2015 Reading Challenge: a book recommended by someone with great taste.

Whistling Past the Graveyard

by Susan Crandall

In this timely coming-of-age story, set in 1963, a nine-year-old girl runs away from her Mississippi home, finds an unlikely friend, and sets out on a road trip that will change her life. Crandall writes gently but powerfully about what family really means, and how the most unlikely people can come to mean the most of us, despite race, class, or creed.

A Man Called Ove

by Fredrik Backman

I couldn't get into this as a hardcover but then a friend with great taste suggested I give the audio a try. I started again from the beginning, and this time this grumpy old man story hooked me. Don't you love when that happens? A great narrator can truly make or break the reading experience. George Newbern's accents—especially for Ove—are fantastic. I laughed and cried and couldn't stop listening. But do yourself a favor: don't even think about finishing this novel in a public place, and consider removing your mascara first.

Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence

by Ruth Haley Barton

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

by Bryan Stevenson

Leigh Kramer says: "I read this earlier this year and if I could make the entire world read it, I would. It's eye opening and important and powerful. Stevenson has done incredible work through the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit legal practice he started, dedicated to serving the poor, the marginalized, the downtrodden. The book is part memoir, part treatise on the state of the legal system. We follow the story of Walter, a man on Alabama's Death Row who proclaims his innocence, and meet Stevenson's other clients as he built his practice in the 1980s and the subsequent areas of injustice they've battled to this day, including death penalty sentences for children and the treatment of the mentally ill. There's also a surprising appearance by To Kill A Mockingbird—the irony and ignorance will knock you flat."

The Grand Sophy

by Georgette Heyer

I FINALLY read this one last year. Heyer is recommended reading for Jane Austen fans, and this is a great novel to start with. From the publisher: "Utterly hilarious and completely endearing, The Grand Sophy is a fan favorite from The Queen of Regency Romance. Fans of Jane Austen, Julia Quinn, and Eloisa James will be delighted by Sophy, the outrageous lengths she goes to solve everyone else's problems, and the surprises in store for everyone!" (. Click here to view.)

Essays of E. B. White

by E. B. White

Frederica

by Georgette Heyer

From Jessica Howard: "I like to say that Georgette Heyer is like Jane Austen, but funnier. She wrote more than sixty books in a variety of genres, but my favorite are her Regency romances. They’re clever, wordy, vivid depictions of 19th century life in the British upper class. Frederica is one of Heyer’s best heroines - resourceful, funny, and intelligent. And the way she and her cast of hilariously demanding younger siblings take down the bored Marquis of Alverstoke? Priceless. Watching him transform from a top-lofty dilettante into someone who cares deeply about Frederica and her family is irresistible."

Someone at a Distance

by Dorothy Whipple

Daring Greatly

by Brené Brown

This is the Brené Brown book best suited to the beach, and since you need to read at least one Brené Brown book in your lifetime, go ahead and throw it in your swim bag. Brown is a researcher and a storyteller: while she’s educating you about vulnerability and courage, you’ll find yourself thinking she’d make a great girlfriend. Funny, insightful, and wise.