The Quirky Bookworm

What was the most popular beach read from the year you were born? Click here to view the article from Good Housekeeping.

Click here to view the first list in the series from this blog.

Title: The Shop on Blossom Street
Series: Blossom Street (10)
Author: Debbie Macomber
Original Publication Date: April 2003
Page Length: 416
Awards/Recognition: Recipient of the RITA Award, Romance Writers Lifetime Achievement Award, and Quill Award for Romance (2005)

Debbie Macomber is known for her Blossom Street and Cedar Cove series. She’s also known as the “official storyteller of Christmas” due to her original holiday stories published nearly every year since 1986, with 6 adapted into Hallmark Originals. Macomber’s new holiday novel, A Christmas Holiday Duet, will be released on October 15th, 2024. Click here to view Macomber’s best-selling series on her official website, including links to purchase. Click here to purchase the first book in the Blossom Street series.

Title: Every Crooked Nanny
Series: Callahan Garrity (11)
Author: Mary Kay Andrews writing as Kathy Hogan Trocheck
Original Publication Date: January 1992
Page Length: 320
Awards/Recognition: Agatha Award Nominee, Anthony Award Nominee, Macavity Award Nominee (Best First Mystery, 1993)

Mary Kay Andrews is one of my favorite authors. I love her writing style. Andrews is best known for her low-country beach reads. Andrews first publication, Every Crooked Nanny, is part of the best-selling mystery series, Callahan Garrity, published from 1992-2014. Click here to purchase books from the Callahan Garrity series (first 2 titles included with a Kindle Unlimited subscription). Click here for a full book list from the author’s official website, including links to purchase.

Title: Cold Mountain
Author: Charles Frazier
Original Publication Date: January 1997
Page Length: 449
Awards: National Book Award: National Book Award for Fiction (1997), American Booksellers of the Year Award for Adult Trade (1998), Exclusive Books Boeke Prize (1998), Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction (1998), Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction (1997), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (1997), Language Learner Literature Award for Adolescents and Adults-Advanced (2005), Weatherford Award (1997), Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award (1997), and the Lillian Smith Book Award (1997)

Cold Mountain is a classic romance written by Charles Frazier, earning him national recognition and numerous awards. The award-winning novel was adapted into a 2003 film starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger. Click here to purchase the novel and click here to view additional publications.

Title: The Black Lyon
Series: Montgomery/Taggert (32)
Author: Jude Deveraux
Original Publication Date: October 1980
Page Length: 276
Awards: All About Romance Reader Award-Top 100 Romances, 2000 Career Achievement Award Winner-Romantic Times Magazine

The Montgomery /Taggert series (1980-2015) is Jude Deveraux’s famous historical romance series that includes her most beloved romance novel, A Knight in Shining Armor. Click here to view the series in chronological order from the author’s official website, including links to purchase. Click here to purchase the first book in the series, The Black Lyon.

Title: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Series: Ya-Yas (3)
Author: Rebecca Wells
Original Publication Date: May 1996
Page Length: 368
Awards/Recognition: #1 NYT Bestseller, American Booksellers Book of the Year Award (1999)

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a favorite of mine that I’ve read many times. The characters and plot come across as real and personable. Rebecca Wells spent four years working on the novel and states that it isn’t inspired on her life or a true story. I did work with a librarian that was a child in Louisiana in the 1940’s. She told me that the Ya-Ya series describes life in the South during that time perfectly, and that life-long female friendships were placed first before any other relationship, including motherhood, which left emotional scars on many women similar to that of Siddalee Walker in the novel. Click here to purchase books from the series and her stand-alone novel, The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was adapted into a movie starring Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Ellen Burstyn, Maggie Smith and James Garner. Click here for more information about the film.

Title: The Lion’s Daughter
Series: Scoundrels (5)
Author: Loretta Chase
Original Publication Date: October 1992
Page Length: 368
Awards/Recognition: Chase has won numerous awards for her writing, including the RITA and All About Romance Top 100 Award.

Loretta Chase is well known for her historical romances, including her bestselling series, Scoundrels. Click here to shop the Scoundrel series and click here to visit the author’s website for a complete list of works, including links to purchase.

