When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Coffey

Thomas Nelson, the publishers of Billy Coffey's latest novel When Mockingbirds Sing begin their description of the story with this line:

What marks the boundary between a miracle from God and the imagination of a child?

In this new novel, Billy Coffey introduces us to a world of faith, doubt and God's mysterious ways, seen through the eyes of a lonely child.  Leah believes in "the maybe" and has to face the sad truth that many people around do not.  When she begins painting prophetic pictures the town begins to swirl.

As he weaves threads of lives together into a stunning whole, Billy holds up a mirror that reflects not only our faces but our hearts.  I'd like to think that my faith is strong, but like the people of Mattingly, I admit that I too can waver when I see things I don't quite understand.

I will not share more because I fear spoiling the story, but I encourage you to take a journey to Mattingly, to meet all the people dwelling there, including The Rainbow Man.  If you are anything like me, you will smile, you will weep, spend some time on your knees and then you'll hunger for more.

I was given a complimentary copy of this novel.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.

and now... the winner of their own copy of When Mockingbirds Sing is --

Holly Grantham who wrote:

What gives me courage is hearing other folks' stories. To know that someone else in the big wide world has braved something hard and challenging and lived to tell about it--well, it infuses me with strength I didn't have before. Vulnerability begets vulnerability and vulnerability is fueled by courage.

Contact me with your shipping address Holly and we'll have the book on its way to you!

  

Food was not the answer

The smaller Sara Jayne felt in the world, the larger her body became.  In food she found flavour and comfort and distraction.  When she was frustrated, pretzels, chips and crackers provided crunch and snap and salt.  When she was hurting,  favourite tastes would numb the pain.  When she was bored, there was always something she could do, eat!

When would she be big enough to be noticed?  But no one saw her, they only saw the rolls of excess flesh.  “If onlys” were the background music of her thoughts. If only I was not so fat then people would like me.  If only I was prettier I might find a real boyfriend.  If only I had lots of friends it would make my mother happy.  The “if onlys” seemed impossible to attain, and thinking about them called forth sadness, and the sadness was swallowed with mouthfuls of more food.

If only I was smaller, then I would be like everyone else and then I could fit in.  The desperate cry of a lonely heart.  Perhaps Sara Jayne was never intended to fit in, but to stand out, however she had no understanding of this truth.  She only wanted to know what normal felt like.  She would lie across her bed and wonder what it would be like to live in a thin body, how different her bones would feel against the mattress, or to walk without her thighs rubbing against each other until the skin was swollen and raw, to be able to run free without feeling the weight of her flesh dragging her toward the ground.

Sara Jayne's spirit was as heavy as her body.  There had been nothing that could teach her how to fly.

walking with Emily and the broken but beloved

 

The River by Michael Neale

Andy Andrews, the best selling author said of Michael Neale's first novel "The River is a story that will transform how you see yourself and the world" setting me up to expect a story larger than life.

Gabriel Clarke was born by the river, and for the river just as his grandfather and father were.  When his father John loses his life to the river attempting to save another man, young Gabriel is relocated from the majesty of the river canyons to Cairo, Kansas to live with his mother.  I was hungry for more information.  Why had his parents separated years before?

With my questions unanswered I continued on, watching Gabriel struggle to deal with memories, fears and a darkness that would overtake him.  But as we had been told, he was made for the river and to the river he returned.

There is adventure in these pages and romance.  There is raw emotion.  The story was quick to read, but I never experienced the depth I was promised.

I wish I had encountered this book before reading any of the hype.  I suspect I would have expected less and enjoyed it more for the simple story it is.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
 

Show Off edited by Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting has served up a tasty sampler plate in his new volume Show Off.

With short stories by ten different writers there is a flavour to please anyone.

These are not fluffy, feel good tales, they are raw and real. Each voice has a different way of dealing with emotions brought to the surface by things like death, or dementia or loss of faith.

As a writer of fiction and poetry I read the work of others not only for content but for the play of words one against the other. A compilation like this tickles my tongue.

If I have any complaint at all it is that I wanted more.


 

Mary Magdalene by Diana Taylor

I have often wondered about the life of Mary Magdalene.  What was the story behind the story we read in the Word?  What happened in the life of this woman from Magdala?

Diana Wallis Taylor answered my questions in her new book Mary Magdalene, a novel, putting meat on bare bones.  Though much may be imagined, the parts of the story that have been recorded in the Bible held true.  I felt as if I was reading an amplified version of the Word, captivated from beginning to end.

