shameless canadian author promotion: The Hunchback Assignments

Hey kids!


Remember when this intermittent blogger said that she was going to be sporadic, but would return for important things like, say, condensing the Aubrey/Maturin series, raving about Derek Landy and if Arthur Slade wrote something new?

Well whatydaknow? Arthur Slade wrote a book. Good on him.

You'll read a full-blown review next week, I am sure.

But, for now, as I am hovering in my apartment; half-dead from laryngitis; home from another long stint away; peppermint tea-in-hand- Gigi in the background ( you sing it, Maurice Chevalier, you SING IT!), I thought I would take a moment to provide you with a fun link:

Hunchback Assignments

Look reading public! You only have TWO Days until a new Arthur Slade novel! YAY! This only happens once a year ( used to be twice-ish when he wrote for Tundra but who is counting?)


oh! and Toronto has a fantastic Word on the Street this fall! With lots of great Canadian authors (including Kenneth Oppel who I recently forgave for Starclimber) check that out here!



And just in case Canadian authors have not tantalized your weekend enough, read about the class act that is Alice Munro here. She pulled out from the Giller this year ( because we all know she would have won it, no matter who else was in the running).

And finally, in a totally un-related vein, thank goodness the new Alatriste is finally going to be released this September. That's right, Arturo Perez Reverte, I am looking at you--- sure, you wrote it ages ago, but you have to get on those translators to get it into my greedy little hands uber quick!


Alright, off to wallow in late-Summer flu-ness.



Go support Canadian authors!

oh look! I am famous

I was lucky enough to write a guest post for our friend Kailana yesterday! HERE IT IS:

All about Broadway's leading ladies!

Michal by Jill Eileen Smith

rating: **1/2
publisher:Revell


Beautiful Michal is just growing into womanhood when she first begins to notice the young harpist David as more than a shepherd boy hired to tame her father Saul's tyrranous moods.

With David around the palace speaking with her brother Jonathan and tempering the wrath of the unpredictable King Saul, Michal begins to feel more and more attracted to the brash young man. Sure that David is in love with her older sister, however, Michal tries desperately to hide her feelings.

But, a turn of events at the fateful Valley of Elah catapults David into fame --- and into a very close distance at the palace and Michal must confront her growing love.


Smith retells the famous Old Testament tale in a comprehensive and immensely readable fashion prefacing each segment of the book with its aligning scripture from 1 Samuel.


I must admit that the most fun part of reading Michal was how it immersed me into the story I have known my whole life. The children's rhyme Only a boy named David.... was always at the crevice of my mind as the tale was unfolded in front of me.

As in the scripture, my favourite elements of the story were prevalent: the relationship between David and Jonathan; Saul's wrath and David's constant running ( the first fugitive story, perhaps); the shepherd boy's courage and confrontation of Goliath and the burgeoning belief that David--- a lowly boy--- had been prophesized by Samuel to ascend the throne.


Technically, the book has a few minor faults which I will chalk up to rookie syndrome. There is some awkward onomatopoeia (i.e. Goliath's demise); Harlequinized descriptions( "a mirage with luxurious raven hair"); completely contemporary vernacular interposed with some strange hints of speech of the time period and chapters which start mid-dialogue--- a technique which, unless done well, should be avoided.


Smith is not in new territory here ( see Francine Rivers' Lineage of Grace and Austin's Chronicles of the Kings etc., etc.,) but I commend her tackling of a difficult subject. Michal, like David's other wives, is not a well-developed or exceedingly likeable character. While I do have trouble emptahizing with the Michal of this novel, Smith does offer glimpses of humanity.

Perhaps ( as in Scripture) the most compelling relationship is that of David and Jonathan: a strong friendship preternaturally ordained to usher David to the throne. The fact that Jonathan was willing to forfeit his crown to a shepherd boy has always interested me---- moreover, his protection and fraternal love for David--- is no less than inspiring. Smith does well to establish this relationship.


I will read the next in this series because I saw glimmers of potential. With the renaissance of Biblical stories, I am certain Smith has found her niche.



more Jill Eileen Smith? Follow her on twitter! I do!

Maud and Me

I started ( but like most of my writing ideas abruptly abandoned) a project wherein I was determined to re-read all of LM Montgomery's novels and document the experience. This still might happen. For now, since some people still find this blog, I thought I would re-post them here.


From October 2008:



LM Montgomery has a funny way of creeping up on you. She can attune your ear to a phantom whistle you're dead certain you hear from a path nearby; she can make you believe there is magic in your backyard; make rain seem harrowing and deliciously ominous rather than dour and depressing; make you believe that you are validated by a circle of interconnected readers and imaginative spirits who share your same kindred passion for that which lies beyond the veil of sodden reality.


She makes you see a fairyland just a step beyond the borders of your complacent normalcy.



I had an idea today. What if I were to primarily read all of LM Montgomery's books in a sequence of my choice and document how they effect my mood, routine, my every-day life.


I just finished reading the Magic of Wings : an excellent new biography by Montgomery scholar, Mary Rubio. It left me with Montgomery on the brain. In this state, I could not help but reflect on years of reading and imagining. So many formative kernels of thought have been planted by my literary love-affair with the dreamiest writer of them all.



Montgomery's work fascinates me in part because it is a key to understanding a complex woman. Like any other author who seemingly steals the words from your mind and imrpints them on the page ,my connection with Montgomery is deeply rooted; our thought processes, conceptualizations of romance and books and general world view are so similar.


She is my mental and imaginative doppleganger. Her books have a profound and tantalizing power on me. And, needless to say, on millions of readers. But, do the books have the power to sway a difference in my ordinary life?

What would one's moods be like if completely absorbed in Montgomery's fairyworlds for weeks on end?


This heavily student-loan indebted, 27-year old young professional in the Educational Publishing business is about to find out.

I have a long and academic history with LM Montgomery's canon, her journals, criticism, and life. I mean to shelve this as much as possible ( it will undoubtedly creep in ) to save room for literary experience.

Many of her novels have eluded me for years. I will touch upon the favourites I read perennially, but still make room for those oft shelved in dusty corners.

My setting finds me in Toronto, Ontario where my meagre budget allots me a relatively posh basement dwelling in Forest Hill.

Misplaced, imaginative, social and a consommate dreamer, I have all of the makings of a Montgomery heroine.

Can I transpose her sense of imagination, the purple fields of love and butterflies, into my own daily existence?

What will I sound like, feel like, talk like? I will not have russet red dirt beneath my feed nor the melodic strain of a whistle spiriting a nearby boy to my side.


I'll begin, then, reading and reflecting and communicating a hodge podge of thoughts intertwining my adventures in Montgomery's lands with my own musings and my own seemingly ordinary life.

But ordinary is relative, is it not, and Montgomery has made immeasurable readers strip back the veil to find a completely revitalized world of romance and possibility beyond.


To begin Kilmeny of the Orchard (1910)projects aprubtly abandoned ---if somewhat temporarily) a blog project wherein I was determined to re-read all of LM Montgomery's fiction.

Listed: Favourite Male Characters

Courtney has been doing some lists over the past weeks and I thought I would jump on this one....because, seriously, what girlie bibliophile doesn't want to talk favourite fictional men?


