One of the purposes of the Book Thoughts from Bed blog is to give and receive book recommendations. I try to capture the book recommendations my blog readers leave in the comments section on the Reader Recommendations page of the blog, which has recently been updated after two years.

Some of my new favorite books have been recommended by my wonderful blog readers, including:

West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

West with Giraffes is historical fiction at its best. It’s a tale based on the true-life story of America’s first giraffes and the cross-country road trip that took them from New York City to the San Diego Zoo. It’s also a coming-of-age story with strong themes of friendship and redemption.

Check out my review of West with Giraffes to see why it’s become one of my favorites!

Harry’s Trees by Jon Cohen

Harry’s Trees is a slightly mystical story of overcoming grief and finding friendship and love. It’s an extremely imaginative book with a huge heart.

Read my review of Harry’s Trees to see why I like it so much.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

A Gentleman in Moscow is fantastic historical fiction that also introduced me to one of my new favorite authors – Amor Towles. The novel chronicles the story of Count Alexander Rostov, who is imprisoned in a hotel by the Bolsheviks for the “crime” of being upper class. Why do I like this novel so much? In one word, it’s classy!

Read my review to find out more about the very classy A Gentleman in Moscow!

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

After reading All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr also became one of my new favorite writers. This historical fiction book, set during World War II, tells the poignant story of a blind girl and a young German soldier caught up in the horrors of war.

To learn more about this Pulitzer Prize winner, read my review of All the Light We Cannot See.

Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens

Rounding out the list of five favorite reader recommendations is Where the Crawdads Sing. This novel has several different themes, but the most powerful one is that of perseverance and resilience. This is the type of novel that stays with you long after you read the last word.

Check out my review of Where the Crawdads Sing.

This list of five book recommendations from blog readers is just the tip of the iceberg. The Reader Recommendations page is packed with suggestions for what to read next. I included links to the books I’ve reviewed, which is a mere fraction of the overall list. Looks like I have a lot of reading to do!

Please keep those book recommendations coming, and you might want to bookmark the Reader Recommendations page so it’s handy when you’re looking for your next great read. I promise it won’t be two long years before the next update!