Can you believe it’s the end of March already? Talk about a month flying by… seems like just last week I was writing up the February tour reviews.

Anyway, this month I have one book and one DVD to share with you! Today we’ll take a look at the book, and next Monday we’ll talk about the DVD.

So… onward!

Hearts Awakening: A Novel – Delia Parr (www.deliaparr.com)

Synopsis (from the publisher):

Happy End-of-February! To warm you up on this snowy weekend, I have a review for book #3, the final book in our February Blog Tour, courtesy of the fine people over at Graf-Martin Communications Inc. and Baker/Revell books.

The final book is the one that I was least looking forward to reading, initially… and found myself both surprised and thrilled to find that not only did I love the book, but I might even go so far as to put in on my list of memorable reads for the year. Got your curiosity piqued? Here it is…

Beguiled: A Novel – Deenne Gist & J. Mark Bertrand

Synopsis (from promo materials):

In the shadows of Charleston, someone is watching her…

Rylee Monroe, a dogwalker in Charleston’s wealthiest neighborhood, never feared the streets at night. But now a thief is terrorizing the area and worse, someone seems to be targeting her.

Reporter Logan Woods is covering the break-ins with the hope of publishing them as a true-crime book. The more he digs, the more he realizes this beguiling dogwalker seems to be at the center of everything.

As danger draws ever closer, Logan must choose: Chase the girl, the story, or plunge into the shadows after the villain who threatens everything?

My Thoughts:

This romantic suspense has something over so many other romantic suspense novels out there these days: It benefits from both a man & a woman’s writing perspective, drawing on the strengths of both authors, and it shows. Gist is an established romance novelist, and Bertrand is a debut novelist with a crime-thriller background, which means that both the romance AND the thriller/suspense aspects of the book come across strong. Too often this genre offers up books that suffer in one of the two areas simply because of the limitations of the author, but this co-authorship in particular did exactly what it set out to do.

The main character, Rylee, is likable and quirky, and I was thrilled to see a protagonist with an unusual job… plus, I love animals, so I was able to connect with her passions in that area very quickly. I also found her to be very well-rounded as a character, with good elements and evident flaws that gave her a realism I haven’t seen in recent books (*cough*BellaRossi*cough*).

The love interest thankfully took a realistic amount of time to develop, and even then wasn’t a sure thing. The reactions & actions of the main character and love interest were also realistic for people who are interested in each other — rather than trying to hide behind a facade of “proper” Christianese, the characters are human, with human reactions and emotions. I greatly appreciated this, and I really wish more Christian authors remembered that just being a Christian doesn’t mean you won’t struggle with temptations, tough decision and troublesome emotions… and that you won’t always make the right choice, because regardless of what you believe, we’re all human.

Back to the plot… enough questions were raised and answered in the first half of the book to not frustrate a reader, while also keeping other answers hidden until the twist at the end. The tone & pacing of the book was exacted with definite skill, alternating between lighthearted fun and intense mystery without feeling contrived, and even the inclusion of Christian material (ie. the spiritual journey of the characters) felt natural and normal.

My only concern was that the person who turned out to be the ‘bad guy’ in the end was a bit too obvious early on. I don’t want to say much more in case you read it and my comments spoil things for you, but I was a bit disappointed in that regard. Mind you, the twist turned out to be a lot more complicated than I expected, so that sort of made up for it.

In Conclusion…

What can I say? The book surprised me, in a very good way. I sincerely hope that these authors team up together in the future, and I might even be open to reading more from each author individually.

Definitely recommended. You can read an excerpt here!

Available now from your favorite bookseller from Bethany House,

a division of Baker Publishing Group.

It’s that time again! Today we have post #2 for the February Blog Tour, courtesy of the fine people over at Graf-Martin Communications Inc. and Baker/Revell books.

This month I have 3 books to share with you, all very different from each other: one book I thought I would enjoy and didn’t (see Tuesday’s post), one book I thought might be decent and was (that’s today!), and one book I initially wasn’t sure about but LOVED. Of course, we’re going to save  the best for last, so come back tomorrow for the third and final stop on the February Blog Tour.

Today we have historical fiction…

Abigail (Wives of King David, #2) – Jill Eileen Smith

Synopsis (from the promo materials):

My Thoughts:

Once again, this was the second book in a series for which I hadn’t read the first book… but in this case, it didn’t really matter. You can read this one as a stand-alone because, quite simply, it’s Biblical Fiction. If you know the story of King David (or even if you don’t, really), the book can stand alone because it focuses on a different part of David’s life.