Ahem!

Without further ado!


The list!

1.) Sherlock Holmes ---he needs no introduction. He is not at all how he is usually portrayed in film. He is, instead, young, spry, athletic and sharp. Oh! and he may loathe all of humanity but he loves Watson!

2.) Melrose Plant from Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series. Melrose leapt off the page at me when I first read him in "The Man with a Load of Mischief" ---e'er since I pine for the next Jury installment---especially the first obligatory scene in Long Pidd where Melrose is spotted at the Jack and Hammer: perhaps languidly reclining with his nose in Rimbaud. This Lou Reed-loving; emerald eyed; gold-rimmed bespecked wonder is an absolute fictional favourite!

3.) Stephen Maturin from the Aubrey and Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.
Stephen is just so demmed interesting. So complex and so vulnerable. I sort of want to brush him up and put him in my pocket. Plus, I love that he plays the cello and that his heart "beats to quarters" every time he sees his one love , Diana Villiers


4.) Horatio Lyle from Catherine Webb's The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle, etc., Sort of a Horatio Lyle/ Doctor Who hybrid, Horatio sprung off of the page and into my heart within ten pages of his first, eponymous novel. I LOVE him! I love that a young adult series boasts an adult protagonist and I LOVE that he loves the children: his proteges Tess and Thomas. His repartee with Tess is one of the best bits of Webb's sparkling writing.


5.) Dr. Neil MacNeil from Catherine Marshall's Christy. Oh goodness. Neil MacNeil sets my heart all aflutter. A smart, rapier-witted Scottish doctor whose loyalty to his people keeps him sequestered amidst poverty and ignorance in the Great Smokies of Tennessee. Young, impressionable Christian school teacher Christy is given more than she bargained for in this stern agnostic. The two spar and battle and fight through one of the most palpable chemistries I have ever read.


6.) Sir Percival Blakeney --The Scarlet Pimpernel of Baroness Orczy's series.
Percy is a swashbuckling; sword-wielding; romantic. He loves stealing to France to slight the intelligence of Robespierre and his personal rival, Chauvelin. Indeed, he may just be the first costumed superhero: disguising himself as a fop to slip into France under guise of attractive clothes. From lavish balls at Lord Grenville's to imprisonment to banter with the Prince Regent himself, Percy is ready for anything. Perhaps what most endears me to him is his adoration of his wife Marguerite. He kisses the stones her feet have trod.


7.) Dean Priest --from the Emily Trilogy by LM Montgomery

Someone please tell me what he is doing in what are otherwise harmless kunstleroman novels? Hunchbacked, emerald eyed and honey-tongued, "Jarback" Priest is undoubtedly the most complex of Montgomery's heroes ( followed closely by Andrew Stuart of Jane of Lantern Hill and Barney Snaith of The Blue Castle). He saves Emily from death and then claims her life for his own. All the while, exorcising his inner Rochester and proving himself the most byronic of byronic heroes. Wracked with jealousy and with a tendence to oddly skulk in corners, Dean just gives me shivers and keeps me diving back for more. I wrote my thesis on Montgomery and Dean figured prominently; creeping into each paragraph, but also into my thoughts for a year consistently. Montgomery mentions a novel-in-embryo she thought might have been her crowning glory entitled "Priest Pond." Perchance Maud shelved the epic that would never be but kept dear Dean and slid him into some of her best work.


8.) Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities ( Dickens)

Sydney Carton is a drunk lawyer who wears his wig askew, who piddles around his office with Stryver long after closing time and who loves Lucie Manette with all of his heart. Sydney never quite lives up to his vast potential. Moreover, he knows it. Instead he bottles all heroism into one of the most shockingly redemptive acts in all of literature. A very big literary crush of mine.

( I made him a facebook account).


9.) Barney Snaith from Montgomery's Blue Castle.

Barney is sort of my leading man. I adore him. I just want to put him in my pocket. In many ways he embodies my ideal: well-read; sarcastic; adventurous; thoughtful; bookish and smart. Barney's independent and has a wonderful, quick humour. He is also the best companion a gal could have. He respects Valancy ( his leading lady) and treats her as an equal. They share one of the most romantic friendships I have ever read. I like that their romance blooms out of comradery: the preternatural kinship Maud often writes of. Barney also has dimples and just happens to be an author---triple word score!


10.) Joseph Gargery from Great Expectations

I am not in love with Joseph; nor do I find him a particuarly attractive hero. He is not, indeed, the hero of the tale at all. But, without Joe, there would be no Pip to star in the tale and to have great expectations realized. Joe is the salt-of-the-earth blacksmith who would give his right arm to make his young, orphaned brother-in-law happy. No matter how badly the rich Pip hurts and mistreats Joe, Joe always holds the forge door wide open.
Joe also boasts a tremendous respect and tolerance of women: even his treacherous wife, Mrs. Joe. The son of an abused mother and a drunken father, Joe vowed never to see a woman put in such a shameful position again. Thus, he bears a difficult marriage having saved his wife and her young brother from destitution.


Honourable Mentions:

Alan Woodcourt (Dickens' Bleak House)
Patrick Harper ( the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell)
Locke Lamora and Jean Tannent ( by Scott Lynch)
Horatio ( from Shakespeare's Hamlet)

the thinking girl's guide to ....William Wilberforce

Can't get enough of the moralist/abolitionist/theologian extraodinaire "nightingale" of 18th/19th Century parliament?
see here and here

you can go right to the source by reading his own work

This Christian hero has been well-profiled in recent years with a popular:


movie

and a few wonderful biographies:


I am currently reading the most recently published biography by William Hague. It is exceptional. Though Eric Metaxas ( who I rave about in this entry) wrote an excellent biography, Hague digs more deeply into the political climate of the time period and offers, if possible, a more objective perspective on Wilberforce's strong Christianity.


Hague has previously written a biography on Wilberforce's erstwhile opponent and close friend William Pitt the Younger which should appeal to those interested in Wilberforce and his circle.


Christian fiction is fun and a great escape but I also like reading Christian history and I can think of few subject matters more influential and with greater, more impacting ripples on our current society.

Miss Match by Sara Mills

Rating: ****

Publisher: Moody Press

Well done Sara Mills! What a fantastic weekend read! The first Christian noir I have ever read and I hope, if Mills is at the helm, not my last.

I had heard a lot about this series online and was delighted to find that Mills lives in Canada ( huzzah! ) I also read a snippet in Margaret Cannon’s column in the Globe ( note: previously I had never ever read a review of a Christian novel in the Globe and Mail so …kudos, Sara Mills).

I found this on the way up north from the city while stopping in Barrie for a coffee. Barrie has a Christian bookstore called “Treasure House”---which is good in a pinch.

I was surprised to find “Miss Match” on the shelf, thinking I would have to order it online. NOPE!

Allie Fortune is a female PI in grainy post-war New York City . She talks directly at the reader like something out of Chandler . Her office is filled with shadows from eerily drawn blinds; she spends damp nights wracked with insomnia flittering through old case files with a catchy, sardonic eye and she strolls the streets of New York in a perfect, luminous fog.

