The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (Children’s Fiction/YA)

I read this based on the recommendation of a friend (and because I found it for $0.25 at the book sale), and am very glad I listened to her. In fact, she’s the same one who told me to read Catherine, Called Birdy at the beginning of the year. If I track down I Capture the Castle and get that one out of the way, I’ll have completed the circuit of her “highest YA recommendations”. Huzzah!

But anyway, back to the book. Despite not being too sure about it when I picked it up, it turned out to be an enjoyable read with a strong female lead who I really liked. Her transformation from a timid, well-bred society girl to a courageous young woman was very well done, and I liked how things turned out at the end – not quite the way I expected, and yet it was just right. Definitely recommended.

Rating: 4 coffees out of 5

It’s release day for the new book from Max Lucado, ‘Fearless’. It’s no secret that Lucado is incredibly skilled at catering to people’s emotions, and he does it again in his latest release, which addresses the ‘culture of fear’ that society (specifically North American) has built up around them, regardless of whether they realize it or not. Bad economy, job losses, terrorist attacks, mortality, crime-laden news media reports… there’s more than enough fear to go around. But what if you could live your life without fear? Live fearlessly, relying on God’s strength in the face of things you can’t control?

Lucado weaves anecdotes in and around his statements on fear and living fearless, tugging on the heartstrings and provoking an emotional response. Some might say he manipulates emotions through the anecdotes he shares, but doesn’t every writer manipulate emotion in one way or another? At the very least, the book is timely and will likely be a beacon of hope for those struggling with job loss, uncertain financial futures, and so forth.

The book is a good reminder that we can’t control everything, and we wouldn’t want to. God is the only one who knows what’s going on, and He has promised the best for us… so why not stop being afraid and start trusting more?

Rating: 3.5 coffees out of 5

Gifts of War: A Novel – Mackenzie Ford (Historical Fiction)

When my Gifts of War ARC arrived in the mail, I wasn’t quite sure what to think… after reading the back cover copy, I thought “why the heck did I request THIS?”. Clearly the promo material for the book made it sound more exciting than what was written on the back cover. World War I? A man’s lost love? Another man & his quest to make a life with a certain woman during the war? *snooooooze* So, guess what I did? I put the book away & avoided it as long as I could. And I do mean as long as I could.

Finally, guilt got the better of me, and I picked it up. “Why are you reading that?” my husband asked, “Read something you’ll like, don’t waste your time.” But I had an obligation to fulfill, so I read it. And you know what? Even though it wasn’t my favorite kind of book, it kept me reading, and that has to say something.

On the whole, I didn’t really like the ending, but it made sense when I read the last page… the very last page, which changed everything for me. I don’t want to give it away, but that final page – as a writer and as a reader – made me gasp and say “Oh! How fascinating!” and left me with a good, warm feeling toward the book.

If you enjoy historical fiction, I think you’ll love Gifts of War. I really do. It has suspense, romance, and plenty of history from a war we often learn very little about (at least in the Canadian school system, we tend to focus on WWII). I liked learning more about WWI, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to someone whose reading habits lean toward historical fiction.

Rating: 3.5 coffees out of 5

Rick and Bubba’s Guide to the Almost Nearly Perfect Marriage – Rick Burgess & Bill “Bubba” Bussey (Marriage)

Put away those mushy-gushy marriage guides… the real stuff’s right here! Alright, maybe not all of it, but Rick & Bubba have a few things to say about getting married, being married, and staying married. And it won’t put you to sleep! Rick & Bubba approach the subject with honesty, humor, and personal anecdotes that will make you either laugh or groan (depending on how much you identify with said anecdote…!)

What I appreciated most about this book was the different approach to the subject, which I realize is something that a number of other reviewers found frustrating. Let me put it this way: the authors don’t shy away from taking shots at their wives. Not in a cruel or mean way, but in the sense that the anecdotes don’t always make their wives into the “good guy” of the situation.

They show their faults, their bad habits, all those things that… well… that husbands are always pinned for in other marriage books! That’s not to say Rick & Bubba make themselves out to be perfect, model husbands – not in the least! But the tongue-in-cheek, BALANCED approach to showing both good/bad sides of husbands and wives, in a humorous way, was incredibly refreshing. It’s about time we wives had some stories told about us!