That said, I expected the book to be decent and readable, and it was. Smith is authoritative in her writing, and does an excellent job of capturing the spirit of this historical period. She has a lot of detail to work with (head on over to Ye Olde Bible and have a read of the original story!) and manages to convey both character and story in a way that’s true to the Scriptures but new enough to compel the reader to keep reading.

The unfortunate side of things for me is that I recently took several Seminary classes on the Old Testament/Pentateuch, so the material was too fresh in my mind to be able to really enjoy the book the way I think I might have, had I not been quite as familiar with the storyline. Mind you, even if you’re really familiar with the story of David and his wives, but enjoy historical fiction of this variety (“Biblical fiction” , in other words), Abigail would be a good choice. If you want, head out and grab Michal and start there, as I’m sure it’s just as compelling as this book (if not moreso… I was always more curious about Michal, so I’m interested in seeing how Smith approaches her story… yes, that means I’ll probably read it in the near future).

My primary complaint is that a significant amount of time was spent telling the story from David’s point of view. I know that it’s important to have multiple POVs if you’re writing in third person (another note: I would be very interested in seeing this tackled from Abigail’s first person perspective, but I suspect that can get tricky with Biblical fiction as people are nervous about diving into someone’s brain and adding thoughts when there isn’t clear Scriptural evidence for certain attitudes, etc.), but I found that having so much narrative from David’s POV cluttered up the story and weakened it at points.

Yes, there probably isn’t enough material to write just about Abigail, and yes, I know that David’s story isn’t complete without his side of things (after all, he’s the central figure in the original account) but the story is called Abigail in a series about the Wives of King David. I would have liked to see more about her daily routine, her interactions with other women, that sort of thing. Yes, I know David feels guilty, but why do we need to see him every second chapter? We know his story. We’ve read it in the Bible. What we want to see now is the women’s side of things! Isn’t that why you’d pick up a book with this kind of title?

I realize there are likely fears about diving too much into the speculative aspect of things, especially when dealing with historical characters, but I think we have more than enough information about this time period to be able to derive some kind of thesis as to how the women spent their days and probably how they felt about each other.

In Conclusion…

Abigail is a well written, highly readable book. I didn’t love it, but that was purely my own fault due to my closeness with the material — but I liked it, and recommend it to others. If you enjoy historical fiction, this is a good choice, and it’s the kind of thing you can pass on to a non-Christian friend very easily. I don’t think you have to be a Christian to enjoy this book (due to the time period & the author’s approach to the story) and I think it would make a great study group choice — the kind of thing you could use to complement a study of David’s story in the Scriptures. There’s lots to talk about and muse over… I just wish that we saw a bit more of the women’s side of things, in the end.

Interested? Here’s a little excerpt for you to try out and see if you might like it!

Available now from your favorite bookseller from Revell,

a division of Baker Publishing Group.

It’s that time again! The February Blog Tour, courtesy of the fine people over at Graf-Martin Communications Inc. and Baker/Revell books.

This month there are 3 books to share with you, all very, very different. We have one book that I thought I would enjoy and didn’t, one book I thought might be decent and was, and one book I wasn’t really sure about and LOVED. Of course, we’re going to save the best for last, so come back later this week to see which one was my favorite (and might go on my list of memorable reads for the year!).

We’ll start things off with a contemporary romance…

Swinging on a Star (Weddings by Bella, Book 2) – Janice Thompson

Synopsis:

Life is good for Bella Rossi: She’s managing her family’s wedding business and has a Renaissance wedding to plan for a client, her aunt is about to be featured on the Food Network, and her charming boyfriend D.J. is everything she’s dreamed of… what could go wrong? For one, the best man at the wedding is one of Hollywood’s biggest (and hottest) stars, and to avoid the paparazzi he has to stay at her family’s home. To make matters even more awkward, he seems to be showing an interest in Bella.

From a starstruck sister to a feuding aunt and uncle, Bella has a lot on her plate. Will the wedding simply end in disaster, or will Bella make it through in one piece?

My Thoughts:

I chose this book to review because the press release said it was a “hilarious romantic comedy” that will “appeal to fans of Kristin Billerbeck”. If you’ve been around this blog long enough, you know I’m absolutely a fan of Billerbeck’s writing, so this book sounded like something I’d definitely enjoy — lighthearted, fun, charming, romantic…

With all due apologies to the author, I have to admit, I found the book neither hilarious nor romantic. Since I haven’t read the first book, maybe I was missing out on some character background that I needed to really get into the story, but it felt as though the romance element got all used up in the first book, leaving nothing left for this one. Bella already had her boyfriend, case closed. He’s perfect, charming, lovable, and all around the perfect guy.

