Nonfiction about the Amish

If you are inclined to read about the Amish, everything by Donald B. Kraybill is excellent. I also enjoyed Richard Ammon's Growing up Amish, Visits with the Amish by Linda Egenes. Great Possessions: An Amish Farmer's Journal, by David Kline, is one of my all-time favorite nature writings. I'd like to read Kline's Scratching the Woodchuck: Nature on an Amish Farm and Letters from Larksong: An Amish Naturalist Explores His Organic Farm.

Why I Left the Amish: A Memoir by Saloma Miller Furlong will break your heart--it describes in detail all of the bad parts of a closed culture, as does Ira Wagler's Growing Up Amish: A Memoir. On the other hand, I found David Wagler (Ira's father) to be long-winded and egotistical. Joe Mackall's Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish was fine.

Weaver-Zercher, Valerie. Thrill of the Chaste: The Allure of Amish Romance Novels. 2013. Amazing book about the topic. Interesting that I do not fit the typical evangelical reader, however. Although reading this genre as a way of trying to maintain hope and faith in the difficulties of a hypermodern world and life does describe me.

To read:  
Miller, Marlene. Grace leads me home. 2011 memoir of becoming Amish.
Nolt and Meyers. Plain Diversity: Amish Cultures and Identities.
Hurst and McConnell. An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change....
Other books in the Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies series.

To avoid: Olson, Anna Dee. Growing Up Amish: Insider Secrets from One Woman's Inspirational Journey. Badly written memoir from a vanity press.



Green means best in my opinion, purple means I have it, yellow means I would like to have it (a.k.a. wish list), turquoise means look for it to read.

Amish Inspirational Fiction

Green means best in my opinion, purple means I have it, yellow means I would like to have it (a.k.a. wish list), turquoise means look for it to read.


I've been thinking about the Amish romances I have enjoyed, those I haven't, & how nonfiction studies about the Amish have influenced my feelings/thinking. My usual criteria apply: there are those that are well-written, fairly true to what I understand about the culture, and tell a good story.

• Bender, Carrie (pseudonym). She is an Amishwoman (Old Order) given permission to write under a pen name. Her series are light and joyous. I have 3 of her series.
• Byler, Linda. Another Amish writer. I didn't like the Lizzie Searches for Love series, but I did enjoy Keeping Secrets, book 2 in the Sadie's Montana series. Byler's writing seems very immature but is improving. Enjoyed The Little Amish Matchmaker and A Horse for Elsie: An Amish Christmas Romance. Read A Second Chance - okay. Finished The Healing (2018)- interesting, different, about a young man who gets Lyme disease, its effects on him and on the family. Tried Hope Deferred (2020) but it was awful! Preachy and stilted, narrative instead of conversation and action. Maybe I'll try the Buggy Spoke series.
  
