Five Books Everyone Should Read is a new feature we’re running in 2015. We’ve asked some of our favorite authors, readers and bloggers to share five books that touched them or have stayed with them throughout the years.

Romance novelist Lucy Monroe joins us today to share the 5 books that she thinks everyone should read. Please welcome Lucy Monroe to Book Binge. 🙂

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Alcott wrote the books rapidly over several months at the request of her publisher. The novel follows the lives of four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March—detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood, and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters.

A book I’ve read so many times I honestly couldn’t give you a count. This author was writing books to empower women and make them believe in their own intelligence and right to follow their own paths (whatever those paths might be) in a time when that message was very hard to come by, especially in fiction.

 

2. Say No to Joe? By Lori Foster.

You met Joe Winston in Lori Foster’s Wild. Now, the Winston brothers’ seductive, bad-boy cousin is back and up against a woman who’s immune to his considerable charms. . .or so it seems. . .

Irresistible Force–Meet Immovable Object

Joe Winston has a routine with women: he exists; they swoon; roll credits. With his smoldering looks, macho style, and irrepressible charm, Joe can have any woman–except the one he really wants. Secretly, Luna Clark may lust after Joe, but she’s made it clear that she’s too smart to fall for him. He can just keep holding his breath, thank you very much. But now, Luna’s inherited two kids who need more than she alone can give in a small town that seems hell-bent on driving them away. She needs someone to help out. . .someone who can’t be intimidated. . .someone just like Joe. Becoming an instant family wasn’t exactly what Joe had in mind, but hey, it’s a start, and you can’t blame a guy for trying every angle.

After all, where there’s a Joe, there’s a way. . .straight into a woman’s heart.

I put this book down wanting to be a better mom and honestly, I thought I was a pretty good mom at the time. When a book that is supposed to be a “light read” can do that for you, you know there’s a powerful message there.

 

 

3. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.

The True Story of a Real-Life Hero

It’s World War II. Darkness has fallen over Europe as the Nazis spread hatred, fear and war across the globe. But on a quiet city corner in the Netherlands, one woman fights against the darkness.
In her quiet watchmaking shop, she and her family risk their lives to hide Jews, and others hunted by the Nazis, in a secret room, a “hiding place” that they built in the old building.
One day, however, Corrie and her family are betrayed. They’re captured and sent to the notorious Nazi concentration camps to die. Yet even in that darkest of places, Corrie still fights.
This is her story–and the story of how faith, hope and love ultimately triumphed over unthinkable evil.

It’s so important to remember that as heinous as the world can be, there are always people willing to risk and even sacrifice their lives for the wellbeing of others. Corrie’s story inspired me decades after she lived it and inspired my children a decade after that. We can all stand to be inspired to step outside our comfort zones to make the world just a little bit better.

 

4. A dictionary.

A completely revised and updated edition of this best-selling language reference is now available. Covers the core vocabulary of everyday life with over 75,000 clear, concise definitions. Includes pronunciations, word origins and synonym lists. Special sections and tables.

My baby sister and I have always read dictionaries for entertainment and I think it’s just too easy to take this amazing language we speak in all its variations and nuances for granted. We have so many words to choose from, but it goes beyond that. Dictionaries tell us where words came from, how long they’ve been in existence and the idiosyncrasies of their use. Dictionaries expand our minds.

 

 5. A book by the first author that made you realize you wanted to keep reading the same person, not just the same line or publisher or genre. For me, that author was Julie Garwood.

Judith Hampton was as beautiful as she was proud and loyal. Her dear Scottish friend from childhood was about to give birth, and Judith had promised to be at her side. But there was another, private reason for the journey from her bleak English home to the Highlands: to meet the father she had never known, the Laird Maclean. Nothing prepared her, however, for the sight of the Scottish barbarian who was to escort her into his land…Iain Maitland, Laird of his clan, a man more powerfully compelling than any she had ever encountered.
In a spirited clash of wills and customs, Judith reveled in the melting bliss of Iain’s searching kisses, his passionate caresses. Perplexed by her sprightly defiance, bemused by her tender nature, Iain felt his soul growing into the light and warmth of her love. Surely nothing would wrench her from the affection and trust of Iain and his clan…not even the truth about her father, a devastating secret that could shatter the boldest alliance, and the most glorious of loves!

Before I read The Secret, I’d never glommed an author. I’d read by genre, by bookshelf in the library, by category in the bookstore, but never specifically by the person who wrote the books. It was incredibly freeing and tantalizing and is no doubt the moment that sparked my eventual journey to actual writing down the stories inside my own head.

Thanks so much to Lucy for joining us today and sharing her favorite books. She’s got a bunch of great ones and if you haven’t already, add them to your TBR lists.

About Lucy Monroe:
A USA Today Bestseller, most of Lucy Monroe’s titles have spent multiple weeks on national bestsellers lists, including Neilson Bookscan (in both North America and the UK), Amazon & B&N.com. She is ranked as a top selling contemporary romance author on Amazon.
LucyMonroe.com | Goodreads | Facebook | Pinterest

Sometimes old flames are the hottest of all . . .
In the quaint little town of Cailkirn, Alaska, it’s impossible to keep a secret, especially one as juicy as the unexpected return of Kitty Grant. Tack MacKinnon remembers her wild red curls and even wilder spirit-and still feels the sting from when she shattered his heart in college. But there’s a pain in Kitty’s gorgeous eyes that guts him to the core and Tack is determined to do whatever it takes to see the woman he still loves smile again-even if it means taking on her demons as his own. After fleeing an abusive ex-husband, Kitty decides that the best way to heal her broken heart is to come back home. But she gets a whole new shock when she sees how undeniably sexy Tack has become. More handsome, more muscular, more charming-more everything-he’s impossible to resist. Before she knows it, they’re reigniting sparks that could set the whole state of Alaska on fire. Yet trust doesn’t come easy to Kitty anymore, and as things heat up between her and Tack, she can’t help but wonder if one of them is going to get burned . . .

Buy the book: Amazon –  BAM –  B&N – IndieBound – GooglePlay – iTunes – Kobo