Well, when the “Hollywood hunk” appeared on scene (note: another problem I had with this book was dated language… for as young as Bella is supposed to be, she talked like a middle-aged woman sometimes… it was a little jarring, to say the least), the synopsis material made it sound like THIS was going to be where the conflict and romance kicked in. A celebrity taking interest in the main character! Temptation and seduction! (Er, in a “Christian fiction” kind of way, of course.) Here’s where things are going to blow up!

…but it’s kind of hard to relate to a main character who is so perfect that she feels guilty talking to another man. Are you kidding me? In one scene at a play, she’s talking to the Hollywood star and senses that her boyfriend is annoyed at her… for talking to a guest at her home? So, what, she’s never allowed to talk to another attractive man in her life? Not only that, but the implied romantic interest he has in Bella never actually materializes, beyond him smiling flirtatiously across the dinner table… that kind of thing.

I was very disappointed by this — I felt like this major plot point was set up and then abandoned, due to the overwhelming virtuousness of the main character. Her struggles (oh no, he smiled at me! I must be unfaithful!) felt contrived, like a real effort had to be made to have anything wrong with her (there wasn’t), and ultimately I couldn’t connect with the character at all. Bella Rossi isn’t an ‘everywoman’, rather she’s the kind of model Christian that makes other women feel bad about themselves and ultimately hate her for it. I’m not saying I hated Bella (I’m not THAT cruel), but I just couldn’t connect with her character and felt more annoyed with her than anything else.

Look, I’m married. I’m faithful to my husband, and he’s a jealous man (as husbands tend to be). But do I feel awful and horrible and start to think infidelity metaphors apply to me when I talk to another man that I find visually appealing? NO! There’s no reason to feel guilty. The issue would arise if I started thinking about another man, fantasizing about him or dwelling on thoughts of someone who isn’t my husband. Good grief. One five-second daydream and Bella reacts with an intensity as if she’s slept with the guy (okay, maybe not THAT bad). Talk about overreacting.

In Conclusion…

So the book wasn’t for me. That’s clear. But let me say this: Janice Thompson has written a lot of books in her career, which means that she has a lot of fans out there. She’s a recognized name in the Christian fiction community, and just because I didn’t like the book doesn’t mean that you won’t. I’m serious! I’ve recently read several reviews of this book on other book blog sites, and those readers enjoyed the story (though the issue of Bella’s perfection tends to come up in those reviews as well…).

BUT… and this is a big one… I’ve also read that Thompson’s development of Bella in the THIRD BOOK in the series is very different. This is from the author herself! Evidently Bella goes through a lot of tough places in book three, and is forced to evaluate herself and her relationships, and we’ll see a lot of growth from her as an individual. That’s a good sign, and I think it might actually entice me to read book three once it comes out.

Like I said, Thompson’s work is well known, so if you traditionally enjoy her books or other Christian contemporary fiction books, you’ll probably find something to enjoy here as well. Don’t let my qualms scare you off completely.

To help you make the choice for yourself, here’s a link (LINKY!) to a pdf excerpt from the book. Read it, and decide for yourself if this is something you’d like to read. It can be read without book one, but maybe going back to the first book would make a difference in how you perceive the characters in this one. It’s worth a shot!

Available now from your favorite bookseller from Revell,

a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Welcome to Part 2, the final stop of the Baker Publishing Group/Revell Blog Tour for January 2010 (on this blog, anyway)! Yesterday and today, I’ve featured reviews for two books (now available) that I’ve read as part of the tour. I’m providing honest reviews for these books, and would encourage you to ask any questions that come to mind – either about a review or a book itself.

And now… book 2!

50 Ways to Feel Great Today: Keys to Beating Stress, Worry, and the Blues – David B. Biebel (D.Min), James E. Dill (MD) & Bobbie Dill (RN) (Revell, 2009)

Synopsis:

Feeling awful, stressed, or paralyzed by worry? This book contains 50 suggestions to help you break out of that funk and start feeling better today. These ideas are simple, low or no cost, and are backed by scientific and medical advice and anecdotes, based on the authors’ collective experience in each field.

Thoughts:

First, the good:

The book contained 50 simple, easy-to-accomplish, low or no cost ideas for getting yourself out of a difficult psychological state and back into enjoying life. Simplicity really is the name of the game in the book — for example, some of the ideas are “lift weights” or “go fly a kite”.