• Cameron, Barbara. Her series The Quilts of Lancaster County are fascinating books: requested Annie's Christmas Wish, book 4, but was very disappointed with it - flying in a plane, everyone carrying cellphones, unrealistic. Loved Her Restless Heart: Stitches in Time Book 1 too; enjoyed Heart in Hand (Stitches in Time 3). Also read Twice Blessed: Two Amish Christmas Stories about twins. The Amish Roads series sounds familiar, as if I have already read them. Return to Paradise (#1): The Coming Home series, was ok; Seasons in Paradise (#2) and Home to Paradise (#3) were good.
• Chapman, Vannetta. Loved A Promise for Miriam, A Wedding for Julia, and A Home for Lydia; enjoyed The Christmas Quilt and the Amish Bishop mysteries: What the Bishop Saw (1); When the Bishop Needs an Alibi (2), and Who the Bishop Knows (3). To read: Plain and Simple Miracles series, Brian's Choice (e-novella, prequel), Anna's Healing (bk 1), Joshua's Mission (2), and I read Sarah's Orphans (3), which was very good. Amish Christmas Memories was intriguing, and I enjoyed An Unlikely Amish Match. While I enjoyed the story "Mischief in the Autumn Air" in An Amish Harvest set in Shipshewana, I'm not as sure about the Shipshewana Amish mysteries: 1: Falling to Pieces; 2: A Perfect Square; 3: Material Witness. I enjoyed the Amish Village Mystery series even though the Amish are not the protagonists: Murder Simply Brewed, Murder Tightly Knit, Murder Freshly Baked. Her novella "Where Healing Blooms" in An Amish Garden was lovely!
• Clipston, Amy. Her writing has improved - enjoyed her story in An Amish Christmas Bakery. But An Amish Singing wasn't very good. "Love and Buggy Rides" in An Amish Harvest set in Shipshewana was terrible - first, the idea that the driver of a wagon that was rear-ended by a car was at fault, when in MI at least, it's always the driver of the vehicle doing the rear-ending who is at fault - then other stupid things in the story too.
• Cramer, Dale. I have his Paradise Valley, which is the best of the Amish romances! Well-written, historically accurate, & with an excellent romance. The others were sadder, though.
• Drexler, Jan.  (The Amish of Weaver's Creek trilogy) The Sound of Distant Thunder, about the Civil War, The Roll of the Drums, and Softly Blows the Bugle. Well-written, interesting stories about Ohio during and just after the Civil War. Next series: Journey to Pleasant Prairie: #1 Hannah's Choice - it was so slow! Like Hemingway, almost. Finally skipped ahead and read the ending.
• Duerksen, Carol and Maynard Knepp. Runaway Buggy. An excellent young adult novel about Knepp's youth (he grew up Amish). Although self-published, it is well-written, informative, enjoyable. Not truly an inspirational romance, it does have romance in the story, and doesn't sugarcoat the costs of rumspringa. There are many books by this pair, and also several by Carol Duerksen and other authors.
• Fisher, Suzanne Woods. Stoney Ridge Seasons series beginning The Keeper kept my attention & I have the 3rd in this series: The Lesson. I also have The Letters (The Inn at Eagle Hill series). I enjoyed the rose mystery in Christmas at Rose Hill Farm: An Amish Love Story. However, Fisher's writing in The Imposter (The Bishop's Family series #1) and The Quieting (The Bishop's Family series #2) is that of a junior-high-school girl showing off her vocabulary, and she has her characters doing things like doffing their hats and bowing. Please, enough already! Except...I'm willing to try the Amish Beginnings series, starting with Anna's Crossing (didn't enjoy it: boring). Second is the Newcomer. A stand-alone novel I did enjoy was Anything but Plain (2022), about ADHD and learning ways to manage it.
• Flower, Amanda. She's a librarian who hasn't done quite enough research (Amish praying aloud) but whose Appleseed Creek series' protagonist is a director of IT at a small college in central Ohio.  They're light fun, not great. I enjoyed A Plain Disappearance.
• Fuller, Kathleen. Has decent stories: "The Treasured Book" in An Amish Heirloom, one in An Amish Christmas Bakery, and "A Quiet Love" in An Amish Harvest set in Shipshewana - about a woman who stuttered and a farmer who was on the Autism spectrum. "Flowers for Rachel" in An Amish Garden was fine.
