Book of the year 2015

Dear Readers,

This year it took me a bit longer to find my book of the year.  I wasn’t really worried as I had a couple in mind, but they just weren’t the right one.  I finally found it when I read the third in a very loosely connected series.   In fact it is not really listed as a series and  yet background characters and some of the main characters pop up in different books.  After having read all three titles, it is a ‘theme’ or what could be called a historical group that connects them all together. 

I loved each book for some of the same reasons. Lisa’s storytelling for one, but this last one by far took my heart.  I couldn’t lay it down once I got started and yet as I raced to the end I didn’t want it to end.  I really have no idea what Lisa’s plans are for her next book, but I would be perfectly happy if she continued along this vein that she has opened for us all. 

I have had more than one reader come back to me to “complain” that they couldn’t lay the book down once they got started.  In fact one of the readers told me she almost missing an meeting because she kept reading longer than she should have and had to rush out to make the meeting on time. 

It is feedback like that that makes me secure in my pick of The Sea Keeper’s Daughter by Lisa Wingate as the book of the year for 2015.

Happy Reading,

P.S. The other two books in the series are The Prayer Box and the StoryKeeper. 

Book of the year - 2014

Dear Readers,

It is hard to believe that the end of the year is upon us.  Our family added a couple of members this year with a wedding and the birth of a grandchild, which made it busier than ever.  Time flew with all the blessings and fun we had this year.  One of the things that remains a constant in my life is the number of good books that I have the privilege to read every year.  It does make it harder to pick a favorite from among them all as every time I think I had one, someone would remind me of a different one I liked. 

So this year I went back through my list of books I have reviewed this year and there was one that made me stop a bit longer than any of the others. That was ATable by the Window by Hillary Manton Lodge.  I was so taken with this book when I first read it that I emailed the rep from Waterbrook wondering when the second half of the story was coming out.  I loved the characters, I love the setting and I loved that Hillary wove family and cooking together so beautifully.  It is something that my family seems to have also, most of our get-togethers seem to center around food in one way or another.

The story itself drew me, asked me to pull up a chair and enjoy a meal.  They made me part of their family, to partake in their arguments, laughter and tears.  To be welcomed so warmly into a family is a gift, to be given that gift by an author just adds to the pleasure.  I am looking forward to Reservations for Two which releases in April which is not soon enough, but I guess I will wait.

Happy Reading,

Book of the Year 2013 - The Outcast - Jolina Petersheim

Dear Readers,

 

Goodness I feel like it was only a few short weeks ago that I pick the 2012 book of the year.   I have had several of them once again that have shown the possibility to be the book of the year, but the one I picked was partly because I read it in a day.  I started it on a Sunday morning and finished it by that evening. 

 

The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim was one of those books that made me want to turn pages and not lay it down, but it wasn't a fast paced book, it was one that just told a story that refused to be laid down.  It also made me interested in reading Jolina's next book,  The Midwife that releases in the summer of 2014.

 

As most of you who read my blog off and on know, Amish fiction is not my favorite genre, but that didn't really seem to matter in this book.  Then again, it is not your typical Amish fiction.  The subtitle on the book is "a modern retelling of the Scarlet Letter" and that is more of what this book is about than another Amish book.  Yes the main characters are Amish, but this story could and does happen in various forms around the world. 

 

I guess that is one thing I look for in the book I pick, it has to be something different.  It may tell a familiar story, but it needs to do it in a new and fresh way.  The Outcast was that.  I know originally the cover is what attracted my attention, but what lies between the lovely covers is what makes me pick this book for 2013.

 

Happy Reading.

 

P.S. Runners up include - Though Mountains Move - Julie Cantrell,  Secrets over Sweet Tea - Denise Hildreth Jones, Snow on the Tulips - Liz Tolsma, Burning Sky - Lori Benton, The Hero's Lot - Patrick Carr, Every Waking Moment - Chris Fabry.

Favorite Book for 2012

Dear Readers,

Announcing the Favorite book of the year nominees.

Judge by J.R. Larson - Prophet could also easily go here.  With good fantasy like this coming to the market more and more readers will find Christian fiction

Into the Free - Julie Cantrell - I just loved learning about Millie.  Nothing stopped her from doing what she wanted to do.

Flame of Resistance - Tracy Groot - This book has generated more conversations that just about any other book I have read.

Opening Moves - Steven James - The prequel to the Patrick Bowers.  This one kept me up at night.  If you haven't read this series, it is very very good.

Envelope please

The winner is... The Flame of Resistance - If you have not had a chance to read it, put it on your Christmas list and then make sure you read it.   It is a book that I am hearing back from both male and female readers, young and old, that are reading it and enjoying it. 

I just had a very interesting conversation with a customer in the store about the book.  She grew up in the Netherlands during WWII.  She was 5 towards the end of it and so didn’t remember much, but she was surprised how hard it was for her to read as it did remind her of certain things she thought she wouldn’t have understood or remember.  But she has started talking to family members about different things their families had gone through during the war.  It has really opened up a new way to connect with family members.

That is what I think fiction books can do in ways non-fiction can’t.  Not only did this book entertain us, it taught us about what life really was like during a time most of us were not alive to experience or lived across the ocean in safety.

Happy Reading

Book of the Year 2011

Dear Readers

It is that time of year again.  I feel like I just wrote a blog on my favorite book for 2010 and here it is already December and I haven't written the one for this year.  I have known for quite a while which book I was going to pick and I bet over half of you already know who the winner is, but I still want to announce it for those who don't know and of course for the prestige that goes with this award.  (Haha.)

Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews is this year's winner.  It is the one book that I kept comparing the other books to when I thought about the book of the year.  It was the one book this year that just completely caught my attention.  There are so many good books that release every year, but I am always looking for that one book that just stands out from the crowd for me.   

For those of you who don't remember this is a telling of the story of the book of Job.  It is a bit different from some of the traditional thinking of Bible scholars, but that doesn't take away from the story.  In fact when I have talked to different people who have read the book it seems to make it even more interesting to them.  They had the same experience as I did, it made us want to read the Bible story and to look into the whos and whys and thoughts on Job and his story.

The bookclub that I belong to just read and discussed this book and we as a group really enjoyed the book.  It doesn't happen often that we all like a book, which makes for a lively discussion, but we did.  What was so interesting is the many different reasons we liked the book.  Some because of BIblical content, some just because it is a really good story and some because it made them really dig deeper in to the Bible story.  We had a wonderful conversation that actually lead into many different threads and even at one point wandered away from Job into even deeper topics.  That was so interesting.  

I know that Mesu is working on her next book, Love's Sacred Song, which is about the Song of Solomon and the woman who inspired that book of the Bible.  It is due to release in March of next year.  I also happen to know she is working on a third book, but for the life of me I can't remember the topic of that one.  This means that she is going to be releasing good books for years to come.  

Happy Reading