Ten Favorite Authors

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Yes, it's Wednesday, and I'm writing a list for Top Ten Tuesday hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. The thing is, I already do a book link-up on Tuesdays, and since my Tuesdays are busy enough already, I decided I would do these on Mondays or Wednesdays and call it good.

I'm starting my participation on this list with a hard one - Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Authors. Are you kidding me? Ten??? I started jotting down a list and it got out of hand pretty quickly, so here - in no particular order - are just some of the authors that I consider my favorites.

Jane Austen
Anybody who knows me expected Austen to be at the top of my list, and no explanation is needed. I never get tired of reading her books, and I keep trying out the various re-imaginings, sequels, and fan fiction related to Austen. Of those, Carrie Bebris is my favorite. The renewed interest in the Regency era means there are plenty of authors writing historical fiction in that setting, and I'm finding some new favorites there - Sarah Ladd and Julie Klassen come to mind, although there are plenty more! (Jane Austen books, including Austen-inspired books, mentioned here on Just A Second - Carrie Bebris books, Sarah Ladd books, Julie Klassen books, and all Regency books)

Deanna Raybourn
Deanna Raybourn is a no-brainer for my list, because she is one of the few authors that I have such complete confidence in that I pre-order her books pretty much as soon as the option is available to me. She has never disappointed. I love her strong, quirky female characters and their intense, passionate male counterparts. Two other authors that fall in a similar category deserve honorable mention here - they are Tasha Alexander and Anna Lee Huber. (Deanna Raybourn books mentioned here on Just A Second - Tasha Alexander books, and Anna Lee Huber books)

Coming September 1st!

Stephen R. Lawhead
Lawhead is another author that has earned that "pre-order status". I love the elements of historical novel and fantasy that are woven together in many of his novels; and the newest, the Bright Empires series, combines historical and time-travel sci-fi in a fascinating way. (Stephen Lawhead books mentioned here on Just A Second)


Agatha Christie
She was my introduction to detective fiction when I was a teenager, and I became quite a fan of Hercule Poirot. Because of Christie (and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of course!), I got hooked on detective and mystery novels, so I guess I should credit her for leading me to Deanna Raybourn, and to the next author on my list...

Anne Perry
She's become a favorite in the mystery/detective category too. I like her William Monk series especially, and own all of them. I've also read most of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series, and her Christmas novellas. (Anne Perry books mentioned here on Just A Second)

C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis would make my list of favorites on the strength of the Chronicles of Narnia series alone, because I never get tired of reading them. Wonderful fairy-tale fantasy stories with allegorical elements, and with ageless appeal! Honorable mention here goes to James Stoddard - his books The High House and The False House remind me of the Narnia books, and would rank quite high in my all-time favorite books list. (Which I hope I don't have to narrow down to ten, as that would be quite a daunting task!)

Janette Oke
Janette Oke makes my list for several reasons - I've never met a Janette Oke book I didn't completely love; I own every one of them; and just as Agatha Christie inspired my love of mysteries, Janette Oke introduced me to Christian romantic fiction. The list of Christian historical fiction authors that I love would be a Top Ten (at least!) all its own, but it was Oke that got me started on this genre. It helps that she's a fellow Albertan and many of the settings for her books are in Canada. (I've reviewed the two most recent Janette Oke books here on Just A Second)


Lucy Maud Montgomery/Laura Ingalls Wilder/Louisa May Alcott
I cheated a little here by doing a three-in-one, but my reason for putting these three authors together is that they wrote primarily for a younger audience, and I first read their books when I was very young. Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, and Little Women are all still favorite novels that I often re-read as an adult. I also have learned that just because a book is written for  Young Adult audience doesn't mean that it won't appeal to an older audience as well. I give honorable mention here to Hope Auer and to Wayne Thomas Batson, who write YA Fiction that this mom of young adults adores!

Mark Twain
Would he be considered an early YA author as well? I'm not sure, but I have always enjoyed his wit and humor in his novels, short stories, and essays. Honorable mention for humorous observation writing goes to Bill Bryson, who also can make me laugh out loud!


Peter J. Leithart
On a more serious note, I love Peter Leithart's studies of literature (Miniatures and Morals is a study of Jane Austen's works; Brightest Heaven of Invention is a study of some of Shakespeare's plays) and the Bible (A House for My Name) are among my favorite non-fiction works. (Peter Leithart's books mentioned here on Just A Second)

Could you narrow down your favorite authors to just ten? How many of my favorites do you know?

Read more Top Ten Tuesday lists at The Broke and the Bookish.

