Tag: 2021 Release

What was your last five-star read?

Bookish Question #341 | What was your last five-star read?

This question was harder to answer than it should have been.

I read a lot of books. And the more books I read, the harder it is to find stories that stick in my memory after I’ve closed the book (or switched off the Kindle.

The title that sprang to mind for this question isn’t a book I’d normally read, but I’ve seen it mentioned online and have been waiting for it to come on sale on Kindle. Then I saw it at my local library, so checked it out.

It’s not fiction.
It’s not Christian (although the author is a Christian).
It’s nothing like the books I usually read and review.

It’s Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes Du Mez

(which I did recently feature in a First Line Friday post).

Jesus and John Wayne is probably best described as a history textbook, showing how the modern church has, step by tiny step, morphed the collective understanding of Jesus from the man who healed the sick and ate with sinners to some kind of nationalistic patriarchal authoritarian who was the opposite of politically correct.

Like John Wayne.

Yet Jesus was nothing like John Wayne. Jesus stood up for women, for widows (the single parents of his day), for orphans, for the oppressed, for the immigrants, the refugees (Jesus himself was a refugee in Egypt).

Du Mez makes a compelling argument for how the US Christian church has come to misinterpret Jesus by conflating him with people like John Wayne, and how that has hurt the church in the USA (I would add that it’s hurt the church globally).

You might not agree with everything she says, but it’s a well-researched and strongly written case, and well worth taking the time to read.

It might just make you think.

What about you? What’s your most recent five-star read?

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #343 | Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes Du Mez

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line.

I’ve recently joined the local library, so this week I’m reading a book I found in the library that’s been on my to-read list since it released: the eye-opening Jesus and John Wayne by scholar Kristin Kobes Du Mez.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

The path that ends with John Wayne as an icon of Christian masculinity is strewn with a colorful cast of characters, from the original cowboy president to a baseball-player-turned-evangelist to a singing cowboy and a dashing young evangelist.

 

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Jesus and John Wayne

Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.”

As acclaimed scholar Kristin Du Mez explains, the key to understanding this transformation is to recognize the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism. Many of today’s evangelicals might not be theologically astute, but they know their VeggieTales, they’ve read John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart, and they learned about purity before they learned about sex―and they have a silver ring to prove it. Evangelical books, films, music, clothing, and merchandise shape the beliefs of millions. And evangelical culture is teeming with muscular heroes―mythical warriors and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of “Christian America.” Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done.

Challenging the commonly held assumption that the “moral majority” backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Trump in fact represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals’ most deeply held values: patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community.

A much-needed reexamination of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, Jesus and John Wayne shows that, far from adhering to biblical principles, modern white evangelicals have remade their faith, with enduring consequences for all Americans.

Find Jesus and John Wayne online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

 

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #313 | Whole Latte Love by Kari Trumbo

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

Addi Merrick had spent her life waiting for him to show up, or so it seemed.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Whole Latte Love

Addi Merrick is a matchmaker with no match.

Her past is riddled with friends who married and left her behind.

She’s stuck at a job she doesn’t love with a boss who can’t stand her to put herself through college, but there’s a reason God wants her at the right place, at the right time.

Drew Tanner was left at the altar and doesn’t believe in love.

It’s been a year since the woman of his dreams vanished into thin air on his wedding day. Since then, he’s avoided women like her, certain all quiet women were hiding something. Seeing Addi is like watching his past, and he wants no part of it.

When a dating site matches them, not only as a possible match but a perfect match, they must choose to either risk the pain of rejection or the beauty of a love match.

Find Whole Latte Love online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #263 | All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese, a 2022 Christy Award and ACFW Carol Award winner.

Here’s the first line from Chapter One:

I used to marvel at the way my Great Mimi's arthritic fingers would pinch her eyeliner pencil and trace a perfect stroke of midnight black across her upper lash line.

The Kindle version is currently on sale for less than a dollar, so click here to check out the sample.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About All That Really Matters

Molly McKenzie’s bright personality and on-trend fashion and beauty advice have made her a major social media influencer. When her manager-turned-boyfriend tells her of an upcoming audition to host a makeover show for America’s underprivileged youth, all her dreams finally seem to be coming true. There’s just one catch: she has little experience interacting with people in need.

