Kristen Heitzmann - Freefall

Heitzmann is a good writer. You can't deny that. She uses words with skill and comes up with good stories. Her characters are well drawn and substantial. In Freefall, both the main and minor characters are interesting and believable. Heitzmann goes to some lengths to explore their depths, and I enjoyed that.

If you're a fan of action and intrigue, you will appreciate the way Heitzmann reveals their true strengths and weaknesses by placing them in critical situations. I do not happen to be a fan of action and intrigue. I prefer social maneuvering, awkward situations, intellectual battles, and the working out of relationships within that framework. Action sequences tend to bore me, no matter how exciting or scary they would be in real life.

Thankfully, Freefall is a nice long read, so there's plenty of room between the abductions and attempted murders to get to know the characters under relatively normal conditions. Definitely not my favourite, but respectable light reading.

Susan Meissner - Why the Sky Is Blue

Susan Meissner writes beautifully. There's no denying that. Nothing wrong with her prose. This is a good book exploring an interesting issue. I found it a little boring - but then her target audience here is mature women, wives and mothers. It was hard for me to relate.

Beverly Lewis - The Shunning

Beverly Lewis writes well and paints a charming picture of Amish life, while exposing some of its downsides. The characters are well drawn and likeable and the conflicts keep the story moving.

My problem with Lewis' books is that they take me on this journey into a simple world that I fall in love with - despite the harshness and legalism - and then throw me out of it into the (comparatively) garish world of the "Englishers" and tell me that this is better.

Maybe she's right. But it stomps all over my romantic sympathies. The part of me that wishes we all drove horses and buggies rebels against it.

Still, this book (and the series) is extremely popular. I shouldn't criticize... but I do.

Lori Wick - Bamboo and Lace

I found this book very similar to "The Princess" in a lot of ways.

I liked the premise. Lily is a girl from a tiny asian country where she has been raised not to look men in the eye. It creates amazing opportunities for awkwardness and curious interactions between characters. I liked Lily and her love interest, Gabe. I hated Lily's domineering and almost over-the-top stern father. I loved that the story was set in Hawaii.

But yet again, the romance falls flat. It could have been wonderful. It could have been sweet and beautiful. Shy, beautiful girl is coaxed out of her restrictive shell and shown that true love does not demand silent, unobtrusiveness servitude. So what is with the hero being talked into even considering the girl as a potential wife? The confident wooing of said girl after being convinced of its sound logic and assured that Lily will take anyone who shows an interest in her? Instead of just letting the characters fall in love naturally, which the plot certainly allows for, they are more or less shoved together by friends who seem to see that they should be falling in love... but aren't.

All I can say is, Lori Wick has a weird idea of what love is. Kind of cool story. Not the kind of relationship I'm looking for, though.

Linda Lee Chaikin - Silk

This is the first in Chaikin's "Heart of India" series. I was given it as a gift a few years ago.

Basically, it's a Harlequin Romance in Christian clothing. I sold it at a garage sale and was almost embarrassed to do that much. Not that I'm against swashbuckling and corsets - I loved Pirates of the Caribbean as much as anybody. But this story was just gratuitous shocking circumstances. I respect myself less for having read it through.

Lori Wick - The Princess

This was a strange walk on the fantastic side of Christian fiction.

First, I loved the fairy tale premise. An ordinary girl is chosen as the new bride of a widowed prince. An escapist story, obviously, but what girl doesn't like to imagine she's a princess? Come on. We all do it.

The problem was, this fantasy didn't play out the way I wanted it to. It was an interesting story, and I enjoyed reading it, but there were things I didn't like. The setting seemed off, somehow, with contemporary and historical/idyllic elements that just didn't jive together. I never felt like I fully entered or understood this world. I also felt that some of the conflicts between the bride and groom were somewhat contrived and predictable - nothing really new or surprising. But my biggest issue with the story was the romance: it just wasn't there.

*Warning: Spoiler ahead!*
This is a story about an arranged marriage which, although with all the ingredients for a great romance story, turns out bittersweet. I suppose it is meant to be realistic - and I'm sure many arranged marriages end up in a kind of love that is more fond and dutiful than passionate. The problem is, it depresses me. When I read a romance novel, I'm not interested in two people who form a friendly and mutually beneficial partnership. Some people find it charming - but I wanted to tear up the last few pages and rewrite it myself. I restrained myself, because I had borrowed the book from the library. It probably wouldn't have worked, anyway. Lori Wick's ending suits the characters, somehow. And ultimately, I didn't care enough about them to lament their fate for long.

