Clean,Non Religious-Reads discussion

I love reading what treasures other readers have found.

Here are some of mine~















The Edgewood Trilogy

The LOTR trilogy

Please share some of yours.

I've read many books over the years that I've loved and that fall in the clean/non-religious category, but a few stand out in my mind:

Standing in the Rainbow
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
As well as other books by Fannie Flagg

Calamity Jayne
The Calamity Jayne series by Kathleen Bacus

The Christmas Train
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter Series

The Lord of the Rings
LOTR Trilogy

To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird

Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind

The Blue Castle - one of my absolute favourites. It's beautiful.

To Say Nothing of the Dog - I am still reading this but I am in love with it already.

The Peter Wimsey mysteries - in particular Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night and Busman's Honeymoon - which is where he meets Harriet Vane.

Jamaica Inn - underrated IMO. Couldn't put it down.

Thanks so much for responding! I already see titles to try. :D

Lord of the Rings


A Christmas Carol


Smoky the Cowhorse


The Twilight Saga


The Razor's Edge


The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Thank you Carol. I remember ~Smoky the Cowhorse, loved it!

C. wrote: "Thank you Carol. I remember ~Smoky the Cowhorse, loved it!"

That book made me cry so hard, as an adult!

You will find very few bad words in Norah Lofts books, also Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. I read most all of them but be careful about the Merlin Trilogy. Some of it is very bad based on my second reading a couple of years ago.

The Day of the Butterfly (shocking subject matter however)

The Brittle Glass

Someone did just mention that some of her books are very depressing and like Wilbur Smith she does not mind killing off her heroines so if that bothers you don't read them. I sometimes get tired of happy endings and need some "real life". Years ago I got very bored with romances that all end the same.

I agree with Autumn about Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. I inherited my grandmother's large book collection and found them to be the perfect blend of romance and suspence. I also gained many from Madeleine Brent and Velda Johnston, all of which are good, clean fun. :)

Haven't yet read them, thanks for the suggestion, Misty.

Misty wrote: "I agree with Autumn about Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. I inherited my grandmother's large book collection and found them to be the perfect blend of romance and suspence. I also gained many from ..."

Glad we agree! I will keep Madeleine Brent and Velda Johnston in mind as I have never read any of their books.

I love Madeline Brent as well - adventure, romance, and totally clean. Haven't loved everything by Mary Stewart, but Victoria Holt is usually a good bet. I will definitely check out Velda Johnson - thanks for all the suggestions!

A couple of my recent good clean reads:

The Lunar Chronicles (starting with Cinder) YA fantasy

The Railway Children--Maybe too sweet to be believed, but so charming

is on my TBR list!

Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy - actually most of Mave's, but especially this one. There's a moment in the book that actually made me sob with sorrow. It's such a great read.

Claudia wrote: "Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy - actually most of Mave's, but especially this one. There's a moment in the book that actually made me sob with sorrow. It's such a great read."

Hi Claudia. WELCOME to the group!
Thanks for the heads up. I mostly prefer to avoid tear-jerking depressing downer books.

C. wrote: "Claudia wrote: "Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy - actually most of Mave's, but especially this one. There's a moment in the book that actually made me sob with sorrow. It's such a great read."..." Oh it's not a downer book - there's just a bit that's really sad....if that makes sense? Maeve is great for an easy read! Thanks for the welcome :)

Re: Claudia, oh ok, in that case, I will try her. :D

I really like "these is my words". Its' a great book if you havent read it. There are others in the series but I could never bring myself to read them, I couldn't imagine them getting any better

Has anyone ever read Craig Johnson books? I was wonders if his books didn't have a lot of cussing in his books.

Libby wrote: "Has anyone ever read Craig Johnson books? I was wonders if his books didn't have a lot of cussing in his books."

I tried one of his books on audio, and stopped after a few minutes due to F-bombs.

Thank you and that is all I needed! I definitely not going to read his books. Do you have any suggestion of mystery authors that write semi clean or clean or any suspense authors?

I'm reading a book right now that is very good, though not completely clean. There's been no F-bombs that I recall, but there's been a couple S-words. Also a couple steamy but fairly non-graphic sex scenes (the door is open, but they're not talking about the body parts) and multiple closed doors. I'm not done with it, yet, so I'll keep you posted. It's called "These Sorrows We See" by Tamsen Schultz. (Doesn't sound like a romantic suspense by the title, but it is.) It's part of a series, but seems to be a stand alone.

I hesitate to mention my own books, but I know Chris knows I've chatted quite a bit without pimping my work. I write clean suspense with a dash of romance. You can check out my profile if you want to see.

Thank you!

I have to update you, shortly after I posted this, I ran across the first f-bomb in the story. 😒 But I do think it's the only one, so far, and I'm more than halfway through.

Thank you! I will definitely be skipping this author!

Thanks for the update Kristi. :D

I just noted two more. It's a shame. It's a really compelling story and I absolutely love the characters. I don't know why she felt she had to pepper those in there. Sad.

I've been reading "Dìlseachd - A Forgotten Crown" on Wattpad, for those who like historical romances set in Medieval Scotland. :-)

https://www.wattpad.com/story/7028376...

Sounds interesting, Jennifer, but what is Wattpad?

Wattpad is an online storytelling community where writers can post their novels.

Since the majority of users are teens, they keep much of their content clean, though mature works aren't forbidden.

The story I mentioned above was written by a very talented homeschooler, although if I hadn't read that on her profile I wouldn't have been able to tell just on her writing - she's really good! :-)

Some of my favourite Sweet Contemporary Romances:

1) What He Wants by Jessie Gussman

2) Fiance by Fate by Jennifer Shirk

3) Kissing the Maid of Honor by Robin Bielman

4) Her Backup Boyfriend by Ashlee Mallory

5) She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Zeenat Mahal

Some of my favourite Cozy Mysteries:

1) White House Chef Mystery Series by Julie Hyzy

2) Jane Jeffry Mystery Series by Jill Churchill

3) Angie Amalfi Mystery Series by Joanne Pence

4) Domestic Bliss Mystery Series by Leslie Caine

5) Death On Demand Mystery Series by Carolyn G. Hart

Several of those titles sound promising, Ramla.

C. wrote: "Several of those titles sound promising, Ramla."

Thanks Chris :-) Hope you enjoy the books if you get a chance to read them.