Rating: 3.5 coffees out of 5

(Reviewed for Thomas Nelson)

Turn Up the Heat: A Couples Guide to Sexual Intimacy – Dr. Kevin Leman (Marriage)

What can I say? I’ve always been a fan of Dr. Leman’s books, whether they’re about Birth Order, marriage, family relationships, women & perfectionism, or sex. I find his writing style to be very casual, personal (he uses himself and his own life & marriage for a lot of anecdotes), and approachable, and always peppered with humor. He’s the kind of self-help writer that you feel you know once you’ve read one of his books… like if you saw him in the street tomorrow, you could walk up and just say “Hey, Dr. Leman! How’s Sande? Did you have a good time on your annual family trip?” etc.

So, once again, he’s written a ‘sex book’, comparable (but still different) to Sheet Music, which I read last year. While I think I preferred Sheet Music over this one, he had a lot of good content inside this volume that I think would be very helpful to many. It’s mostly presented in a Q&A format, based around popular questions he gets during marriage seminars and regular marriage counseling practice, so it was interesting to read about the common issues and concerns couples have… because really, there’s a reason why they’re common concerns!

All around, a well-written and well-presented volume (as usual) from a psychologist who, all things considered, writes his books (and presents himself) more like an easy-going friend than anything else.

Rating: 3.5 coffees out of 5

Scoop - Rene Gutteridge (General Fiction)

A fun & slightly wacky novel about the people at a TV news station, and the crazy goings-on behind the scenes as the sacred “Sweeps Week” approaches. Gutteridge develops a cast of characters that seem truer to life than you might expect: the overworked & high-strung producer, the young but inexperienced male news anchor, the older female news anchor who is clinging to her job with everything she has, the devout (but attractive!) Christian female who talks about God like he’s her best friend, and the reporter with a conscience… but wait, there’s more!

There are literally enough characters to fill a TV station, but it all makes sense because everyone has their place. The ‘major drama’ of the novel is well handled, but I think the problem itself takes a bit of a backdrop to the people – in a good way.

It wasn’t a spectacular novel, but different, well written, and pretty entertaining. I sat down and read it in one shot, so that has to say something!

Rating: 3 coffees out of 5

The Bookshop – Penelope Fitzgerald (Literary Fiction)

What an interesting, albeit brief, little tale! Thoroughly British in nature, and packed with odd, quirky characters, this is the story of a woman who decides to open up a bookshop in her very small town. For whatever reason, many of the residents are hostile to the idea, and the book centers around her struggles to keep the shop open and profitable whilst fending off certain community members who would wish to close her down.

I can honestly say I was a bit disappointed in the ending… mostly because I wanted the story to continue, as I felt it wasn’t entirely finished. But, I suppose that was Fitzgerald’s intent, and as a result, the whole of the book makes for an interesting little read that is easily devoured over a few cups of tea on a lazy afternoon.

Rating: 3 coffees out of 5

Lady of Milkweed Manor – Julie Klassen (Historical Fiction)

This is definitely not my usual kind of ‘historical fiction’… regency ladies in their poufy dresses, ‘proper’ speech & mannerisms, etc… but there I was at the bookstore spending the church budget on new books for the library, and the woman ringing me up at the till saw that I had this book & the author’s next one in the stack, and promptly began gushing about them. She was so enthusiastic about this author that I found myself saying “well, I guess I’ll have to try them” and agreeing to come back and let her know what I thought. Well, since that’s the only Christian bookstore in town, and I still have more cash in the library budget, I figured it would be awfully hard to avoid her… and I just knew I’d feel guilty if she asked me what I thought and I had to admit I wasn’t really interested in reading the books after all. Especially when she was so excited about them… so, when I got home, I picked up Lady of Milkweed Manor and began reading… and read some more… and kept reading… and finally had to go to bed. The next morning, I… uh… didn’t start work until I’d sat down and finished reading the book. Oops.

“Huh,” I thought, “Guess it was worth my time after all…” And so, I’ve placed the second book on the TBR list. I won’t say a whole lot more about it – I don’t want to give the plot away, but if you’re interested, there are several good reviews on LT that give a bit more detail. I was glad I read it without knowing anything about the plot, probably since I might not have bothered otherwise. It was a pleasant surprise, and very well written for a first novel.

And I’ll admit it… I was actually bawling my eyes out near the end (and I think mumbling “no, no, NO!” as I read), when the author made me think something was going to happen/had happened that actually didn’t. My goodness… skillfully done. Recommended, even to those who don’t usually like this kind of regency-style historical fiction. Guess I learned a little something about my literary tastes with this one!

