Wednesday, March 14, 2007

102 LDS books

Recently I found a blog-tag of 100 books—I believe they were the best selling books of all time (Harry Potter came in far ahead of The Bible, FWIW). The bloggers then marked the books they’d read, the ones they’d never heard of and the ones they highly recommended. I thought “Wouldn’t it be fun to do that with LDS books?”
I have no way of knowing the best selling LDS books, so I did the next best thing. I chose nine other authors who are each very well read in this market (list at the bottom of this blog) to send me a list of their ten favorite LDS books of all time. Then I combined the results into this list—102 books recommended by 10 authors. And I’ve used the following key:

Bold=I read it
Highlighted=I’ve never heard of it
Italics= A favorite that stayed with me a long time
(I chose to only bold the ones I’ve read and highlight the ones I hadn’t heard of because so many of my friends are on this list and I can’t choose favorites--but some of you might be braver than me)


1) A Heartbeat Away—Rachel Ann Nunes
2) Almost Sisters—Nancy Anderson, Lael J. Littke
and Carroll H. Morris
3) Angels Don't Knock—Dan Yates
4) An Old Fashioned Romance—Marcia Lynn McClure
5) A Question of consequence—Gordon Ryan
6) Ariana: The Making of a Queen—Rachel Ann Nunes
7) As the Ward Turns—Joni Hilton
8) At the Journey’s End—Annette Lyon
9) Baptists at Our Barbecue—Robert Farrell Smith
10) Charlie—Jack Weyland
11) Charley’s Monument—Blaine M. Yorgason)
12) Chickens in the Headlights—Matthew Buckley (on my to-read list)
13) Children of the Promise, Vol 1: Rumors of War—
Dean Hughes
14) Children of the Promise, Vol 2: Since You Were Gone—
Dean Hughes
15) Come Armageddon—Anne Perry
16) Daughter of a King—Rachel Ann Nunes (picture book)
17) Dead on Arrival--Jeffrey Savage
18) Double Cross--Betsy Brannon Green
19) Dusty Britches—Marcia Lynn McClure
20) Emeralds and Espionage—Lynn Gardner
21) Escaping the Shadows—Lisa J. Peck
22) Fablehaven—Brandon Mull (My daughter raved)
23) False Pretenses—Carole Thayne
24) Faraway Child—Amy Maida Wadsworth
25) Fire of the Covenant—Gerald Lund
26) First Love and Forever—Anita Stansfield
27) Flowers of the Winds--Dorothy Keddington
28) Ghost of a Chance—Kerry Blair
29) Gustavia Browne—Alene Roberts
30) Jimmy Fincher Saga Vol. 4: War of the Black Curtain—
James Dashner (My daughter LOVED it)
31) House on the Hill—Annette Lyon
32) House of Secrets—Jeff Savage
33) House on the Sound—Marilyn Brown
34) In a Dry Land—Elizabeth Petty Bentley
35) Lifted Up—Guy Morgan Galli
36) Love Beyond Time—Nancy Campbell Allen
37) Mary & Elisabeth—S. Kent Brown (Non-fiction)
38) MaCady—Jennie Hansen
39) Molly Mormon—Tamara Norton
40) Mummy's the Word—Kerry Blair (on my list)
41) My Body Fell Off—BJ Rowley (my daughter and I both loved this book)
42) My Not So Fairy Tale Life—Julie Wright (Great read)
43) No Longer Strangers—Rachel Nunes
44) Nothing to Regret—Tristi Pinkston
45) On a Whim—Lisa McKendrick
46) On Second Thought—Robison Wells (laughed my head off)
47) On the Edge--Julie Coulter Bellon
48) One in Thine Hand—Gerald Lund
49) One Tattered Angel—Blaine M. Yorgason
50) Out of Jerusalem 1 (Of Goodly Parents)—H.B. Moore
51) Out of Jerusalem 2 (A Light in the Wilderness) —H. B. Moore (on my to-read list)
52) Out of Jerusalem 3 (Towards the Promised Land)—
H. B. Moore
53) The Peacegiver—James L. Ferrell (on my to-read list)
54) Pillar of Fire—David Woolley
55) Poison—Betsy Brannon Green
56) Prodigal Journey—Linda Paulson Adams (really liked this book)
57) Pursuit of Justice—Willard Boyd Gardner
58) Return to Red Castle—Dorothy Keddington
59) Race Against Time—Willard Boyd Gardner
60) Sarah—Orson Scott Card
61) Saints—Orson Scott Card
62) Sixteen in no time—BJ Rowley (my daughter and I loved this)
63) Spies, Lies and a Pair of Ties—Sheralyn Pratt
64) Standing on the Promises Vol 1: One More River to Cross
--Margaret Young and Darius Gray
65) Strength to Endure—Tristi Pinkston (Excellent read)
66) Surprising Marcus—Donald S. Smurthwaite (Surprised me—I loved it)
67) Tathea—Anne Perry
68) Tempest Tossed—Josi S. Kilpack
69) Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites—Chris Heimerdinger
70) The Alliance—Gerald Lund (on my to-read list)
71) The Book of Mormon—Nephi thru Moroni (non-fiction)
72) The Believer—Stephanie Black
73) The Coming of Elijiah—Arianne Cope (fascinating)
74) The Counterfiet—Robison Wells
75) The Emerald--Jennie Hansen
76) The First year—Crystal Liechty (Loved this—very fresh)
77) The Fragrance of Her Name—Marcia Lynn McClure
78) The Killing of Greybird—Eric Swedin
79) The Last Days, Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm—
Kenneth R. Tarr
80) The Last Promise—Richard Paul Evans
81) The Looking Glass—Richard Paul Evans
82) The Miracle of Miss Willie—Alma J. Yates
83) The single Heart—Melinda Jennings
84) The Visions of Ransom Lake—Marcia Lynn McClure
85) The Work and the Glory Vol 1—Gerald Lund
86) The Work and the Glory Vol 2—Gerald Lund
87) The Work and the Glory Vol 3—Gerald Lund
88) The Work and the Glory Vol 4—Gerald Lund
89) The Work and the Glory Vol 5—Gerald Lund
90) The Work and the Glory Vol 6—Gerald Lund
91) The Work and the Glory Vol 7—Gerald Lund
92) The Work and the Glory Vol 8—Gerald Lund
93) This Just In—Kerry Blair (on my to-read list)
94) Time Riders—Sierra St. James
95) Time Will Tell by Julie Coulter Bellon
96) To Echo the Past—Marcia Lynn McClure
97) To Have or To Hold—Josi S. Kilpack
98) Towers of Brierley, Anita Stansfield
99) Twelve Sisters—Leslie Hedley (Loved Loved this book)
100) Unsung Lullaby—Josi S. Kilpack
101) Wake Me When it’s over—Robison Wells
102) Winter Fire—Rachel Ann Nunes


