By: Mariah Brown
For this week, I found a prompt once again on That Artsy Reader Girl that sounded really interesting and that was “What Books do I Read on Vacation.”
As I usually do stay-cations, the books I read are of a major variety, but my favorite group of books to read on a vacation are thrillers that involve mysteries. So without further ado, here is my top ten list of books while on vacation.
As I am currently on a stay-cation, my current and quickest read I have going on right now is One Left Alive (Detective Morgan Brookes #1) by Helen Phifer. This book had me captivated from the beginning starting with a scenario that didn’t appear to be as straight forward as one would think. I highly recommend this book if you like murder mystery/thriller novels. Better yet it is a work in a series so enjoy the whole series.
Another series I am currently reading is Melissa Smith’s New Life Series, and I am on book 2, Ethan’s New Mission. I truly enjoyed book one and love book two so far. This is a new author for me, and I am fully enjoying her writing style. It is definitely a relaxing read on a stay-cation.
While I was on my last mini vacation I read roughly three books which will be the next three books in the list.
Bone White by Ronald Malfi was a really gripping read, and while I was on vacation, I knew I needed to finish it to see how it ended. I am not giving the ending away, but I will say it was worth the read.
Odd Hours by Dean Koontz was another great read that I had to finish. I have not read a Koontz book that has disappointed me yet. I am still working on finishing this series in between all the other books on my list to read.
Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi was another great book, and I cannot believe I have not read the next book in the series. I think I am trying to pace myself as I believe there are only two or three more books left in it. I truly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend this dystopian series to anyone who loves this genre.
The next five books were from my last stay-cation that occurred between jobs. I needed time to myself to wind down, and reading is the best way for me to do that besides cross-stitching.
Queen of Beasts by Amber Withers was my first real demon book, and I absolutely loved it. I was introduced into a new world of beings, and it was great. I have now been looking for similar works, so if anyone has any recommendations, let me know!
The Amethyst Wand Shop Mysteries series by Laura Greenwood and Arizona Tape was short and sweet but had enough grip to make me want to get special copies of the series. I am working on the last two books, and I hear there are more. If you love witchy books and detectives, this series is definitely for you!
What would a stay-cation be without a Cait Marie book or two. The first one I want to mention is The Lost Alliance because I was so engrossed in the book I think I finished it in a few days. I highly recommend this series. Did you know she is coming out with a fourth book that’s set years after the original events? I am so excited for it.
This next book is by Cait Marie again, and it is called Missing the Beat. I always love a good romance book, now that Cait introduced me to the genre not being as horrible as some people make it. I love mushy gushy, and she has the right amount of mush and gush in her romance novels. This one was no exception.
The last book I want to tell you about is Play Dead by Ted Dekker. This is a longer book, but it had my attention from the very beginning. There were a load of twists and turns that you weren’t expecting to happen throughout the novel. I highly recommend his books and encourage anyone who wants suspense or a thrill to read them.
Well that is all for me on this post at least. As you can see, I read a variety of books while I am on vacation, whether that is a stay-cation or going on a mini trip. I highly recommend reading all of these as I have loved them or so far have enjoyed the series.
Until next time! I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Functionally Fictional 
Leave a Reply