Basically, she is the coolest, cracker-jack investigator ever in the Christian marketplace.

When Allie’s erstwhile partner and FBI agent, Jack O’Connor, shows her a letter from a former flame trapped behind the Iron Curtain, Allie is more than willing to hop a plane and help her friend uncover a dastardly mystery.

Espionage; Soviet soldiers; post-war angst; and fantastic narration ( not to mention flashbacks to gorgeous Casablanca and Morocco markets ) make this the perfect Christian mystery.

Mills’ Christianity is tasteful and not over-bearing. Testament to this is the fact that The Globe and Mail didn’t mention it once in their review.

Mills is a competent and captivating author who unravels a story so different from anything I have read in the marketplace, I was beaming until the end.

There is true suspense here, saturated in interconnected mystery, heart-in-one’s-throat moments and a whopper surprise at the end.

Allie Fortune: you are one of the cleverest female heroines to hit the Christian marketplace in eons!

Fedoras off to Sara Mills, you were EXACTLY what this mystery lover was looking for.

Off to find a copy of “Miss Fortune”

visit Sara Mills here

The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn by Liz Johnson

publisher: Steeple Hill Love Inspired (Harlequin)

rating: ***

(Mac)Kenzie Thorn teaches GED classes to the inmates at her local prison. A rewarding position, Kenzie finds her forte is taking control of her classroom and inspiring those in an unfortunate circumstance to reach their full potential.

In fact, Kenzie gets along with most of her class----until Myles Parsons arrives.

Cocky, arrogant and good-looking, Myles doesn't fall as easily into Kenzie's hands. Beguiled by his blue eyes and his renegade ways, Kenzie cannot decide whether to be infatuated---or infuriated---by this new inmate.

And it's not like she has a lot of time to ponder....

Kenzie's grandfather Mac is running for Governor while convincing Kenzie to take a "safe" job as an elementary school teacher.

But Kenzie--capitilizing on the spicier facet of her spicy and sweet personality---enjoys the challenge of her inmates----even Myles Parsons.

When Myles kidnaps Kenzie and spirits her away in her own car--- Kenzie is terrified.

But how horrible a kidnapper can Myles possibly be? The cabin he stows her in is populated by his grandmother and he saves her from a mountain lion.....

Myles swears he is an FBI agent---but Kenzie is unsure.

Soon, they pair together in an adventure that spirals into a surprising climax---- which hits far too close to home to Kenzie.

All the while ...falling in love.

This was my first Steeple Hill Love Inspired novel and I enjoyed it. Johnson knew her characters intimately and wrote them confidently---as if she had plotted the story carefully for a long time. Moreover, I felt she was directly talking to me---with a bit of a smirk ---denoting something she knew that I didn't ---as of yet....

...a tantalizing way to write.

There was some italicized prayer in the novel that may have been omitted----but that is the style of this kind of book.

My one criticism is how quickly the events catapulted into place. I would have enjoyed the suspense of having Kenzie ( still thinking herself the victim of a kidnapping ) and Myles (the kidnapper/FBI agent ( or so he says) stuck in an awkward position with simmering chemistry betwixt them.

Instead, the cabin scenes reflected on the cover are soon over---making way for a road trip which, while exciting, might have proven even more fun with a little more Kenzie/Myles relationship development.

A great book for the cottage!

more Liz Johnson?:

read her blog here

summer is short, read a story

I was pleased with Harper Collins' new initiative to promote short stories as the perfect cure for "What to read this summer."

I must admit that while I respect the craft of short story writing, it is not my favourite genre of fiction. While authors like Alice Munro, Alistair MacLeod and Arthur Conan Doyle have often kept my heart pacing with their excellent short works, I sometimes feel that I can leave bereft of characterization by terse and sparse prose.

I knew that Frances Itani would be an exception. How could she not? She is a gorgeous writer and penned one of my favourite contemporary novels, Deafening.

I enjoyed this collection focused on the lives of a family living in rural Quebec in the post-war period. Like some of Munro's work, the stories threaded together as a novel broken into several, poignant fragments.

Perhaps my favourite story---for its simple, emotional resonance-- was A Long Narrow Bungalow.

As in Deafening, Itani paints a community and life that---although I never lived in--- I am left nostalgiac for.

Itani knows when to insert poetry, when to flower her prose with description, when to leave the reader hanging like a musical chord without resolution.

While the stories can range from light family matters ( such as preparing for a day at church) they can realistically dip into sombre territory. Perhaps Itani's work is best encapsulated in the gripping sentence which closes the work:

"There are shadows[...] Sometimes we see our reflection, sometimes we don't. It depends on how dark the sky." (p.206).

Like the book itself which, so compelling in its exposition, caused me to relate to moments in each character's life( happiness, isolation, the yearning for solitude and grief )it could simultaneously invite me in and keep me at a distance.

This was a pleasant and thougthful read to take on vacation. On a bus across Cape Breton under very lugubrious and mournful clouds, my appetite was sated.... proving short stories invaluable as summer traveling companions.

To learn more about the Harper Collins Summer is Short, Read a story challenge see here

To learn more of Frances Itani and purchase Leaning, Leaning Over Water, see here

The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper by Kathleen Y'Barbo

publisher: WaterBrook
rating: ***

Eugenia "Gennie" Cooper loves the dime novel rollicks and rampages of Wild West adventurer, Mae Winslow. Long into the night, Gennie forgets she is urban high society and steals between the pages to spirit away with her heroine.

After all, Mae doesn't face prospective marriage to a posh banker and a future of status and a quietly domestic life. In fact, Mae doesn't need men at all.

When an opportunity arises to secretly stow away to the barren west and pose as a governess, Gennie grabs it .... But working for Daniel Beck and his precocious daughter, Charlotte, is a lot more than this adventurer-in-training bargained for.

The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper has a great premise and Y'Barbo structures it with class. The events unfolding in each chapter are ushered in with a preambulatory snippet from a Mae Winslow book. Y'Barbo does an exceptional job of re-creating the popular fiction of yesteryear---down to dialogue and loopy plot.

Y'Barbo also provides some sizzle that gives Julie Lessman's overt passion some stark competition. Hilarity and more than a little spark ensue when Daniel and Gennie first meet
( one of my favourite meetings in recent Christian fiction) giving way to a palpable chemistry that had this reader giggling and turning the page for more.

You have oft heard me rant about italicized prayer. Unfortunately, one of the weaknesses of Y'Barbo's book is a heavy reliance on it. Lynn Austin seems to be able to infuse her work with a reverence and a nod to Christian thought and devotion without this cliche technique--- I wish her contemporaries would follow her lead! It has become somewhat synonymous with Christian fiction in the secular marketplace( as denoted by my secular friends, it is one point they mock in a genre that ---albeit they know little about ---they stay away from and one such reason why).

The other weakness of the book is a long, drawn-out and stale sequence involving a bedroom scene, Daniel in a sheet-toga and a misinterpreted motive. This lost me, unfortunately, and the pace with which I had happily galloped through the first pages slowed.

The book picked up, to its merit, with an implausible ( but wholly suited to a Mae Winslow book or one of its ilk) climax and end.