Title: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Series: No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (25)
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Original Publication Date: January 1998
Page Length: 235
Awards/Recognition: Saltire Society Lifetime Achievement Award (2022), Edinburgh Award (2021) Medal of Honor for Achievement in Literature-The National Arts Club of America (2017), Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction (2015), Lifetime Environmental Achievement in the Fine Arts-Duke University (2013), Presidential Order of Merit from the President of Botswana for services of literature to the country (2011), Giuseppe Acerbi Literary Prize-Italy (2010), Author of the Year Award-British Book Awards (2004) and The Saga Award for Wit (2003). For a comprehensive list, visit the author’s website here.

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency has sold over 20 million copies, with Alexander McCall Smith winning Author of the Year Award (British Book Awards, 2004) and the Dagger in the Library Award (Crime Writer’s Association, 2004) for his work related to the series, featuring Mma Precious Ramotswe as the primary detective in Botswana. Click here to purchase novels from the series.

Title: Whitney, My Love
Series: The Westmoreland Dynasty Saga (4)
Author: Judith McNaught
Original Publication Date: March 1989
Page Length: 438
Book Awards/Recognitions: Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Best New Historical Romance (Whitney, My Love), 2nd book in Westmoreland series

The Westmoreland Dynasty series is one of Judith McNaught’s most popular. I haven’t read the series yet, although it’s on my TBR! McNaught is one of the most beloved romance authors of all time. Click here to purchase books from the series.

Title: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie
Series: Mackenzies (12)
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Original Publication Date: April 2009
Page Length: 320
Awards/Recognition: All About Romance (AAR) Annual Reader Poll for Best Romance & Most Tortured Hero & Best Historical Set in the U.K. & Best Love Scenes & Honorable Mention for Best Romance Heroine (2010), Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award (RT Award) for Most Innovative Historical Romance (2009), DABWAHA Romance Tournament for Best Historical Romance (2010), Readers’ Crown Award by RomCon® (Romance Conventions Inc.) for Best Historical Romance (2010)

Jennifer Ashley has her own blog available here. You might also know her as Ashley Gardner and Allyson James. Click here to purchase books from the series.

Title: Flowers From the Storm
Author: Laura Kinsale
Original Publication Date: January 1992
Page Length: 565
Awards/Recognition: Romance Readers Anonymous (RRA) Award (1996)

I’ve read so many reviews on how amazing this book is! Click here to purchase.

Title: The Duke and I
Series: Bridgerton’s (8)
Original Publication Date: January 2000
Page Length: 384
Awards/Recognition: RITA Award by Romance Writers of America Nominee for Short Historical Romance (2001)

There are 8 novels total in the now worldwide famous Bridgerton series, which was published right at the beginning of the millennium.

Click here to purchase the books from the series, anthologies, the Queen Charlotte collaboration with Shonda Rhimes, and the gorgeous deluxe gift sets.

Title: Secrets of a Summer Night
Series: The Wallflowers (5)
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Original Publication Date: October 2004
Page Length: 384

Lisa Kleypas writes best-selling historical romance and contemporary novels for Avon Publishing. Fun fact: She was named Miss Massachusetts in the 1985 Miss America Competition.

Click here to purchase books from the The Wallflowers and here to visit the author’s website.

Title: Saving Grace
Author: Julie Garwood
Original Publication Date: October 1993
Page Length: 407

Julie Garwood’s novels have over 40 million copies in print. One of her most popular novels, For the Roses, was adapted into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on CBS. She writes historical and contemporary fiction.

Click here to purchase and click here to view the author’s website.

Title: Slow Heat in Heaven
Author: Sandra Brown
Original Publication Date: January 1988
Page Length: 464
Awards/Recognition: Top Thriller Master Award from the International Thriller Writer’s Association (2008), Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, A.C. Greene Award and American Business Women’s Association’s Distinguished Circle of Success

Sandra Brown is a master of her craft and best of the best. She’s been in the business since 1981 and has over 80 million copies of her books in print worldwide, translated into 34 languages.

Click here to purchase the novel and click here to visit the author’s website. Her latest novel, Out of Nowhere (2023), is available here.