For someone who doesn’t normally do much more than go to work, come home to eat & watch TV, then go to bed and repeat the next day, some of these ideas might challenge & encourage that individual to break out of such a monotonous routine (which is likely the cause of ‘the blues’ or stress in the first place).

Now, the not-so-great:

Wow. “Go to the Y”? “Pamper Yourself”? “Work on Your Scrapbook”? “Go fishing”?

Do you see the problem here? While there are 50 simple suggestions in this book, the issue is that the book itself doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. The suggestions target men, women, younger individuals, older individuals… but not together. It feels as though each chapter is targeted at a different group, making it very difficult to really glean a sense of coherency in the list of suggestions.

Because of this, I found the book to be too simplistic. I’d go so far as to say “complete and utter tripe”, at least for someone with half a brain. Anyone with a lick of common sense would know that having a massage is a great way to beat stress, so does anyone really need a book to suggest it alongside “use the internet creatively”?

Admittedly, there were a few good suggestions scattered amongst the ridiculous ones, but on the whole, I didn’t take away anything of value. And before you accuse me of not being in the target market for the book, let me assure you that I struggle with stress, anxiety, drastic mood swings bordering on depression, and high tension on a daily basis. Based on my own medical history and daily life, I’m 99.9% certain I’m the target market, and I found nothing in this book but frustration, sighs, and annoyance.

My apologies to the authors, but I think the book would have been much more successful if they’d decided on a target group first (ie. men or women), and then wrote the book directed to them — or, even better, broke the book up into two separate books, one targeted at women and another at men. That way, all the suggestions might be applicable/realistic to each particular group who read the book. Because let me tell you… I have my serious doubts that men are going to appreciate the suggestion to “work on your scrapbook” to help beat stress.

I’m just saying.

Available now from your favorite bookseller from Revell,

a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Welcome to Part 1 of the Baker Publishing Group/Revell Blog Tour for January 2010! Today and tomorrow, I’ll feature reviews for two books (now available) that I’ve read as part of the tour. I’ll be providing honest reviews to these books, and please feel free to ask any questions that come to mind – either about the review or each book itself.

So, without further ado, here’s book one!

The Silent Governess – Julie Klassen (Bethany House, 2009)

Synopsis:

Olivia Keene is running away from her own secrets, but when she accidentally overhears a dangerous secret belonging to the Lord Bradley, she has little choice but to accept a post at his father’s court — a place where Lord Bradley can ensure Olivia’s silence about his own secret.

As Miss. Keene teaches the children at Brightwell Court, Lord Bradley finds himself both drawn to her and frustrated by her. What is the secret she hides, and why does his heart feel so conflicted?

Thoughts:

At first glance, The Silent Governess is an intriguing tale of relationships in nineteenth-century England: familiar characters, social mores, elegant costuming, and people who never quite say what they mean. It’s fairly typical of this style of historical fiction, and fans of Julie Klassen’s previous work will find much to appreciate here.

The characters are well-drawn, and sub-plots arise at every turn — and not only that, but Klassen manages to weave them all together at the end with skill, leading to a relatively satisfying conclusion. However…

My primary issue with the book was the amount of crying/weeping/tears from the main character throughout the first half of the novel. Every ten pages or so, Miss. Keene either cries, holds back tears, or feels teardrops rolling down her cheeks. Yes, admittedly, she goes through quite a bit at the beginning of the book, but do we really need to join her at every moment of her tears? It gets rather tedious, and at one point I actually shouted at the novel, “Listen, just suck it up and deal with it!”

At the end of the book, the resolution with Miss. Keene’s father also seemed somewhat contrived. It felt as through Klassen was desperate to tie up all the threads into a neat little bow, and that subplot in particular was resolved far too conveniently and neatly to be believable. It’s eye-roll worthy, to say the least.

That aside, the book held my interest at length — I read the entire thing in one evening. I suspect that, despite its flaws, people who are a fan of this genre and of Klassen’s work will enjoy The Silent Governess. On the whole, I much preferred Klassen’sLady of Milkweed Manor — but, it’s worth giving this one a try.

I’d also recommend it for church libraries, as I think it would find quite a large readership there.

Available now at your favorite bookseller from Bethany House,

a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Toxic Friends: The Antidote for Women Stuck in Complicated Relationships

By Susan Shapiro Barash (St. Martin’s Press; 2009.)

From childhood to the golden years, friendship is both one of the most important and the most complicated aspects of a woman’s life. What is it that makes female friendship so complex, so rewarding, and yet also so often  a source of pain?

