Summer Reading List Recommendations

This summer has afforded me the luxury of doing a lot of reading, and I've got some books I'd like to recommend.  There's no particular order to this madness, just a list of what I've read so far.

1.  This Just In by Bob Schieffer ... I picked this one up on the clearance shelf at Half-Price Books, and it's been a delightful read.  I didn't know much about Bob Schieffer or his career, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he is a Fort Worth native.  Many of his stories center around places very near and dear to my heart!
2.  Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers ... So so good.  I'm super late to the party on this series.  I can't even explain why I put it off for so long, but I cannot say the last time a fictional work had such a profound impact on my spiritual thought life.  Remarkable.
3.  The Search for God and Guinness by Stephen Mansfield... I'm not done with this one yet, but I'm enjoying it enough that I figure it's okay to tell you about it.  This is the story of the Guinness family of brewers from Ireland and how their faith has impacted their family and so many others over whom they've had influence.  Fascinating.
4.  The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin ... Charles Martin is by far and away my favorite fiction writer. He weaves a story and paints a picture with such captivating detail.   A friend suggested his writing to me a little over a year ago.  I read the first book, then went out and bought everything else he'd written.  This latest story did not disappoint in any way.  Beautiful.
5.  The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns ... Wow.  This was the surprise of the summer.  I downloaded an audio version of this book for free from www.christianaudio.com, and had it saved on my computer for several months before deciding to give it a try.  I am so thankful I did.  Richard Stearns is the US President of World Vision, and the first section of this book is the story of his own unlikely arrival at that position.  He has such a gift for blending story and scripture and statistics and history into a challenge for believers.  I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.
6.  Radical by David Platt ... I hate a band wagon.  Since everyone I knew was talking about this book, I almost didn't pick it up at all.  Besides, I'd heard that if I'd already read Francis Chan's Crazy Love, then I didn't have to read Platt.  However, I do love books on cd, so when Mardel ran this one on sale half-price, I picked it up and put it in my car.  I'm now wishing everyone I know would read/listen to this book.
7. The O'Malley Series by Dee Henderson ... putting this on my list is kind of like admitting there's some Miley Cyrus on my summer playlist.  It's pure, unadulterated fun.  This series of stories about a family of orphans who decided to share a last name and form a bond that carries them long into adulthood was a wonderful escape.  I can't say it challenged me spiritually or taught me anything about life in general, but it did help me appreciate my friend-family and make me smile a lot.