Fans of Amish Fiction discussion

Brides of Lancaster County
1. A Merry Heart (1997)
2. Looking for A Miracle (2001)
3. Plain and Fancy (2002)
4. The Hope Chest (2002)

Brides of Lehigh Canal *Not specifically Amish*
1. Kelly's Chance (2004)
2. Betsy's Return (2007)
3. Sarah's Choice (2010)

Daughters of Lancaster County
1. The Storekeeper's Daughter (2005)
2. The Quilter's Daughter (2005)
3. The Bishop's Daughter (2006)

Brides of Webster County
1. Going Home (2005)
2. On Her Own (2005)
3. Dear To Me (2005)
4. Allison's Journey (2006)

Holmes County
1. A Sister's Secret (2007)
2. A Sister's Test (2008)
3. A Sister's Hope (2008)

Indiana Cousins
1. A Cousin's Promise (2009)
2. A Cousin's Prayer (2009)
3. A Cousin's Challenge (2010)

Kentucky Brothers
1. The Journey (2011)

White Christmas Pie (2008)
Lydia's Charm (2010)

Does anyone have a favourite series by Wanda? I've read a couple of her books but I've yet to find anything that "hooks" me.

I have only read the Daughters of Lancaster County series so far. I have bought Brides of Lancaster County, Holmes County and Indiana Cousins.

i enjoyed the indiana series

Hmm. Well, I've read one book from the "Brides of Lancaster County" and one from "Brides of Webster County" series and don't think I'll continue with them - they're too simple and cliched for me. Would be interesting to hear what you make of the Lancaster County series, Diane. I have the first in the "Holmes County" series still to read and it looks quite different so hopefully I'll enjoy it.

*updated*

I finished Lydia's Charm this month and I think it is one of my favorite books of the ones I have read that she has written. I am looking forward to the Kentucky Brother's series because I live in Kentucky lol.

I read three series by her if not more. I liked the Indiana Cousins.

It took a bit to grow on me, but I am into the 3rd book in the Brides of Lehigh Canal series. Though not Amish, they are period Christian fiction and quite good stories.

Again, it did take time to grow on me, and though maybe not my favorite books I have read, I think they are good stories and I do love the way she weaves Christian values in without being overwhelmingly preachy. :)

Okay, I have a question for you guys - does anyone not particularly like Wanda Brunstetter's books? I've read a few and I've found them seriously lacking compared to other great Amish authors out there. But plenty of people, including some of my GoodReads friends, LOVE these books! So I'm starting to wonder what it is I'm missing. I often see reviewers saying something like "This book wasn't up to the standard of Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter" which confuses me as I love Lewis but I just think Brunstetter is an "okay" author. Obviously not every authors works for everyone, but I'm just wondering if there's anyone else who has felt a bit underwhelmed by her books?

They by far are not my favorite, the exception being The Journey. I agree, Brunstetter is "okay" but not amazing like some of the other authors. Underwhelmed is a good word.

I've really liked all the ones I've read of hers. I think Journey and Lydia's Charm are my favorites. That's a hard question for me Rachel because I really liked her books.

I wish our stars on our reviews here on Goodreads went to 8 or 10 rather than just 5. There's a big difference between a 4 and a 5, and sometimes I'd like to give a 4.5! I don't want to shortchange a book by giving it a 4, so I round up.

I, like Rachel, love Beverly Lewis and really enjoy Wanda Brunstetter. For me, many of our newer authors are closing in on Wanda, and sometimes, even Beverly. The author that has yet to inspire me is Jerry Eicher, and I'm not even sure why yet.

I really enjoyed The Daughters of Lancaster County series by Wanda Brunstetter! But that is all that I have read from her so far! I have purchased and acquired from Net Galley several other of her books but I have not gotten around to them yet. I do love Beverly Lewis too!

Wait, are you saying that the same characters that are in The Daughters of Lancaster County are in The Journey???? OMG, I will have to read it then!