In Toxic Friends, Barash profiles 10 different types of female friends: The Leader; The Doormat; The Sacrificer; The Misery Lover; The Frenemy; and 5 others (which you’ll have to read the book to discover!).

Personally, I was shocked to realize that I could finally verbalize the actions of certain friends in the past – it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just them. They were acting in ways that were typical of certain types of women, and Barash’s categories actually helped me to understand them better. If I ever reconnect with those women – doubtful, but you never know – I believe that I’ll be better prepared to communicate with and relate to them than I was in the past.

Above all, I think this book will help to identify those types of women if they appear in my life in the future. That doesn’t mean I’ll be psychoanalyzing every person I meet… rather, it means that I’ll have a better awareness of my relationship to certain people (for example, which women to politely and gently excuse myself from spending time with). That’s something I honestly can say I wish I knew a long time ago… I could have avoided a lot of heartache that way, and I suspect the majority of women would feel the same way about some of their own friendships/ex-friendships.

I highly recommend Barash’s book to women with friends. Yes, that’s a broad recommendation – but I honestly believe the book is helpful, not just in terms of understanding and identifying the friendships you have, but also in gaining insight into the kind of friend you are to other people.

(This book was graciously provided for review by St. Martin’s Press.)

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - William Kamkwamba (Memoir)

The one thing I have to say about this book is: Everyone should read it.

Adults, children, teenagers, male or female. This book should be required reading in schools, universities, community groups, you name it…

The book itself is about William’s life as a young boy in Malawi, about his family’s life during a very bad famine year, and how William taught himself about physics and electricity and built a windmill to power his family’s radio. William’s efforts grew until he was noticed by a figure on the international stage, and who eventually introduced him to the right people until he received a scholarship to attend University.

The first amazing thing about this is that William, an unschooled, poverty-stricken boy from Africa, was able to rise against the odds and use his brilliant mind to make something of himself. It’s clear that William is an extremely skilled and talented man, and I’m so thankful that his story was brought to the world, for another reason…

The second amazing thing about this book is that William discusses famine and living through it as though it’s simply a part of life. He never sensationalizes, never gives off a ‘poor me’ or ‘woe was our family’ or ‘Africa is horrid’ vibe, nothing of the sort.

Instead, he tells his story in a matter of fact way, simply telling us what happened and what it was like, and honestly? It’s more vivid than those World Vision ads on TV. It’s more real than hearing from the media that ‘people are starving in Africa’. Want to understand what that really means? See through William’s eyes what happens to a person’s body when there’s no food… how it bloats until the skin is like putty, how people simply dropped dead on the roads as they walked half a mile to try and get some rations, how the President of Malawi denied that anything was wrong and refused to let food and aid supplies into the country, how a family of six can live on only a fistful’s worth – total – of food per day, and sometimes less…

After I read William’s story, I was compelled to pass the book on to the rest of my family.
We who live in first-world countries can never truly understand what it means to starve until we’ve either experienced it first hand, or seen it with clear vision through the eyes of someone who actually lived it and survived.

William’s story will change the way you look at the world. It’ll pull at your heart and you may find yourself crying out for change, for some way to help these people, and you may ache to do something – anything – to help. There are so many children all over the globe who have so much to offer the world, just like William, but if conditions remain the same… frankly, they’ll all die (and already are) and the world will continue to lose brilliant minds to a thing as stupid and senseless as hunger.

Again, I implore you, read this book. There’s also a website in conjunction with the book where William talks about how he came up with the idea to build the windmill and other sorts of things, and I encourage you to view those as well.

This is Willliam’s story, and it’s worth hearing.

Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs – Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Two years ago, before I was married, I read this same book by Dr. Eggerichs. At the time, I thought ‘well, this sounds reasonable’, and continued along my merry way after closing the front cover. I remember now that, at the time I’d picked the book up at the store, a woman mentioned to me ‘this book saved my marriage, honestly… pay attention and you won’t regret it’. Reading it through for a second time, after being married for a year and a half? Dr. Eggerichs has it right.

Women need love, and men need respect. Both are mutually inclusive, because when a woman receives love she feels respected, and when a man is respected, it’s a sign of love to him. Eliminate either love or respect, and couples start on what he terms ‘the Crazy Cycle’. How do you stop the crazy cycle? It’s all based on love and respect. Dr. Eggerich outlines what this means for both husbands and wives, what they can do to increase love and respect (and maintain it!), and how to prevent getting back on the Crazy Cycle in the future.

Whether you’re dating, engaged, or married for any length of time, the Dr. speaks the truth… and it’s worth a listen!

I received this book as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger program.