Month: September 2013

Review of Rebellious Heart by Jody Hedlund

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Genre: Historical Romance

Highly Recommended!

I love historical fiction, especially when it is based on the lives of real people. Rebellious Heart is inspired by the early years of John and Abigail Adams’ courting relationship in Colonial America (Massachusetts, 1763). Susanna Smith (Abigail) and Benjamin Ross (John) become unlikely friends and lovers when they work together to illegally assist an indentured servant in escaping her abusive master. The main plot of the story is fictitious (but realistic); however, many of the details and personalities of the characters closely parallel the discoveries of the author’s historical research of the Adams’ relationship and personalities.

The wealthy Susanna is wonderfully strong-willed and uniquely intelligent and witty–especially for a woman of her time. Benjamin, on the other hand, is a poor lawyer with almost nothing to his name, but with an equally feisty and intellectual spirit and an influential role within the rebellious activities against the Royal Crown. Together their challenging discussions on how to respond as Christians to the unfair treatment of the British authority bring the struggles of the Colonial Period to life, while also being relevant for similar contemporary deliberations. Moreover, the novel is a great mix of suspense, excellent dialog, steamy romance, and, of course, rich history.

I also enjoyed Hedlund’s novel, The Preacher’s Bride, based on the story of John and Elizabeth Bunyan, but this one was even more enjoyable to me. I look forward to more historical fiction from this author!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House.

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Review of Unforeseeable by Nancy Mehl

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Genre: Romantic Suspense/Mennonite Fiction

Series: Road to Kingdom: Book Three

Recommended.

When a dead women is found within the Mennonite community of Kingdom, Kansas, matching the MO of an unidentified serial killer, the residents of the small town are startled. Worse, it seems the killer may be connected to the soon-to-be pastor, Levi Housler, which sets his fiancée, Callie Hoffman, on edge. As the mystery unravels, Callie struggles between her past and the present to define her true identity, and to solidify her trust in God and in her future spouse.

Unforeseeable is a romantic crime mystery that is just suspenseful enough to keep a reader’s attention without inducing nightmares, or including gory or unsettling images. This is the first Mennonite story I have read (and I have yet to read any Amish fiction), so at first it was an adjustment for me to consider the differences in the characters’ lifestyles as opposed to my own urban Californian culture. I found myself caught up in the beautiful simplicity of the Mennonite culture, and in the lives and emotions of the characters.

I have not read the first two books in this series, but found it was easy enough to follow the narrative and understand the characters. I also appreciated the pace of the story, which is a perfect balance of suspense, reflection, and light romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House.

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Review of King by R.J. Larson

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Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book Three of the Books of the Infinite Series

Highly Recommended.

The Books of the Infinite series is excellently written Christian fantasy. Larson has created a world that is reminiscent of the Old Testament, complete with fantastic creatures (like the dreaded scaln and the dinosaur-like destroyers), that is also realistic and enthralling to the contemporary reader. I have been anticipating the release of King since finishing the second book, Judge, and it did not disappoint.

This third book, King, wraps up some of the themes from the first two narratives, while also being a complete story. I do, however, recommend reading each book in order as there is so much character development in the first two stories, as well as subtle moments of reflection upon past events that would otherwise be missed.

The central character in King is Akabe Garric, who is chosen to be King of Siphra despite his wishes. Akabe makes some hasty decisions, putting his kingdom in grave physical danger. As he struggles to wait for the Infinite’s direction there are battles, miracles, and both physical and emotional challenges. Beloved characters Ela and Kien also play large roles within the story, and struggle with some obstacles of their own. The story is packed with action, strongly reflects the themes and events of several Old Testament Bible stories, and even has a bit of romance.

I know R.J. Larson has mentioned she prefers writing historical fiction, but her ability to write such brilliant biblical fantasy is truly a gift. I hope she delves deeper into this genre!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House.

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Review of Bumper Wipe Clean Activities by Juliet David illus. Marie Allen

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Genre: Children’s Activity Books

Recommended.

My three year old has been loving wipe clean books lately. We have books focused on all sorts of learning areas: ABCs, numbers, shapes, etc. But this one is special in that it also teaches about Bible stories, ranging from the Old Testament to Jesus’ earthly ministry. Every page has an engaging illustration, a few sentences describing the Bible event and directions for the activity, and the puzzle itself. The activities are things like connect-the-dots, simple mazes, tracing activities (for numbers and words), finding which two items are the same, marking the order of a story, searching for hidden objects or mistakes within a picture, matching, and more. Most of the puzzles are self-explanatory, so a young person could complete the activity without knowing how to read in the case that the book were used to keep a person distracted.

Here are a couple examples from the book:

Abraham is leaving his home. He is taking his family too. Put a cross through all the things that didn’t exist in Bible times.

These fishermen called Peter and Andrew want to follow Jesus. Which line takes them to Jesus?

I love that this book is relatively small (8″ x 6.7″), because it is just the right size for my little guy. It is also conveniently designed with an official place to hold the pen (the pen is included), and has a very durable hardback cover. We have used other wipe-clean style pens and crayons on the pages, and so far they have all wiped off easily. This is an excellent activity book for preschool or kindergarten aged children to have fun and work on fine motor and logic skills while also learning and familiarizing themselves with the Bible.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Candle Books.

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