New Releases

Dear Readers,

I was just looking over all the different author and artist visit we will have in the store before the end of the year.  I love author visits.  I love meeting with the authors and talking to them and learning about their heart behind the book.  I can remember a book a while ago that I wasn't all that interested in reading, but once I meet the author I understood what they were trying to tell in their story and it made all the difference in the world. 

This past Saturday we had the parents of Colton the little boy in the center of Heaven is for Real.  This coming Saturday, November 5th at 1 - 3 we are having David and Diane Munson in the store for the release of their lastest thriller.  The Friday after that on November 18th at 7:30 Steven James will once again be in our store.  On Black Friday Local author Lynda  Schab will be signing her debut novel for all who come in.

That is when we run out of month, which is probably best, but we also have a few authors or artist signed up to come in December.  So you will have many opportunities to come in and hear from the authors about their own books. 

Happy Reading

This list will include two weeks of releases because of the Christmas list I did last week.

The River Queen - Gilbert Morris
Wild Horses - Linda Byler
Autumn Song - Martha Rogers
Remembering You - Tricia Goyer
His Steadfast Love - Golden Keyes Parsons
Long Trail Home - Vickie McDonough
Joshua Covenant - David and Diane Munson
Long Trail Home - Vickie Mcdonough
Katie's Way - Marta Perry
A Stranger's Gift - Anna Schmidt
Turnabout's Fair Play - Kaye Dacus
The Wedding Quilt - Jennifer Chiaverini
The Opposite of Art - Athol Dickson

Alice Wisler

Dear Readers,

I have thought about this review for a while now.  I so want to do A Wedding Invitation by Alice Wisler justice, but am having a hard time not just babbling on about the book.  I have almost gotten to the point of saying "just read it, it is a really good book."  but that does not make a good review. :-)

Samantha has some really fond memories of working in the refugee camp in the Philippines and some not so good memories.  The amazing thing is both set of memories involve the same people.  Carson was the guy she worked closely with and thought she was in love with, until he broke her heart.  Lien was a young Amerasian girl that wanted to be liked and loved, but was a little rough around the edges. 

When Sam gets invited to the wedding of a college friend, she is excited to go, but it leads to a very strange weekend.  First, the wedding is the wrong person, and second, it leads to an encounter with Carson that she would rather have never had.  Now she wonders if she will be able to put the past behind her and move forward in love.

I have really enjoy Alice's books.  They don't neatly fit into any one mold.  They are romances and yet that is really not the focus of the book.  They are contemporaries, but are very much an issue driven book.  I also believe that Alice writes with the 20 somethings in mind, but I know that they appeal to many ages. (I am not in the 20 something category  and love them)  So maybe that is why I like them, they are just a bit different.

They do make a wonderful read and I look forward to Alice's next one, which will be out soon

Happy Reading

New Releases - Christmas 2011

Dear Readers,

Happy Halloween, 54 shopping days until Christmas.  YIKES!!!  I am not ready for that and I am not ready for November.  Less than 2 months to Christmas.  Let the rioting begin. 

Ok just kidding about the rioting, but the holidays are just around the corner and I haven't started yet.  Good grief.  Maybe I will just give everyone on my list a book and call it good.  Of course the books would all be used as I would have to read them first.

I wanted to let you all know about the new Christmas fiction for this year.  Many beloved authors are back with a Christmas book and there are some new authors wading into the waters of the Christmas novellas.  You have many titles to choose from to read and then share to pass on the Christmas spirit.

Happy Holidays er umm.  I mean Reading.

Blame it on the Misltetoe - Joyce Magnin
Christmas Memories at Grace Chapel Inn - Tales from Grace Chapel Inn series.
Log Cabin Christmas - Various authors
Naomi's Gift - Amy Clipston
A Lancaster County Christmas - Suzanne Woods Fisher
Remebering Christmas - Dan Walsh
The Christmas Shoppe - Melody Carlson
A Marriage Carol - Chris Fabry/Gary Chapman
The Christmas Singing - Cindy Woodsmall
The Snow Angel - Glenn Beck
Christmas in Sugarcreek - Shelly Shephard Gray
On Christmas Eve - Thomas Kincade/Katherine Spencer

Alton Gansky & Grant Jeffrey

Dear Readers,

I am not a big fan of 'end times' books & I did go into this book knowing who Grant Jeffrey is and what he studies and writes about.  But since I love Alton Gansky I decided to read this book anyways. I am glad of that and for the most part I liked this book, but it is also what I expected.

What if Israel had plans to rebuild the temple?  What kind of response would that ignite around the world?  What if the only thing holding them back is that they don't have any of the temple artifacts? 

This is idea behind The Scroll by Grant Jeffrey and Alton Gansky. 

