This week we are asked to list our Five Best Books: Love. We can use the standard interpretation of love and list our favorite romances or love stories. Cassandra has given us a list of books that she loves in different ways.
I've never been really heavy into romance/love stories...but I did have a phase. Here are my top love stories:
1. The Promise by Danielle Steele. Probably the only Steele novel I remember and can say I really liked. This one grabbed me and had me crying all over the place. That's not so typical either.
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen. My favorite Austen of all those I've read so far. Of course, it would have been much more intelligent if Anne Elliot had just went with Captain Wentworth right off the bat....but then we wouldn't have a story, would we?
3. The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach. It's been a long time since I read this one, but it immediately popped into my head. "To a public that desperately wants to believe in love, Bach says: Hang on. Take heart. There is such a thing as a soulmate." -- The Atlanta Constitution4. Crimson Roses by Grace Livingstone Hill. My all-time favorite by Hill. This is a heartwarming, enchanting story by a favorite Christian romance author. When a secret admirer brings the prospect of romance into Marion's lonely life, she finds herself wondering if she can find her place in his world of wealth and glamor.
5. Savannah by Eugenia Price. Orphaned Mark Browning was only twenty when he renounced his father's fortune and sailed to Savannah, his mother's birthplace...and the home of two remarkable women. The first is Eliza McQueen Mackay, his mentor's beautiful wife, whom Mark loves with a deep, pure love that can never be spoken. The other is lovely young Caroline Cameron, whose life is blighted by a secret that has tormented her grandparents for half a century--a secret that affects Mark more closely than he imagines. Desiring one woman, loved by another Mark must confront the ghosts of a previous generation, and face the evil smoldering hate, before he can truly call Savannah his home.
Honorable Mention:
The Love Letters by Madeline L'Engle. Charlotte Napier has much to learn about herself, her faith, and her marriage. She flees to Portugal, desperately looking for comfort after the death of her son and, she thinks, her marriage. There she finds solace in the letters of a 17th century nun who struggled with temptation and sin. AAs Charlotte achieves a clearer focus on her own pain, she gains a powerful sense of the rigorous and demanding nature of real love.
It's funny how sometimes I can have so much trouble finding my 5 books, but the others I feel like I could come up with 5 honorable mentions!
ReplyDeleteGreat list, thanks for sharing!
I wanted to do Honorable Mentions too. Is it too late to go back and add them? Oh well, I'll try and control myself.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of your choices except for PERSUASION which would have been my Honorable Mention because of Wentworth's steadfastness.
I also would have added TALE OF TWO CITIES by Dickens and LASSIE COME HOME by Eric Knight and...well, once you get going on Honorable Mentions, it's hard to stop! That's the problem.
I have always luved Danielle Steele's novels. Not many good words said about her in the recent past, but I always like her books. I also luv Eugenia Price. She wrote great Christian fiction. Had a chance to visit St. Simon's Island. That's where she ended up living before her death.
ReplyDeleteI cant do it.... cant pick 5.... :)
ReplyDeleteHave only read Persuasion. Will see whether I can find the others.
ReplyDeleteLike you I am not much of a romance reader but I also made a top 5 list anyway. Surprisingly, Persuasion is the #2 book on my list too.
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