A few endorsements spout off the similarities between Y'Barbo and Cathy Marie Hake. Sure, there are similar settings and plots but Hake has made me cringe before with poor writing, incest and abuse subplots ( note to authors: if you want to be labeled as having a genre-identity crisis be sure to add abuse and incest to otherwise light and fluffy romantic comedies) and bad modern dialogue in historical settings. Y'Barbo seems to do the opposite---to do right where Hake can go so dismally wrong.

Y'Barbo is a confident, strong and original author whose voice is well-needed to spice up the popularity of this type of story in today's marketplace. The characters leapt off the page at me and, more importantly I will remember them as I seek out more of Y'Barbo's work. While previous publications stray a little too far into romantic territory for me, I guarantee I will read her future offerings for WaterBrook.

Happy Reading

My thanks to the kind folks at WaterBrook for tossing this bookish Canadian some reading material!

Splitting Harriet by Tamera Leigh

rating:**1/2
publisher:WaterBrook/Multnomah


Thanks to a very nice person at WaterBrook who read a rant that I needed some light summer reading to counter my re-read of the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, I recently received a well-timed collection of Tamera Leigh.


I had always wanted to read Splitting Harriet and I was glad I did.

Harriet is the reason people coined cliche phrases such as "Preacher's kids---they're always the worst." Harriet has undergone a cookie-cutter phase of rebellion which included drinking;smoking;motorcycles and tattoos.

Very repentant, Harriet now works as the head of Women's Ministry at her beloved First Grace Church while saving to buy the cafe she works at part-time.

Feeling herself doomed to repeat past mistakes and on a strict diet of penitence, Harriet removed any temptation of her old life. Her addictions are now Jelly Bellys and weekly indulgences of her favourite tv show; her companions are eons older than she; and she is safely housed in a trailer park boasting elder members of the church her father pastored at and a sprinkling of pink flamingos.

Harriet is the last of her family to attend First Grace. Her father has retired, her brother moved on and Harriet tries to maintain the legacy she had once scoffed at by keeping tradition in the church. The plot and the "split" the title imposes reflect the rift dividing the old congregation that Harriet and her father knew and the new, modernism seeping in under new leadership.


Here, Harriet meets church consultant, Maddox McCray and the reformed bad girl's goodie-two-shoes lifestyle threatens to allow some passion and rebellion.


As a minister's kid, I identified with the fish bowl life that led Harri from the church. Though I never rebelled, the same hurt and betrayal she experiences are the same that led me to so fervently cling to Martin Luther's idea that a church is an extension and not the heart of faith.

I also really enjoyed Maddox; the Jelly Belly obsession; and some tamely funny moments ( most revolving around Harri's confusing crush over fellow parishoner Stephano).

Leigh's weakest link is the cookie-cutter rebellion I mentioned earlier. It seems as if Harri just happens to have all the usual symptoms suffered under the Christian umbrella of "sin and no good": tattoos, smoking, drinking, motorcycles. This rebellion seemed more than dated and more than a little cliche.

Leigh also lost me in her attempt to capture not only Harri's rebellious moments but those of the teenage PK Harri tries to help and a few rowdy teenagers who threaten a church picnic.

Here, Leigh inserts vernacular containing: "yeah, man" and "cool!" and I felt that we had stepped into "Cross and the Switchblade" territory --if not two decades ago.

Leigh dates herself very easily and it detaches the reader from the intense experience Harri seems to be struggling with and overcoming.


As Leigh is not the first Christian author to be out of tune with the secular world ( it makes sense, does it not, for Christ followers who live purely to be distanced from the less-holy sects of society?), I chalked it up as typical for Christian fiction.


I enjoyed Splitting Harriet and it is definitely one of the best Christian chicklit novels I have read.



Happy Reading

Christy Awards: Lynn Austin.... again !

Congrats to one of my favourite novelists, Lynn Austin, for winning yet another Christy award!

Read more about last night's winners here.


Read Until We Reach Home

and visit the Christy awards website


and follow them on twitter!


Though not my favourite Austin novel, Until We Reach Home definitely had that "a-ha! well-played, Lynn Austin" literary moment that I always so enjoy in her novels.


I love Austin! I love the Christys!

[and....on an unrelated note.... I loved the production of Cyrano de Bergerac I saw at the Stratford Festival this past weekend. All Canadian readers should get tickets. 'Tis an exceptional production.]

The Thinking Girl's Guide to ....HYMNS!

In response to a youtube posting of a rendition of Isaac Watt's unbelievable poem, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (1707 ) [later put to various music by Isaac Woodbury (1825 and the most commonly sung); Edward Miller (the oldest rendition at 1790) and the 1600s Irish folk song Waly, Waly ( better known as the Water is Wide)] a commenter wrote:

"This is awesome. Not the bad Christian music churches are singing today. This is true theology! Not the watered down Jesus-is-my-boyfriend type stuff."


Somehow I relate to the aforementioned. So many of today's choruses seem to be wholly secular love songs where a quick replacement of "God" or "Jesus" for "boyfriend" ( for lack of a better word) is not unlikely.


To the commenter's point of "true theology" and recognizing that we cannot question the pure motive of some modern chorus writers, we must keep in mind that 18th and 19th Century hymns were crafted in such a way as to relay the Gospel message profusely----so that any one wandering off of the street and into the service would get the crux of salvation in one song.

Thus, many were divided into a thematic trinity. A perfect example of this is "It is Well with my Soul" (Horatio Spafford) which outlines the make-up of this tiered structure:

a.)I am a sinner
b.)Christ is a great saviour--alluding to sacrifice and the Cross
c.) some day I shall see him in Glory.

If you sift through most of the classic hymns of the church, these three potent themes will jump out at you.


Whereas Bach would explore this trinity in cadence and chord throughout the layers of his music; the inclusion (or not) of soloists and chorus in his vespers, mostly this theme was explored in words.


Indeed many famous hymnists including William Cowper, Charles Wesley and, yes, Isaac Watt, were renowned Renaissance poets foremost ---their words set to music afterward.

What they scribed has lasted three hundred years.


Other hymnists poured their own conviction and stark truth into their works in the same way the most riveting novels and autobiographies do. The famous former slave-trader John Newton's "Amazing Grace" is an exercise in self-conviction and a slow, faltering, fallible and undeserved reconciliation( and recognition) with God's redemption.

Robert Robinson penned one of my favourite hymns, Come Thou Fount of Ev'ry Blessing, including a subtle reference to his own vocation in the first stanza:

"Come thou Fount of Ev'ry Blessing
Tune my Heart to sing thy Grace"

....as a piano tuner, Robinson infused his song of praise with a personal note.



I cannot doubt the sincerity of the music played in churches today; nor its good intentions. But I think the biggest mistake a person of any faith can make is to avoid their history.

Many denominations are relatively new ---many generic, universal and determined to bring seekers to the fold.

I do not contest any of this.

However, Christianity is ---at its core---- a religion steeped in history. How often do we root for excavated proof that David and Moses lived ----a rock here; a scrap of parchment there?

Thousands will flock to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the ROM this summer---another testament to faith.

