On the Bookshelf: Fiction and Nonfiction

This is the first time that I've read a book by Beverly Lewis. I am a huge fan of Amish fiction, but I've always preferred the style of author Carrie Bender (an Amish woman herself), who writes lovely stories in journal/diary form about Amish women and their day to day lives. I had always viewed Beverly Lewis as more of a 'drama' Amish fiction writer, because the titles or summaries always seemed to denote a crisis of sorts in the Amish rather than peaceful living-- I mean, hey, one of her most popular books was called The Shunning. Maybe I'm ideological, but I'd rather read about the joys of Amish life than the struggles? That being said, I was really pleasantly surprised with The Ebb Tide!! It was a great book and was neither Pollyanna style nor gloom and doom, but an enjoyable read of an Amish girl who nannies for an non-Amish family on the East Coast for a summer. She did struggle with her Amish faith and her future (I won't spoil the ending!) but it wasn't negative about the Amish lifestyle, more of a true searching for this particular young woman's desires and God's will for her. It was thought-provoking and interesting. There were a few times I found myself thinking that the story was drawn-out, but overall it was a good book and now I find myself curious about the author's other books on this subject. Perhaps I misjudged them simply by The Shunning. ;) I would give this book a 3.5 out of 5.

[Thank you to Baker Publishing Group for my complimentary copy of the book. This review contains my honest and original thoughts.]

This book was a page turner!! Despite my limited time to read books with an active almost-one-year-old (how can that be??!!), I finished this book within two days! What a great summer read! High as the Heavens, by Kate Breslin, was set during World War I in Belgium. The heroine is a nurse in a military hospital by day-- and an underground spy by night! The first chapter starts off with a bang as she goes to meet her underground contact, who is injured in a plane crash, only to discover it's her husband-- who had been declared dead three years earlier in the war!! The suspense continues as she must keep both their covers and figure out a way to protect him as he recovers from the crash. It's hard to know who to trust! Loved this one. 5 out of 5.

[Thank you to Baker Publishing Group for my complimentary copy of the book. This review contains my honest and original thoughts.]

Despite my fiction kick this summer, my husband and I continue to read this devotional on the weekends (missing a few here and there-- keeping it real!). This devotional is based on the book Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas. I read that a couple years ago and it was a great book. The subtitle says so much: "What if marriage isn't about making you happy...but making you holy?" While I do believe God desires us to be happy, including in marriage, it's so important to remember that this journey of marriage is about refining us into the people God wants us to be-- and that involves smoothing some rough edges, which doesn't always feel happy. ;) If holiness is our goal and purpose, the hard and 'unhappy' times are easier to bear because we can lift those up to God, trusting that He is working on us and in us and through us to help our marriages bear fruit-- including true joy and peace. This devotional draws from Sacred Marriage's wisdom and is made up of 52 short chapters. They are not dated, so you can use whenever and however you like. We like doing one a week because it's been a great way to focus our weekends and have a little dose of 'marriage therapy' when we're together more for the weekend. I can't think of a chapter so far that we haven't both nodded our heads or said, "ooh, that was a good one." It makes both of us think and reflect and see where God might be asking us to grow in our marriage. This would make a great gift for a bridal shower or wedding. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Thank you to BookLook Bloggers for a complimentary copy. This review contains my honest and original thoughts.]