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Connect Five Friday - Aspiring Teachers

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The Friday Five Link Up is a List Link Up hosted by The Book Date. It can be five connections of any kind. Books can have been read last year or any year. Books can be used more than once. They may not have been read yet. . . It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Maybe it's not a list of actual books, but things connected to books - e.g. favourite book shops, recipes etc. It might even be five movies related to books or five poems or five poets or five bookish moments, five thoughts about reading - be creative! The link-up will be open each Friday and will close on Thursday. Use the hashtag #connect5books

Recently one of the authors I follow on Facebook posted a conversation starter about books featuring governess and employer romances. It's a theme often used in historical settings. It got me thinking about books featuring teachers as well, so this week's Connect Five is novels with aspiring teachers.

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The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare - Recently finished this one, so naturally it was the first one I thought of. Adunni faces more hardship, abuse, discrimination, and cruelty than anyone should have to bear, and certainly far too much for a young teenage girl, but her hope and spirit is infectious. Her fondest dream is to finish her own education and earn a voice so that she can return to her village as a teacher. She wants to help other girls find their voices and a better life through education and independence. Or, as Adunni words it, "to find their free". 

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My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge: Laurel's Dream by Pepper Basham - Laurel McAdams is another young lady who wants to be a teacher, but has the odds stacked against her. She's grown up in a remote community in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where the living conditions are primitive, money is scarce, and things don't change. But she has a boundless optimism and love for learning, and her dream is to go to college and become a teacher. The new schoolmaster wants to be a doctor, and this is a stop on his way, but he helps and encourages Laurel, and not surprisingly, falls in love with her too.

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Undaunted Hope (Beacons of Hope) by Jody Hedlund - In the late 1800s, Tessa Taylor arrives to teach school at an isolated mining community in upper Michigan. She's determined to do the best job possible, and to distance herself from some embarrassing mistakes in her past. It's her first teaching job and her chance to start fresh.

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Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - Anne has had a very unhappy life as an orphan, but she has a very lively imagination and Matthew convinces Marilla that they should keep her. Anne blossoms as Marilla does her best to give her "a proper upbringing" but she has a great tendency to get herself (and sometimes her friends) into scrapes because of her imagination, daydreaming, and a bit of bad luck now and again. I couldn't pass up including Anne in my list of aspiring teachers because this first novel in the series follows Anne's life till she earns her teacher's license and is about to start on her first year of teaching.

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Where Courage Calls (Return to the Canadian West) (Volume 1) by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan - In Janette Oke's Canadian West series of many years ago, Elizabeth Thatcher became a schoolteacher in frontier Alberta and eventually married the RCMP officer she met there. This new series by Oke and her daughter carries on the story, following Beth Thatcher as she too leaves her beautiful Toronto home to become a schoolteacher in the little mining town of Coal Valley, Alberta. In many ways she is following in the footsteps of her relative and namesake, Elizabeth.

©2008-2020 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

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Recent Reads - Where Courage Calls

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Where Courage Calls (Return to the Canadian West) (Volume 1) by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan - I have been a loyal reader of Janette Oke's books for ever so many years, and especially enjoyed the Canadian West series, which followed Elizabeth Thatcher's adventures as she became a schoolteacher in frontier Alberta and eventually married the RCMP officer she met there. So when I caught sight of a new book by Oke and her daughter that carries on the series, I bought it immediately.

Beth Thatcher is about to leave her beautiful Toronto home to become a schoolteacher in the little mining town of Coal Valley, Alberta. In many ways she is following in the footsteps of her relative and namesake, Elizabeth. The conditions in Coal Valley shock her at first - there is no school building, and there are very few of the amenities she is accustomed to. The children have had very little education, and most of them lost their fathers in a recent mining accident. The widows have little and are largely at the mercy of the mining company, but have banded together to provide their children with an education. Beth comes to love the people and think of the town as her home. She also finds that her affections are somewhat torn between Edward, the young man who is a family friend and has come west as an RCMP officer, and Jack, the Mountie who often visits Coal Valley in the course of his duties. When her year contract is up, she will have to make some difficult decisions about whether she wants to return, and which man will win her heart.

As in the previous books of the series, I loved reading about places that are familiar to me, being from southern Alberta. The story-telling takes a gentle pace, and explores Beth's thoughts and feelings as she adjusts to life on her own in a much different world than the one that she grew up in. For much of the book, the focus is on the relationships within the mining town and Beth's interactions with the people, but the possibility of romance is an undercurrent. There are a couple of surprise twists in the story that add some suspense, and I must admit that I really didn't know which of the two Mounties Beth would choose if she had the opportunity - not until the outcome was revealed!

I'm now eager to get through the next book and find out what happens next!