If, like me, you have wanted to know more about Mary and all that Jesus healed and saved her from, don't miss this fast moving page turner.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

The opinions I have expressed are my own.

 

My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade

I love a book that makes me weep with wonder at how God can move in people's lives, so of course I was interested in reading My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade.  This is part of the back cover description of the story:

Upon her arrival in Redbud, Kate meets Matt Jarreau, the man hired to renovate the house. Kate can't help being attracted to him, drawn by both his good looks and something else she can't quite put her finger on. He's clearly wounded--hiding from people, from God, and from his past. Yet Kate sets her stubborn heart on bringing him out of the dark and back into the light... whether he likes it or not.

There are many lessons within the lines of My Stubborn Heart about asking, and listening and waiting to hear what God's choices for your life are.  It isn't easy to surrender your own will and desires; to set aside your own plans in obedience to God's voice, but it is indeed worth it.

Wade's pacing kept the pages turning, and though I found that this story held little that surprised me, I'm still happy that I went along for the ride.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

The opinions I have expressed are my own.
 

Blue Moon Bay by Lisa Wingate

Not long ago I was charmed by Lisa Wingate's first novel about Moses Lake, Larkspur Cove, so when Blue Moon Bay, set in the same location became available I was eager to dive in.

Even with the following promo on the back cover I was still surprised by how much mystery and suspense filled the pages.

For Seattle architect Heather Hampton, a trip back to tiny Moses Lake, Texas, is hardly in the plan. Yet because a promotion hinges on the sale of the family farmland, Heather heads to the last place she ever wanted to go. She's determined to return home, signed contract in hand, the next day.

But the currents of Moses Lake take visitors on unexpected journeys. As Heather's stay lengthens, she discovers a family steeped in secrets and an unexpected connection to local banker Blaine Underhill, despite his opposition to Heather's project. With each new revelation and question, Heather can't help but wonder if the handsome banker--and the family she has come to know again--are crooks or crusaders. Somehow she must find out the truth before she loses everything she has worked for and everything she's found on the shores of Moses Lake.

Once again I was captivated by the sights, sounds and movements in Moses Lake, turning page after page, trying to make sense of the riddle Heather was pondering:

The future is a blank page, but not a mystery.

Heather finds her answers and deepens her faith in ways she never expected.

If like me, you love a good story, come on down to Moses Lake and get lost in the tale of Blue Moon Bay.  You won't be disappointed.

Lisa Wingate is a popular inspirational speaker, magazine columnist, and national bestselling author of several books, including Tending Roses, A Month of Summer, and The Summer Kitchen. Lisa and her family live in central Texas.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Bethany House

The opinions I have expressed are my own.
 

The Lion Cubs by Chrissy M. Dennis

I was priviledged to be asked to read and review The Lion Cubs by Chrissy M. Dennis, the 2011 Winner of the Word Alive Press 2011 Free Publishing Contest in the Fiction Category.

The back cover intrigues with the following teaser:

15-year-old loner, Lexi Vogan, has had enough: four foster families in two years is enough to make anybody run away! Alone in the world, she flees to Jacksonville where a group of runaway teens live in abandoned tunnels hidden below the city. It seems like the perfect place for a forgotten face.

Liz Swavier, 36, became a widow two years ago when her husband succumbed to cancer, but she’s doing okay, at least that’s what she tells herself. Working long hours as a doctor in the ER department, Liz's friends and family grow concerned that she’s hurled herself into work to numb her grief.

Then, on a typical Friday afternoon, an appointment with Divine intervention causes these two very different lives to collide beginning a journey towards restoration that only an all-knowing, loving God could weave together.

My heart and mind were engaged from the start as Dennis had me slipping in and out of the lives of her two central characters.  I flipped page after page, not wanting to put the story aside.

Just as He does in real life, God was shown to weave threads together, working things out in ways that only He is able.

If you have a heart for homeless youth, or a heart for hurting women, or simply a heart that beats with the things that move God, this is a novel you shouldn't miss.

Book has been provided courtesy of Word Alive Press and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available now from your favourite bookseller.

The opinions I have expressed are my own.

For information about the 2012 Contest click here

 

Looking up

Skies darken fast
once November comes
glory streaks rose
gold and hot
but doesn’t linger
the plunge into winter
complete

Look up into black
watch the sky
shatter
drift down
a billion silver
sparkling bits

Snow covers
fault lines
cracks
the daily dirt
what was broken
makes all things new

He sends the snow like white wool; he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes
Psalm 147:16 NLT

Taking a moment away from fiction writing for National Novel Writing Month to dive back into a random act of poetry with the prompt look up.

