Book Review: Prize of My Heart (by Lisa Norato)

Captain Brogan Talvis has one goal: reclaim his young son, lost to him through the trickery of his (now-deceased) wife while he was at sea. This mission leads him to Duxboro, Massachusetts, where he has commissioned a ship from the man who adopted Brogan's son and is raising little Drew as his own, with an older daughter stands in for the boy as both sister and mother. Eventually, the daughter, Lorena, is tricked upon a vessel headed to England and it is Brogan's commission to save her. Romance and secrets are present throughout this exciting story of love and family in the early 19th century.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The presence of scripture and faith elements were authentically portrayed and appropriate for the moments in which they occurred. The story itself was fast-moving, and at times very sad and others very funny. The characters were well drawn and charming, while retaining some mystery. I found myself wanting to know more about them, and rooting for the romance that was budding.

The perspective of the author allowed for us to hear the thoughts of the two main characters, which made the book move faster. Additionally, although I normally hate how much characters just don't "talk to each other" about their real issues, in this story by and large there was much less passivity than is common in Christian fiction. In fact, the times when I felt like "just tell her!" were times when it was appropriate for the character to be worried about speaking (related to the mystery elements of the story). After reading this story, I will look out for more by Lisa Norato. I highly recommend this book - 5 out of 5 stars.


(full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House, in exchange for my unbiased review. I am not affiliated with Bethany House or the author in any way.)

Book Review: Blue Moon Bay (by Lisa Wingate)

Blue Moon Bay is the story of Heather Hampton, and her return to her (unhappy) childhood home of Moses Lake, Texas. Forced to return home to facilitate the sale of some family land, she is confronted with the memories, fears, and secrets that her family has kept hidden for the past 20 years. Unraveling these fears and secrets will lead through trouble to a reconciliation with God.

Friends, this book was trying to be too many things and as such, was none of them very well. I think the main problem that I had was that point of view of the reader was simply the first-person view of the main character, Heather. As such, it was exhausting - for almost 400 pages, we had to endure every thought and idea that she had. Even when, as the reader, you were 16 steps ahead of her. Perhaps if the author had told the story from a first-person omniscient, allowing the reader to hear the thoughts of other characters, the story would have moved faster. The other main problem that I had with the story was that it started out as a book about a girl returning home to confront her past demons, then it turned into a mystery, then a thriller, all the while still trying to be a romance. I kept saying to my husband, "This book does not know what it wants to be!" and "Why didn't someone edit this book better?"

The story did have exciting moments, and I was glad to hear the resolution of the story, but I thought that overall lit was about 100 pages too long and that the story was too ambitious. Lets not even talk about my main criticism of Christian fiction: why don't the people just talk to each other. This book was a classic example of that, and considering how strongly this pet peeve is for me, the fact that it wasn't one of my two main problems is saying something.

I'm a fan of romance, mysteries, and thrillers. But unfortunately, I just didn't really enjoy this book. Two stars out of five from me.

(full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House, in exchange for my unbiased review. I am not affiliated with Bethany House or the author in any way.)

Book Review: The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter

"The Convenient Groom" is the most recent in the series of Nantucket Island stories by Denise Hunter. Dr. Kate is an advice columnist and psychologist who has just written a book for all the single ladies, titled "Finding Mr. Right-For-You." As a fun aside, each chapter includes a little witty word on finding Mr. Right from Kate's book.

The good news for Kate? The book is scheduled to release on the same day as her wedding to Bryan. The bad news? Today is her wedding day, and Bryan just called to tell her that he's in love with someone else. Enter Lucas, Kate's landlord, who overhears the call and suggests that she marry him instead. After all, what is the worst that can happen?

