Here’s the List–Books Recommended by Awesome BNOTP Readers

Thanks again for all the wonderful book suggestions you left on my recent post where I was trying to remember the name of a book I had read many years ago in high school. If you missed that post, you’ll find it here: Trying to Remember the Name of a Book I Read Many Years Ago. I now have an extensive list of books I want to read this summer! Comments continue to come in on that post so check it out if you’re looking for a great read!

 

My friend, Teresa, whose backyard landscaping I shared this week for Metamorphosis Monday, was so impressed with all the book suggestions you left, she put them all into an Excel spreadsheet! I had been thinking of going through all the suggestions to make a list to share in an upcoming post, so I was thrilled when she emailed me over the list she had compiled! Thank you, Teresa!

Below, you’ll find the list Teresa put together. Books/Recommendations are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s name, except for two suggestions that I added to the end of the list, left in a comment after Teresa compiled her list this morning.

Note: At the end of the list, you’ll find four websites that were also mentioned in the comments as being great sites for finding books and book recommendations.

I tried to put this list into my “Recipe” plugin to see if I could make it printable but unfortunately, I couldn’t get that to work.  Feel free to pin this post to Pinterest or bookmark it for future reference.

Thanks again for all your book suggestions! Can’t wait to read some of these this summer!

AWESOME BNOTP READER AUTHOR BOOK RECOMMENDED
1 Lisa Agnes Sligh Turnbull The Nightingale
2 Katherine G Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow
3 Joy Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow
4 Barbara Amy Harmon What the Wind Knows
5 Tammy Amy Vansant
6 Pat Ann B. Ross Miss Julia series
7 Bonnie Ann B. Ross Miss Julia series
8 Jae Ann B. Ross Miss Julia series
9 Tammy B.R. Snow
10 Alison B. Barbara Delinsky
11 Liz Benoite Groult Salt on my Skin
12 Barbara R Betty Smith Joy in the Morning
13 Barbara R Betty Smith Tree Grows in Brooklyn
14 Linda P Betty Smith Joy in the Morning
15 Linda P Betty Smith Joy in the Morning
16 Susy H Beverly Butler Song of the Voyager
17 Tammy CeeCee James
18 Vicki Lay Charles Martin
19 Phyllisa Debbie Macomber Mrs. Miracle
20 Mary C. Debbie Macomber Cedar Cove Series
21 Deborah D. Debbie Macomber
22 Bobbi D Debbie Macomber Cedar Cove Series
23 Deborah D. Debra Clopton
24 Tammy Dianne Harmon
25 Karen Dorothea Benton Frank Books set in Low Country of SC
26 Mary Dorothea Benton Frank
27 Martha Dorothea Benton Frank
28 Alison B. Dorothea Benton Frank
29 Ann Dorothy Emily Stevenson Mrs. Tim series
30 Jae Dorothy Gilman Mrs. Pollifax books
31 Kansas K. Elly Griffiths The Crossing Places
32 Nita Emily Richards A Family of Strangers
33 Rebecca D Erin Hildebrand
34 Bernie Fannie Flagg Daisy Faye and the Miracle Man
35 Bonnie Fannie Flagg
36 Brenda B Fannie Flagg I Still Dream About You and Redbird Christmas
37 Bev Felicity Hayes-McCoy The Library at the Edge of the World
38 Nan O. Frank Benton
39 Joy Gene Stratton-Porter Girl of Limberlost
40 Beverly Georgette Heyer
41 Linda Heather Webber Midnight at the Blackbird Café
42 Kathy P Helen Hanff 84, Charing Crosse Road
43 Bonnie Jan Karon Mitford Series
44 Mary Jan Karon Mitford Series
45 Alice Jan Karon Mitford Series
46 Margie Jan Karon Mitford Series
47 Leah Jan Karon
48 Diane Jana Deleon Miss Fortune Books
49 Luanne J Jean Webster Daddy Long Legs
50 Jennifer R Jean Webster Daddy Long Legs
51 Barbara Jenni Ogden A drop in the Ocean
52 Karen E Jenny Colgan She writes about books lovers and Bakers in the UK
53 Deborah D. Jessie Gussman
54 Sandy Joanne Fluke Mysteries
55 Alison B. Jude Deveraux Knight in Shining Armor
56 Bobbi D Jude Deveraux
57 Chris Julia Kelly Last Garden of England
58 Judy H. C. Karen Kingsbury
59 Rebecca D Karen White
60 Tammy Kathi Daley
61 Hetty Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
62 Judy H. C. Kristen Hannah
63 Susan Kristen Hannah The Nightingale
64 Sandra kristy Woodson Harvey Under the Southern Sky
65 Barbara Lauren Wolk Echo Mountain
66 Barbara Lauren Wolk Beyond the Bright Sea
67 Jae Lillian Jackson Braun The Cat Who series
68 Deborah D. Linda Leal Miller
69 Toni Lisa Wingate
70 Deborah D. Lori Wilde
71 Barbara Louise Penny The Inspector Gamache
72 Tammy Lucy Burdette
73 Tammy Maria Geraci
74 Celaina Marjorie Warby The Singing of the Nightingale
75 Rebecca D. Mary Alice Monroe
76 Alison B. Mary Alice Monroe
77 Nan O. Mary Alice Monroe
78 Antoinette Mary Alice Monroe
79 Judy Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
80 Annette Mary Balogh
81 Alison B. Mary Balogh
82 Ann B Mary Higgins Clark
83 Bev Mary Kay Andrews Anything
84 Mary Mary Kay Andrews
85 Rebecca D. Mary Kay Andrews
86 Susan Mary Kay Andrews
87 Michelle P. Mary Kay Andrews Sea Breeze and The Fixer Upper
88 Joyce S. Mary Roberts Rhinehart Circular Staircase
89 Patty B. Mary Stewart Thornyhold
90 Karen E. Maud Hart Lovelace
91 Debbie Maureen Lee Pearl Street series
92 Jae Mignon G. Eberhardt
93 Melissa M. Nan Rossiter
94 Chris Nora Roberts Brides Quartet
95 Rebecca D. Paul Leicester Janice Meredith published in 1899
96 Bonnie Phillip Gulley
97 Martha Rhonda Byrne The Secret: Dare to Dream
98 Tess H. Rosamunde Pilcher Winter Solstice & Coming Home
99 Dianne K. Rosamunde Pilcher Shell Seekers and September
100 Kansas K. Sandra Dallas The persian Pickle Club
101 Maureen Sarah Sundin Wings of the Nightingale (Book 1 With every Letter)
102 Nan O. Sherry Woods
103 Natasha Stella Gibbons Nightingale Wood
104 Natasha Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort
105 Toni Susan Meissner Secrets of a Charmed Life, Stars over Sunset Boulevard
106 Bev Susan Wiggs The Lost and Found Bookshop
107 Judy Suzanne Woods Fisher Amish Fiction
108 Susan Tasha Alexander Lady Emily Series
109 Chris Tasha Alexander Lady Emily Series
110 Jae Tonya Kappes Happy Trails Campground
111 Diane Tricia O’Malley Tequila series
113 Cindy H. Trisha Ashley pure escapism
114 Mary Valerie Fraser Luesse Missing Isaac, Almost Home, The Key to Everything
115 Ann B Victoria Holt
116 Joy B Diane Greenwood Muir Bellingwood Series
117 Joy B Barbara Hinske Rosemont Books
https://www.alibris.com/
https://mybookcave.com/how-to-find-a-book-when-you-dont-know-the-title-or-author/

