Thursday, May 31, 2012

Recommended Amish Reading

The plethora of Amish fiction books flooding the reading markets are often light and romanticized versions of the Amish sects. For readers with more discriminatory tastes, there are Amish autobiographies, better-than-formula fiction, and a new soon-to-be released fiction book based on a former Amish man, which offer honest interpretations of being Amish.


My philosophy about Amish reading? I prefer Amish books which offer deeper characterizations, better insight, and less romanticized stories about the Amish. In these books I find greater satisfaction involving complex human dilemmas and honest questions about being Amish.


If you're looking for Amish reads like that, too, here a few books I can recommend:

Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler



A Basketful of Broken Dishes by Naomi
Stutzman




Why I Left the Amish by Saloma Furlong










I haven't read these next two books yet, but they are on my future reading lists:

The Greater Inheritance by Mary Schrock



My Journey to Freedom by Mattie Mullet





As for fiction, I find many of Dale Cramer's Amish themed books better reads than most standard formula Amish fiction.



One little known, but unforgettable, historical Amish novel really captured my interest: Eyes at the Window by Evie Yoder Miller.




Coming in August from River North is a novel from Alice Jay Wisler, Still Life in Shadows. Her novel is based on the life story of Mose Gingerich, who has been featured in several National Geographic television documentaries.







So if Amish is your preferred genre, but you're looking for reads that stray from the typical bonnet books, try some of the books listed above. Freelich lesen!

4 comments:

Joanne Sher said...

Thanks for this, Dee! I just may have to look for some of these.

Dee Yoder said...

Good reads, Jo! I hope you get the chance to download a couple for your Kindle. (:

Yvonne Blake said...

Thanks, Dee - ever since I've known you and your mission, I've been hesitant to buy/read any Amish books because I'd rather know the truth. This list will help tremendously.

Dee Yoder said...

Thanks, Vonnie! I've been meaning to write this post for a while. It's exciting to see the new choices for Amish genre readers. (: