Beach Reads

Just thought I would compile a list of some of my favorite beach reads in Christian fiction!

1. The Guestbook by Marybeth Whalen
http://www.amazon.com/The-Guest-Book-A-Novel/dp/0310334748/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370914277&sr=8-1&keywords=The+guest+book

2. The Beach House by Sally John
http://www.amazon.com/Beach-House-Book/dp/0736913165/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370914506&sr=1-9&keywords=Beach+house

3.  Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble
Those of you who love the Outer Banks will particularly love this one!
http://www.amazon.com/Tidewater-Hope-Beach-Colleen-Coble/dp/B00B2S4XTI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370914817&sr=1-1&keywords=Tidewater+inn

To Whisper Her Name

I just finished this great book by Tamera Alexander.   Set just after the Civil War, the story takes place at Nashville's Belle Meade Plantation.    Young, shamed widow Olivia Aberdeen arrives at the plantation to stay with her mother's dear friend and her family.   A young soldier, Ridley Cooper arrives at the same time to study under horse trainer Robert Green.  You see in the prologue that Cooper and Green met in an unusual circumstance during the war.   I would characterize this book as historical romantic fiction.  While the romance is the main part of the story, there are several other sub plots involving horse training, the plantation owner's past life, war stories, and the former slaves.  I am not usually one to read romance novels but I picked this one up because it was Civil War era fiction, which I enjoy.  I was pleasantly surprised that even though you can surely figure out where the romance is headed, the other parts of the story made it an excellent read.  

Other Civil War era books I've enjoyed:

Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin (set in Richmond)--there are two others in the series also
All Things New by Lynn Austin
A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner
The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks (not Christian fiction, but a great read!)

Click on the Civil War tab at the bottom of the post and you can see some reviews of these books.

The Verdict: Left Behind series

Well, I made it through book 8.

Loved the first three.  Sped through them and couldn't wait for the next.
Books 4 and 5 were a little less riveting for me.
Books 6 and 7, to me, seemed a little out there.  
Book 8....did not like.  Made myself finished then wondered why.

I think it was worth my time to read through some of the series, but as I read more of the books I  found I wanted to read more nonfiction exploring the end times instead of these.   I think the further into the tribulation the authors got, the less biblical descriptions there are so it seemed more made-up.   Just my two cents.  

I've discovered a great author!

If you like suspense (which I do!), you need to check out Brandilyn Collins.
http://www.brandilyncollins.com/books.html

The book club read Deceit last year and we all enjoyed it.  This year we read Gone to Ground and I thought it was a excellent read.   I actually read the entire book in two hours (while in the bathtub!)
I liked the way she presented the story. Each chapter began with a newspaper article and the story was told in the voices of three women who were involved in the mystery in some way.

Shortly after finishing that one I found Brink of Death at Goodwill and picked it up.  It was well worth the dollar I paid for it.  It's the first in a series and I look forward to reading more.  This book centered around a former courtroom artist who finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation of a neighbor.  The local police ask her to work with the surviving victim to make a sketch of the suspect.

I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.  I like the way she subtly weaves in the Christian aspect of each story.  The plots are engaging and the characters are interesting!

Way behind on Left Behind

No one would accuse me of ever being on the cutting edge of ANYTHING, even reading.  I've been voraciously reading Christian fiction for over 8 years now, and I've just now decided to read the Left Behind series.  I know, I know!  Way behind on Left Behind.  I always avoided it because there was some controversy over it.  And let's face it, no one really knows what will happen at the Rapture.  But since I'm now an expert on have done a study on Revelation with Beth Moore (not actually WITH her, of course) I felt ready to handle it.  I actually like it so far.  I'm on the 3rd book and finding them hard to put down.  If you read my post about cliff hangers, you know that I am really impatient in waiting for the next book in a series I'm reading.  So it's actually good for me to read a series after ALL the books have been written.  It seems that the authors are sticking true to the prophesies found in Revelation, Daniel, Ezekiel, etc.  There is just a lot that has to be made up because, well, it hasn't happened yet. (If it has, ya'll, we're in trouble!).  

Anyone else want to add thoughts on this series?  Anyone?

Still here and still reading

Well, the holidays (and the 6 or so weeks after) were busy and I neglected this little blog.  I'm sure the 3 of you who actually read it were checking diligently each day to see if  I updated.  I feel terrible about the disappointment this must have caused you, but I'm back now and I did read while I was busy so there will be many book reviews to make up for the time lost. (Totally kidding.  Except for the reading part).

I said I was going to post some reviews of all the Christmas-themed books I read but since tomorrow is already Valentines Day I will put that off for awhile.  Probably until next November.

I've mentioned before that I like Biblical fiction.  Last year the book club read Abigail, one of Jill Eileen Smith's Wives of King David series.  I liked that one so much I went back and read the other two (Michal and Bathsheba).  Her new endeavor is the Wives of the Patriarchs series.  This month in book club we read Sarai. I really enjoyed it.  Smith does such a good job of  staying as close as possible to the Bible.  When she has to stray because the Bible doesn't give the information she uses a plot line that is very plausible.  Of course after I read that one I had to get the next book, Rebekah.  Rebekah was good but there isn't as much about her in Scripture so most of the book is invented.  The author did a a good job, I just didn't find it as intriguing.  I am looking forward to seeing what she does with Leah and Rachel.

Life Support/Life Everlasting by Robert Whitlow

This author is so good.  I love legal thrillers anyway, and he is just as good if not better than Grisham, Patterson, and the like.

The first book of this 2-book series is Life Support.  Baxter Richardson is pushed off a cliff by his wife Rena, who is shocked to discover that he survives the accident.  Baxter is now in a coma and Rena wants to terminate life support.  She claims that her husband would have wanted that, but the reader knows the real reason Rena wants him dead.  Baxter's husband, the very wealthy Ezra Richardson, wants to keep his son alive to protect his own interests.

Meanwhile lawyer Alex Lindale is sent by her firm to help the Richardson's sort out their disagreements about Baxter's power of attorney.  She ends up representing Rena without knowing the truth about Baxter's fall.  This leads to a "conflict of interest" with her firm and she is fired.  Alex decides to open her own practice.

As this is all happening Alex meets music minister Ted Morgan, whose faith and giftedness on the piano draw her in.  Alex has never had a strong faith but begins to learn more about what it means to trust in God.  She sure needs a lot of help in representing Rena Richardson.

All of these characters and story lines are woven together creating an intriguing plot.  I was racing to the end only to discover the dreaded cliffhanger!  After a few days of impatiently waiting I had book number two, Life Everlasting.  I won't go into too much detail because it will spoil the ending of book one.  Let's just say Rena's lies get more and more complicated and Alex is struggling to keep up with her.  Her relationship with Ted is becoming more serious, and Baxter's life is still on the line.