 

Happy Reading!

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Comments

  1. Hi Susan!
    Thank you for posting the book list and please thank Teresa for compiling the list. I am going to share it with my friends who are avid readers!

  2. What a cool idea. A Gentleman in Moscow is indeed a masterpiece.

  3. Bettina Esser says

    But did you find the title of the book you originally read in the 70’s?

    • Not sure. Someone found a book with Nightingale in the title that was published around the right time, but I can’t find a synopsis that book anywhere online and I don’t want to order it without knowing more about it so I can verify it’s the right one. I saw that same book on eBay but it sold the next day. The cover of the one on eBay didn’t seem to fit the story. I may go ahead and order it from Amazon, just in case it’s the right one.

  4. I can’t wait to read these. I am surprised no one mentioned the best book in my top 5 favorites – Where the Crawdads Sing. Author Delia Owens.

    • Seems like someone did mention that one, although I was asking for books that weren’t sad and had happy ends and someone recently told me that book was sad, so maybe that’s why it wasn’t mentioned.

    • I loved that book also. I listened to it on audible. It was well done, complete with southern accents.

  5. Teresa – Thanks so much for putting this together and thank you, Susan for sending it along!

    Lots of these are “old” friends but I found some new ones as well.

    Happy reading everyone!

  6. Wonderful list! I didn’t see anyone mention LaVryle Spencer. Anything by her is really good, especially “Morning Glory”!