I had previously reviewed "Love Letters", just over a year ago, from the same series, and I can tell you that I enjoy her characters, and the settings of her stories. But I can also tell you that the whole time I'm reading I just want those same characters to talk to each other. In my review of Love Letters, I wrote "Stop messing around people. Let’s just get honest with each other..." and I felt the same way in this story. Lucas loves Kate, but doesn't tell her - instead suggesting he'd be willing to marry her if she'd help his parents with  free marital counseling. Kate (as you might suspect) begins to love Lucas, but can't reveal her feelings because of fears from her past. 


I get it. I do. I get that its hard to talk about our feelings. And that in a marriage, and in a dating relationship, it can be hard to know what is OK to say and what isn't. It can be hard to be transparent about our feelings because we don't want to be rejected. But I don't want to live my life that way, at least as much as possible I don't, and so while I enjoy these books, they sort of frustrate me. 


The bottom line: Hunter writes good characters and authentic-feeling friendships and family relationships, but I wish that the hero and heroine would have their conflict throughout the book - with each other, instead of within their heads. I think that would make the story of Kate and Lucas more honest, more instructive, and ultimately tell us more about God's loving nature (which based on the discussion guide is a key part of the story of Lucas' love for Kate). 


I rate The Convenient Groom 3.5 bon mots out of 5. If you enjoy sweet Christian romances, you'll probably enjoy this one, but be prepared that you might be shouting at the main characters to just talk to each other already.


*** In the interest of full disclosure, I was provided with a copy of this book for free from Bethany House Publishers, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. If you are interested in reviewing books for Bethany House, click here. If you are interested in being  a part of Book Sneeze (a review program for Thomas Nelson) check out the tag on the right side of the blog. ***

A Million Miles (in a thousand years) - out now on paperback!

I first came across Donald Miller's writing when Scotty (the head coach I worked for at Greenville) was sent a review copy of "Blue Like Jazz" - he asked me to read through it and let him know if it was worth reading. I did so, and found that Miller had explained my west coast experience with Christianity in a way that I was struggling to do, and it blessed me, taught me, and helped me to communicate better with my midwestern community.

Since then I've been a big fan and am excited to check out his latest release: A Million Miles (in a thousand years). Check out the video below, and then check out the book - you can order it online starting today!


Are you living a great story with your life? from Donald Miller on Vimeo.

Book Review: Saint Francis (Christian Encounters Series) by Robert West

Well friends, I should know better. After trudging through "Isaac Newton" (of this same series), I decided to take a stab at reviewing a another. Unfortunately for me, my love of biographies has not really extended to this series. Despite that, I will try to provide you with enough information to make an informed decision about how you'll like this book.

I'll give West this, right from the beginning, he does a great job of painting a picture about what the world was like when Francis of Assisi was a young, wealthy man. His description is rich and he paints an interesting and compelling picture of what young Francis' life was like. More importantly, there are easy parallels to what some of our lives may have been like before we knew Jesus - we can see our own lives and how easily the enemy makes us think we have it all, and how the Lord intervenes in those moments to show us what we really have (or lack).

The main problem that I have with book is that the rich description that serves West well as a historian, does not move the story forward very quickly or easily. I felt like I was continually waiting to really see what this guy Francis of Assisi was about. Along the way, I understood that he believed strongly in a life of poverty and sacrifice, and he led others wisely. But I have to be honest - if I'm not sucked into the book by halfway through its 220 very small pages - then I just can't recommend it that highly. I don't know if I'm not connecting with this series because I've only read about men thus far, or if its the format, but I have to rate it 2 sheep out of 5.

** Full disclosure: I was provided with this book free of charge by Thomas Nelson, in exchange for my honest review. I have no other affiliation with Thomas Nelson. If you are interested in being a part of this program, click the "Book Sneeze" link to the right of the blog.

Book Review: Somewhere to Belong (by Judith Miller)

I was reading a lot near the end of the school year - there was so much work to be done that it was great to be able to dive into some uplifting fiction stories.

