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My favorite book recs

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Books That have kept me spell bound
 
Louise Magno profile picture
This book has so much wisdom. I first read this book over 40 years ago and it still impacts me today with the way the writer saw life.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete Edition
 
Louise Magno profile picture
You can't put the book down
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, Paperback
 
Louise Magno profile picture
I love historical fiction.  A book that transports you to another time where you feel like you have walked through a time portal where all your senses are engaged.  This story is set in the mid 1600's in the streets of London where we meet Amber St. Clare at 16, alone broke and pregnant.  Her story of her rise to become a powerful women in the courts will keep you reading.
Forever Amber (1) (Rediscovered Classics)
 
Louise Magno profile picture
Immortal Wife is the biographical novel of Jessie Benton Fremont.  Many know John C Fremont was a famous explorer who was responsible for charting the paths to the west in the 1800's and his adventures.  BUT few know of his wife, the woman who basically was the reason John C Fremont was who he was.  She was a strong woman who stood behind her husband and empowered her husband to be the person we remember today.  This book is written in a story fashion so that the reader gets to know Jessie and why America owes her so much.
Immortal Wife; Condensed & Simplified
 
Louise Magno profile picture
As a child I remember barn barnstormer's would touch down in fields and people would gather and pay a few dollars to have a ride in the bi-plane.  It is an amazing memory or several little girls crowed in that plane for a 5 minute ride that would forever change my life.

Richard Bach, author of Illusions and Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a bi-plane pilot who did barnstorming in the day.  He was driven to write this book by his followers.  His approach to life and his wisdom are through out the book; many of which I still quote to this day.  Here are a couple:
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“You teach best what you most need to learn.”

“There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands.  You seek problems because you need their gifts.”

“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.”
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Each time I read this book I get a new perspective depending on where I am in life.  this book will touch you.
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
 
Louise Magno profile picture
There was never supposed to be a sequel to Illusions by Richard Bach BUT life happened and the bi-plane pilot was in a near death airplane accident that took his beloved plane and left him in a coma.  When he awoke from this near death experience in 2012 he was compelled to write a sequel.  As a lover of his books, I had to get it!  I knew of the accident as he lived on an island in the Pacific Northwest where I live and was happy he had survived and shocked he wrote a sequel.

His first bit of wisdom hit home as he said “There's no blessing that can't be a disaster, and no disaster that can't be a blessing.”

I had had my own life changing disaster years earlier and no truer words were ever spoken.  I chose to look for the blessings no matter what is happening in my life and this was his first message in this fabulous book!  A must read!
Illusions II: Adventures of a Reluctant Student
 
Louise Magno profile picture
This is the story of author Cleveland Amory and his life with his cat Polar Bear who has serious personality with strong likes/dislikes that don't align with Cleveland Amory.  He was a solitary man until Polar Bear adopted him.  This book is a continuation of the original book The Cat that Came for Christmas.  The story is entertaining and will have you laughing at the different adventures.
The Cat and the Curmudgeon
 
Louise Magno profile picture
Toby Jug is the start of a 3 book series by Denis O'Connor.  It is a true story of his rescue of a Maine Coon cat in Northumbrian village of West Thirston in England.  His life would change forever that day as he and Toby Jug bonded for life.  Toby Jug would accompany him on walks in the woods and have many adventures that as the follow-on books included more Maine Coon cats.  Enjoy the read!
Toby Jug
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Louise Magno profile picture
No Two Persons is a fairly new novel by Erica Bauermeister and a MUST READ!

A fictional book that takes you through entirely probable life examples/stories and how different people perceive the event, react, and process the event.  If you can imagine going to a gallery and you are viewing a painting and it touches you as it invokes a memory and you are in tears and the person next to you is giggling as it invokes different feelings.  The way the author has approached this with multiple stories that will captivate you and in the end she will tie them all together in a way you never saw coming.  You won't want to put this book down.
No Two Persons: A Novel
 
Louise Magno profile picture
An artist having to become a solider and enduring the horrors of war has returned home trying to find himself and connecting to a young son who doesn't remember him and his wife who is terrified of his night terrors.  War has changed him in ways that are hard to imagine and he needs to heal and connect with the family and his parents and community in Italy.  This is a fictional story that takes you on an incredible journey you can't even imagine, so get the book and that the trip!
Midnight at the Tuscany Hotel
 
Louise Magno profile picture
This is a historical fiction book about Honey-Mary Angeline; a book woman from Kentucky Appalachian mountains.  In the early 1900's The only way to get to the homes of many residents was by horseback and trails that were hard in the best of weather and impassable at other times.  This meant that children going to school was not always an option so Book Women were created.  They would go from community to community by horseback bringing books and magazines that could be loaned to the residents until her next trek through the area.  It was a hard life and the women who did this were committed to bringing literacy to all.  They met with a lot of resistance by people who thought books had no value and didn't want their children wasting time.  Book women also dealt with issues of abuse and hunger and hatred as they traversed the mountains.  This particular story has one other element in that the girl/daughter in this story carrying on for her mama not able to complete her work as a Book Woman was the color of her skin.  She was Blue Skinned and had to keep covered to keep people from seeing her heritage.

Her story is intense and while part fictional, you will understand another part of the history of the united States that isn't taught in the school while you journey with Honey to become a book woman like her mama.
The Book Woman's Daughter: A Novel
 
Louise Magno profile picture
Veronica is 85, alone in Scotland with a family that has nothing to do with her and enough money to do whatever she wants!  She decides to rescue penguins and they rescue her!  This is a heart warming story you will not want to put down.
How the Penguins Saved Veronica
 
Louise Magno profile picture
Ted is a lonely, gay, writer who's only companion is his elderly dash-hound.    This is their story that will teach him to love completely that will cause you to cry and laugh as you fall in love with them.
Lily and the Octopus
 
Louise Magno profile picture
Fall in love with the fictional town of "Lake Wobegon where the Women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average."  I first fell in love with this fictional town years ago as a radio show I would listen to on Sunday afternoon on National Radio called Prairie Home Companion.  Each week Garrison Keillor would share fun stories about the residents of this fictional town.  You forgot about life for that hour and just got lost in this fictional town.  His books continue the journey and are such a fun read.

A few years ago I was in Minnesota and saw a sign for Lake Wobegon and found a small town that fit some of the parameters of this community had erected a covered bridge to the fictional community and had a paved trails several miles long into this fi... It was a great experience and thought I would share the image with this listing from my photography studio.
Wobegon Boy
 
Louise Magno profile picture
Israel My Beloved by Kay Arthur is a historical novel that is so amazing!  Basically she takes you through the entire Israelite history and tells you the story of the people of Israel from day 1 to the writing of this book by telling the story as if a family was living thousands of years in a single lifetime.  It is a unique approach to writing a historical novel and makes things so easy to understand and follow.  The story is amazing and so much I did not know.  Kay Arthur is a very respected Christian writer and teacher and recipient of many awards for her work.  This book is a key component of my library.
Israel, My Beloved