    • Oh I love her books! I first read Morning Glory, which is absolutely beautiful, and then that led me to read all of her books; unfortunately she retired, but all her fans are hoping for a comeback someday!

  7. Thanks for the reading list.
    I rarely recommend a movie but this one is commendable if you haven’t seen it. It’s the story of Beatrix Potter, author of the Peter Rabbit books and others we loved from childhood. The scenery toward the end is breathtaking when she buys Hill Top Farm. It’s called,
    “Miss Potter “ and I found it on You Tube. It’s free with brief ads.

  8. susan hontalas says

    Here is the spreadsheet in a link that will be easier to save
    Recommended Reading https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FQdPocG2Vm3Xd9TlmdHJWia37Kqg9hHTN9u1kpZEyek/edit?usp=sharing

  9. I hope the book you were looking for is on the list! I have been searching for a book from my preteen years. It was the story of a group of girl friends, probably junior high aged. They have have had a club. There was diversity in the group and they organized a progressive dinner at each other’s homes with each family making a specialty. I remember one of the families was Portuguese. I almost think it was part of a series of books I used to check ou from the library.

  10. Deborah D says

    I thought I added Francine Rivers. She’s a wonderful Christian writer. Redeeming Love was one of her first books I read. Then I had to read everything she’s written. Excellent reads.

  11. I read through the book list out of curiosity and saw ” A Girl of the Limberlost” . I was surprised because it isn’t a romantic book but I have such a great memory of the book. My family on a trip east spent an afternoon visiting with my dad’s great uncle. He gave me all of the books out of a cedar chest that had belonged to his daughter. She had died at the age of 16 from pneumonia long before antibiotics. I read all of those books – a number of them were series like The Campfire Girls and Ruth Fielding who had many adventures. They were old fashioned but I loved those books. Many years later when I was looking through them I saw that ” A Girl of the Limberlost” was a first edition. I gave it as a present to bibliophile friend of mine who collected first editions. I probably would never have thought of all of this without your friend Teresa’s list. Thanks to you both.

  12. bobbie Bell says

    The Booklady of Troublesome Creek is a fascinating book! Unlike any other I have ever read…and based on true facts! When it was recommended to me I was unsure if I would read it–but am so glad I did. As I began to read I was astounded. So glad I read it. Thanks for the list. I have read many of them but will consider some of the others. Thanks!

  13. I’ve been an avid BNOTP reader for years. I’m beyond thrilled to see that my Rosemont series made your list! I’m Barbara Hinske, #117. THANK YOU so much!!!

    • Barbara, thanks so much for suggesting a great read! I will have plenty of books to keep me busy this summer since I won’t be traveling. 🙂

  14. Susan Wittig Albert wrote a delightful series called The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. While technically they are cozy mysteries, they are really more about life in an English village. The stories (which should be read in order) follow the life of Beatrix Potter with the addition of a fictional story line and some fictional characters. It’s a series I reread often.

  15. Thanks Susan for posting your friend Tereasa’s book list. I really appreciate her doing it.I love to read mysteries from the coastal areas of the south.

  16. Cyndi Raines says

    Oh, thank you so much Theresa for compiling this list and Susan for posting. I am going to pin it as I would like to read some of these, they sound great. I need to begin the Mitford series for sure. Gosh, between yard work, my love for the beach, new enjoyment of puzzling and now these awesome books to read, I’m going to have an awesome summer, fall and winter! Hehe

  17. Susan, the book I mentioned that has also been made into a movie is The Secret; Dare to Dream. You will LOVE this one.

  18. Antoinette says

    I would like to thank Teresa for putting together this list and Susan for posting it! I see that my suggestion on Mary Alice Monroe made the list. I’m looking forward to looking into some of the authors/books listed!

  19. Jill from Southern NH says

    Thanks to you and Teresa for these suggestions! I love to both read and listen to books and am nearly done with the last book in Jan Karon’s beloved Mitford series. She is also this year’s Writer in Residence for Victoria Magazine, which is my favorite magazine in the world – if you haven’t seen it yet, Susan, I know you’ll love it. They are on instagram and facebook too and their photography and styling are beautiful. For a breath of fresh air, I also recommend Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen book series – with titles like Peach Cobbler Murder, etc. they are sweet, silly, completely wholesome mysteries about a baker who fancies herself a sleuth and has lots of homemade dinners with her close-knit Minnesotan family including her two sisters. There is an unsolved murder at the beginning of every book, but it is not gory and is usually an unlikeable/fringe character – in fact, they’re called Cozy Mysteries since the stories revolve around the main character’s cookie shop and everyday life. The books also include recipes in them for many of the foods they gather around in the stories. I read a lot and just about every genre, including ‘heavy’ but rewarding books like All the Light We Cannot See and The Underground Railroad, and these cute cookie mysteries are a great, almost mindless ‘palate cleanser’ to listen to. I’m a true lover of the classics, and if you like Jane Austen I think you would also enjoy Howard’s End and A Room with a View by E.M. Forster.

