of Hope have corroborated the same. I live in Gangtok, a hill station in northeast India.
Based in Darjeeling, my maternal home, Perfect is the story of a fatherless young man Gideon as he wrestles with self-doubt and a dark past as he makes his way into adulthood. It is a beautiful coming-of-age story narrating his special bond with an enigmatic girl Lakisha and his complicated relationship with his father. Highly underrated, extremely moving, and filled with doses of inspiration, this story from the gorgeous hills of Darjeeling will remain with me for a long time.
There are people who strike the right chords in our lives and make our hearts sing.' Living has been all about hiding away and pretentions for Gideon who has always preferred being alone. However when he joins college he comes across people of all sorts and he begins to realise that life may be a sum total of little miracles after all. As he matures and begins to open up he discovers that he is not far from the healing he has always been in search of.
Novels about humanity move me, as I love the messiness and complexities of imperfection. Because I’m passionate about reading these kinds of books, I’m also passionate about writing them. My first book, Paint Me Fearless, debuted at #1 on Amazon’s Hot New Release List in Christian Contemporary Fiction in 2021. It seemed readers found relevance in subjects like challenging family dynamics, weight issues, crippling insecurity, and the repercussions of abuse. My subsequent books continue in this vein. I aspire to write stories that reflect universal emotions like heartache and grief, but also joy and laughter. One reviewer described my books as a “rollicking good time,” which was a good day because I strive to entertain.
I read Home Again many years ago, and while I love all of Kristin Hannah’s books, this story in particular combined everything I love—ill-fated love, mother-daughter conflict, friendship, sibling rivalry, and an utterly shocking ending.
Madelaine Hillyard is a heart surgeon whose relationship with her teenage daughter, Lina, is strained. The DeMarco brothers, one a priest and one a bad boy, are a crucial part of Madelaine and Lina’s past, and as the plot evolves, I admit I fell a little in love with both of them. A relatable, heartbreaking story full of humanity, Home Again hits all the marks…and makes you believe in miracles again.
From the New York Times bestselling author The Four Winds, a moving, powerful novel about the fragile threads that bind together our lives and the astonishing potential of second chances
“A tender, beautifully told story of emotional growth, forgiveness [and] the possibility of miracles.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Madelaine Hillyard is a world-famous heart surgeon at the top of her game. Her personal life is far less successful. A loving but overworked single mom, she is constantly at odds with her teenage daughter. At sixteen, Lina is confused, angry, and fast becoming a stranger to her mother—a rebel desperate to find…
Pete is content living a simple life in the remote Montana town of Sleeping Grass, driving the local garbage truck with his pot-bellied pig Pearl and wondering about what could've been. Elderly widow Wilma is busy meddling in Pete's life to try and make up for past wrongs that he…
I’ve been an avid reader since I could open a book. The stories I’ve mentioned may have been a kick in the rear that made me realize how much I love science fiction and fantasy... with that little twist of magic that can send your imagination flying through the universe, but naturally it didn’t start there. When I was creating worlds, or playing through my friend’s worlds with D&D or Palladium, I always knew I wanted to share them with others. Because, if I can make people love my stories... maybe, just maybe... they’ll be inspired to write a story I’ll read and love.
What would you do if you were just an average, boring man? Living an average boring life. But then you found you had incredible powers. Not little by little... but full-on fire hose-level powers. Then you found out that all you knew about yourself, and your life were lies. And everyone wants you. This is another novel where the protagonist finds himself running for his life or freedom through the universe. Just one this time.
This book appealed to the escapist in me. Just as every teenager wants to be special or miraculous, this was the epitome of a normal man finding he was definitely not normal and trying to live with the consequences. It’s a pretty common theme, but this story took it and ramped it up to a level 10 on the excitement meter.