Should we not, then, embrace unabashedly a rich cultural history?


Having studied music history from its earliest beginnings and through Gregorian chant, I was thrilled to better understand its creation as a means of worship. Having been pleasantly surprised to see my favourite hymnists pop up in my U of T poetry seminars, I recognized that these writers have had a very stern and lasting influence on our world.


The other day, I saw the following: " Amazing Grace---words and music by Chris Tomlin." Obviously referring to his new arrangement of the song with the addition of "My Chains are Gone", I was distressed that this type-o would occur.


As long as we embrace our long standing history, we need to recognize our great and glorious past.

The best way to set aside any rage at the current perception ( often well-founded ) in Christianity in the world is to revere our wonderful cultural background.

How better to do so than to listen to ethereal music and taste even more ethereally inspired words?


Save the Hymns! two hundred years from now people will still remember John Newton and his Amazing song. That "Jesus is my Boyfriend" ditty? .....maybe not so much.

The Solitary Envoy by T.Davis and Isabella Bunn

publisher: Bethany House

rating: **1/2

Director Peter Weir ( Master and Commander, Gallipoli, Dead Poet’s Society ) once said in an interview that true booklovers guage travel time by a question of a: “how many book trip is this?”

I tried to take that into consideration when packing for my recent vacation in beautiful, breathtaking Nova Scotia: a part of Canada I love to return to again and again.

Unfortunately, I did not bring enough: what with plane trips and reading before bed or in those nice ,wily hours by the ocean with a glass of something frosty, I ran out in the last half of my trip.

I found an excellent used bookstore on Cape Breton Island and purchased The Solitary Envoy. Knowing that it was ( aptly) a follow up from the Song of Acadia series: the former Acadia being very near the region I was in.

I really enjoyed the book. I liked that our heroine, Erica Langston, knew all about calculating and figures. Here was a woman with math skills and a sound mind who could use her God-given gift to aid her family after a bad investment went awry in revolutionary war-time America .

Erica travels to Britain to reclaim lost funds and falls into the company of the Dissenters: a moralistic group impassioned by change---especially on the slave trade front.

Here, she develops a growing attraction to Gareth Powers: a former redcoat who now uses his pen to write incendiary missives of injustice in his beloved country.

Erica is no simpering woman: she can handle the truth as well as the next and one specifically potent moment as her witnessing a violent riot in Manchester . Erica is able to relay the events in the same calculating way she employs when jotting down account books.

Bunn’s inclusion of the heroic figure of William Wilberforce: the short and somewhat awkward looking man called the nightingale of Parliament for his ethereal oratory skills is a welcome one.

This was a great book to read on vacation. It was an unplanned and unexpected read and sometimes those are the nicest and most surprising.

Summer of Patrick O'Brian: Post Captain the Condensed Version

JA: Oh no! Treaty of Amiens! No ship! I have no money and I am not any good on land!

SM: sulks.

JA: Stephen! Stephen! Are you going to desert me now that the war is over and go to Spain?

SM: *shrugs*

JA: I know! Let's round up Barrett Bonden and Pullings and Mowatt and Killick and all the people we like and rent Melbury Lodge in the South Downs. We can hoist up rigging, raise halliards and live like we did on the Sophie....'cept on land!!!!! Wanna come? PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE! I have some new Corelli and Boccherini sheet music in my bag!

SM: Yah!


Stephen and Jack find the South Downs just as a fox hunt is taking place. What?! Is that a woman in a blue riding habit galloping after that fox? Woman in a man's sport! Wowza!

*Enter Diana Villiers to ruin the next 18 and a half books by treating Stephen like a heel*


*enter Mrs. Williams Sophia, Cecilia and Frances*

Mrs Williams: We are the Jane Austen portion of the book! I am a silly, frivolous woman trying to marry my girls off to the handsome bachelors ( well....Stephen isn't THAT handsome ) at Melbry lodge. Oh! And I have to put up with my widowed niece Diana. She has no money.*


JA:*thinks* hmmm. I like Sophia. She has a great complexion. But Diana is fascinating.

SM: * thinks* I am madly in love with Diana and may fall over due to infatuation at any moment but I am going to supress my feelings by taking her numerous blows and calling her by her last name. In turn, she will call me by my last name.


DV: *thinks* Hmmm! Stephen Maturin is like a kind little basset hound that I can toy with and tease who will look up at my mopily. I think I will keep him. But, I also want to keep Jack because he is 6'4 and brawny and that will teach my cousin Sophia and my stupid aunt.


----Lots of balls and hunting and polo and landsports.

---Maturin writes in his diary about Diana

---Jack and Diana have nightly trysts

---hark! Diana plays the piano well!

---look! Sophia has the greatest complexion ever!

---Stephen is jealous but has nothing to say. Nurses morphine addiction

---Diana calls Stephen ugly and he still follows her around like a mangy dog

---Jack is in debt (shock) and mean people come to Melbury to round him up for debtor's prison

---Stephen sneaks him out the back door

JA: where are we going?
SM: I happen to have a castle in spain. It has sheep and lemon groves
JA: La! My dear! you are an old file!
SM: *skulks*


---Stephen and Jack cross France just as war is declared and English are rounded up

JA: I am a 6"4 blonde captain with a missing ear. They will recognize me right away!!!
SM: Where is a bear costume when you need one?

----Stephen sneaks Jack into Spain disguised as bear

----They end up near Diana Villiers again

*enter Canning*

Canning: Hi! I have a privateer you might want. A Letter of Marque. You can pirate things and make money.

JA: hmmm. Nope. I think I should wiat til the admiralty gives me a commission. I wanna be a post-captain!!

Canning: *shrugs*

Admiral Harte: I am still mad at you because you had an affair with my wife. Take this soggy little sloop called Polychrest. But be warned. It might sink. Also, I cannot promise you any good officers. You might have to find them off the street.


JA: I have a ship!
SM: *secretly* I don't know if I can come this time. I have *wink* stuff to...erm....stuff to do

(Stephen is now an intelligence agent)

JA: I cannot live without you!
SM: Fine. I'll meet you at the end of the week after I finish *wink* doing *wink* stuff.... *nudge*


AT SEA:

---Lt. Parker makes everyone mad ( including Stephen)
---Jack spends way too much time on shore with Diana and Stephen can smell her perfume on his uniform when he gets back to the ship
---Stephen starts to hate Jack
----Polychrest sucks and there is no prize money.


SM: Jack, you suck! You shouldn't keep going on shore to *cough* visit Diana because you will get arrested for debt. After I snuck you 'cross the border in a bear costume and fed you lemon juice. THIS is how you repay me? Just take Sophia and be done with it

JA: *humph* mebbe we aren't friends anymore

SM: Fine! I challenge you to a duel!

JA: NOT ANOTHER ONE!

SM: hmmm ....yep!


---Stephen goes to find duelling pistols

----Jack finds out that Diana is sleeping w. Canning

---Jack goes to the pub and gets drunk:

JA: I cannot fight Stephen. This is stupid. I'm gonna end up just standing there and letting him shoot a bullet in me. And, I think I love Sophie. But, her mum won't let me marry her because she has a dowry and I am in debt. DRAT!!!

