top ten tuesday: all-time favorite inspy romances

For this week's Top Ten Tuesday, the topic is Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Books of ___ Genre. That's pretty wide open, and I contemplated several topics as I drove today. (We had our annual yearbook conference in a town 45 minutes away, so I had a 90-minute drive time to think.) I wanted to be creative. I wanted to do the unexpected. But when it comes right down to it, they say to write what you know, and what do I know?

Inspy Romance.

I couldn't bear to rank them, so, listed by year of publication, here are my Top Ten Inspy (aka inspirational, aka Christian) Romances.

1990's

At the yearbook conference today, we talked about how yearbooks from the 80's look like they were made in the 80's ... well, these books from the 90's certainly look like they came from the 90's!

1994

Wings of the Morning by Lori Wick. I haven't read this book in years, but I still remember it vividly. Lori Wick was my favorite author of the mid-to-late-90's, and Wings of the Morning is my second favorite of her novels. A handsome sea captain, an independent woman, and pirates ... what more could you want?

1995

Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick. I probably read this ten times in high school alone. I also loaned it out to all my friends, which is why my copy is in such horrible shape. Like Wings of the Morning, I haven't read it in years, but it will always be one of my favorites.

1997

Sunsets by Robin Jones Gunn. I loved the whole Glenbrooke series, and Sunsets was my favorite installment, I think because it featured Alyssa, a character from the Christy Miller series.

2000's

2008

The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter. This marriage of convenience story is still one of my favorites! It was recently made into a Hallmark movie which was good, but the book is better! (my review)

2010's

2011

Blue Skies Tomorrow by Sarah Sundin. This book, the first of Sundin's I ever read, was my favorite book of 2011. Sundin's World War II novels are some of my most anticipated reads each year. (my review)

2012

My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade. Kate & Matt's story was my favorite of 2012, and I knew the instant I began reading it that Becky Wade was destined to become one of my favorite authors. (my review)

2013

Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay. This epistolary novel is unlike anything else I've ever read, and it was my favorite book of 2013. I've only read it once, but I'm thinking it's time for another go at it! (my review)

2014

2014 was a very good year for inspy romance—my final three books are from this year!

Dancing with Fireflies by Denise Hunter. I absolutely loved Denise Hunter's Chapel Springs series, and this—about pregnant, unmarried Jade and Daniel, the man who has secretly loved her for years—is my favorite installment. (my review)

When I Fall in Love by Susan May Warren. While I enjoyed the first two Christiansen Family books, book three, When I Fall in Love, is the one that made me go "all in" on this series. Max and Grace have the sweetest story! (my review)

Meant to Be Mine by Becky Wade. If you forced me to name an absolute favorite novel, this would be it. I love Ty (swoon!). I love Celia. I love their daughter Addie. Needless to say, it was my favorite book of 2014. I've read it twice already, and you can bet I'll be reading it again! (my review)

What's your favorite inspy romance? I'd love to know! And if you made your own list this week, leave a link in the comments, and I'll be sure to visit.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

top ten tuesday: authors i own the most books from

The blog has been silent lately, mainly because I just got back from a week in Indiana, where my sister married the love of her life. (Trust me, a post is forthcoming.) While on said "vacation," I read a total of 1-1/2 books. That's it! It was nice to have a break, and now I'm ready to jump back into my normal insane reading schedule :-) I'll have a slew of reviews in the next several weeks, but for now, I thought it would be fun to do something different.

I've never done one of these weekly memes before, but several bloggers I follow have started doing Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke & The Bookish, and I thought it looked like fun! I'm sure I won't be doing these all the time, but if a Top Ten Tuesday catches my eye, then I'll jump in.

This week's topic is Ten Authors I Own The Most Books From. Since I didn't really feel like going through my bookshelves and Kindle to count everything, this is just an estimate. I'm very confident in the top five, but the rest are guesses :-) I thought it might be fun to give you a glimpse at my bookshelves as we go along. (If the pictures are too small, click on them, and they'll get bigger.)

This is just the 1st shelf—the shelf below
is about half full of Kingsbury books!

