Here are five of my favorite books that I read this fall. There is no way I can actually rank them from best to less best, as they are like children and each is special in their own way. That being said, some books just stay with you for a long time after you close the cover. These and other books I’ve read recently can be found here.
I like how The Iron Maiden can be a stand-alone story but for those of us that read the first book, it refers back to some integral parts of that first story, helping to set the tone in this one. I would care much less about this ghost named Stefan, if I didn’t know how deeply they care for each other. I really appreciate how Stefan continues to support Astrid, but she has come to the point that she needn’t rely on anyone. In the first book we saw her grow up. Now we see her finding her identity beyond the blacksmithing life she grew up in.
I absolutely loved Truthstone by Mike Shelton and rate it at full stars! While this book has some of the familiarity of many fantasy fiction books with gems holding powers and different sects having little bits of powers from the stones. There are also completely new ideas and unusual concepts to make this book really interesting. The action and character development entice you to read far too late into the night.
The Immortals https://pin.it/cqUL1OZ by Cheryl Mackey is such a great book that I was already planning on getting the second book before I finished listening to the first. I happily rate it at full stars! In fact, I got both Book II and Book III as soon as I finished the first book. The characters are the greatest strength of this book. But the new ideas within a very popular genre were refreshing, and the tempo of the action was awesome. Also, I listened to this as an audio book and the narrator was superb.
I sincerely recommend the Shadow Curse: Book 1 by Kala Merseal to anyone who enjoys fantasy fiction. There are a couple of typographical errors, but probably less than 10 for the whole book. So despite these few errors I give this book a resounding 5 stars for the excellent plot line, exceptional characters, realistic dialog, and steady, believable action.
Bernice Takes A Plunge by Ann Harth is a 5 out of 5 stars, fun, children’s detective novel. At least, the main character is a detective-in-training. I can imagine many late elementary and early middle schoolers empathizing with Bernice, and maybe even mimicking her with her notebook on the playground.
