giveaway Archives -

Beside Still Waters: Not Your Average Amish Fiction Story

18Apr | 2011

posted by Paula

Beside Still Waters is an unexpected and gorgeous treat of a book. It’s like buying a trip off the Internet for the first time. You cross your fingers and take a leap of faith. Then you get there and discover you landed a 5 star resort with world class dining and an unexpected room upgrade. It is clear from page two on that Beside Still Waters is the equivalent of landing a five star resort. On this journey there is fine writing with great and moving characters and a stunning, heart-wrenching, plot. From the first page the author grabs you and won’t let you go. Tricia Goyer has a real talent for gripping your heart, evoking emotion, and inspiring imagination. Beside Still Waters: A Big Sky Novel is the first book in a new series by Goyer. The book begins with a terrible tragedy, and an early birth that follows hot on the heels of the tragedy – life asserting itself even as grief reigns down on the Sommer family. The plot that unfolds reveals themes of growth, grief, romance, faith, differences and tolerance. Marianna is the infant born the same day her parents experience a horrible life-altering tragedy. She is, at once, a blessing and a lifelong reminder of their tragedy. Not surprisingly her character is sobre beyond her years. Marianna is the eldest daughter in her family and therefore often charged with child care. When we first meet her she is 18 planning a life in her community in Indiana, a place she has known all of her life. But her family is unable to move past their losses. They have also lost an older son, Levi, the brother to Marianne, who chose to leave Amish life for the world of the Englisch. In Indiana, Aaron Zook is the near perfect Amish young man who has her in his sights and quickens her heart. He is already building their home together despite having never really even asked her for an official date. Despite the many sadnesses that plague and follow Marianna, she believes she can see a future with Aaron. But her father shocks her with news they will leave their home and try to start fresh in Montana. Marianna agrees to give the new home six months and then she will return to her church, her home and the life that is waiting with Aaron. Or will she? A long train trip with her family is Marianna’s first real experience with the Englisch. And while there is a lovely older woman who speaks to her of faith and trusting God on the train trip, there is also a belligerent drunk young man who hits on Marianna prompting her father to step in and threaten physical retaliation. Goyer has an interesting way of illustrating the good with the bad and through her character’s psychological journeys, showing that black and white sometimes make grey.

Tricia Goyer is a remarkable talent. Goyer is the author of 24 books including Songbird Under a German Moon. She has also written a Mommy memoir called Blue Like Play Dough. She has been published in magazines and has written for Today’s Christian Woman and Focus on The Family. She doesn’t rely on the old standby stereotypes, or even the predictable Amish fiction romance plots. Her characters challenge the norms for Amish tradition. They have strong psychological lives. For instance, while it is common that Amish people live all their life in one area, this family in Beside Still Waters, moves to Montana. Despite the fact that the Amish are peaceful people, they can also be moved to violence should the opportunity demand it. Marianna’s father threatens to hit a young man hitting on Marianna when she is on the train ride. Marianna questions him after and he tells her he was merely calling the young man’s bluff. Goyer magically balances the allure of that which is different, the English culture, and the appeal of a familiar Amish life. She has created in Marianna a really strong, authentic, and lovely character I hope readers get to see more of in future books. To assume that this is a simple romance is to do great injustice to this novel, a book that could hold its own with any best-selling fiction novel I have read.

Beside Still Waters, by Tricia Goyer, released April 2011, paperback, is published by B&H books, 320 pages and $14.99 US.

I give this one a $$$$ 1/2 out of $$$$$.

I was provided with a free copy of this book to review. This in no way impacts my opinion.

Tricia Goyer has her own blog over at http://www.triciagoyerblogspot.com/

She is running a giveaway there right now offering five readers each a copy of this book. She also has a unique Amish salt and pepper set for one winner.

Lazarus Awakening: Finding Your Place in the Heart of God: A Review and a Giveaway

15Apr | 2011

posted by Paula

Joanna Weaver’s latest book is an honest look at moving faith beyond your head to your heart. For those who need to periodically reexamine their faith and their role in accepting religion, this book is a must read, especially for women. Lazarus Awakening is a look at how to open your heart to God’s voice and to his actions. It is not a ten quick steps guide to living through God or anything quite so simplistic. In a world that seeks so much scientific proof to back up theory, it is a compelling essay on how to move beyond that to a place where a Christian can see the actions of God and trust that he is there even when those desperate times appear and he seems absent. In many ways this is a book about trust.