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Connect Five Friday - Canadian Authors

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

The Friday Five Link Up is a List Link Up hosted by The Book Date. It can be five connections of any kind. Books can have been read last year or any year. Books can be used more than once. They may not have been read yet. . . It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Maybe it's not a list of actual books, but things connected to books - e.g. favourite book shops, recipes etc. It might even be five movies related to books or five poems or five poets or five bookish moments, five thoughts about reading - be creative! The link-up will be open each Friday and will close on Thursday. Use the hashtag #connect5books

Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada. Being Canadian, we plan to celebrate! And so here are books by five Canadian authors:

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The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables is the story we first associate with Montgomery, but this one is absolutely delightful as well. This story opens on the day prior to Valancy Stirling's twenty-ninth birthday, and the opening paragraph says that if it hadn't rained that day her life would been entirely different. You see, Valancy has lived a monotonous, dreary life up until then. Always overshadowed by others and completely controlled by her overbearing extended family, who care nothing for her feelings or interests or dreams. Valancy has accepted that she will remain unloved and unmarried and that she'll have to live out the rest of her days the same way. But because of the rain, a family picnic is canceled, and Valancy decides to go secretly to consult a doctor about the chest pains she's been having. It is a delightful story, full of fascinating characters, humour, small town drama, and some interesting plot twists. It's easy to sympathize with the lonely and downtrodden Valancy, and feel indignant at the little injustices she's subjected to; and it's entertaining to see her thrive and develop as she follows her own course in life.

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Janette Oke is one of my favorite Canadian authors. When Calls the Heart was probably my favorite of her many novels, partly because it takes place in Alberta, where I grew up. The story is about a young woman, Elizabeth Thatcher, who gives up a safe life in the city to be a teacher in a little frontier town. Of course she winds up loving her new home and eventually marries Wynn, the handsome Mountie. The series continues their story and that of their children. Years later, Oke teamed up with her daughter, Laurel Oke Logan, to write the next generation of these romances. In Where Courage Calls Beth Thatcher is about to leave her beautiful Toronto home to become a schoolteacher in the little mining town of Coal Valley, Alberta, following in the footsteps of her relative and namesake, Elizabeth. The conditions in Coal Valley shock her at first - there is no school building, and there are very few of the amenities she is accustomed to. The children have had very little education, and most of them lost their fathers in a recent mining accident. The widows have little and are largely at the mercy of the mining company, but have banded together to provide their children with an education. Beth comes to love the people and think of the town as her home. She also finds that her affections are somewhat torn between Edward, the young man who is a family friend and has come west as an RCMP officer, and Jack, the Mountie who often visits Coal Valley in the course of his duties. When her year contract is up, she will have to make some difficult decisions about whether she wants to return, and which man will win her heart.

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Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies - In the first sentence of this unusual book, the principle character and narrator is murdered. Connor Gilmartin has walked into his bedroom to find his wife and a colleague nicknamed the Sniffer together, and the Sniffer strikes Gil and kills him. What follows is partly farce and partly tragedy and Gil realizes that he is dead and wonders whether he is actually a ghost and what the afterlife will be like even as he is able to observe the actions of his wife and the Sniffer in the days that follow. Gil introduces these characters to the reader and tells a bit about his own background and the events that led up to his death. He and the Sniffer work for the newspaper, and it happens that the Sniffer is a film critic who must attend a film festival. Gil finds that he, as ghost or spirit, is attending the festival as well, but the films he sees are somehow meant only for him.

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Still Life by Louise Penny - I read this a number of years ago and don't remember it clearly, but it takes place near Montreal. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team investigate a death that seems at first to be the result of a tragic hunting accident. 

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The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Although I've not read this novel, or anything by Atwood, I could hardly focus on Canadian authors without mentioning her work. This novel is set in a a monotheocracy of a future time, and is told from the point of view of Offred, one of the handmaids in this new social order.

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©2008-2020 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Recent Reads - Where Trust Lies

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Where Trust Lies by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan - This book follows Beth Thatcher as she returns home for a summer break after spending a year teaching school in a small mining town in Alberta. Of course Beth is eager to see her family again, but a visit home also means being parted from Jarrick, the Mountie who had just begun courting her. Beth is often surprised at how much she has grown accustomed to the much more primitive conditions of Coal Valley compared to her family's elegant lifestyle in Toronto, and is initially dismayed when plans for a family steamship cruise are announced. She worries that it will be even more difficult for Jarrick to communicate with her, and that she might miss the hoped-for letter inviting her back to Coal Valley to teach for another year.

With arrangements made for mail to be forwarded and the possibility of a phone call from Jarrick at some of the stops on the cruise, Beth agrees to join her mother and sisters on the cruise. But the family dynamics are sometimes strained as Beth tries to reconnect with her mother, and as younger sister Julie often insists on going her own way rather than listening to advice or practicing much caution in her choice of companions. Just when it seems the gently moving story will have only mild family tensions as the problems to be overcome, things do get genuinely dramatic and the pace picks up as one of the sisters finds herself in danger and the rest of the family must come together to keep up hope and faith for a happy ending.