• Good, Rachel J. Several series, added one to Wishlist.
• Gould, Leslie. Adoring Addie - like Saloma Miller Furlong. The series Neighbors of Lancaster county, #1 Amish Promises was all right; #2 Amish Sweethearts was excellent! Less idealistic than most inspirational romances, more realistic. Book 3 was just ok - too much narrative - Amish Weddings. Then a new series, The Sisters of Lancaster county, #1 A Plain Leaving (very good, different - shows the harshness of those who don't forgive), #2 Simple Singing (I'm noticing a trend of Amish leaving for the Mennonites, grr). #3 is A Faithful Gathering was mostly narrative about a young woman who leaves the Amish to become a nurse (not Mennonite). Also, in the Women of Lancaster County series, book 5 is wonderful: The Amish Quilter. Enjoyed the 3 novellas in An Amish Christmas Kitchen - "An Amish Family Christmas" by Gould, "An Amish Christmas Recipe Box" by Jan Drexler, and "An Unexpected Christmas Gift" by Kate Lloyd. Amish Memories trilogy: read #2 first, This Passing Hour - pretty good, about Amish/Mennonite families and WWII, then the 1st one, A Brighter Dawn. Really enjoyed the 3rd, By Evening's Light: excellent historical fiction about Amish and Mennonites at the end of WWII, the Russian takeover of East Berlin, the beginning of the Cold War, refugees then and now.
• Goyer, Tricia. Big Sky series: like Marta Perry, Goyer is able to tell a good story while not idealizing the Amish. The Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors series--loved the Promise Box; the Kissing Bridge was so-so. Enjoyed her novella "Seeds of Love" in An Amish Garden, set in West Kootenai, MT. Also, she has an excellent story in An Amish Second Christmas ("The Christmas Aprons") as does Ruth Reid, "Her Christmas Pen Pal." Read Made with Love (Pinecraft Pie Shop series): it showed a more relaxed Florida community but like Lewis preaches evangelical as better than Old Order Amish; Planted with Hope, the 2nd, and Sewn with Joy, 3rd in the series were also good. The Buggy before the Horse (Hoopla audio book) is next. 
• Hoff, B. J. The Riverhaven Years books are about the Underground Railroad, so I enjoyed that aspect. These are the only 3 Hoff has written about the Amish. I have the 3rd book, River of Mercy.
• Irvin, Kelly. Has a decent story, "The Midwife's Dream" in An Amish Heirloom, one in "A Christmas Visitor" in Amish Winter, and a good one in An Amish Christmas Bakery. Odd novel set in Montana ("Big Sky" series), with Native American characters: A Long Bridge Home (Amish of Big Sky Country #2); #1, Mountains of Grace was ok. 3rd was Peace in the Valley, borrowed audiobook-another odd novel about an evangelical group whose mission was to convert Old Order Amish to being evangelical and in the world. Another series is Every Amish Season; #1 is Upon a Spring Breeze (didn't like this book - too much grief).
• Kertz, Rebecca. Loving Isaac. all right. Also read Her Amish Christmas Gift (Women of Lancaster County).
• Lauer, Rosalind. A Simple Winter (Seasons of Lancaster series) -- I enjoyed the story, which seemed to draw upon some of David Kline's work, but Lauer doesn't seem to know that children don't usually learn English until they go to school and some other typical things about Amish culture. I enjoyed A Simple Spring & A Simple Autumn. I also read the Lancaster Crossroads series: A Simple Faith, A Simple Hope, A Simple Charity.
• Lighte, Carrie. Amish Triplets for Christmas - pretty good story.
• Lillard, Amy. Katie's Choice (Clover Ridge series). Loved it! Wells Landing series: read Caroline's Secret; did not like Courting Emily, Lorie's Heart, Titus Returns, or Marrying Jonah. Seems like Lillard is going in the direction of Lewis with Courting Emily, Lorie's Heart, and Just Plain Sadie (didn't read but summaries indicate they leave the Amish for the Mennonites or English). Maybe skip A Wells Landing Christmas, but I really enjoyed Loving Jenna. Next: Romancing Nadine, and A New Love for Charlotte (Hoopla ebooks).
  