Title: Waiting to Exhale
Series: Waiting to Exhale (2)
Author: Terry McMillan
Original Publication Date: May 1992
Page Length: 448
Awards/Recognition: New York Times Best-Selling Author, Doubleday New Voices in Fiction Award (1986)

I remember watching the movie adaptation of Waiting to Exhale with my mom as a girl. The movie starred Angela Bassett, Whitney Houston, Lela Rochon, Loretta Devine and Dennis Haysbert. Waiting to Exhale won Outstanding Soundtrack and Outstanding Motion Picture from Image Awards, with Angela Bassett winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture from Image Awards.

Four of McMillan’s novels have been adapted into films: Waiting to Exhale (1995), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Disappearing Acts (1999) and a Day Late and a Dollar Short (2014). Click here to purchase novels from the series and click here to view the author’s website.

Fun fact: McMillan’s love of literature began when she was working in a library.

Title: The Flame and the Flower
Series: Birmingham (3)
Author: Kathleen Woodiwiss
Original Publication Date: January 1972
Page Length: 430

Kathleen Woodiwiss is known in the publishing industry as the original author for the “bodice ripper” romance genre. Her first novel, The Flame and the Flower, revolutionized the publishing industry. Avon published the original novel after Woodiwiss was rejected for the novel being too long at 600 pages. The Flame and the Flower became an instant New York Times Bestseller, selling over 2 million copies within the first four years of publication.

Click here to purchase books from the series.

Title: Outlander
Series: Outlander (9)
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Original Publication Date: June 1991
Page Length: 850
Awards/Recognition: RITA Award for Best Romance (1991)

Outlander is one of the most popular book series of all time and won the RITA Award for Best Romance in 1991, the highest award for romance at the time. 9 books are included in the series, with #10 in the works to be published soon. Click here to purchase books from the series.

Fun fact: Gabaldon’s great-grandparents are part of the original founders of Flagstaff, Arizona. Click here to read more of her story.

Title: Skye O’Malley
Series: O’Malley Saga (6)
Author: Beatrice Small
Original Publication Date: January 1980
Page Length: 473

Beatrice Small was a New York Times bestselling author. Skye O’Malley remains one of the most beloved characters in historical romance literature. Click here to purchase books from the series.

Title: Casting the First Stone
Series: Reverend Curtis Black (15)
Author: Kimberla Lawson Roby
Original Publication Date: January 2000
Page Length: 320
Awards/Recognition: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Fiction (2013) AAMBC Award for Female Author of the Year (2014), AAMBC Christian Fiction Author of the Year Award (2017)

Kimberla Lawson Roby is one of the most beloved romance authors and has won numerous awards for her writing. Roby’s husband encouraged her to start her own publishing company after her book was rejected by several publishers. She followed his advice and became a New York Times bestselling author. Roby is a speaker and has her own podcast, The Woman God Created You to Be.

Click here to purchase the books in the series and click here to visit the author’s website.

Title: Something Borrowed
Series: Darcy and Rachel (2)
Author: Emily Giffin
Original Publication Date: June 2004
Page Length: 336

Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed was a pop-culture hit in the early 2000’s. I think the novel resonated with a lot of young high school graduates my age who were looking forward to having their own “something borrowed” and “something blue.”

Click here to purchase books from the series and click here to visit the author’s website. Giffin’s new novel, The Summer Pact, debuts on July 9th. Click here to purchase.

Title: A Thousand Acres
Author: Jane Smiley
Original Publication Date: January 1991
Page Length: 371
Awards/Recognition: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1992), Ambassador Book Award for Fiction (1992), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Fiction (1992), Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction, (1991), National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction (1991), Society of Midland Authors Award for Fiction (1992)

A Thousand Acres is a family saga of a daughter who rebels against her father’s wishes and is cut of the will that would allow her to inherit part of the 1,000-acre farm.

Click here to purchase the novel and click here to publish her most recent novel, Lucky (April 2024).

Title: Chances
Series: Lucky Santangelo (10)
Author: Jackie Collins
Original Publication Date: January 1981
Page Length: 642
Awards/Recognition: Order of the British Empire by the Queen of England (2013)

Before E.L. James, there was Jackie Collins. I think we all can agree her writings are NSFW. Over 500 million copies of her books have sold in more than 40 countries. Collins is known as the “Lady Boss,” a masterful storyteller, and a Hollywood insider.