I loved the descriptions of the sites in Quebec and Eastern Canada that the family visits, and enjoyed the sweet relationship growing between Beth and Jarrick, even across so many miles. The tensions between family members were interesting, and as I read, I often was reminded that the so-called generation gap is not so very new! Mrs Thatcher had her view of the world and what she thought was appropriate, and in their own ways, all three of her daughters were taking a more contemporary approach to life - Margret questioned the necessity of allowing the nanny to have strict and regimented control of her baby's upbringing; Beth wanted to be able to pursue her education and career and make her own decisions; and Julie often fought against what she thought of as "old-fashioned" views because she admired her new flapper friends and their daring style and thirst for adventure. It is Julie's recklessness that results in the great crisis towards the end of the book, and although in some ways I could see something like that coming, it was a bigger threat than I had anticipated. Julie was not an easy character for me to like or sympathize with, possibly because some of her imprudent decisions reminded me of my own mistakes as a young person, or some of the things my own son has done that I thought were foolish!

Another very enjoyable read, and I have to assume that another book in the series will pick up where this one left off, so that we can find out what happens to Beth and her Mountie next!

From the publisher:
She loves her friends and students in the West, but family obligations have called her home. Where does she truly belong?

After a year of teaching in the Canadian West, Beth Thatcher returns home to her family. She barely has time to settle in before her mother announces plans for a family holiday -- a luxurious steamship tour along the eastern coast of Canada and the United States. Hoping to reconnect with her mother and her sisters, Beth agrees to join them, but she quickly realizes that things have changed since she went away, and renewing their close bond is going to be more challenging than she expected.

There's one special thing to look forward to -- letters and telephone calls from Jarrick, the Mountie who has stolen her heart. The distance between them is almost too much to bear. But can she give her heart to Jarrick when it will mean saying good-bye to her family once again -- and possibly forever? And will she still want to live in the western wilds after the steamship tour opens up a world of people and places she never imagined?

Then comes a great test of Beth's faith. Someone in her family has trusted the wrong person, and suddenly everything Beth knows and loves is toppled. Torn between her family and her dreams, will Beth finally discover where her heart truly belongs?

A companion story to Hallmark Channel's When Calls the Heart TV series!

Visit the Baker Publishing Group for info on where to buy.

By the same authors: Where Courage Calls

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Down The TBR Hole - February 23, 2023

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Welcome to my latest edition of Down The TBR Hole! Jody at the blog I'm Into Books has offered this solution to help remind us of all those books we added to our Goodreads list in the distant past and hopefully start managing the list. The idea is to start cleaning up our Goodreads TBR lists of all the books that have piled up over time, and share our progress in the link-up every Thursday. Here's how Jody explains it:

Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you're scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. 

So here's what we'll do: On the Goodreads to-read shelf, order all your books ascending by date added. Look at the first four (or more) books on the list, read the synopses and decide whether the books should stay or go. Post in the link-up and share using the hashtag #DTTBRH and tagging @Jodyblogs.

I wonder if my efforts to declutter my Goodreads lists will inspire me to declutter other parts of my home? Honestly, there's not a lot of clutter here since we tried to avoid packing up and moving clutter, but I do still have some things that haven't been nicely organized yet. Maybe I'll tackle those this weekend and find proper homes for those things. For today, I'll tidy these virtual bookshelves!

Here's what I found on Week Three:

 

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel - At first glance, I was sure I'd read this before and wondered why it was still on the TBR. But this is a story about how John Harrison invented a timekeeper that would work at sea. I read a book about Galileo by the same author, and I believe the cover was similar. Anyway, it sounds interesting, but I don't think I still need to read it. Gone.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - I purchased this book (second-hand) and am pretty sure I still have it at my other home. So I don't think it needs to be on my virtual TBR list as well as in a bookshelf full of TBRs.

Secrets of a Lady by Tracy Grant - Looks like it might be really good and I'm sure I had a good reason for adding it, but I don't remember anything about it and it's the 10th in a series, so it's off the list.

Who Brings Forth The Wind by Lori Wick - This one I know I've read, and I even own it, so I'm just going to update it to "read" and that's another book off the TBR!

The Centurion's Wife and The Hidden Flame, both by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke - I put these together since they are first and second in a series. I own these books but haven't read them yet. Shame on me! But like The Curious Incident, I don't need them on the Goodreads list to remind me about them.

I feel really productive moving six books off the 'stack'!

This post will be linked at Down The TBR Hole hosted by Jody at I'm Into Books.

#DTTBRH

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.