Grace Livinston Hill - Not Under the Law

When I was 12, my family moved in with my grandparents. We stayed for 5 months - in a 2-bedroom home that was roomy for a retired couple, but not meant to hold 8. It was an interesting experience, to say the least.

Along with the awe of the wood-burning stove, camping in the backyard in the summer in an attempt to make the house seem less crowded, missing my old friends, swimming in the lake across the road, and the constant fear of breaking one of my Granny's beautiful dishes, (or even more beautiful figurines) I remember the bookshelf.

I have always been a voracious reader, but during those 5 months I immersed myself in anything I could get my hands on. Granny had a large collection of Jannette Oke and Grace Livinston Hill novels, and I read every one.

I recently re-read some of her Grace Livingston Hills, and found them as amusing as ever. She wrote close to a hundred, if not more. The ones I have read seem similar in many ways. There is always a love story, though the hero and heroine may not spend much time together. The heroine usually needs saving, though she often does her own share of saving the boy. There are some absolutely heinous villains you will love to hate, and most importantly, the heroine usually goes on some kind of adventure, whether it involves running out of church on her wedding day or buying and renovating an old barn for her family to live in.

This book is one of my favourite because of the adventure element. The heroine runs away from her evil aunt and uncle, walking all night and travelling by train until she reaches a cozy little town, where she buys a tiny 1-room "demo" home about to be demolished. She then convinces one of the townspeople to let her rent a corner of her property to put her house on. Throughout the rest of the book she stretches the meager contents of her wallet, sews her own clothes, makes her own furniture, and does odd jobs around the town to earn her keep. Meanwhile, her friends in the town she left search for her, she is wooed by a man who admires her gentle, truthful ways but wants to change them, and her childhood friend is framed for murder.

Hill's novels are sweet, idyllic slices of romanticized life in the early 1900's. The stories are simple but uplifting, and always interesting. The heroines are wonderful role models for young girls: gentle and loving, yet strong, independent, and sometimes even tough. They remind me a little bit of my Granny - and she is a lady worth admiring.

Francine Rivers - Atonement Child

After reading "The Mark of the Lion" series, (and being blown away by it) I was ready to read anything and everything written by Francine Rivers. I found this one and devoured it in one night. Ms. Rivers certainly can tell a story.

That said, I didn't enjoy it as much as her other novels. This one is placed in a contemporary setting, with a young woman who doesn't seem to know what she believes as the protagonist (although perhaps I was looking for another Hadassah, the girl of inspiring faith who made "A Voice in the Wind" so unforgettable). It's a good read for a younger or "baby Christian", but leaves the more mature reader somewhat unsatisfied. Also, the love story is in the background and somewhat superfluous. Take a look at it if you get the chance, but it's not required reading.

Francine Rivers - Mark of the Lion series

A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, As Sure as the Dawn

The first book in this series is probably my favourite Christian novel of all time, and the sequels are just as worthy. They have everything: romance, suspense, conflict, questions of faith, and historical interest. This is an epic love story set in the period of the early church - two elements which put it squarely in my line of interest. It will take you on an emotional roller coaster, and it might even put your own faith to the test. It defies your expectations and takes you places you never expect to go in a romance novel. I cried, I cheered, I loved it. You probably will too.

Angela Hunt - Unspoken

I liked it. The characters were believable, the story was interesting, and there were realistic conflicts. It managed to hold my attention and even captivated one of my sisters who is a slower reader and needs a gripping story in order to read a book all the way through.

There were some elements that seemed unbalanced. The time management issues experienced by the protagonist, Glee Granger, were a little overblown, in my opinion. At times she was difficult to relate to, and at others I wanted to scream at everyone else in the book to stop giving her such a hard time. The romance element was barely there, for better or worse. You'll root for the main characters to 'get together already', but it's no epic love story.

But Ms. Hunt's real triumph is the character of Sema, the baby gorilla Glee adopts and raises. She will steal your heart even more completely than the picture on the cover. While the idea of a gorilla being able to see God - and even more eyebrow raising, to communicate that fact - may be a little contoversial to a Christian crowd, I had no problem with it in the context of the story. It definitely made me think, which is what a good book should do. Definitely recommended.