SM: hmm. I thought everyone liked me on this ship. Apparently they only liked me because Jack likes me. Damn. I have no friends.... ow!

*Polychresters "accidentally" bump into Stephen


---Stephen overhears talk of mutiny

SM: Erm... Jack. I still don't like you and you smell and I am not your friend but they are planning a mutiny. Oh! and this ship will probably sink.
JA: MUTINY! OH NO!

----To avoid planned mutiny, Jack steers the Polychrest into battle and discovers the mutiny is as a result of the men hating Parker and not him.


----FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

SM: Oh no! Jack, you're wounded
JA: Aren't you supposed to be mad at me?
SM: Nah! I can't stay mad at you.
JA: I think I'll stick with Sophie. You can have Diana!
SM:*brightly* Thanks!


----Jack is made Post-Captain

----Jack and Stephen sail away

---Diana continues affair with Canning and continues to ruin Stephen's life

Summer of Patrick O'Brian: love letter to Post- Captain

I know you are just a book ( if anything can ever be just a book ) but I absolutely, ardently, passionately love you.

You are a brilliant novel.

You are enough Jane Austen to make me want to slip into a drawing room and sit like a lady whilst discussing how many couples were at the last ball and people's health and the weather and whist and so forth while listening to the pianoforte.

You are enough CS Forester to make me want to jump aboard and spirit away to the Antipodes atop a 36 gun frigate with the wind in my mainsail and an old ditty about spain and rations in my heart.

You are just a remarkably well-plotted; well-structured work of genius.

I hang on every word of your sparkling dialogue

I laugh at your subtle wit

I forgive the more implausible moments of your outline ( Jack Aubrey disguised as a bear as Stephen sneaks him across France to their destination: Stephen's castle complete with sheep and lemon groves---ha!) and I get infuriated at you ----- and the havoc you wreak on my susceptible emotions. How CAN Diana Villiers be so fascinating and simultaneously so poisonous?

For your dichotomy; your smart turns-of-phrase; your unbelievable narrative and the best editing known to man, I salute you.


For your representation of strong, determined and smart women in a man's world of seamanship and war, I will raise thirteen guns to larboard.


I absolutely adore you.


I know it is a little unorthodox to write a love letter to a book, but I cannot help myself.

Summer of Patrick O'Brian: Master and Commander the Condensed Version

I am re-reading the entire Aubrey/ Maturin canon..... no easy feat. My first read-through took well over a year and was not chronological ( I started reading them during a summer studying in England and would pick them up at used bookstores everywhere just before I boarded trains with my Britrail pass).

Now, I started back at one. Instead of "reviewing" each in the series, I start my homage to some of my favourite literary works of all time ....with the ever popular format of abridgement!


Master and Commander: the condensed version



Port Mahon 1800



Enter Jack Aubrey:

Hi! I'm Jack Aubrey I am at least 15 stone and I love concerts. I am a lieutenant in the navy. I am having an affair with Molly Harte. This does not make Admiral Harte happy. He might wreck my career some day but zounds! Molly plays the harp well---among other things
Some of my ship mates call me goldilocks because my hair is blonde. Later I will be called Lucky Jack Aubrey. But, I am not so lucky now. I owe tons of money. I need a ship. Drat!


I still, however, have time to go to a concert ashore:

I really like music ( especially Corelli) but this Locatelli chamber concert is awesome. They are playing the C major quartet. Music is going to pervade this long, long book series.



I am going to beat my knee cap with my fist in time with the music



Oh look! There is a little, sparse-looking fellow with pale eyes. I think he is angry that I am making noise and humming along at the concert.


Jack Aubrey: hum-hum-hummmm!

Little sparse-looking fellow with pale eyes: Shuddup!


More music “pom pom pom”

Jack Aubrey: I can keep time with the cello part. I am making a lot of noise.


*Chair scuffle. Concert over*


Sparse-looking fellow with pale eyes *angrily*: you ruined the concert you oaf. You made so much noise!

Jack Aubrey: I am thinking I would like to beat you over the head with my chair. But I will not say this aloud. Instead, I will glare at you, you ill-looking cove!



Sparse-looking fellow with pale eyes *angrily*: You cannot beat time! You suck!

Jack Aubrey: Who are you to tell me I can'tbeat time? I challenge thee to a duel! Let’s deke it out!


Sparse-looking fellow with pale eyes.:Name the time and the place. My name is Stephen Maturin and I am staying at Joselito’s coffee house!



Jack Aubrey: You are a sparse looking fellow with pale eyes



Maturin: humph!





--Jack visits Molly Harte( Jack should not do this it is bad for his naval career)


---Jack is given command of the "Sophie" and is set to sail

---Jack is happy.

---Jack runs into Maturin downtown the morning after the concert-- He is no longer angry because he has a ship

JA: Sorry I was so loud and obnoxious at the concert. I have a ship

SM: cool!

JA: wanna go on a man date?

SM: I have not eaten since the peace. Be there

JA: cool!

SM: Let me buy you some hot chocolate

*drink hot chocolate*


---Jack does important naval things for the next 30 pages and it looks like one of his new shipmates did something inappropriate with a goat.

---Jack and Stephen Maturin go on another man date. Here, they eat boar and sheep and drink lots of wine:

JA: I have a ship!

SM: cool!

JA: and look! I have a shiny gold epaulette!

SM: cool!

JA: wanna go on another man date?

SM: yah! *distractedly looks out window*

JA: are you paying attention?

SM: there's a bird! I am a naturalist. I like birds. I also speak eighteen different languages, play the cello and am strangely introverted.

JA: I play the violin

SM: let's talk music


play and talk.....play and talk.....


Friendship solidified

JA: what do you do?

SM: I am a physician. But my rich patient died and I have no money

JA: wanna sail across the world with me? You can see lots of bugs and we can play music!

SM: ‘kay!



Night-time

---Stephen Maturin sleeping under a tree and eating leftover lamb he snuck in his pocket after his dinner the night before: “ I came all the way out here for this patient and he died on me and now I am an overqualified physician ( none of that common surgeon nonsense) and oh look! There’s a bug! I like bugs. I am a naturalist. Now I have nothing to do.


I must go to sea!



SEA:

JA: I have good people here! I like Barrett Bonden and James Pullings and I like that guy who everyone thinks is gay… but… wait. I am not sure if I like this red-headed guy who is my lieutenant Oh! maybe I do!

Red Headed Guy: My name is James Dillon. I am a lieutenant. I am also Irish. I am also Catholic. But, shhh! You cannot tell ppl in the British navy you are catholic so I will be pouty and secretive.

Stephen Maturin * recognizes James Dillon from his rebel stint as a United Irishman*: I know your secret!

James Dillon: You are a sparse-looking fellow with pale eyes. Go hang out by the water pump.


*Stephen hangs out by the water pump*



---James Dillon sulks for the next three hundred pages


---Stephen Maturin writes in his diary for the next three hundred pages when he is not tripping over things or falling into the sea because he is a landlubber where Jack is a sea-lion ( note dichotomy). He writes about birds and insects and how Jack and James do not get along.