 

Dr. David Chambers has walked away from the career that made him who he was.  In fact it was a career that he loved until he lost his faith in God.  So who or what can draw him back into biblical archeology?

Only one person, David's mentor, Abram Ben-Judah and only if he was offering something very very big.   When David and Abram meet, David is sure he knows what he will say to Abram about his offer, that is until Abram explains that they believe that they have found the 'map' to the temple artifacts.  Is David interested in helping Israel recover their lost treasures? 

So begins this archeology book. It has some very good parts.  Parts that are fast paced, parts that taught me something about the history of the treasures of the temple, and parts that taught me about different prophecies in the Bible.  All which make for a good read.  The only problem I really had with the book was the last few chapters and the Epilogue.  They feel like they were just stuck on the end for no real reason.  They didn't fit with the rest of the story at all.  To me it feels like Grant wanted to make sure we knew about the prophecies in the Bible about the rebuilding of the temple. Which is actually too bad, because until that point this is a pretty good book.

Happy Reading.

Lynn Austin

Dear Readers,

Lynn Austin is one of my go-to authors.  When I need just a good story I love picking her books up and reading them.  The only problem is I have read all her books now and have to wait for a new one to come out.  Wonderland Creek by Lynn just released and it was so nice to be able to read it. 

Set towards the end of the depression, it focuses on a need that was created by one of the programs Roosevelt started.  He started funding for libraries all over the country in communties that hadn't had them before.  The problem was, there wasn't enough funding for more books.  Alice hears about the need for books in Kentucky and decides to do a book drive and then bring the books herself.

 

It all sounds like a great idea except Alice is just a bit obsessed with books and reading.  It is the only thing that is important to her.  More important than her family, more important than her boyfriend and more important than her friends (I was a bit shocked when she got a book out at a funeral and started reading).  So when she loses her job and boyfriend all in one day she decides to head to Kentucky univited to deliver the books she had collected.

This starts an adventure that Alice was not expecting. She is asked to do things she has never done before.  She learns to cook over a woodburning stove, she survives without electricty, she learns to ride a horse and she learns that reading is not the only thing that is important in the world. 

I really liked this book for several reasons.  It was a good read and I learned about a part of the country that I have visited several times and find just beautiful.  The book is also set in a time period that, in Kentucky, isn't written about much.  It was a difficult place to live anyways and the depression made it even harder.  To learn about the people of that area and what they did to survive, but also help each other, is amazing. 

Now when I read books like this I know God knew what he was doing setting me in this time in history.  I really like running water, indoor bathrooms and electricity.  Cars are great and being able to just get any book I want is awesome.  So there was nowhere in this book I said, "Boy do I wish I lived there/then."  But it was good to read about it.

Happy Reading

New Releases

Dear Readers,

We are experiencing some yucky fall weather here in Michigan.  It is raining, windy and cold.  Now it is not middle of the winter cold, but considering little over a week ago it was 80 out this is cold.  All I ever want to do in this type of weather is stay home under the covers or if I do venture out it would be no farther than the couch in the living room by the fireplace with a great big quilt and a hot cup of tea.  My boss here at the store never agrees with it other than to say she would be coming over also.  I think she misses the point. 

No matter what kind of weather you are having there are a couple of titles this week really interest me.  Brian Davis and his daughter Amanda were in our store this past Friday.  They both write the Spec fiction genre.


The Tehran Initiative - Joel Rosenberg
Love's Surprise - Karen Ball
The Scent of Water - Elizabeth Goudge
The Third Starlighter - Bryan Davis
Lost Melody - Lori Copeland/Virginia Smith
Lonestar Angel - Colleen Coble

Susan Meissner

Dear Readers,

What if the walls of your house could talk?  Would they remember only the tragedies that happen there?  Would they only remember the happy events?  Or would they tell of a wonderful tapestry of both that make up our histories. 

A Sound among the Trees by Susan Meissner takes on that storyline.  Holly Oak is a home that has lots of tragedy but also lots of happiness.  Adelaide, the matriarch of the family, is sure the house is holding a gruge on her family because it was not allowed to do what houses do best, which is to offer safety and comfort from the storms outside its walls, namely the Civil War. 

 

Marielle is a new bride brought to the house by her husband, who was made a widower by tragic events.  She knows it will be a difficult adjustment for her and the family, but she doesn't expect to meet with resistance from the house.

Now you need to know that this is not a creepy book.  It is not a horror story like Amityville horror, but it is the story of how the past can sometime not let you go so you become stuck in that rut. 

Holly Oak is set in Virginia near Fredricksburg.  Some of the storyline takes place during the Civil War times and tells the tale of a house and its family caught between two armies and trusted by neither.  It is also the story of love and forgivesness.  It is the story of people trying to do what they think is right and true as the time and circumstances dictate. 

Happy Reading