SK Bell: book lists

Showing posts with label book lists. Show all posts

Friday, September 12, 2025

All Things Narnia

I read The Chronicles of Narnia when I was about 11 years old and immediately fell in love. I wrote my own version and forever carried a fondness for all things Narnia! Now my children love Narnia, too. We've discovered all kinds of fun Narnia books over the years so I thought I'd finally share them here.

First, of course, the seven-book series itself. There are so many lovely editions but this is the kind I had as a kid. We think this, this, and this set are beautiful.

Board book of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe... We recently received this for our youngest. This is what gave me the idea to finally share this post!

Picture book of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe... I have so many fond memories of this one! It was so very, very long, but delighted each of my older children to no end. I do hope to get another copy someday.

Now, for the books we love outside of the series itself!

CS Lewis: Master Storyteller (middle grade... I have enjoyed several of these Benge biographies and really enjoyed this one all about CS Lewis' life, faith, and of course work.

Finding Narnia: The Story of CS Lewis and His Brother (picture book)... This one covered plenty but especially focused on the author's relationship with his brother.

Through the Wardrobe: How CS Lewis Created Narnia (picture book)... Some of my children are budding fantasy writers who very much enjoyed this one.

The Mythmakers (YA, graphic novel)... John Hendrix does it again! This gorgeous graphic novel explores a lot but especially CS Lewis's time in the war and his friendship with JRR Tolkien.

Once Upon a Wardrobe (adult, Christian fiction, great for teens)... I really enjoyed this fiction story, about a young college girl taking a class from CS Lewis and her chronically ill little brother who loves Narnia. I'll definitely pass this one onto my teens.

Painting Wonder (picture book)... we loved this picture book biography about the woman who illustrated the original Narnia books!

Extra Narnia fun- Cookbook // so many awesome offerings from A Fine Quotation and Carrot Top Paper Shop // this print // this mug // Narnia wardrobe reading nook // You can actually enter the children's section through a wardrobe at Fabled Books in Waco, Texas.

Friday, August 29, 2025

Christian fiction set in a college/university

I thought some of you might be in the mood for some collegiate reads as we move into the back-to-school season. We've got students and professors here so hopefully you'll find something just right for you!

The Baxters series... Many of these family drama books take place in a college setting as Luke Baxter starts out as a student and we later follow family friends Bailey Flanigan and Andi Ellis into their dorm and classes.

The Bridge... This Christmas romance takes place primarily in a bookstore but there is plenty of college talk since that's where our protagonists meet. This one has also been made into a Christmas movie I hope to watch this year.

Dear Mr Knightley... This epistolary novel is a modern-day retelling of My Daddy Longlegs. A journalism major gets a scholarship which requires frequent letters to her anonymous benefactor to update her progress... so much fun!

I'll Be Seeing You... This family drama timeslip is kicked off by a college student interviewing her grandmother as a class project.

Lost Loves series... This is a romance duology centered around a college student finding her biological parents. We explore her parents ' teenage relationship in the first and her own young relationship in the second. These stories include some intense military scenes (plus very conservative military views) that may not work for everyone. I'm a sensitive reader and I made it through but I did feel very upset at times.

The Lost Manuscript... This second chance romance is such a cozy read! I'd like to sum it up in sentence fragments- Missing historian grandma. Professor spouses divorcing but still in love. English castle. Tea. Riddles and clues. *I do want you to know that our female protagonist suffered an off-page miscarriage before the story began and it comes up many times.

Once Upon a Wardrobe... This historical fiction focuses on the student of Professor CS Lewis and her dying little brother's obsession with Narnia. This one was also very cozy in feel.

Someday Home... Ah, something different- in this one our college student is in her 50s and starting a new chapter in her life.

When Twilight Breaks... This WWII story follows Peter, a linguistics grad student in Germany, and a female American correspondent.

Friday, August 8, 2025

Amish and Mennonite fiction I have enjoyed

One of my daughters has adored the Life With Lily books and asked me to find more Amish fiction for her. She then loved Amish Christmas and School's Out. I thought I'd share my list of grown-up Amish fiction with all of you.

The Alliance + The Divide

Friday, June 13, 2025

Good Books by Christian Musicians

I went through a phase in college where I almost exclusively read chick lit with bright pink covers and biographies/memoirs of musicians. I have been enjoying the occasional musician biography/memoir again, this time with a focus on Christian musicians. I imagine this list will just grow and grow.

🎶 Adorning the Dark... Andrew Peterson talks alot here about creativity in general and I learned a lot about albums from this one.

🎶 The Chase... This one is about young adult relationships, not music, but I included it here since author Kyle Kupecky is a musician.

🎶 City on Our Kness... This TobyMac book will light a fire in you to make a difference in your community.

🎶 I Can Only Imagine... This is the story of Bart Millard from MercyMe and has also been made into a movie.

🎶 I Still Believe... Jeremy Camp's novel about his first wife's young death has also been made into a movie.

🎶 In Unison... I liked this Jeremy Camp book, too, written with his wife Adrienne. This one is focused more on marriage advice but still shares music details, too.