Rating: 4 coffees out of 5

Nine Ways God Always Speaks – Mark Herringshaw & Jennifer Schuchmann (Christian Living)

This was an ER book from LibraryThing, and I admit I was a bit skeptical when it came. I sometimes enjoy reading somewhat-fluffy Christian non-fiction (let’s face it – there’s a lot of it out there, and the majority is crap), but I wasn’t sure what to expect from these authors. Tyndale Publishers is usually fairly trustworthy, however, so I plunged ahead.

You may read from other reviewers that it was too ‘trite’, ‘scripturally unsound’, ‘juvenile’, and so forth. Alright, I see where that comes from. The language of the book was not academic, and the authors frequently took stories from Scripture and tried to re-tell them in modern words (ie. the angel coming to Mary). Now, I understand that some people might take issue with the authors trying to get their point across by saying Mary ‘heard voices’ instead of emphasizing the angel… but I think what they were trying to do is give the perspective of someone who might have heard Mary trying to explain why she was pregnant and unwed. I don’t doubt plenty of people thought she was crazy and hearing voices. Make sense? Some anecdotes like this were perhaps not expanded upon enough to get back to the original sense of the text, but I can see where the authors were coming from.

That said, this was clearly not intended to be an academic text. The ‘juvenile’ tone (or, I might say, friendly and contemporary) of the book indicates that it is aiming to appeal to the everyday person who wonders if they’re hearing God, or if God can really speak to someone today. This isn’t a book for pastors, or professors, or theologians, or even Bible college students. This is a book for the average individual who has genuine questions about God’s voice. So, of course the authors aren’t going to take a ‘higher tone’ with their writing. Of course they’re going to ‘dumb it down’ a bit, because the point is in the core message of the text: God speaks, and here are some different ways he’s done so throughout history.

The majority of the book is anecdotal, using stories from history, Scripture, the authors’ own experiences, and the experiences of others that they’ve heard on speaking tours/at conferences/through emails to them/etc. Then they expand on how God spoke in that story. And you know what? I really appreciated that the authors didn’t discount any method, in the sense that God can use any situation to His advantage to get His point across.

Yes, the book was written for hoi polloi. But that’s just it: God can speak to anyone, at any time, for any reason… and that’s a message that the everyday individual – perhaps more than a pastor, or a teacher – needs to hear.

Rating: 3 coffees out of 5

Wesley the Owl – Stacey O’Brien (Nature/Science)

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Several people told me this book was amazing, and I’d even read about it months before that and thought it looked interesting, but nothing, and I do mean nothing, prepared me for how much I would learn and be awed by in this book. Every single page taught me some other incredible thing about barn owls (which I promptly shared with whoever was closest to me – I think my husband is sick of barn owl stories at this point, hah!), and although I don’t entirely buy all of O’Brien’s philosophical speculation in the final chapters, by the end of this book (and Wesley’s life – and that’s not a spoiler, because all animal books have this at the end) I was bawling like a baby: Out of emotional attachment to the owl I’d just read about, out of a deep sense of loss for the author who’d spent 19 years with this remarkable creature, and out of a sense of amazement and wonder toward one of this earth’s creatures that I would have otherwise simply taken for granted.

I strongly believe that many people have lost their sense of connection with animals and nature, and take these things for granted. There is an intelligence and personality in so many animals that we interact with or see from afar, on a daily basis, and we think nothing of their presence in our lives. The story of Wesley the owl, and how he learned – interacted – changed – developed – LOVED – and connected with the world around him is truly stunning. You will never look at birds, owls in particular, the same way again, and I hope that this book will help others reconnect with that childlike sense of amazement of the natural world around us.

Rating: 5 coffees out of 5

Exploring the Old Testament – Volume 1: A Guide to the Pentateuch – Gordon Wenham (Biblical Studies/History)

I had to read this for a course I was taking on the Pentateuch, and for once… it was actually quite an enjoyable textbook! Wenham breaks down the various aspects of each book in the Pentateuch without dwelling on minute details that bog down so many other commentaries & explorations of these first five books. He also included comparative historical detail, with reference to outside ancient literary works, and also made mention of archaeological controversies over various elements found within the text. All in all, an excellent guide to the Pentateuch for someone looking to do an overview of these five important and influential ancient scriptures.

Rating: 3.5 coffees out of 5