Click here to purchase books from the series.

Title: Lace
Series: Lace
Author: Shirley Conran
Original Publication Date: January 1982
Page Length: 751

Lace was a bestselling series in the 1980s that follows four friends in NYC. Recommended for fans of Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell.

Click here to purchase the book.

Title: Jemima J
Author: Jane Green
Original Publication Date: June 2000
Page Length: 373

Jane Green is one of the world’s leading chick-lit authors. She hosts a radio show for BBC London and is a writer for the Daily Mail’s Dear Jane column.

Click here to purchase the novel and click here to visit the author’s website.

Title: Watermelon
Series: Walsh Family (7)
Author: Marian Keyes
Original Publication Date: September 1995
Page Length: 520
Awards/Recognition: Author of the Year (Irish Book Awards)

The Walsh Family series debuted in 1995, with the latest title, My Favorite Mistake, recently published in April 2024. Her book characters are known for their humor and wit. She’s the original and best of the best in the rom-com genre.

Click here to purchase books from the Walsh Family series.

Title: The Joy Luck Club
Author: Amy Tan
Original Publication Date: January 1989
Page Length: 352
Awards/Recognition: California Book Award for Fiction (Gold) (1989), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Fiction (1989), Northern California Book Awards for Fiction (1989), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (1989), National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (1989)

The Joy Luck Club is one of the most beloved books published and is a classic. Amy Tan’s Unintended Memoir on Netflix goes into detail with Amy Tan about how The Joy Luck Club came to be. The novel spent 40 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list and adapted into a 1993 film that was nominated for a BAFTA, won the 1993 Top Ten Films from the National Board Review and won placement into the National Film Registry in 2020. The film starred Kieu Chinh, Ming-Na Wen and Rosalind Chao.

Click here to purchase the novel and click here to view the author’s website. Tan’s latest published work, The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024), is beautiful illustrations and journal from her private home collection.

Title: P.S. I Love You
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Original Publication Date: February 2004
Page Length: 501 pages

P.S. I Love You is a novel about love and grief. Cecilia Ahern was 21 when she wrote the novel and facing her own doubts and fears about loss upon graduating from college. Ahern is also creator of the ABC drama, Samatha Who, starring Christina Applegate. P.S. I Love You was adapted into a movie starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. Ahern’s novels have sold over 25 million copies in 40 countries.

Click here to purchase the novel.

Title: See Jane Run
Author: Joy Fielding
Original Publication Date: May 1991
Page Length: 416

Joy Fielding is one of the original bestselling authors of domestic thrillers. See Jane Run was adapted into a TV movie starring Joanna Kerns and John Shea. Click here to purchase the novel.

Title: Fortune’s Rocks
Series: Fortune’s Rocks (4)
Author: Anita Shreve
Original Publication Date:
Page Length: 528
Awards/Recognition: Oprah’s Book Club Selection (The Pilot’s Wife, Book #3 of Fortune’s Rocks series) and Finalist for England’s Orange Prize (Weight of Water)

Anita Shreve’s novels are domestic fiction, yet not what many readers like me consider chick-lit. Shreve doesn’t shy away from heavier topics and there is no humor or quick wit in her novels. They are straight forward. I’ve read most of her novels and have enjoyed them. Click here to purchase books from the series.

Title: Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind
Series: Miss Julia (23)
Author: Ann B. Ross
Original Publication Date: January 1990
Page Length: 273

The Miss Julia cozy mystery series is humorous and quirky. Recommended for fans of Rita Mae Brown and Joanne Fluke. Click here to purchase books from the completed series that has been optioned by Columbia TriStar as a potential tv series or film.

Title: The Quilter’s Apprentice
Series: Elm Creek Quilts (22)
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Original Publication Date: April 1999
Page Length: 272

Jennifer Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilts series is still popular 25 years later. The Museum of Lost Quilts, #22 in the series, published in April 2024. Chiaverini is one of the most recognized authors for historical fiction. Click here to purchase books from the series.

Title: The Red Hat Club
Series: Red Hat Club (3)
Author: Haywood Smith
Original Publication Date: January 2003
Page Length: 352

Haywood Smith’s novels are perfect for fans of Mary Kay Andrews. I always think of my maternal grandmother when I see her novel, The Red Hat Club, because she belonged to their organization. Click here to purchase the novel.