• Newport, Olivia. Amish Turns of Time series: 1) Wonderful Lonesome. About a failed Amish community in Colorado; Abbie seems unrealistically blindly optimistic. However, the 2nd book, Meek and Mild, about the formation of the Beachy Amish, was very good! The 3rd book, Brightest and Best, about the state of Ohio versus the Amish way of education, was also excellent. 4) Hope in the Land, was different - set in the 1930's Great Depression, about the Dept of Agriculture study on Amish and non-Amish farms & farmwives' successes/failures. Book 5) is Gladden the Heart, about the Great Awakening and an Amishman who had frontal temporal epileptic preaching episodes.

Valley of Choice series: Loved 1) Accidentally Amish, about a high-powered woman business-owner who was drawn to the peacefulness of a different kind of life - and also the history of the author's ancestors who emigrated from Germany/Switzerland to Pennsylvania and bought land from William Penn's sons - so a link to Quaker history too. Then 2) In Plain View and 3) Taken for English made up the trilogy. 

• Perry, Marta. Perry seems to have a solid understanding of the Amish and Mennonite, is a good writer, and mostly tells a good story. My favorites so far in the Pleasant Valley series are the 1st & 5th: Leah's Choice & Katie's Way (I have both). Leah's Choice deals with those who choose to leave the Plain community, their interactions with those they left behind, and the common birth defects among the Amish. Katie's Way shows the negative effects of gossip in small communities & positive interactions between Amish & "Englisch." I've read all: Naomi's Christmas is #7 and the last pair in the series are The Lost Sisters of Pleasant Valley: Lydia's Hope, and Susanna's Dream. I also read Amish Christmas Blessings. Perry has piggy-backed on Pura's story of WWII in The Forgiven: Keepers of the Promise book 1, which I liked very much, and book 2 was about allowing the Amish not to send their kids to high school: The Rescued: Keepers of the Promise. Book 3 wasn't as good: The Rebel. Brides of Lost Creek series: book 1 is Second Chance Amish Bride - enjoyed it, book 2, The Wedding Quilt Bride, 2018, and book 3, The Promised Amish Bride. Book 4 is The Amish Widow's Heart (nice!) and Book 5 is A Secret Amish Crush - pretty good. Read 2 other series: River Haven (1: Amish Outsider, 2: Amish Protector - 2020, and 3: Amish Secrets - I didn't like the "woman in jeopardy" theme) and Promise Glen (1: A Christmas Home, 2: A Springtime Heart, and 3: A Harvest of Love (didn't like it).
• Reid, Ruth (A Miracle of Hope). Other than overuse of "amble," pretty good story set in the UP, MI. Reid, Ellis (Mary) & Wiseman are collected together in a set of 3 novellas: An Amish Miracle.
• Roper, Gayle. Undecided...Amish are background, not the focus of her stories.
• Schmidt, Anna. Enjoyed A Groom for Greta (Amish Brides of Celery Fields #3), didn't read Hannah's Journey (#1) as reviews were bad; felt #2 Family Blessings (set in 1932) was historically inaccurate as they addressed each other as "Herr," "Frau," "ma'am," and "sir" and said "Guten Morgan" instead of "Guder Mariye." Tried to read Second Chance Proposal but it was boring! http://www.booksbyanna.com/books.php
• Senft, Adina. Whinburg Township Amish series: 1) The Wounded Heart had an interesting story line about MS (multiple sclerosis), & I loved the closeness of the 3 women friends. The 2nd: The Hidden Life and 3) The Tempted Soul. I would like to get these. Second trilogy: Healing Grace (4: Herb; 5: Keys of Heaven; 6: Balm of Gilead) - really enjoyed them. Third trilogy, 7): The Longest Road, which was sad, about the daughters kidnapped and raised by a non-Amish couple. Book 8 is The Highest Mountain, then 9) The Sweetest Song, and there's a short story in Amish Christmas Miracles (KDL ebook, in my For Later list). Get the whole series?  (books 8-9 not in KDL or MeL).  The latest series is the Montana Millers (started #1, The Amish Cowboy; enjoyed book 5, The Amish Cowboy's Makeover).
• Wallace, Yolanda. Rum Spring - lesbian!
• Wiseman, Beth. She occasionally shows her lack of deep understanding of the culture, but overall writes fairly good romance. Wiseman overuses the word "shuffles"--very off-putting and distracting! Unfortunately, she also uses stereotypical expressions which the Amish don't really use, such as "wunderbaar gut." Home all along was ok. Enjoyed Hearts in Harmony very much! A good story in An Amish Christmas Bakery. The Amish Journey series - Hearts in Harmony and Listening to Love - lots of drama. The 3rd one is A Beautiful Arrangement at KDL - borrowed audiobook 10/16/21, and did not enjoy it - too unrealistic - the couple riding in a limo, eating gourmet food. "Under the Harvest Moon" in An Amish Harvest set in Shipshewana was terrible - again, very unrealistic. In the Amish Bookseller series, I read the Bookseller's Promise - ok but not great. Read A Picture of Love, 2020, in the Amish Inn series. It was a good story, although there are still silly mistakes. #2 is An Unlikely Match. Also enjoyed #3, Amish Matchmakers!  Her novella "Rooted in Love" in An Amish Garden was ok.
• In the Fullness of Time (Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries) by Tricia Goyer, Nancy Mehl, Elizabeth Adams, & Elizabeth Ludwig - a little too pious but still an interesting story.