To gain an edge on her competitors, she plans to volunteer for the summer at a transitional program for aged-out foster kids, but the program’s director, Silas Whittaker, doesn’t find her as charming as her followers do. Despite his ridiculous rules and terms, Molly dives into mentoring, surprising herself with the genuine connections and concern she quickly develops for the girls–and Silas. But just as everything seems perfectly aligned for her professional future, it starts to crumble under the pressure. And as her once-narrow focus opens to the deep needs of those she’s come to know, she must face the ones she’s neglected inside herself for so long.

Find All That Really Matters online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week #217 | The Butcher’s Daughter by Parker J Cole

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from The Butcher’s Daughter by Parker J Cole, which is described as a story of Black Gotham. That’s a new-to-me area, so I’m looking forward to reading it. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

On the corner of Ninth and Walnut Street, a curious orchestra performed discordant tunes outside the towering edifice of the American Theatre.

 

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About The Butcher’s Daughter

A woman sent to retrieve a family’s son, a man tired of living a lie, and a scandal that brings them together.

Elsia Letchmore was intent on marrying her childhood friend until he left her and New York behind. She tried to console herself and put the man who rejected her due to her family’s business out of her mind. Now, she’s tasked with finding Zelpher Knight and bringing him to home New York’s Five Point District.

Zelpher Knight dreamed of being on the stage, but opportunities for a colored actor in 1846 were non-existent. Spurning his parents’ wishes for his future, he leaves New York and the only woman he has loved, to find the world isn’t ready to accept him. He starts on the greatest acting career of his life – living a lie. When his identity is discovered, he is shunned from the theater community. Angry, alone, and financially destitute he doesn’t expect to see redemption in the form of an angel from his past.

Returning home is harder than either of them expected as race, class, and freedom collide. Can the disgraced prodigal son ever find love and healing with the Butcher’s Daughter?

You can find The Butcher’s Daughter online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Solving a murder is not about crime, It's about finding fear and greed and, well, about lust.

Book Review | All That Is Secret by Patricia Raybon

Annalee Spain is known as the Black Professor, in reference to her role at a small Bible College. That makes her an unusual heroine in any time, but especially in a novel that starts in 1923 in Chicago. She heads to Denver to try and solve the mystery of her father’s murder. Here she meets people of all ages and races, many of whom could have something to do with her father’s disappearance and death.

All that is Secret is a novel that’s full of characters with secrets.

It’s a fast-paced mystery that hits all the right notes with plenty of likeable characters, and plenty of characters vying for the role of evildoer and murderer. The writing is strong, although perhaps a little distant, but that fits with the 1930s setting.

Christian fiction tends to focus on white main characters, so it’s great to see a novel (a series?) focusing on a Black main character. I appreciated the insight into a different time, place, and culture, and I especially appreciated the way Annalee and her friends can cross the racial and cultural boundaries to deliver a strong mystery.

It appears this is the first in what is to become the Annalee Spain Mystery series, and I’m looking forward to the next instalment.

Thanks to Tyndale House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Patricia Rayborn

Patricia Rayborn

Patricia Raybon is an award-winning Colorado author, essayist and novelist who writes top-rated books at the daring intersection of faith and race.

Her first fiction — an historical detective series, All That Is Secret, set in 1923 in Colorado’s Klan era — is a Parade Magazine Fall 2021 “Mysteries We Love” selection and a Masterpiece on PBS “Best Mystery Books of 2021” selection “As Recommended by Bestselling Authors.”

“Readers will be hooked from the first line…Captivating.” (Julie Cantrell) “Not only a good mystery, but a realistic insight into the African American experience in the 1920s in the West.” (Rhys Bowen) “Fast-paced and intriguing.” (Manuel Ramos) “Engrossing and thrilling….This intrepid sleuth would give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money.” (Sophfronia Scott).

Find Patricia Raybon online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

About All That Is Secret

Can an amateur detective solve the cold case mystery of her lost father’s murder?