Title: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Series: Whistle Stop, AL (2)
Author: Frannie Flagg
Original Publication Date: January 1987
Page Length: 416
Awards/Recognition: Alabama Author Award for Fiction (1989), Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year (2012)

Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a beloved classic. The second book in the series, The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop, was published 33 years after the first which shows how much readers loved the first novel. The novel spent 36 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list and received praise by Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Click here to purchase the novel.

Fun fact: Fried Green Tomatoes is loosely based on Irondale Cafe, which was owned by the author’s aunt and two of her friends in the 1930’s. They managed the restaurant for four decades. Click here to visit the restaurant’s website, still in operation today in Irondale, Alabama.

Title: The Princess Diaries
Series: The Princess Diaries (12)
Author: Meg Cabot
Original Publication Date: May 2000
Page Length: 283
Awards/Recognition: American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults selection (2001), American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers selection (2001), Time Magazine’s 100 Best YA Books of All Time selection (2001)

I know many of us have outgrown the Princess Diaries series, however, I can’t make a classic list for beach reads without including the novels we all loved in the early 2000’s. Click here to purchase novels from the series. The most recent novel in the series is for adults, The Quarantine Princess. Click here to purchase. Her latest novel, Enchanted to Meet You (2023), is available here.

Title: Big Stone Gap
Series: Big Stone Gap (4)
Author: Adriana Trigiani
Original Publication Date: January 2000
Page Length: 320
Awards/Recognition: Book of the Year Nominee (2002), Best Beach Read of All Time-Read with Jenna

Adriana Trigiani’s awards, recognition and accomplishments are endless for her writing. She’s a playwright, author, speaker, television writer, producer and filmmaker. Click here to purchase Big Stone Gap, a series based on Trigiani’s hometown, and click here to visit the author’s website. Her podcast, You Are What You Read, features many celebrities, including Rainn Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg, Amor Towles, Fannie Flagg, Katie Couric, Mitch Albom, Jhumpa Lahiri, Julia Quinn and many more.

Title: Diary of a Mad Housewife
Author: Sue Kaufman
Original Publication Date: December 1966
Page Length: 320

Diary of a Mad Housewife by Sue Kaufman is classic domestic fiction that helped shape how we know contemporary domestic fiction today. The Oscar nominated movie adaptation debuted in 1970, starring Carrie Snodgress as Tina Balser, the sophisticated housewife that resides in Manhattan. Click here to purchase the novel.

Title: A Spring Affair
Series: Four Seasons (4)
Author: Milly Johnson
Original Publication Date: April 2009
Page Length: 482
Awards/Recognition: RoNA for Best Romantic Comedy Novel (2014, 2016), Yorkshire Society Award for Arts and Culture (2015), Romantic Novelist Association Outstanding Achievement Award (2020), Goldsboro Books Contemporary Romantic Novel Award (2021) and The Richard Whiteley Award for Inspiration to the County of Yorkshire (2022)

Milly Johnson has written rom-com style novels for decades. She never gave up and worked a variety of jobs while establishing her career. Her new novel, The Happiest Ever After, debuts on July 18th, 2024. Click here to purchase A Spring Affair.

Title: Bridget Jones’s Diary
Series: Bridget Jones
Author: Helen Fielding
Original Publication Date: July 1998
Page Length: 288

Bridget Jones is one of my favorite book characters. She’s very relatable and marches to the beat of her own drummer without shame. The first movie adaptation stars Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. Good news, Bridget Jones fans. A fourth movie adaptation starring Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant is set to premiere in February 2025. Click here to learn more. Click here to purchase the novel.

Title: Sex and the City
Author: Candace Bushnell
Original Publication Date: January 1996
Page Length: 304

The bestselling book that started it all and made Sarah Jessica Parker a fashion icon in the 1990’s. Click here to purchase the novel.

Title: Bergdorf Blondes
Author: Plum Skyes
Original Publication Date: January 2004
Page Length: 320

Bergdorf Blondes was an instant bestseller in the early 2000’s. Recommended for fans of Candace Bushnell, Lauren Weisberger, Sophie Kinsella, Renee Rosen and Pamela Kelley. Click here to purchase.