WaterBrook Press

Book Review–“Mine is the Night”

I have been anxiously awaiting the sequel to Liz Curtis Higgs’s Here Burns My Candle for the past year. I was fortunate enough to receive a review copy of Mine is the Night from WaterBrook Press, and I couldn’t wait to get started!

As always, Higgs does an excellent job of setting a well-known Bible story (Ruth and Naomi this time) in 18th century Scotland. Her attention to detail, from the dialogue, (written with Scottish inflection), to the clothing, to the setting, to actual Scottish history (the Jacobite uprising) is amazing. You really start to feel as though you are there when reading one of her novels.

Her attention to detail in remaining faithful to the Biblical account is also outstanding. While Biblical fiction is one of my favorite genres of novel, I’m always a little nervous that the author hasn’t done his or her research, or taken too many liberties with the story, or added details that may actually contradict with the Bible. I never have that problem with a Liz Curtis Higgs novel, however! I will say that she has me returning to my Bible over and over again, wondering if “that was really in the story”–even for stories I thought I knew really well. But the answer is always yes–that did happen! I’m not saying that the story of Ruth was actually set in 16th century Scotland, (this is classified as fiction, after all), but when it comes to the important details of the story and the characters, it remains faithful to Scripture, which is a must for me.

I thought this book was a bit stronger than the first of the two-part series. I was able to “get into” the sequel must faster–maybe because I was already familiar with the characters, or maybe because the sequel deals more directly with the Bible story, whereas the first book dealt more with back story that isn’t in the Bible. Overall, I will admit that I still like the “Lowlands of Scotland” series better–while I loved the characterizations of Ruth and Naomi, there was something about the story of Jacob and his family that was so beautiful and moving, I can’t imagine ever liking another book (or books) better.

Book Review: “Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball”

Waterbrook provided me with a copy of Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul. It’s a story about two people, Cora Crowder and Simon Derrick, who happen to work for the same company, but don’t really know each other. They become acquainted at a mysterious bookstore, and suddenly, their paths begin crossing, and their lives become linked. Somehow, this all seems to go back to the bookstore, and the eccentric family that runs it, as well as the strange neighborhood the in which the store is located. As a matter of fact, it almost seems that Cora and Simon’s new association has been planned! Thanks to the bookstore, both Cora and Simon have tickets to the Wizards’ Christmas Ball, but will they make it there together?

I thought this book was just OK. Although it’s labeled as contemporary fiction, I really think it falls more into the fantasy genre, which is not my cup of tea. It was also a bit formulaic–from the first chapter, you have a pretty good idea of how the book is going to end, it’s just a matter of seeing how you get there. The character of Sandy, Simon’s younger sister (who has Down’s Syndrome), was my favorite part of the book. She was very well written, and brought innocence and fun to the story. As for all of the magical elements of the story–well, I could have done without that part. It was a little Cinderella-ish, but in a kind of strange way, and that didn’t help me enjoy the book more.

Mother’s Day Blog Book Tour

enduring-justice

I recently finished the third book in Amy Wallace’s “Defenders of Hope Series”: Enduring Justice.  I haven’t read the first two books, so it took me a few chapters to get the characters figured out, and try to guess about events that were referred to that must have occurred in the first two books.

Despite the fact that it was a slow start for me, I loved the book.  There were two main plots that were woven together–Hanna Kessler dealing with the childhood abuse that she had never shared with anyone, not even her family, and the FBI (including Hanna’s brother and her boyfriend) searching for a racially motivated killer.

This was a pretty gritty book, because of the flashbacks to Hanna’s abuse, and the details regarding the white supremacists as the FBI is desperately trying to find and apprehend them. It was a very real book, with characters dealing with real emotions and real flaws.  I didn’t find this to be the stereotypical Christian novel, filled with syrupy characters who always make the right decisions.  The characters in this book made mistakes, some big ones, and had to deal with the consequences just like they would in the real world.

The style of this book very much reminded my of Dee Henderson’s “O’Malley” series, which is high praise from me, as that was the first mystery/suspense series I ever enjoyed reading.  I am looking forward to going back and reading the first two books, Ransomed Dreams and Healing Promises, and I’ll be curious to see if Amy Wallace writes any more books in the series–if she does, I’ll definitely be looking for those, too!

dear-mom

I also had the chance to read Dear Mom by Melody Carlson, which is a book written for mothers of teenage daughters, in a style as though it is written by the teenager herself.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find this book to be nearly as appealing as Enduring Justice was.

I understand the purpose of the book, and think it’s a good one–to help mothers see how their actions, from the way they dress to the way they interact with their daughter’s friends to the words they choose, affect their children.  But something about the tone of the book was disturbing to me.  Maybe that’s just the natural tone of teenagers, and that’s why it rubbed me the wrong way, but it came across like mothers are just stupid, and need to be talked to like children in order to understand how they can make communication with their daughters easier.

I am all for encouraging parents and teens in their interactions, and helping them understand each other better. But I would think that there is a better, more respectful way to accomplish this goal.

Jane Kirkpatrick Duet Blog Book Tour

I recently had the opportunity to read two book by Jane Kirkpatrick (and author I had previously never read):  A Flickering Light and Aurora.

flickering-light

A Flickering Light is about a young woman, Jessie Gaebele, in Minnesota in the early 20th century, who dreams of becoming a professional photographer.  She, along with a good friend, Voe, finds a job working in a portrait studio, and learns much about the art and science of good photography.  As the owner and operator of the studio, F.J. Bauer, falls ills on more than one occasion, she learns to handle all the aspects of photography, from posing and developing pictures, to setting up appointments and handling payments on her own.  What she does not anticipate is falling in love with the (married!) owner, and tries to deny her feelings, even though they are apparent to everyone who knows her.

I was a little hesitant as I began this book, because I thought the setting and topic seemed a little strange.  While I enjoy taking pictures, as well as looking at good photography, I’m not particularly interested in the technical aspects, and I feared the book would be dry and boring.  Turn-of-the-century Minnesota also does not hold a lot of interest for me, so I was concerned about what I could take away from the book.

As it turns out, I found it to be a solidly good read.  Although I had to work a little to get into the book at the beginning, once I did get involved, I found myself really wanting to know what was going to happen to all the characters–Jessie, boy-crazy Voe, the Bauer family, and Jessie’s own family, especially her younger brother, who suffers from a speech impairment following a fall, for which Jessie carries a lot of guilt.

I also did not find the information about photography to be dry–quite the opposite.  Reading about how photographs were taken and developed in that period of time, especially in contrast to today’s digital age, was fascinating.  It was also interesting to read about the challenges a woman of that time faced, as she tried to enter a male-dominated field.

Despite my initial reluctance, I am very much looking forward to the next book by Jane Kirkpatrick, Shimmering Grasses, and finding out what happens to Jessie’s career and personal life as she continues her quest to become a respected photographer in her new home in Milwaukee.  I was also very interested to discover that this book is at least loosely based on the author’s grandmother’s own experiences as a female photographer.

auroraAurora is the true story of the same-named Utopian colony in Oregon organized by German settlers in the mid-1800s.  While it is a non-fiction book, because of the wonderful array of photographs of the community, as well as some of the handiwork found there, it is more suited as a coffee table book than a book you would just pick up and read from cover to cover. I did find it to be interesting, although it’s not necessarily something I would want to read again.  I really enjoyed the photos, especially the ones of the beautiful quilts from Aurora.  I also appreciated the directions to make two different quilts at the end of the book (although I’m certain that is a task I could never accomplish!).  It is quite a pretty book, and anyone interested in religious settlements in America would find it to be an enlightening story.