--Jack Aubrey has lots of great victories and lots of wine and gains eight pounds eating soused hog’s face and disguises the Sophie as a whaler to trick the much larger Spanish xebec-frigate the "Cacafuego"



---More music playing

----More nautical terminology

---Stephen becomes introverted and pouts. Jack loses part of his ear.


---Battles and Nautical jargon





---Stephen sees a tree frog





----Jack visits Mrs. Harte again


-----Stephen dissects a dolphin.


-----Jack is put to court martial because he let some prisoners off on an island


----Jack is acquitted but has no commission.


----lots of drinking


---Jack and Stephen sit under the stars and basically declare their undying love for each other ( in a platonic way) and plan to sail again.





THE END

anxiously awaiting: June Bug by Chris Fabry

My favourite novel is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Some people state that they cannot pick a favourite novel. As a bibliophile, I understand the difficulty in choosing from so many wonderful worlds; stories; authors.

Suffice it to say, no other novel has had such a great impact on my life; nor moved me so profoundly emotionally and spiritually.

When I am up to the arduous task, perhaps I will relay its spiritual and theological relevance here as the quintessential work of Christian fiction.

Indeed, with so many testaments to life changing, it far surpasses so many of its ilk.


I am, thus, more than intrigued that Tyndale's Chris Fabry will be modernizing this work for general readership.

Above all, a tale of redemption, forgiveness and grace, I see how Fabry finds this subject suitable for a Christian readership.

I anxiously ( and somewhat skeptically--- as one is wont to do when a favourite piece of literature is re-set in a contemporary vein---) await Fabry's novel.


Please read more about it here and check out Chris Fabry's blog here



(much thanks to Otahyoni for keeping me in the loop

blog recommendation: Deanne Gist

I have a confession to make: I was not a fan of A Bride Most Begrudging: no matter how popular it became. I found it flimsy and implausible and ...well...another post may see my rant at some of its loopholes. I did, however, think Gist had some potential and I sought out The Measure of a Lady which I enjoyed. I remember sitting on vacation, reading it in one sitting, fairly happy at the ending and the strength of its moralistic woman. The lady-on-a-mission motif smacked of Christy ( against Dr. Neil MacNeil in Catherine Marshall's story ) or even Sarah Brown ( in Guys and Dolls).

Courting Trouble and Deep in the Heart of Trouble took some risks that made this thinking girl very happy. Even though Gist reined in when she could have taken a bold step, she was moving in the right direction: for this courage I applaud her.


I have a review copy of A Bride in the Bargain sitting near me and I mean to crack it open soon.


On a slightly unrelated note,I am balancing my Christian fiction dosage with a re-reading of the Aubrey-Maturin canon by Patrick O'Brian and am just starting HMS Surprise ( my favourite in the 20 volume series). Whilst I sail away with Jack and Stephen --- I leave you with Deanne Gist's blog.


Gist is a far superior writer to her most similar contemporary, Cathy Marie Hake, and I urge you to check out The Measure of A Lady at the very least.


To find out more about Deanne Gist and order some books see here.


To read Deanne's blog (which, to my delight, sported a recent entry with a lovely picture of Hugh Jackman when I clicked on it this evening) see here.

Father's Day Blog Tour: Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart by Chuck Black

publisher: Multnomah
rating: ***

Sir Dalton has an exciting life as a knight-in-training. As well as fostering the admiration of his fellow knights and the beautiful Lady Brynn, he has numerous adventures at the training camp.

But, something is amiss. The new camp trainer does not pledge his true service to the King and the Prince. When Sir Dalton is sent on a mission and captured by an evil lord, he starts to recognize valour in true knights comes from allegiance to a higher power---shirking the evil of the Shadow Warrior and finding light.


Sort of a Pilgrim's Progress meet Narnia, Chuck Black has created a welcome allegory that will thrill children. A map of the Kingdom of Arrethtrae; an introduction to past installments in the series; discussion questions ( and answers); and a song written for Shadow Heart can be found at the back of the text so children can engage with the story long after the last page is turned.


It won't be hard to decipher the allegorical tenets of the book from the King and the Prince to the Dark Knight Lucius and how they figure into the Gospel, but young readers and their parents can discuss the virtues and characteristics of a true knight and the wiles of the evil doers.

A black and white story, Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart can act as a parable on morality.


I think what makes this a perfect fit for Father's Day is its function as a read-aloud book. A chapter a night as a family will keep the kids pining for more and the parents involved in a wonderful fantasy to shape young minds.

Check out Sir Dalton for your library as well as these other Father's Day offerings from WaterBrook/Multnomah:

Hey Christian Fiction Readers: it is time to tell the truth

It is very fitting that Brandilyn Collins posted this "rant" ( that is self-proclaimed) on her blog this morning because it allowed me to mount my little soap-box and challenge something that has oft bothered me about the Christian reading public and which also led to the beginning of this here l'il book blog ( read more here). Without much further ado, I have re-posted my comment to Brandilyn's post.

note: somehow my link when I commented was faulty ---just so you don't think there is some other Rachel out there too intimidated to state her name. I own up! it was me!



"I find Christian writers take negative reviews far more personally than non-Christian writers. Perhaps because they're agenda or M.O. is for a higher purpose.


That being said, Collins is correct that scathing reviews without proper execution or reason come across as ignorant and mean. On a slightly related topic, I am always surprised at the lack of negative reviews----by authors of other authors and readers--- of Christian fiction.


I feel Christian readership holds back from being truthful because it IS Christian fiction and they do not want to come across as negative.


Books are a very subjective medium and they deserve close scrutiny. In fact, the best, most thought-provoking books will ellicit a balance of negative and positive reviews. I find that testament to the writer's skill.


I think to own up to Collins' stark truth (for which I applaud her )readers should, in turn, be truthful---in an informed and reasonable way.


I would love to read more blogs which critique books written by Christian authors. We OWE it to Chrisian authors to treat them in the same way that we treat secular fiction....after all, they would expect that and respect it as writers regardless of genre.


Thoughfully critical reviews are expected in the literary world and are not personal---personal attacks are quite a different thing.

Authors should have a fairly thick-skin as a result of their agenting out their work to numerous places and perhaps undergoing several rejections.

Whilst some publishing companies are known to edit fiction far less than others, some editors I know take a ruler to each sentence---they can withstand that too!


I appreciate this "rant" because I agree with Collins' statement that readers need to write informed reviews--- she has taken the time to put her craft on the table and it deserves careful and thoughtful appreciation and or critique.

My own rant is to encourage Christian readers to speak out: in their blogs, on amazon.

Not every Christian novel deserves a four or five star average on popular book websites. We don't do it for secular fiction and Christian fiction ( if, as it tries to be , an equal craft ) deserves the same."



Thanks to Brandilyn Collins for igniting some fantastic discussion! I think you should check her out and maybe read some of her books!

Mae Winslow, Kathleen Y'Barbo and the most fun I have had with a book in weeks!

I must confess, I am quite smitten with The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper. It is a rollicking good time with enough spice and witty flirtation to keep me not only engaged but wrinkling my nose in delight.