Contributing authors: Tristi Pinkston, Julie Wright, Jeff Savage, Rachel Ann Nunes, Jewel Adams, Annette Lyon, Heather Moore, Stephanie Black,, Julie Bellon and Josi S. Kilpack

If you'd like to play, copy this onto your blog or into the comment section of this post. Be sure to tell me where you blog it so I can take a peek.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a great list. I agree with a lot of the books on there. Especially those in the mid-seventies range... ;-)

C.J. said...

Okay Josi, I copied your list in my blog. You've read a whole lot more of them than I have, but I'm working at it. I also added a few more of my own favorite. It was fun, but I still don't know how to highlight in the blog.

Tristi Pinkston said...

Hey Josi,

It's up on my blog too.

RobisonWells said...

Very cool. I'll post it on my blog as well. I have one burning question: what was wrong with Work and the Glory #9?

Josi said...

Leave it to Rob to find my screw-up, I looked on my bookshelf after a couple authors said "Work and the Glory series" and I apparently only have thru vol. 8. Aren't you teaching on RESEARCH at the LDStorymakers conference and the importance of verifying facts? I better be there. but I ain't editing the list!! Besides, with a title "All is Well" how interesting a read can it be?

Chillygator said...

Well, I played the game, but I really haven't been...in the loop for awhile (o:

Jennifer said...

I posted your list on my blog. I have a lot of reading to do. My problem - I don't live where the books are available at the local library.

Katie Parker said...

It's up on my blog, too. I made a small addition, though (cough, cough). Really very minor. But my list has 103 entries.

Anonymous said...

I posted the list on my website, www.stephanieblack.org.

Stephanie