In the winter of 1923, Professor Annalee Spain—a daring but overworked theologian at a small Chicago Bible college—receives a cryptic telegram calling her home to Denver to solve the mystery of the murder of her beloved but estranged father.

For a young Black woman, searching for answers in a city ruled by the KKK could mean real danger. Still, with her literary hero Sherlock Holmes as inspiration, Annalee launches her hunt for clues, attracting two surprising allies: Eddie, a relentless young white boy searching for his missing father, and Jack, a handsome Black pastor who loves nightclub dancing and rides in his sporty car, awakening Annalee’s heart to the surprising highs and lows of romantic love.

With their help, Annalee follows clues that land her among Denver’s powerful elite. But when their sleuthing unravels sinister motives and deep secrets, Annalee confronts the dangerous truths and beliefs that could make her a victim too.

Find All That Is Secret online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week #216 | The Breakup Project by Carolyn Miller

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from The Breakup Project by Carolyn Miller, the first book in her new hockey romance series. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

Because it is a truth, that should be universally acknowledged, that the sister of a hockey player will forever have hockey in her future.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About The Breakup Project

New Year. New Resolution. New Romance?
What happens when the best-laid plans break a friendship?

As the twin sister of hockey’s hottest forward, romance-loving Bree Karlsson is used to being ignored, leading to a New Year’s resolution to not date any athlete in her attempt to find Mr. Right. But what happens when the man who might prove to be her personal Mr. Darcy is her brother’s hockey-playing best friend?

Mike Vaughan might be happy playing in Boston, but he’d be even happier if Bree could one day see him as more than a good friend. He agrees to help Bree with a special project in the hope she’ll finally see him as something more. But when a misunderstanding ends in a Valentine’s Day disaster, Bree realizes that her breakup project may have broken her friendship with Mike in two. Can she ever redeem her mistake?

This friends-to-more romance has plenty of heart, humor, and swoon-worthy kisses in this first book of the Original Six, a sweet, slightly sporty Christian contemporary romance series.

You can find  The Breakup Project online at:

Amazon | BookBub| Goodreads | Koorong

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

She didn’t wish to die, only to not be here anymore. If she could just make everything stop.

Book Review | Healing Skye by Janet W Ferguson

Despite her traumatic childhood, Skye Youngblood has persevered and earned a doctorate in marine biology. She’s moving to Dauphin Island, Alabama, to take a role researching manatees for the local Sea Lab.

Widower Pete Thompson is the solo father of a six-year-old daughter, Olivia. He’s first on the scene when Skye has an accident on the bridge to the island, and realises she’s the newcomer who’s renting his grandparent’s house.

This book confused me at first. I’ve read Star Rising, the story of Star Youngblood, and the name was similar enough that I wasn’t sure about the character relationships. I also wasn’t sure about the location. The books are part of a series, so I’d expected to read about some familiar characters. If any of these characters were from previous books in the series, I don’t remember them.

Once I’d worked that out, I was able to settle in and enjoy the story. It’s obvious from the first scene that Skye has some pretty serious issues from her past. She’s petrified of men, worries about Olivia living with only her father, and has an uncanny ability to spot scars, both physical and emotional.

Pete runs the family fishing charter business and preaches to his tiny beach church on Sunday morning. And he hears God speak … although he doesn’t always like what he hears. A preacher-fisherman called Peter seems like a bit of a cliche, but Pete lived up to his name. No, he’s not perfect (and there were a couple of times when I wanted to give him a stern talking-to), but he loves God, loves his daughter, and isn’t afraid to do the right thing (even when that includes apologising. there is nothing better than a meaningful apology in a romance.

Healing Skye by Janet L Ferguson is an excellent novel, and it's great to read a #ChristianRomance where the faith elements are so central. #BookReview Share on X

Skye is broken, but the island – and Pete and Olivia – give her the chance to heal, and that’s great to see (that’s not a spoiler: the clue is in the title). I loved the faith elements and the seamless way they were integrated into the story. It’s rare to read a Christian romance where the faith elements are so central, yet so un-preachy (that’s a word, right?)