Weaver speaks of her childhood and her intuitive knowledge that God was there guiding her and accepting her as something that was almost a nursery rhyme in its familiarity. And yet, she notes that while she knew this to be true and she felt safe in God’s love, she also experienced this as a somewhat threatening and heavy-handed type of love. As she writes: “I saw my heavenly Father as a stern teacher with a yardstick in His hand, pacing up and down the classroom of my life as He looked for any and all infractions…Most of the time I lived in fear of the yardstick.”

Lazarus Awakening: Finding Your Place In The Heart of God is the third book in a series by Weaver that started with Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World and then followed with Having a Mary Spirit. The poetic title Lazarus Awakening is a reference to the Biblical character Lazarus, brother to Mary and Martha, who falls ill and dies. Mary and Martha bury him and Jesus comes back to show them his power and ressurect Lazarus from the dead. The stones in front of Lazarus’ grave are also metaphors for blockages in our lives impeding belief and faith. The three stones, according to Weaver are: unworthiness, unforgiveness and unbelief.

And in many ways Lazarus is a metaphor here – a smart one – for the absence of something and the experience of faith. Lazarus is mostly known in the Bible for his absence, his death and then his reawakening. The parallel of course is that God’s love is like that, and so is faith. Weaver sees the reader as Lazarus and the intention within this book then must be to reawaken the audience.

There are interesting little snippets of scripture and also some quizzes to help readers access more self knowledge throughout the process of reading this book. There are also some cultural references the author draws on to make a point and a nice study guide is in the book for Bible study groups and Christian women’s groups who may choose this book to explore further. All in all this is an easy read and relevant. I liked the metaphor and also found the writing style accessible. I think this author is quite appealing because she draws on the universal childhood experience of religion being taught to you as something that is done to a child and for a child, but not necessarily internalized by the child. Lazarus Awakening is a guide that helps explain the process of growing from that passive child into an active adult relationship with God.

Lazarus Awakening by Joanna Weaver, published by Waterbrook Press, US $19.99 and Canadian $22.99 Christian Living, Women, Non Fiction, Self Help, 221 pages

Thriftymommas rating is $$$1/2 out of $$$$$. An easy read. This would make a great choice for a Christian women’s book club.

I received a copy of this book for free to facilitate this review. This in no way impacts my opinion.

I enjoyed this book so much I would like to share a copy with my readers.

To enter this giveaway:

1. Follow me on GFC and leave a comment as to why you’d like to win.

2. Don’t forget to leave me your contact information so I can get the book to you.

I will draw for this one on April 25th.

The Mountains Bow Down Blog Tour and A Cruise Giveaway

26Mar | 2011

posted by Paula

Picture the cruise from hell. That’s where Raleigh Harmon, a newly engaged FBI agent, finds herself with mother, aunt and a dead movie star’s wife. This story The Mountains Bow Down has one of the best mystery plots I have read in awhile. Raleigh Harmon is a beautiful but athletic and very capable FBI agent asked to come on a cruise to Alaska to simultaneously relax and also act as a consultant for a B grade movie being filmed on the cruise ship. She is no sooner there when a body turns up, a young woman, apparently a suicide. But the clues don’t add up. The ship turns back to the sea before it has even reached the first port of call and the vacation cruise is over for many. Raleigh knows the evidence is indicating this can’t have been an ordinary suicide. Initially they point to movie star Milo Carpenter, husband of the deceased. But is it him? Or is he just a washed up actor with a drinking problem? Despite the limitations of being on a boat, she manages to cleverly manipulate the tools available to analyze and collect evidence. Petroleum jelly becomes an agent to reflect ultraviolet light on a bracelet and create a glow in the dark lure for a thief. These are the types of smart tricks that Raleigh uses and they complement the strong female character. She runs her own investigation and uncovers a whole lot of criminal activity on the cruise ship. Her nemesis Special Agent Jack Stephensan, a good-looking cowboy with an eye for Raleigh, shows up to help and soon begins to make her question her engagement. As the one week cruise sails through the Inside Passage Raleigh and Jack have to solve this crime in the span of five days. After that the cruise ship passengers disperse to various countries and suspects and evidence will be gone. Sibella Giorello lives in Washington with her family. She began her writing career as a news features reporter. Raleigh Harmon is also the main character in two other novels by Giorello The Rivers Run Dry and The Clouds Roll Away.