  20. The books I love to read and re-read are by the author Patricia Veryan. She has a series called “The Golden Chronicles”, ” The tales of the Jewelled Men”, “Some brief Folly (Sanguinet Saga)”. She also wrote some single read books they are filled with warmth and humor , she has an infectious entertaining style of bygone days, the Golden Chronicles is a tale of the Jacobite rebellion and it has a treasure hunt in the bargin!

  21. Wonderful book list. I have read some and look forward to reading new options. Currently planning to read two Christmas gifts…I will share titles if they are good.
    Susan, can you share a source for the floral pillows on your swing? They are beautiful.

    • Sure, I found those in IKEA a few years back. I’m not sure if they still do it, but I’ve heard that each year they carry a new pillow design in all their stores. So the pillows I have on the swing was the pillow for the year I purchased it, which would have been around 5-6 years ago.

  22. If you like very well written stories set in England that are thoughtful, deep and engaging try anything by Elizabeth Goudge. She was a prolific and brilliant writer. The storylines are very unusual and uplifting. You get lost in them.
    Also, D.E. Stevenson wrote a ton of books, but her Mrs. Tim series, about an English military wife and her various adventures are gentle and absolutely charming. A real I-spy into another time. It’s like watching old movies.

  23. Thank you for the wonderful list! More titles for my TO BE READ list – and if you are on Facebook there are two groups I follow: Bookaholics and Book Club Girls. I get so many good titles from those groups and happily my local library has most of them. If they are not available they reserve them for me…and it always seems they all come at the same time! Reading a good one now – The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan. Happy reading to all !

  24. Our bookclub just finished reading “The Nightingale” by Kristen Hannah and every single one of us loved it. Some thought it was the best book they’ve ever read.

    • Agree! I just finished it a couple of weeks ago and was sorry to see it end. It’s long, but what an amazing story!

      Can not wait for the movie to come out, although I doubt it could do the book justice. Prediction: it will be up for an academy award (or two).

  25. Melissa Mash says

    Thank you for that wonderful list! I had recommended Nan Rossiter and it turns out her newest book was released 2 days ago! All her books are great and the review of the newest “Promises to Keep” said: “We all need good stories right now and Promises to Keep will touch your heart and leave you smiling.”

  26. I LOVED seeing Under The Southern Sky on this list! Thanks!

  27. Thank you for sharing Teresa’s list! How thoughtful of her! (and you)! I have enjoyed several of the listed books If you enjoy the Mitford series there is a cookbook from the series which references some of the meals made and shared by the folks in town-even Esther’s outrageous Orange Marmalade Cake! The book is Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader. I just love those books and you will too!

  28. Kansas Kay says

    Thank you, Teresa & Susan, for the compiled list. The book Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas is a sweet story with a happy ending, please add that to the list.

  29. I was searching for a book to read from this great list of suggestions. One thing led to another and I found the author Pamela Kelley that I don’t see on the list. I read The Restaurant in two days. The story moved quickly and was similar to a Hallmark movie. It had clean romance and every day drama although nothing far out. I enjoyed it and am looking into more from this author. Also started Jan Karon series from the recommendations and it is delightful.

  30. Mary Carter says

    Hi. You had mentioned in one of your article a good book for the coffee table and it was “A Place to Call Home” by James Farmer. The other book was regarding Architecture. Could you please let me know the name of the book and the author?
    I bought the book “A Place to call home” and have enjoyed it. I really enjoy your articles. Thank you.

  31. Thank you for the post and list. You inspired me to read The Nightingale by Turnbull. I loved it. Yes, the romantic relationship developed through the exchange of letters. I loved the interactions of the members of the small village, still so similar to small towns today. Today it would be classified as Christian fiction but in 1960 it was just a romance. I borrowed the book from my library. Go libraries!

    • That does sound like the book that I’ve been trying to find. Thanks for letting me know you read it, Jan! I just Googled the title/author and it was written in 1960 so that may be it. I read it around 1973-1975

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