Somewhere to Belong is the story of Johanna and Berta. Johanna is a young woman who has lived in Main Amana, a sort of devout Christian community, all of her life. In Main Amana, simplicity and community are valued above all things. Community members dress alike in greys and blacks and work hard at various aspects of the community (some do farming, some gardening, some work in the kitchen). Johanna has secretly always wanted to visit the outside world, but after her brother Willhelm left the community and never returned, she knows that it would break her parents' hearts to even suggest a visit. 
Berta is a young woman who has lived a fancy life in Chicago but who suddenly finds her family relocated to Amana. The culture of Amana is foreign to her, and frankly she doesn't like it. She rebels, she snoops, she causes no end of trouble for Johanna - who has been assigned to help Berta transition into the community.

All in all, I enjoyed the characters and the story in "Somewhere to Belong." I expected it to be a kind of average story about transitioning into a new community. Instead, there was a lot of drama and intrigue happening as family secrets were revealed and hearts were broken, as people confronted their fears and explored their true place in the world. I also thought that Miller did a pretty good job of painting a picture of what life was like inside small communities like this at the turn of the 20th century. 3 and a half Harper's Bazaar's out of 5.

Book Review: Isaac Newton by Mitch Stokes (part of the Christian Encounters series)

Its been a long time since I weighed in with a book review from Thomas Nelson. Partly this is because I was overwhelmed with course work last year and so reading non-fiction was much more difficult than reading fiction (ala the Bethany House books I reviewed a couple months ago). The other reason was that I was underwhelmed with the book that I was reading.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Christian Encounters" is a series of biographies of notable individuals from throughout history. Ostensibly, these books are written not just to biography the lives and histories of some of the world's great Christians, but also provide some insight into how their faith impacted their work. There are a number of books in the series, covering individuals such as: Jane Austen, Johan Sebastian Bach, Winston Churchhill and Isaac Newton, among others.

I had the option of choosing Jane, but decided to stretch myself and choose Isaac Newton, since in the summer I knew I would be traveling to Cambridge University where Isaac Newton was a pupil and scholar.

From a biographical perspective, "Isaac Newton" is well-written. It documents interesting parts of Newton's history and includes facts from a variety of sources.I definitely finished the book knowing more about Newton than I did when I started. From a "Christian" perspective, I felt like the hype was overblown. Though apparently Newton wrote more about Theology than Science in his life, I did not feel like I finished the book knowing any more about his Christianity nor my own. I did not feel inspired or encouraged that his Christianity was an integral part of his life. In fact, I left feeling that while Newton was a genius and was blessed to come up with some really great scientific insights and inventions, he was also sort of a big baby and cranky and prideful.

I think in hindsight, I would have rather read about Jane. I don't know that my dislike of this book is enough to cancel any affection I may have had for the "Christian Encounters" series - especially as they are all written by different authors and so the style may differ from book to book, but I certainly will not be seeking out these books to read again very often if at all. In all, 2 mathematical bridges out of 5.

As a side note, I was provided this book free of charge by Thomas Nelson Publishers, as a part of their "Book Sneeze" program. In being provided with the book, I am asked to simply read and review it - without any pressure to either praise or pan the reading. My opinion, therefore is my own and free from coercion. Nonetheless, I'm super glad to have access to free books. If you think you'd like to be a part of this program, see the link in the sidebar!

Book Review: Beguiled (by Deeanne Gist & J. Mark Bertrand)

"Beguiled" by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand is the story of Rylee Monroe, a dogwalker in Charleston, South Carolina, burglaries that are happening in the homes of her clients, and the mystery surrounding the loss of her parents. When the story of the burglaries catches the eye of a local journalist, Logan Woods, life begins to get really exciting for all involved.

This story has some great elements and some lackluster ones. The story arc in general, is interesting and exciting. The hero is appealing and fun and the heroine - while not the most fully formed woman in history - is a pretty good character, too. Although I did figure out the mystery just before the authors revealed it, the mystery aspect of the story was strong. Additionally, and this was important to me, I didn't really notice a clear voice of either author, it felt as though it was written by one person - which was a welcome relief.