1. Karen Kingsbury—There was a time when I bought each and every Kingsbury book as soon as it released. That all ended with Loving, the last book in the Bailey Flanigan series. I began reading, then I flipped to the end to find out who Bailey chose in the end: Cody or Brandon. The result was what I feared. I put the book down and haven't read another Kingsbury book since. I know it's ridiculous, but I spent so much time (and money) invested in Bailey's journey, and I just can't get over the way it ended. (Full disclosure: At one point in the series, I wanted Kingsbury to end it exactly as she did, but then things changed, and I felt betrayed as a reader.) I do have two Kingsbury books that I haven't read yet, including Coming Home, which wraps up the Baxter series. I should really read them ... someday.

I just counted, and I have 44 Karen Kingsbury books. Goodness!

Lori Wick & Dee Henderson. For
a while, I kept all my Wick books.
Recently, though, I decided to just
keep my favorites and try to sell
the rest. So if you're in the market for
cheap Lori Wick books, check out
my half.com shop!

2. Lori Wick—From 7th grade until I discovered Karen Kingsbury in college, Lori Wick was my favorite author. I loaned out Sophie's Heart so many times that it's practically falling apart, and I've still read it more times than any other book. Fun fact: Wick is the only author on this list that I've seen in person. Her son attended the same college as I did, and one Sunday morning I turned around in church and saw her about six rows back!

3. Susan May Warren—I liked the first few Warren books I read, but I didn't love them. Then I read Sons of Thunder. I was hooked, and now I read everything she writes. I just finished When I Fall in Love, and I absolutely could not put it down. (Review coming next week.) I can't wait for the next in the series!

It doesn't look like many books, but
The Chronicles of Narnia and The
Essential C.S. Lewis both contain
several books.

4. C.S. Lewis—Lewis is the only author on the list whose fiction and non-fiction I own. Of course The Chronicles of Narnia is a favorite; I also love Mere Christianity and Till We Have Faces.

I've loaned out several Dekker books. They go
(of course) where the gaps are. If you're interested
in the book flowers, you can see how I
made them here.

5. Ted Dekker—My friend Jodi gave me Green, my first Ted Dekker novel, about 10 years ago. After devouring the Circle trilogy (now a quartet), I moved on to his other novels. Some I loved (Skin, Immanuel's Veins), some I loathed (Boneman's Daughters). I haven't read any of his newer novels ... or even all of the novels that are on this shelf!

The end of Susan May Warren &
most of my Robin Jones Gunn.

6. Robin Jones Gunn—What Christian teenage girl in the 90's didn't love the Christy Miller series? I got into the game a bit late—Book 8, Starry Night, is the first book I read in the series. Then in high school, I started reading the Glenbrooke series, and I own all eight books. Most recently, I read the Katie Weldon series and was surprised at how much I liked Katie, as I didn't really enjoy her in the Christy Miller series. I also have a couple Robin Jones Gunn books on my to be read shelf.

I have two types of bookshelves:
those that hold books I want to
display, and those that hold books
I keep for sentimental reasons. This
shelf holds the latter.

7. Lisa T. Bergren—I first came across Lisa T. Bergren in high school. My high school library had the Full Circle series, and reading Refuge made me really, really want to visit Montana! I didn't read any more of her books for a long time, but I recently reviewed the Grand Tour series and loved it. I also have a few books from her River of Time series on my Kindle ... must make time to read them! (Hello, it's YA and time travel. Of course I'm going to love it!)

The end of Karen Kingsbury, a few Denise Hunter,
and the beginning of Susan May Warren. I've
loaned out a ton of my Hunter and Warren books.

8. Denise Hunter—Hunter is, hands down, my favorite romance writer. I got started with her Nantucket series, and I've read practically everything she's written since. The Convenient Groom is one of my all-time favorite books, but I haven't reviewed it. I should probably read it again and remedy that!

The Austen shrine.

9. Jane Austen—Is it OK to admit that the only Jane Austen book I've ever read is Pride & Prejudice, and even then, I skipped some in the middle? But I display the books prominently, right beside the film adaptations of her novels. (My favorite? The BBC production of Emma.)

10. Dee Henderson—Henderson's O'Malley series remains is one of my all-time favorites. I also read some of her True Devotion series and enjoyed them. I haven't read any of her recent novels—I've read some negative reviews, and I don't want to spend money on books I may not like.

So there's my list. What about you? Leave your top ten in the comments, or leave a link to your own top ten post.