Ten Awesome Barbour Anthologies
A few years
ago I posted some of my favorite anthologies from Barbour Publishing, but I’ve
read countless more over the years. So, this time I’ve decided to narrow it
down a bit and list some great “historical” four-in-one collections. This
wasn’t easy, there are so many well-written stories, I could have listed
twenty.
A Blue and Gray Christmas by Vickie
McDonough, Lauralee Bliss, Tamela Hancock Murray, and Carrie Turansky: I love
stories about the Civil War and this book was no exception. I loved how it gave
different perspectives about Northerners and Sooutherners during that difficult
time.
A Currier and Ives Christmas by Lyn
Coleman, JoAnn Grote, DiAnn Mills, and Deborah Raney: I loved how these stories
painted pictures of snowy Christmases. This is the perfect book to read in
front of a fireplace during a snowstorm, with a cup of hot chocolate and a warm
quilt, of course.
Bound with Love by Joan Croston, Cathy Marie
Hake, Kelly Eileen Hake, and Joyce Livingstone: These stories follow a
Guttenberg Bible as it passed through the ages and from country to country. I
especially liked the story set during WWII.
Brothers of the Outlaw Trail by DiAnn
Mills, Tamela Hancock Murray, Lynette Sowell, and Kathleen Miller Y’barbo: This
book, set during the Old West, tells the tales of four brothers who were
outlaws. I loved how each one struggled through their own journey of personal
growth. These are some great stories of redemption.
Church in the Wildwoods by Paige
Winship Dooly, Kristy Dykes, Pamela Griffin, and Debby Mayne: This is the first
Christian romance I ever read. It changed the way I viewed romance. I never
expected to see such a flawed hero grace the pages of a Christian novel. Silly
me. The hero, a former bank robber and gang member, found Christ and changed
his ways. The heroine saw a repentant man with a sincere heart for God. The
congregation didn’t judge him by his past mistakes, but embraced him and became
his friend. This book gave a phenomenal example of what a church should be. I
know it taught me a thing or two.
Colonial Courtships by Laurie Alice
Eakes, Carla Olson Gade, Lisa Karon Richardson, and Amber Stockton: I had fun
learning about ship-building when I read this book. For instance, I never knew
that there were artists who specifically carved the figureheads for ships.
Missouri Memories by Kelly
Eileen Hake, Joyce Livingston, DiAnn Mills, and Deborah Raney: The book focused
on a house build along the Missouri River from when it was first built in the
late 1800’s to Present Day. I especially like the story set in 1972, during the
Vietnam War.
Stuff of Love by Dianna Crawford, Cathy
Marie Hake, Kelly Eileen Hake, and Sally Laity: I like how these stories were
set during WWII. Two of them were set in Copenhagen and knit together with threads
of Danish culture, which really drew my interest.
Sweet Liberty by Paige Winship Dooly, Kristy
Dykes, Pamela Griffin, and Debby Mayne: So many books by Barbour are set during
the Christmas season, so when I saw this one centered around the 4th
of July holidays, I picked it up. I enjoyed reading how the holiday was
celebrated in different time periods and in different parts of the country.
Wildflower Brides by Andrea
Boeshaar, Cathy Marie Hake, Sally Laity, and Pamela Kaye Tracy: I love stories
set on the Oregon Trail. The stories were so seamlessly woven together it felt
like I was on the trail with the characters, going west as they were, sharing
in both their struggles and triumphs.
Romance is a
common theme throughout all of these books and they’re interwoven with strong
elements of faith which keeps me reading them.