On the other hand, I thought some of the elements - like how the dogwalker takes her dog out all over Charleston on her rollerblades, wearing tiny cutoffs was sort of bizarre. And I felt like she was often kind of "simpy" as my mom would say - a sort of melancholy character. The book is slow to get started, but once it gets going it is a quick read and certainly kept me content on my flights from LA to Chicago and then from St. Louis to LA.

Because this book is from Bethany House, there are some elements of faith included in the book. In general however, I felt like the faith elements (e.g. prayer before a meal, crisis-type reckoning with God, church community) were really naturally woven into the story. Sometimes in "Christian fiction" the faith elements are sort of overwhelming and feel kind of false, but in this case, I think the authors were authentic in their portrayal of the characters' inner lives. I really appreciated that part of it.

I give Beguiled three toy poodles out of five. Good mystery, not the best I've ever read, but good. Check it out.

** Reminder - Bethany House provides these books to reviewers free of charge. My job is to review the books, but there is no obligation to give a positive or negative review. If you're interested in reviewing books for Bethany House, check out this link to the right of this page**

Book Review: Sense and Sensibility (Insight Edition)

I love Jane Austen. A couple summers ago, I set out to read all of her books in one summer – even those I had read before (Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility). Even after realizing that many of her characters and stories are similar, I still loved her. I love the way she writes with wit and intelligence. And I really enjoy how everyone who deserves to be happy in the end does indeed end up happy.

Sense and Sensibility, for those of you who haven’t ever read it or seen one of the many film versions, is the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne who are both alike in passion, except that Marianne is all passion and impulsivity on the outside (sensibility) and Elinor is all composure and caution on the outside (sense). The story tells of secret love, not so secret love, lost fortunes and selfishness, and deep sisterly love. This story, even more than Pride and Prejudice, makes me wish I had a sister or two.

This insight edition is different from other more “academic” versions of classic works, because rather than pages and pages of footnotes instructing the reader as to the socio-historical background of the book…. Well, it’s like the editors are reading the book with you. Occasionally there are informative footnotes which tell you what a “Barouche” is (a four-wheeled carriage pulled by 2 horses that seated four people), or tells you about “Harley Street” (a street in London populated chiefly by medical professionals). But there are also 6 other types of footnotes that occur throughout the book – usually as an “aside” on the edge of the page – including notes about Jane Austen’s life and how a part of the story relates to it, references to S&S in film and television, themes related to faith, and notes on characters that the editors dislike throughout the story.

While at first, I thought that this tongue-in-cheek note system was a little distracting, as I went onward, I began to enjoy the voices of these women. It was kind of like I was reading the book with a friend or with a book club. So that as I read about something really horrible that Fanny said to John or Lucy said to Elinor and thought, “UGH! I think Fanny is such a jerk!” there was the comment by my “friends” in the margin saying the same thing.

This version of Sense and Sensibility does not add anything new to the text that Jane Austen wrote, and thus the story of course is great. The Insight Edition does add some contemporary fun to the novel however, and it is likely you would also enjoy taking these friends with you on the journey through 19th century England.
 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen? 4.5 out of 5
 

The Insight Edition? 3.5 out of 5

** As a reminder, I receive free copies of books from Bethany House Publishers in order to review them. While I appreciate the free books, I am free to like or dislike the books as I see fit. **

Book Review: The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life (by Joan Chittister)

"The Liturgical Year" is part of the Ancient Practices series (see my friend Beth's recommendation about another Ancient Practices book here), and is a terrific addition to it. Whether you are looking for an informative read to learn more about the purpose of the Christian Liturgy, or desiring a devotional study, this book fits the bill. Chittister, a Benedictine Nun, is an excellent writer with a strong understanding of the historical aspects of the church year. However, she also writes thoughtfully, answering questions the reader might be asking about "How does this all apply to me?"