🎶 Like a River... Granger Smith's story is heartbreaking but powerful and this memoir was so well done! He's a great writer.

🎶 My Jesus... Anne Wilson's music story starts with grief. The first halfof the book really broke my heart but this girl has such a lovely heart!

🎶 Rescue Story... Zach Williams lived fast and hard before he really found Jesus. He talks a lot here about substance abuse and a dysfunctional if not abusive marriage in the beginning of his testimony so be ready for that.

🎶 Slow Down... Nichole Nordeman's motherhood book wasn't my personal favorite but I did enjoy it.

Friday, May 23, 2025

Christian fiction about writers

It's been harder for me to write as much over the last few years but I still enjoy it when I can. I've always enjoyed encountering other writers in fiction and this list is full of fun reads that made me want to write!

Dear Mr. Knightley (romance)... This fun epistolary novel is a modern twist on Daddy Long Legs, a journalism major required to write letters to her mysterious benefactor. So fun!

Left Behind (thriller)... There are several characters shari g the spotlight in this series about the rapture but Buck is a journalist!

Meet Me in the Margins (romance)... I really enjoyed this one... Our main character secretly writes a romance novel while working for a high-brow publishing house and ends up falling for her anonymous editor. This one was clean but didn't have much if any faith content.

Plot Twist (romance)... Th unique structure of this one made me smile. Each chapter takes place on the same day, different year. This one was clean but didn't have much if any faith content.

The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck (romance)... A steamy romance writer finds faith and suddenly isn't so sure about her genre of choice. Particularly fun because it reminded me of dear Shoshana Gabriel's story.

Shadows of Swanford Abbey (historical fiction)... This murder mystery is a fun one... In this case, the writer is the dead guy.

The Story Keeper (general fiction)... In this one, an editor is searching for the writer of a great manuscript deep in Appalachia.

The Summer of Yes (romance)... Kelsey is roadtripping with a closed-off celebrity in hopes of ghostwriting her memoir... But of course there's much more to the story! I was delighted to find much more depth in this romance than its fun cover led me to expect. This one was clean but didn't have much if any faith content.

Truth Stained Lies (suspense)... Our writer in this fast-paced page-turner is a true crime blogger!

Under the Tulip Tree (historical fiction)... In this one we have a wannabe writer interviewing former slaves in the 1930s. So well-done! I really loved this one.

When Twilight Breaks (historical fiction)... This one is about a foreign war correspondent in WWII Germany. I always love a good WWII novel!

The Words We Lost // The Roads We Follow (romance)... Nicole Deese has such a way with words! I loved both of these stories and look forward to reading the third soon!

Friday, May 9, 2025

Middle grade novels in verse

One of my kids absolutely adores a good novel in verse, one loathes them, and the others are cheerfully ambivalent. I know these aren't for everyone but here are our favorites if they're a hit with one of the kids in your life.

Brown Girl Dreaming (secular, nonfiction)... This is a memoir, set in the 60s. I enjoyed it and added it to our 8th Grade book list.

Emmy in the Key of Code (secular, fiction)... This one is a little unique in that it's focused on a coding class (and family, friendship, music, insecurity...) so is at times written in code. Some of my kids are really into Scratch and HTML coding so this one is fun for that reason. I added this to our 7th grade list.

Enemies in the Orchard (Christian, historical fiction)... This one is from a Christian publishing house but wasn't super faith-focused. This WWII book is likely to be a bit much for younger readers. I added it to our 8th Grade list.

Heartbeat (secular, fiction)... This main character has a pregnant mom so my kids enjoyed reading this one during my pregnancy. It's also about art, running, friendship, and a grandparent with dementia. I added this to our 6th grade list.

Little Dog Lost // Little Cat's Luck (secular, fiction)... These are fun for animal lovers. I added these to our 4th Grade book lists.

May B (secular, historical fiction)... This a story about May and her grit as she's left alone in a cabin for an extended period of time. May also deals with dyslexia. This is on our 4th Grade list.

On the Horizon (secular, historical fiction)... This WWII book is less intense than the one listed above. It's on our 5th grade list.

The One Thing You'd Save (secular, fiction)... This is a class discussing the one thing they'd save if they could only save one thing from a house fire. I added it to our 5th grade list.

Salt (secular, historical fiction)... This is a friendship story from the war of 1812. I added this one to our 7th grade list.

Friday, April 25, 2025

Christian fiction men will enjoy

Happy Friday!

My (blog) goal was to put up another book list today and I'm so happy to be doing it! This was a pretty rough week for naps AND bedtime sleep plus we had several activities out of the house so I didn't get much time to work on it before today. Good books have inspired me a thousand times and I hope to be able to use these book lists to point someone, even just one person, toward a book that inspires them. This one is for the fellas! As always, I'll try to update this as I find more in the future.

The Auschwitz Escape... I loaned this one to my grandpa and he devoured it in one day then went on to read and love the author's Last Jihad series, too. For the record, my grandpa's favorite secular authors are Tom Clancy and CJ Box.

The Barrister and the Letter of Marque... Fans of Sherlock Holmes will enjoy this one.