 

Veiled Rose by Anne E. Stengl

As I have mentioned before, one great benefit of maintaining this blog is the opportunity to receive books to read and review.  I had a choice of fiction selections and the following description of Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl caught my attention:

Rose Red trusts no one with her secret. She hides in the forest, her face veiled in rags, shunning the company of all save her old father and her nanny goat. Her life is bleak and lonely.

Until she meets a privileged young man sent to spend his summer in the mountains. Headstrong young Leo startles everyone by befriending Rose Red, and together they begin searching for the monster rumored to be stalking these lands.

But the hunt, which began as a game, holds greater risk than either imagines. Soon both are forced to test their trust in each other as a far more terrifying scourge puts their entire land at risk.

When the book arrived I was surprised to find that it was fantasy/allegory.  I suppose I thought the description itself had been an allegorical illusion to a more realistic novel.  I had agreed to read, and read I did, sometimes finding myself wrapped up in the story of Leo and Rose, more often wishing I had not begun.  Perhaps that is how each of the characters felt about their journey as well.

What was good and was what evil is hard to discern here.  I found myself trying hard to find Christ between the lines.  Only the mention now and then of "the Name" that served as protection rang true in my spirit. 

Spoiler alert*****
I was waiting for a thundering victory that I never found.  There really is no happy ending here, no ending at all in fact, just more beginnings.

I will pay more attention next time I select a novel and choose realism over fantasy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House a Divsion of Baker Publishing Group.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.

words, words, words....

Books are piled on my nightstand, the coffee table, next to my Jesus chair...
Words call to me, speak to me, encourage and educate me. 
As a blogger I am blessed to be able to receive free books to review.

Here are just a few in process:

Veneer - Living Deeply in a Surface Society by Timothy Willard and Jason Locy

Earthen Vessels - Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith by Matthew Lee Anderson

Eden Derailed - a theology of sex by Matt Williams

Rumors of God - Experience the Kind of Faith You've Only Heard About by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson

A Confident Heart - How to Stop Doubting Yourself & Live in the Security of God's Promises by Renee Swope

Watch for the reviews as I complete each book.

The volumes don't stop there...  even with so many free books I can't resist purchasing others.  I have fiction, devotionals and books on writing.  But I'll leave those for another post.

For those who wonder what standard I use to judge what I read, I confess there is only one; the most profound, compelling, encouraging and educational book ever written, both a history text and a love letter, His Word, the Bible. 

These are also piled up and scattered everywhere, in as many versions as we can find.  They are in every room (yes, even the bathroom), in the car, and in my purse.

Did I mention I love words?  Have I mentioned I love God?

Chasing Sunsets by Eva Marie Everson

The back cover of Chasing Sunsets: A Cedar Key Novel by Eva Marie Everson invites the reader to:

Let yourself get swept away to an island retreat of warm tropical breezes, sandy beaches, and the most glorious sunsets you can imagine 

In the pages of Everson’s novel we meet Kimberly Tucker's. Like many of us, her life hasn't turned out the way she planned or expected. With her two boys away for 5five weeks with their father, Kim’s ex-husband, she makes a journey to the family holiday home on tiny Cedar Key at the request of her father, who needs some business tended to. This trip into the past uncovers things buried and proves that sometimes you do get a second chance at your first great love.
Threads from the past were picked up and woven into a story that intrigued me and compelled me to continue turning page after page as Everson introduced characters like Rosa and Patsy in both their former and present selves.

From sunset to sunset, I found myself rooting for the power of love to prevail.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate

Life rarely follows the course we expect.  Both Andrea Henderson and Game Warden Mart McClendon discover that truth as they each find themselves back home at Moses Lake.

Lisa Wingate alternates chapters and point of view between Andrea and Mart, weaving in strands from their pasts as she moves the story along in present time.  Histories that include a broken marriage, a tragic accident and more bends than the backroads Andrea learns to drive, have lead to broken dreams and shattered faith.

God's hand is upon both of these main characters, who find themselves drawn together in a mission to help a strange young girl who appears to be living with the slow and reclusive Len across the lake.  Hurts overflow as they learn to trust God and each other. 

I found this novel engaging. It was easy to like the characters I met as I turned the pages and I felt compelled to read on to see how God would smooth out all of the rough edges and work all things for His good purposes.

You can read Chapter 1 at Bethany House Publishers Media page HERE and I believe you'll find yourself, like I did,  wanting to read more.

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.