The book begins by providing a brief historical account of different world calendars and how the liturgical calendar fits in, emphasizing the importance of the cyclical nature of the liturgical year and explaining the components of the year itself (e.g. Sunday/Sabbath, Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter). Soon she delves into detail about the different elements, spending more time on the more important events in the Christian year, such as Advent/Christmastide and Lent/Easter. Each event is explained from a historical perspective and a devotional perspective. While sometimes the text is somewhat wordy, and there are weird "quotes" throughout the pages that are highlighted - but are essentially what you just read in the paragraph, the book is insightful and enjoyable.The chapters are relatively short and if you read one per day, you would finish the book in just over a month of devotional readings.

For me, the first half of the book was especially powerful and poignant. The chapter on Advent is entitled "Advent: The Human Experience of Waiting" and it was interesting that I ended up reading it actually during Advent. This meant that God had my attention because every sermon was about waiting and hope, and so was this chapter. She says, "the year opens with Advent, the season that teaches us to wait for what is beyond the obvious.It trains us to see what is behind the apparent. Advent makes us look for God in all those places we have, until now, ignored" (p. 59). In this chapter she argues that learning to wait expectantly and patiently is a key element to spiritual maturity. As I was reminded of the stories of Simeon and Anna during this Advent season, I realized that in order to be more spiritually mature, I must also learn to wait in hopefulness and watchfulness for what God has for me.

Later, in the chapter on Ordinary Time (which happens twice, first between Epiphany and Lent, and then between Easter and Advent), she teaches about the problem of self-indulgence and the wisdom in asceticism (or withholding from the self certain pleasures). I was reminded how important it is to train my body to submit to my mind and spirit.

All in all, its a great read and I give it 4.5 Thomas Kincaide calendars out of 5. It may be a little cerebral for some people, but if you are willing to go with her down the road, it is both informative and completely emotionally engaging.

Enjoy!

Book Review: For God and Guinness....by Stephen Mansfield

“The Search for God and Guinness” by Stephen Mansfield is the story of the Guinness family and how the family and those associated with the organization used their wealth and influence to advance the cause of social justice in Ireland. Mansfield is a well-known biographer who has tackled Presidents Bush and Obama as well as Winston Churchill and Booker T. Washington (among others). In this text, he meanders through the story of Arthur Guinness (the founder of the Guinness company) and his offspring, sharing anecdotes and historical facts about the storied family – all while extolling the benefits of a good glass of Guinness stout.

I expected to really enjoy this book and the beginning didn’t disappoint. Though its organization is a little confusing (it starts with a sort of history of beer and Guinness in particular, then talks about history, then gets to Arthur after 30+ pages), I did enjoy the stories. I didn’t know that beer was often brewed as an alternative to hard liquor, and that everyone was drinking either liquor or beer because the water was contaminated. Fascinating stuff. However, about mid-way through the story seemed to grow weaker and I found less real information to support the idea that the Guinnesses throughout time were great God-fearing people, and learned that there were a lot of people in the early years of Guinness who did great things for God, and some of them were Guinnesses, and some just worked there. I’m a biography lover, but ultimately, this book didn’t hold my interest after about 150 pages. It was hard work getting through the rest.

If you like biographies and beer, you might enjoy it. I’ll still loan it to my beer loving friends, but I can only rate it 2 ½ pints out of 5.

Book Review: Find your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham

The author of “Now, Discover your Strengths” (among other books) now directs his attention toward women with “Find your Strongest Life,” subtitled: what the happiest and most successful women do differently." Buckingham provides examples of successful and unsuccessful women and then provides a framework of roles (similar to strengths) to help women understand how they can work most successfully. He also offers a section on solutions to questions related to careers, relationships and kids.

