Robert Whitlow

Dear Readers,

I am almost to the point on this review for The Choice by Robert Whitlow of saying, forget writing a review and just say, “Read it, it is a good book.”  I have started and reworked this review several times now.  It has nothing to do with how good the book is, but everything to do with how much I want to tell you about the story.   I don’t want to give too much away, but I want you to understand how interesting this book is.

The Choice starts in 1974.  Roe v Wade has just become the law of the land and Sandy is facing the choice.  She finds out she is pregnant and with her being only in high school, she can now decide for herself if she wants to keep the baby, adopt it out or abort it. She isn’t sure what she will do, but she does know that she doesn’t think abortion is right. 

Skip ahead 30 years and Sandy has lived with her choice since then.  For better or worse she made a choice and has learned to deal with the repercussions of it.  She is now teaching school and a pregnant teenager comes to her and asks for her help.  As a public school teacher Sandy is caught

between what she can do and what she believes.  She isn’t sure she is ready to go as far as God seems to be asking her to go.

That gives you a general idea of what the book is about without giving too much away.  I hope anyways.  But because of what this topic is about, it was interesting to look behind the scenes of the battle between the pro-life and pro-choice forces.  They each have an agenda that they wanted to be the policy of the land and sometimes will stop at nothing to make that happen.   It was interesting to watch them manipulate the facts just so they would say what the group wanted them to say.

In normal Robert Whitlow fashion there is not only a good contemporary storyline, there is also a lawyer/trial part to the story.  I can safely say that if you liked Robert’s other books you will enjoy this one.

Happy Reading

New Releases December 3 - 15

Dear Readers,

For fantasy geeks everywhere December 15^th is circled on their calendars.   The Hobbit releases to the theaters that night at midnight.  This much beloved book by J.R.R. Tolkien is the one I have been waiting for since I had watched the Return of the King (for the umpth time). 

I will even admit that I am going to the midnight release of the movie.  The Hobbit is one of those must read books.  A wonderful fantasy that opened up a world that though fiction, seemed real.

Suddenly there was another world, one filled with Hobbits, Dwarfs and magic.  A place of great happiness and great turmoil.  A place where heroes were born and we all wanted a chance to prove our worth.

If you haven’t read the Hobbit yet come join the adventure, if you have read it, see you at midnight.

Happy Reading

Gardennias for Breakfast - Robin Jones Gunn - New cover - Abby remembers learning from her Grandmother, but when her daughter gets a chance to sit at her Great-Grandmothers knee, the experiences isn't as good.

An Amish Kitchen - Beth Wiseman, Kelly Long, Amy Clipston - 3 in 1 - Fern has a green thumb, but can knowing plants lead to love?  When love knocks on Hannah's door she has to decide whether to trust Stephen or not.  When Eve's house is destoyed, she is forced to move in with her mother and their relationship is strained to put it in the most positive light.

Strong and Stubborn - Kelly Eileen Hake - #3 Husbands for Hire - Wanted 1 3 Godfearing men... oject marriage and joint ownership of a sawmill.  Naomi is the last of the three ladies looking for a man and Michael seems to fit the bill.

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

New Releases Nov. 26 - Dec. 1

Dear Readers,

I just spent a weekend in the first of many Christmas parties.  This one was for my in laws.  There are several generations represented and is over all a chaotic and noisy, but fun.    Some of the people, because of distance and business, this is the only time of year we see them.   It is nice to catch up and exclaim over how big the kids are getting. (I remember hating that as a kid) Over food and laughter the family is once again celebrated.

Happy Reading

Heroes Proved - Oliver North - Americans are told that the threat of terrorist attacks has been eliminated, that is until a quite day in 2032.

Chasing the Wind - Pamela Binnings Ewen - What you do and don't do effects others.  Amalise finds that out in a book set in 1974.

1000 Sleepless Nights - Michael King - can a family torn apart by hurt be brought back together?

Mark Hitchcock/Alton Gansky

Dear Readers,

I have read many of Alton Gansky’s books.  Each one I have read has been an adventure and an interesting read.  I think my favorites are still the Madison Glenn series, but several of the others have been very good also. 