Cool! I think that I will also pick it up in paper for my mom. Her birthday is next week and she loved the first series too! Thanks for the info and the birthday suggestion! :)

WOAH! Now I'm going to have to go read Daughters of Lancaster County!

I loved The Daughters of Lancaster County series.

I had no idea it was tied to The Journey! I am excited that Wanda E. Brunstetter has some books that sound very promising!

Camille wrote: "WOAH! Now I'm going to have to go read Daughters of Lancaster County!"

Most definitely!!!!!

It sounds like her later books are better - the ones I'd read were from the two "Brides" series. Hmm, this has given me some hope!

Barbara - I too rate my books up to 10 rather than 5 as 5 just isn't enough!

Jodie wrote: "Camille wrote: "WOAH! Now I'm going to have to go read Daughters of Lancaster County!"

Daughters of Lancaster County was my absolute favorite series by Wanda. It was one of those series, where no..."

I got The Journey for my mom for her birthday. I just gave it to her tonight. She is so excited to read it! We both thought it was neat that there is the family tree in the beginning so you can see everyone. I think she will be attacking it really soon. I also gave her 3 paper books that I have reviewed lately so she has plenty of Amish fiction to read for now. Thanks for mentioning it Jodie!

I just finished Indiana Cousins Trilogy and I was a bit unsure about something. They talk about the stamp shop and the Amish doing scrapbooking - I didn't think they took pictures? I know they can't take pictures of themselves or each other, but do they take pictures of scenery, etc, and use that for scrapbooking?

So I guess I wonder if the Amish really do scrapbook?

The first real Amish books that I've read were Daughters of Lancaster County. I really liked them, and I tried reading Beverly Lewis's Abrams Daughters Series after, which was really hard to get into following Daughters of Lancaster. Their writing styles are so different. When I finally got into the Beverly Lewis books I was hooked. I have also read Brides of Lancaster County and I also really liked them. Its really hard for me to compare one author to the next. I love them both but I have to read some non Amish books in between in order to be able to get into the other authors books, if that makes since :-)

And thank you for information on The Journey. I am going to have to hunt that down now (my public library only has a few of Wanda's books)

Melissa wrote: "I just finished Indiana Cousins Trilogy and I was a bit unsure about something. They talk about the stamp shop and the Amish doing scrapbooking - I didn't think they took pictures? I know they ca..."

You are correct about the Amish do not allow themselves to be photographed. I wonder if they are scrapping newspaper articles and memories instead of traditional scrapbooking.

I thought I just read something in the Wild Horse book about someone working on their scrapbook. I wonder too what they put in them?

I've read quite a few Amish books - any I can find, actually - since I was young. This is a first for me, I never have read about scrapbooking and never heard about it. I live in PA, actually close to quite a few Amish and never heard of it so..... Anyone finds out what it means I'd be interested.

I know that before it was cheap to take photographs and put them into albums, a lot of people used to keep albums/scrapbooks that had letters/cards and trinkets in them to remind them of experiences. Like, postcards from friends who had travelled abroad, bus tickets from trips, pressed flowers from a wedding, etc. Perhaps this is the style of scrapbooking that some Amish people do?

Well I asked Wanda and when she lets me know if she knows anything about the scrapbooking among Amish I'll let you know. I think its probably what Rachel is talking about.

my scrapbooks don't have many photos at all; they are full of old report cards, college acceptance letters, grades from college...generally paper memorabilia of all kinds...movie ticket stubs, wedding bulletins, graduation announcements/bulletins/invites...I keep a lot of important papers :)

Indiana Cousins Trilogy's stamp shop was for the English customers. The Amish in the book was making cards, this is what they used the stamps for.

Any scrapbooks would be of no photos from a camera of course but the ink stamps would allow them to express what they wanted to the paper/page to show.

I have read a few another Amish books, where one of the characters was an artist.

In one book, a young man was an artist and the author did have him painting their people. also had him paint nature scenes. It was his hidden secret but his one brother did know about it.

If I remember right in one of the books the author had the character's paintings being sold in an Amish run market on the weekends, but no one knew who the artist was. The money earned went to help the family.