I have to be honest, friends. I didn’t like it. I have read Buckingham’s previous books on strengths and consider myself a “strengths-person.” I believe in the strengths finder program and the idea that we should be working primarily to improve our strengths (not our weaknesses) and that we should try to operate in our strengths as much as possible. I’ve also heard him speak before and enjoyed it. So I am as surprised as you are about my lack of enthusiasm for this book. Here were my major problems with it: 1. It took too long to get to the solutions – I had to read almost 100 pages before the roles were identified. 2. The examples were unclear and too wordy. I read two chapters with no idea what characteristics I was supposed to be identifying in the main examples. And 3. It is 100% geared toward working women/mothers. I found little value here for the stay-at-home mother, and if I were a stay-at-home mom, I would get a sense that Buckingham would feel I am better used in the work world.

That being said – perhaps this book IS written for the working woman/mother. In that case, then it may be more readable and more helpful. I thought the roles that he assigns are interesting and I can see myself in some of them, and I thought that after he explained the roles, the examples were much more clearly articulated and easy to understand.

I took the strong life test twice and was disappointed in the test: 23 questions that often had no relationship to my life, but more importantly, the four options for answers generally did not encompass ANY of the responses I would have to those situations. Or I was forced to pick an answer when my real action would have been some combination of two. The first time I took the test, I think the roles assigned to me were the most like me. The second time, I answered 3 questions differently, I think and the roles were completely different and one was totally unlike me.

For your money, I would buy one of Buckingham’s book on the strengths instead.

Book Review: Seaside Letters by Denise Hunter

This week I’m reviewing a fiction book by Denise Hunter called “Seaside Letters.” It’s the story of Sabrina and Tucker, who live on the small island of Nantucket. Sabrina works as a waitress and serves Tucker (a captain of tour boats) every morning at precisely 7:10. It also happens that they have a vibrant email relationship, but under pseudonyms. Sabrina knows its Tucker she’s communicating with, but doesn’t think that he would like her as much if he knew it was her.

Yes, it sounds confusing. And if you’re me, you think, “Golly, why don’t you just say, “its me!” And frankly, a few times during this story, I wondered that. Stop messing around people. Let’s just get honest with each other and tell what we know! Because of this, the story seemed a little slow to me (which sometimes can happen when the reader is in on the secret). But the characters are well-written and Tucker especially, is an engaging and worthy “hero” of this story. And in fact, after a couple chapters the story picks up and it turns out there are many more secrets the reader has to discover. Most of the plot twists are surprising and inventive. In all, I enjoyed the book – it was a quick, fun read that took my mind off my own life; just what I want a romance novel to do. It had a pleasant amount of romance without being trashy, and I thought the chemistry was well-written between the characters. Four seashells out of five.

Book Review: Let Go - Live Free of the Burdens all Women Know by Sheila Walsh

Sheila Walsh is a prolific author who has penned a number of books for women about how to live in the freedom of God's grace. Her newest book, Let Go: Live Free of the Burdens all Women Know, is another take on how to stop being weighed down by the pain of our pasts, by the uncertainty of our futures, and by the stress and anxiety of our todays. Each chapter begins with a few bible verses and quotes from notable authors, and each ends with questions to ask yourself (or your book group) and a prayer.

I appreciated that Walsh started each chapter with not just verses, but also contemporary quotes from great men and women of history, it helped put the different topics into perspective for me. I also like that though you could just pick a chapter that deals with what you're dealing with, if you read it from start to finish you are taken on a journey in healing and overcoming. In particular, I love the chapter on shame and guilt ("Shame on you!") which talks about the difference between the conviction of sin (a sense of guilt given by the Holy Spirit and meant to lead us to the cross), and shame (an emotion from Satan that makes us feel as though we are not worthy or valuable to anyone, and that forgiveness is impossible). I also loved the following chapter which clearly articulates how Jesus served as our scapegoat on Calvary - taking our shame and bearing it because he loved you and me. This book is a great read, even for those who feel like they *know* all this stuff, it is a great reminder of how to live like one who has been redeemed.

(Remember: You can review books for Thomas Nelson, too! I got this book for free - all I had to do was read it and post a review! http://brb.thomasnelson.com/)