I am about mid-way through and, even though I can predict how the overall story will end, each page holds some surprise!

I especially love how talented Y'Barbo is at re-creating the vernacular of the dime novels her heroine, Gennie, is so fond of. Mae Winslow's wild west adventures are inserted in snippets which reflect the action that is going to take place. This ephemera is pitch-perfect!


I really love Y'Barbo's easy voice and her sass! Further, she has created one wonderfully flirty scene involving cowboy boots and repartee between a saucy heroine and a dashing british gent.


stetsons off to Y'Barbo --- I am love! love! loving this book!


check out The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper ---here!


check out Kathleen Y'Barbo here

and follow Kathleen on twitter!

A Vote of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher

rating: **1/2

publisher: Zondervan


Gwen Arlington is more than just a pretty face. She is determined to make the best mayoral candidate Bethlehem Springs has ever seen.

And nothing---- not her growing attraction to rival Morgan McKinley or the underhanded plot of a sinister enemy---will keep her from living up to her god-given potential.


Female strength is embodied in a feminine way by Gwen and in a more visceral, tomboyish way by her sister, Cleo.

The two are perfectly matched for each other and provide some of the soul of the novel. The end of the novel allows us a glimpse into Cleo's plot: the focus of Hatcher's next release.


A Vote of Confidence reminded me a lot of Catching Katie, Hatcher's earlier novel about the suffragette movement and an equally determined young woman who must come to terms with the conflict burgeoning romance pits against her inner convictions.


Hatcher did well in both cases addressing the problematic situation which arises when a strong female is forced to submit to a male presence for self-preservation ( this comes literally in A Vote of Confidence in a thrilling rescue scene).


This was a nice bit of confection but I couldn't help but feel it was missing a bit of spark. Perhaps it is Hatcher's busy and prolific writing style but I felt she wrote somewhow disengaged from her characters: as if she were plaintively relaying her story rather than bursting with infectious enthusiasm to bring them to page.


Well worth a glance for summer historical reading.

The Maiden of Mayfair by Lawana Blackwell

publisher: Bethany House

rating: ***

Maiden of Mayfair is the first in the Tales of London series by Lawana Blackwell. I am a big Blackwell fan, as previously mentioned, because I feel she has a wonderful sense of Victorian England. Moreover, her prose, characters, dialect and ambience transport you to a simpler time.

In Maiden of Mayfair readers are given the perfect Cinderella story. Sarah Matthews ( named after the foundling home she has spent the first part of her childhood in) is believed to be the illegitimate granddaughter of a wealthy matriarch whose adored son’s illicit behaviour broke her heart and led to his untimely death.

Sarah is transplanted from a home for orphans into a grandiose mansion where her great life lessons are borne from the significant amount of time she spends with the servants there…especially the cook and her promising nephew, William.

I found this a charming sort-of upstairs/downstairs story with some wonderful moments of grace and redemption. The gospel message is translucent throughout in a kind and reaffirming way.

I read most of this novel while in an airport waiting lounge and it was perfect to while away the hours and the plane ride.

( I still have a bit of flight-fright so I always strategically plan to be well into a great novel before boarding. Thus, when the plane takes off, I am too engaged in the story to think of heights or imminent death).

I think I will leave it a bit before I hunt the next in the trilogy because I have so many books to get through. But, I applaud Lawana Blackwell. I appreciate her informed style and well-research tales as a worthy contribution to the Christian historical genre.

What I am reading now: I just started The Falcon and the Sparrow by M.L. Tyndall. Very Scarlet Pimpernel with a sea-faring slant I quite enjoy.

Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell

publisher: Bethany House
rating:****

(Note: read in uncorrected galley format)

There are few novels which have knocked the wind out of me the way Love’s Pursuit by Siri Mitchell did.

I was fortunate to read this in Massachusetts on my mini-vacation there: settled near the Massachusetts Bay Colony where her gloriously written story of grace and redemption takes place.

Susannah Phillips is an upright Puritan girl with strong moral fiber and a mind turned to Godly things. She narrates one half of the story. The shy and secretive Small-hope Smyth narrates the other. Like A Constant Heart, the story does not underestimate the reader yet assumes with switch in voice, that the reader will keep up: so immersed are they in each perspective. Mitchell does very well in exploring this narrative switch. Few writers do it well but it is a tried and tested technique with her.

Life in Stonybrooke is interrupted by the dashing and cavalier Capt Daniel Holcomb: a wonderful, comic, brave and courageous man whose faith in God is dissimilar to the Puritans but strong nonetheless.

The novel tells two intertwining stories: one of Susannah and Daniel. The other of Small-hope and her morally stalwart husband, blacksmith Thomas Smyth who loves her far more than she thinks she can ever love herself.

Small-hope’s name is resonant throughout this tale where grace is hard come by and hope seems dwindling and lost.

Mitchell delves into deeply uncomfortable territory regarding the subdued roles of women in harsh Puritanical communities. It seems only Daniel and Thomas see beyond the motives of the City on The Hill to reduce women to silent harbingers to bear children and keep house.

I absolutely loved this novel because it splayed redemption so deep and lasting I could not help but start at the first page once more after I had (reluctantly) finished the last.

This is literary writing at its finest. Siri Mitchell breathes life and pitch-perfect Puritan dialect into her atmospheric story.

She also contemplates deep themes, pushes boundaries and develops characters so startlingly real you are surprised they are not sitting across from you.

Not every one is exactly who they seem and there is more than one surprise at the hands of this storytelling master.

I cannot ---absolutely cannot ---wait to see where Mitchell takes us next.

She is spell-binding.

I will read this until the binding comes apart, I assure you.

A wonderful complement to my first trip to Massachusetts.

Boston! and a Passion Most Pure

I am currently reading A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman (visit her blog here)

I had heard a lot about this novel --- mostly reviews stating that it pushed boundaries of Christian fiction.

It certainly is not your grandmother’s Christian fiction. There is plenty of---albeit well-regulated---spice and simmer.

It is incredibly fun to read and very atmospheric. Lessman does well to capture the Irish dialect and culture in Boston circa 1915. Also, she paints an interesting picture of a steno pool.

I am heading for Boston tomorrow for a trip. I have never been before and I am quite excited! It is quite apropos, therefore, that I am reading the first in the Daughters of Boston series in preparation.

I, of course, will remember Meissner’s Shape of Mercy when I visit Salem and the ARC I finished reading for Siri Mitchell’s breathtaking Love’s Pursuit ( stay tuned for a full review).

I am also quite looking forward to tracking down Orchard House in Concord: the home of Louisa May Alcott: a write whose works have greatly influenced my formative years.

Beyond Little Women ( quite popular in Christian circles for its great moral values and universal truths), I love Alcott’s Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom: two novels I read at Christmas every year. I love traditions like this.

The BEST part of going to Boston ( besides the historical ambience and harbour and trips to the surrounding area and ANTIQUARIAN bookstores) is my reconnecting with my best friend: who moved from Toronto to Massachusetts to finish her doctoral thesis last August.

I very very much miss her and as much as I am looking forward to exploring and learning and taking lots of photographs, I am most looking forward to laughing with my friend and catching up.