8 Minutes to… Digital Winter by Mark Hitchcock and Alton Gansky was not high on my list to read and yet it was one I kind of kept looking at.  The story line intrigued me even though I knew it was going to have an end times slant to it.

America’s military and government are put on high alert when power girds around the country start going off.  Both coasts are experiencing blackouts and major cities all over are starting lose power.  When the power comes back on with little or no explanation, they start to think the danger has maybe passed.  But who or what caused it?

When the power goes out again it is across the world.  Who has the ability to do that?  What terrorist group has the technology to wipe out power across the board?  Jeremy of Cyber Command is put on the job to find it out.  The problem is, with little or no power how do you find a cyber-attacker? 

I am not sure I could put a finger on what I like the most about this book, but the characters are interesting and believable.  The story line is something that has been talked about many different times and ways in America.  Our power grid is vulnerable to attack.  In recent weeks we have all watched as a huge chunk of New England went without power for days on end.   It was a struggle for them even with the rest of the country able to support them in different ways.  Can you imagine what it would be like if the entire country, if not world, was suddenly thrown back to the 1900’s?  There are very few people that would be prepared for something like that.  Where would we get food?  Gas?  How about jobs?  Would we still have them?   I work in a bookstore; I can’t say that it would be my top priority to get here each day. 

I guess that is why I liked this book; it made me think through things that may never happen, but what if?

Happy Reading

New Releases

Dear Readers,

Thanksgiving has past and the Advent season is upon us.  It is always difficult for me to find the time to relax and just enjoy the season.  Sometimes I feel like I am running from one thing to the next through out the holidays.  I have to just say no to things and rest in the peace that is Christmas.  The problem is all the things/parties are with people I want to see and visit with.  Who do you say no to?

Happy Reading

Two Destinies - Nancy Musser - #3 of the Secrets of the Cross - It is now 1994 and the story of France and Algeria continues. 

The Matchmakers of Butternut Creek - Jane Myers Perrine - Gussie is the next victim in the sights of the matchmakers.

Material Witness - Vanette Chapman - #2 a Shipshewana Amish Mystery - (from the back cover) Buggies, Quilts and a cold-blooded murder.  It's just another day in Shipshewana.

Betrayal - Robin Lee Hatcher - #2 in Where the Heart Lives series - Even though Julia never wanted to marry again, she may have to, to save her ranch.

The Dean's Witch - Elizabeth Goudge - originally released in 1960 - An unlikely friendship leads to a spiritual awakening.

The Crossroads - W. Paul Young - Anthony is offered a gift from Jesus.  He will be able to heal one person and one person only. 

Come to the Table - Neta Jackson - #2 SouledOut Sisters - Kat is just learning that even deeds done with the best intentions can be a bad idea.

Fire of the Raging Dragon - #2 Pacific Rim Series - When President Surber's decision to go to war becomes personal can he stick to his choice to send his daughter into danger?

Serena Miller

Dear Readers,

By the cover I wasn’t sure I was going to like Serena B. Miller’s newest book, A Promise to Love.  It looks much more like a romance than the Measure of Katie Calloway and I was worried she may have slipped that way more.  In some ways she did, but it is so much a part of the story that it doesn’t take away from the really good story she has written.

Once again her story is set in Michigan when lumber was king and the great pine forests we had were a big commodity.  Ingrid is a new immigrant from Sweden.  She was supposed to meet her brother in Detroit after he worked in a lumber camp to earn money so they could buy farm land and make a go of it in their newly adopted country.   When he doesn’t show up she decides to head to the Saginaw area in hopes of finding him. 

Joshua is reeling from the loss of his wife.  On the day that he is cleared of murder charges, his in-laws try to take his children away. The only way he can keep them is to find a mother for them and Ingrid volunteers for the job.  It looks like a relationship of convenience only, but Ingrid was hoping for more.

Once again Serena writes a historical story that includes a strong love story, but that is the nature of the story here.  You cannot have the story she wrote without the romance to it.  The historical part of the story was also very interesting and I even went and looked up some of the facts of the story that I didn’t know.  I had no idea that something like what she mentions happened in Michigan.  It was very interesting.  I am not going to say what it was as it would take away your pleasure of reading the story.

Happy Reading.