The Circle series... This series is circular rather than linear, such a unique concept! This one will appeal to fantasy and dystopian fans.

Deadline... This one was like a thrill ride combined with introspection on what's important in the life of a man. I was not the target audience but still found it enjoyable.

Eli... A "modern" retelling of Jesus, though now this would practically be historical fiction!

The Harbinger... Biblical prophecy in modern times, pretty cool read! My husband and I also watched the documentary and enjoyed it. There is a sequel that I do plan to read at some point but I haven't yet.

The List... An elite group and a hint of supernatural, definitely plowed through this one trying to see what would happen next!

This Present Darkness... Supernatural warfare, a little scary for your fraidy-cat girl here but a very popular book!

The Screwtape Letters... This classic, by the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, is probably not for everyone. But I enjoyed it! It's an epistolary novel, a series of letters back and forth between two demons, an uncle and a nephew. Sci-fi fans, I've also heard great things about his space trilogy but haven't read it myself.

A Skeleton in God's Closet... This archaeologist story was fantastic! What if an artifact was unearthed that disproved Christianity? Page-turner for sure.

A Time to Stand... This was a great story about a black lawyer defending the white police officer who shot an unarmed black teenager. I wasn't sure how it would hold up given the racial and political media these days but I really liked this read! Great for fans of John Grisham.

The Witnesses... I enjoy both WWII stories and legal stories so this was an easy hit for me.

I have also enjoyed some secular publications with a strong faith focus by Mitch Albom- The Time Keeper (my husband read & liked this one, too) and The Stranger in the Lifeboat, also his nonfiction Tuesdays With Morrie.

Friday, April 18, 2025

Books that have revolutionized my health

100 Days of Real Food (and others in the series)... These books teach a lot about artificial ingredients and give a great explanation on what packaged items still count as "real food." I had to make substitutions in many of her recipes since she uses gluten and dairy but I loved the simplicity here.

The Dorito Effect... This book taught me so much about the history of food science in the United States. It frankly made me a little sad and mad at times, and so determined to make sure my kids have a healthier start!

Eat for Life... This book did teach me a lot about foods we should avoid, but it more importantly made me feel passionate and excited about eating healthy meals and serving them to my family.

Fiber Fueled... Longtime followers will likely remember my microbiome phase. I was obsessed and I loved learning so much in this book. I didn't agree with his gluten perspective based on other research I've read and followed for years (or on fermented foods because my body doesn't tolerate them) but I still loved this one. My family and I enjoy keeping track of our plant count each week now. It's a competition around here to see who can hit 30 first!

Forks Over Knives... I read this one after watching the documentary. Much of the information is the same but I'm a book girl so still really appreciated it in book form, too.

Goodbye Lupus... This book may have saved my life and I highly recommend it (plus her YouTube channel) to anyone struggling with ANY autoimmune disease or other chronic illness, including mystery illnesses with no official diagnosis. I'm telling you, this program will change your life.

How Not to Die... The catchy title here may be misleading because this book isn't really about never dying, just about not dying from awful diseases that cause a lot of suffering. This book did teach me a lot about foods we should avoid, but it more importantly made me feel passionate and excited about eating healthy meals and serving them to my family. God really did design such a cool relationship between the human bodies and plants he created!

Plantfed Mama's Holistic Guide to a Vegan Pregnancy... After years of research, I felt confident that continuing to eat a plant-based diet would be best for me and my baby during this last pregnancy. I wanted to optimize my nutrition and loved using this book! There were others I enjoyed but none as much as this one since many others promote fake meats and such.

Salt, Sugar, Fat... This book taught me so much about the history of food science in the United States. It frankly made me a little sad and mad at times, and so determined to make sure my kids have a healthier start!

Friday, April 11, 2025

Faithgirlz Master List

If you liked my American Girl master list, you'll like my FaithGirlz list! We hope they'll release many more of these books in the future.

📖 Best Hair Book Ever... This one is a nonfiction with all kinds of fun hairstyles for girls who enjoy trying those.

📖 Boarding School Mysteries... I really liked the first one but the second was a one-star read that really bothered me so I never continued the series.

📖 Glimmer Girls series... I liked the messages in this fun series and it was a big hit around here. I was tempted to assume it was all just silly playfulness because of the covers but there was a lot of great depth woven into each book, especially the last two!

📖 Faithgirlz journal... Lots of good prompts in this journal.

📖 Lena in the Spotlight series... I liked this trilogy about a young lady becoming a movie star overnight. Lots of good faith content in these. The Daniels Sisters series is a companion series.

📖 Princess in Camo series... These are light and fun in general and are about a fictional family + their fictional TV show so you don't need to have watched the Duck Dynasty show to understand it all.

Ultimate Bible for Girls... We had a different cover and I do prefer other Bibles, just my own personal preferences, but this is a nice Bible. I did not read every extrabiblical word but I saw nothing objectionable in what I read.

Still on my list to try: 622 Harbor View series // The Daniels Sisters // From Sadie's Sketchbook // Good News Shoes // Lucy // Samantha Sanderson series // Sophie series // Soul Surfer series