OK, the writers I haven't enjoyed so far, though I wouldn't want to keep others from reading:

• Alford, Mary. Poor writing.
• Bayarr, Samantha Jillian. Clearly doesn't know the Amish; bad writing. Self-published.
• Beckstrand, Jennifer. "A Honeybee Christmas" story in The Amish Christmas Candle - ridiculous but funny.
• Brown, Jo Ann. OK, not great writing.
• Brunstetter, Wanda: Amish good, English bad, every time.
• Clark, Mindy Starts & Leslie Gould: Another case of Amish vs. Mennonite vs. English, in which "exciting drama" gets more attention than getting the details of Amish life correct. Although I admit I am going to try their 2nd novel, to give them a fair chance. Leslie Gould's novel Adoring Addie was very good, however.
• Clipston, Amy. Bad writing, using cliches & words repetitively, e.g., "snatched."
• Copeland, Lori and Virginia Smith. No need to read any more of theirs....
• Davids, Patricia. Katie's Redemption - fine, other than a distracting reference to a "wingback chair."  I'm sure I read An Amish Christmas (Love Inspired). A Match Made at Christmas - irritating non-Amish things in the novel, including the pronunciation of the reader ("denjee" for denki). I'd put her in the non-enjoyable writers.
• Eicher, Jerry. Contrived plots, strange details, 1-2 sentence paragraphs....
• Ellis, Mary. The Miller Family series were quite entertaining, yet there are so many inaccuracies that it makes it very distracting. I have The Way to a Man's Heart. I read the Wayne County series. I also have Living in Harmony, the 1st in the New Beginnings series, and read Love Comes to Paradise. A Little Bit of Charm (KY thoroughbreds) was entertaining. I read A Plain Man and the 7th.
• Ellis has also written The Quaker and the Rebel - maybe try - although I can see if the 1st few pages that she has done as little research on Quakers as she has on the Amish (ribbons on her dress, curtseying, using "sir" and "ma'am" and the title of "Miss" to introduce herself. Meh.
• Fisher, Suzanne Woods. Poor plotting, caricatured characters, & trite language with overuse of adjectives (Lancaster County Secrets series).
• Gray, Shelley Shepard. The Promise of Palm Grove, in the Amish Brides of Pinecraft series. Good audio book for falling asleep to, but they are "new" Amish, so there is a telephone in the kitchen, the entire cast of characters gets involved in discussing the romantic lives of the protagonists, and they use the honorific "Miss" or "Mr." to address and refer to some of the characters. Also listened to the 2nd book, The Proposal at Siesta Key, even weirder with evangelizing Amish.
• Hilton, Laura V. Patchwork Dream, Amish of Seymour series: yet another bad writer trying to do the Amish romance.
• Jones Baker, Lisa. "Christmas Candle" short story in The Amish Christmas Candle - very simplistic, not well-written.
• Keller, Cynthia. Caricatures of both English & Amish in An Amish Christmas. But maybe I should try the 2nd novel: A Plain & Fancy Christmas.
• Lewis, Beverly: dislike. The couple of novels I read by her seem to imply that it is better to convert to the more evangelical forms of Christianity than to be Old Order Amish; they seemed preachy and unbelievable.
• Lloyd, Kate. Bad writing, trite language with overuse of adjectives and adverbs.
• Long, Kelly. Odd characters, plotting, resolutions; romance unlike the Amish culture.
• Price, Sarah. Juvenile writing.
• Pura, Murray. Snapshots in History series about Amish during WWI and after, and the Civil War. Good historical information about the wars but not so good on the Amish details. 
• Reid, Ruth. While I enjoyed her 3rd book (see above), her 1st 2 are poorly written, confusing, and definitely not well-versed in Amish culture. It's too bad, since they're set in MI.
• Spredemann, Jennifer. Poor writing.
• Woodsmall, Cindy. I read 5 of her books before giving up. My favorite was The Sound of Sleigh Bells.

Amish-themed mysteries:
Fowler, Earlene's Benni Harper quilting mysteries have Amish characters.
Gaus, P.L.  has several mysteries (definitely not romance!). I read at least one, perhaps more.
Myers, Tamar's mysteries have a very sour protagonist & atmosphere.
Picoult, Jodi. Plain Truth is very dark.
Workinger, Barbara writes cozy mysteries with an Amish protagonist.

Mennonite:
Toews, Miriam. Irma Roth. Hated it.
 
Unknown/to try:
Thomas, Cara S. (A Secret Love): lesbian! (badly written; MI author)

Drexler, Jan (Hannah's Choice) (more ebooks on KDL Overdrive)
Ellis, Marianne (Summer Promise, Autumn Grace),
Kingsbury, Karen.
Lodge, Hillary Manton (Plain Jayne)
Peterson, Tracie.
Rivers, Francine.

Literary fiction:
Lowenthal, Michael. Avoidance, gay man researching shunning.

Children's books:
De Angeli, Marguerite. Henner's Lydia, Yonie Wondernose