The Mountains Bow Down is by Sibella Giorello, Thomas Nelson publishers, paperback $14.99 US, 369 pages.

I was not compensated for this post. I received a free copy of the book to facilitate the review and the blog tour.

This one gets $$$$ out of $$$$$. It was suspenseful and had a great main character. Very plot driven.

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down by giving away a Cruise prize pack worth over $500.00!

One Grand Prize winner will receive:
A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.

The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.

Click the button for cruise giveaway details.
Then tell your friends. And enter soon – the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

Join Sibella and fans of the Raleigh Harmon series on April 5th at 5:00 pm PST (6 MST, 7 CST & 8 EST) for a Facebook Book Club Party. Sibella will be giving away some fun prizes, testing your trivia skills and hosting a book chat about the Raleigh Harmon books. Please RSVP and if you have questions you’d like to chat about – leave them on the Event page.

The Rhythm of Secrets: Litfuse Blog Tour and a giveaway

9Feb | 2011

posted by Paula

The Rhythm of Secrets is a roller coaster of a book with multiple serpentine plot twists that sneak up on you. This is the fictional story of Sheila, a promising young musician, born in New Orleans and named Sheba originally. The story jumps around in time from present day making use of a framing device. Sheila is a pastor’s wife telling the story of her life to a young man named Samuel. In the past sequences, she is a child, at first leading an interesting, Bohemian and colourful life, running bets for her gambler father. But a fire changes all of that and suddenly she is orphaned, taken in by her cold, rich, grandmother, Mimi. The grandmother immediately forces Sheba to have her name legally changed to Sheila, on the basis that the name Sheba is not upper class enough. As if it weren’t bad enough that Sheba lost her parents in tragedy, she will endure many humiliations and injustices, first at the hands of her grandmother and then later at the hands of others: doctors and medical personnel. The one good thing to come from her stay in grandma’s home is a loving servant who cares for her named Camille and an upper class education at the finest schools. At school Sheila/Sheba finds solace and passion through music. Just as she begins to find her home, carving a way in the world, she takes a holiday visit to see her cousin and meets a soldier, a young boy, who wins her over at least temporarily. Although Sheila is a musical genius, she is utterly ignorant in many life skills and neither sex, nor reproduction, have been explained to her. A brief time after meeting the young man, she begins feeling faint and sick to her stomach and her loving servant Camille explains that she is pregnant. Now young and unwed, never to see the biological father of her baby again, she is cast out by her grandmother and comes to live in a home for unwed mothers where she will be hidden from society. This portion of the story centres on an adoption arc that is remarkably and devastatingly accurate for the time period. Despite the reality of wanting to keep her son, Sheila, whose name will be changed to Sylvia when she must be hidden away, is steered down a path towards an assumed adoption. At the home for unwed mothers she will find friends, with stories every bit as heartbreaking as hers. But she cannot stay long after she gives birth and must find her way again, on her own. I had no idea this book had such a strong adoption theme in it when I agreed to review it. Somehow adoption books find me. I never tire of these stories especially when they sneak up out of the blue and surprise me, as this one did. Sylvia’s plight is sad and tragic, the story of a birthmother from a time when abortion was not available or heard of, and it lends an interesting historical light on the topic. Slowly the author reveals that Samuel, the listener, is the son once removed from her and placed with an adoptive family. This is truly Sheila’s story and the point of view is the unwed teen mother. It is much less a story of adoptee, or adoptive family. And that’s okay. The Rhythm of Secrets starts with a loud cacophony and seems to slow down to a whisper for a bit before it picks up speed and tempo, rolling towards the eventual end. This is a good story. The main character is very compelling and for the most part this is a fresh idea. Patti Lacy has written two other books, An Irishwoman’s Tale and What the Bayou Saw.

Thriftymommastips rating is $$$ 1/2 out of $$$$$.
The Rhythm of Secrets, by Patti Lacy, Kregel Publications, 2010, 336 pages with book group discussion questions . Paperback.
I received a copy of the book to do this review, but my opinions are all my own.
I am giving my copy of this book to one lucky reader as part of my Valentine’s I Heart Books giveaway.
To enter: (Open to Canada only)
1. Follow me on twitter @inkscrblr.
I will draw for this one on Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget to leave me your contact email in case you win.