The Bridegrooms

This latest book by Allison Pittman is light hearted and enjoyable. The whole story takes place in a week's time. There is a double meaning in the title; not only was it a story of bridegrooms destined for each of four sisters, but also the name of a traveling baseball team.

Mysteriously one night, when the oldest daughter was 8 and the youngest just a baby, their mother left and did not return home. Fast forward to their current life, where the daughters are grown, the "baby" is now a teen, and possible marriage is on the horizon. Vada, the oldest, has mothered each of them up to this point, with some help from their doctor father and their loyal housekeeper. She has a steady if not "exciting" beau, and her closest sister has secretly put out an advertisement for possible suitors; sort of like eharmony.com only in 1898!

On game day during the game between the Brooklyns Bridegrooms and the Cleveland Spiders, a spectator is hit by a home run ball and carried to the house to be doctored. Tense moments ensue.

I enjoyed the descriptions of life with sisters: their qualities, quirks, and loyalties. It reminded me a bit of Little Women. I enjoyed the descriptions of the clothing, routines, housekeeper and the local "coffee shop" if you will, where coffee and delicious pastries were available for a dime or two. Mysterious characters, conflicting emotions and a satisfying ending made for a simple but fun book.

2010, paperback, by WaterBrook Press.
I have one or two copies to give away.

This Little Prayer of Mine

This Little Prayer of Mine, by Anthony DeStefano, is a very simple, colorfully illustrated book for children. It reinforces the knowledge that God listens to and answers prayer, even if you are a child.

With simple rhyming prayers, sometimes for help facing fears or asking forgiveness for unkind behavior, This Little Prayer of Mine also reminds children to be thankful in prayer and to express their joy and hopes for the future to God.


Hardback, 2010, by WaterBrook Press.
I have one copy to give away.

Dug Down Deep

Editor of a magazine for homeschoolers, speaker at teen conferences, having a contract with a Christian publisher to write a book , Joshua Harris found himself living the "evangelical American dream." However, he realized it was only a surface faith that he portrayed, not one with a deep spiritual foundation. He began searching Christian doctrine and mentoring with respected preachers. And, he learned what it meant to have a sure foundation.
Dug Down Deep is the story of Harris' search and awakening to the truth of the gospel. For example, he says we are all theologians, but the main question is whether what we know about God is actually true or a conglomeration of false ideas. Our whole life can be wrong because of an incorrect foundation.

On our foundation: "Being a Christian means being a person who labors to establish his beliefs, his dreams, his choices, his very view of the world on the truth of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished..." (pg. 19)

On sanctification: "Christian growth can't be defined by whom we don't want to be like. It has to be defined by becoming like Jesus...It has to be built on real, Bible-rooted conviction." (pg.170)
"The truth of God's adopting love for me means I'm not obeying to get into his family or even to stay in the club. I obey because I'm already in." (pg. 173)

On the Holy Spirit: "To be indwelt by the Spirit of the living, eternal God is a greater gift, a more overwhelming honor than any position, any possession, any amount of wealth, or any human achievement." (pg. 186) "The truth is that there is no such thing as normal or nonsupernatural Christian living." (pg. 187) "But we can never settle for merely knowing doctrine....We need the power of God's Holy Spirit to give us 'strength to comprehend'....God's love for us..." (pg. 191)

On the doctrine of the church: "So God doesn't come out on a big stage once a year to prove himself to the world. He does something so much riskier and more daring....he makes us the show." (pg. 197)

I now know the story called "The Room" was his own dream. Harris also disliked an old tale about a train conductor who sacrifices his son in the gears of a bridge so people on the train could be saved, equating that somehow with Jesus and the cross. I never liked that story either, but could not figure out why it bothered me so. Now I know it's because it wrongly portrays Jesus as a victim.
Dug Down Deep, by Joshua Harris, is a thoughtful, well written story of a personal search for a sure foundation. It's worth reading.

2010 hardbound by Multnomah.

Here Burns My Candle

This is the first novel I have read by Liz Curtis Higgs. Here Burns My Candle is the story of a Lowlander family in 1745. Lady Marjory Kerr has taken up residence in Edinburgh, along with her two sons and their wives.

She and her hand-picked daughter-in-law, Janet, love to participate in all that the upper society has to offer. The death of her husband has left her fairly well off with income from lands around a country estate. That was his love; hers was the city life and all it had to offer. While keeping her gold hidden under her chamber floor, in her heart she hides the guilt she feels from urging her husband to keep them in a fashionable residence in the city. Her sons can do no wrong: she spoils them and their wives, providing them the money to live on and a place of residence.

Lady Elizabeth Kerr, on the other hand, married Lord Donald Kerr out of love. She is a Highlander by birth and therefore from a different social level. She is an expert seamstress and busies herself much of the time with beautiful stitchery. She is not as enamored of social standing as are her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. She is kind hearted and humble. She secretly worships the moon as taught by her family, though she dutifully attends church services with the Kerrs. Unbeknownst to herself and the rest of the family, her husband has secrets of his own.

Here Burns My Candle is rich with description. At one point I felt like I should make scones and have tea! I liked the way the characters developed through adversity, and how they came to know or come back to the one, true God. Well-researched Scottish history made me think I should dig into a history book on my own.

Love, betrayal, loss, redemption; all rolled into one satisfying novel.

WaterBrook Press, 2010, paperback
I have one copy to give away.

An Absence So Great

This sequel to Jane Kirkpatrick's A Flickering Light picks up where the first left off. Jessie Gaebele has moved to Milwaukee to become a photography studio assistant to the Widow Johnson. She's 18 with three years of experience behind her and a love of photography deep within her. Her goals are to earn money to send back to her family for their household support (a common occurrence in the early 1900's), save enough money to someday own her own studio, learn as much as she can about the business, and leave behind the adoration of her former boss and mentor, Fred Bauer, a married man with a family.

In An Absence So Great, Jessie struggles as she recognizes an inner voice often telling her "Don't do it" and just as often ignored, to her detriment, while she calculates different possibilities in her mind; those things she can do to generate additional income as she works to gain a respected foothold in what is considered a man's occupation. Often, verses of Scripture which she memorized as a child come back to direct and comfort her. Many of the mistakes she makes come from her desire to be in control and shape her life.

It's kind of a melancholy novel and sometimes I wanted the characters to make different choices. However, An Absence So Great and A Flickering Light are based on the author's own grandmother's life. She gleaned details from interviews, family histories and tales handed down, plus factual research supported by news of the day. Kirkpatrick takes family history and uses her imagination to flesh out what might have been.

Paperback, from WaterBrook Press, 2010.
I have two copies to give away.