Healing Skye is book 6 in the Coastal Hearts series, but can easily be read as a standalone novel (in fact, I might not have been as confused if I hadn’t read some of the earlier books).

Overall, the novel is excellent, and I couldn’t stop reading.

Recommended for Christian romance fans who like plenty of Christian in their romance.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Janet W Ferguson

Janet W FergusonJanet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served her church as a children’s minister and a youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space.

 

Find Janet W Ferguson online at:

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About Healing Skye

People can’t be trusted.

Animals always made more sense than humans did to marine biologist Skye Youngblood. After her mother’s suicide, she left Alabama and never looked back. These days, she pours her heart into protecting nature’s sea creatures. When she returns to Dauphin Island, Alabama, for a temporary manatee migration study, her dark past is much too close. She can’t let her guard down. But how can she keep her heart hidden when a kind man with a genuine smile makes her want a fresh start?

Charter fishing pays the bills for widower Pete Thompson and his little girl, but like his father, a pastor, Pete can’t help but fish for men. Only, after growing up under constant scrutiny as a preacher’s kid, Pete’s ways are a bit more unconventional. And the bulk of his life revolves around raising his precious daughter.

When he witnesses the car wreck of a new marine biologist on the island, it doesn’t take a genius to see that more than just her physical pain needs tending. Pete feels called to help Skye find true healing, but he’s navigating dangerous waters. And he’s not at all sure he’ll walk away unscathed.

You can find Told You So online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week #215 | Sunswept by Carla Laureano

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Sunswept by Carla Laureano, a fun novella with a fake romance (always a plot I enjoy). Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

Bailey Jensen always allowed for some discrepancies when booking a vacation rental, but she didn't remember reading anything in the listing about a man in her bathroom.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About Sunswept

Real estate agent Bailey Jensen just wants a single quiet weekend in the midst of her goal-driven life, and a professional conference in Islamorada, Florida seems like just the thing—if she can ignore the fact she’ll be flying conspicuously solo at the company awards banquet in front of her ex-boyfriend and his new love.

Free spirit Zane Whitney would normally consider the Florida Keys his happy place, but considering he’s in Islamorada to witness his college roommate marry his ex-girlfriend, it’s the last place he wants to be. Complicate that with the fact he RSVP’d for two and he’s still conspicuously dateless, and this has all the earmarks of a humiliation in the making.

When Bailey and Zane find themselves double-booked into the same vacation rental, they realize their host’s mistake just might be the answer to their problems: share the house, act as each other’s plus-ones, and then move on with their lives. But neither Bailey nor Zane anticipates the possibility that a fake relationship might just give way to real feelings…

You can find Sunswept online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Our story is one shared by many women. We've suffered from words spoken carelessly over us. We've been defined by what we're not—married, acceptable—rather than by who we are.

Book Review | Every Word Unsaid (Dreams of India) by Kimberly Duffy

I thought Kimberly Duffy’s first two novels (A Mosaic of Wings and A Tapestry of Light) were excellent.

Every Word Unsaid is outstanding.

Augusta Constance Travers, better known as Gussie, is the odd one out in her upwardly mobile family. Her family want her to return to New York and become a respectable member of society. But Gussie revels in her secret role as writer and photographer Miss Adventuress, the most popular columnist for the Lady’s Weekly. Yes, she’s the leading travel blogger of 1896, living the “perfect life”.

Kodak has created the Kodak girl. She is modern and wears a fashionable dress. Her curls are always shiny and her cheeks always pink.

But her identity is exposed, so her parents plan to send her to her aunt in Chicago until the fuss blows over. Instead, her editor sends her to India for six months a country she’s always wanted to visit. It’s also the home of her childhood friends, twins Catherine and Gabriel MacLean.

The story truly takes off once Gussie reaches India. She stays with her childhood friends in Poona, where she sees a different side of India – the wealth and the poverty, the beauty and the ugliness.

One of the signs of outstanding historical fiction is when the author manages to make the plot and characters compelling in their own timeline at the same time as making the plot relevant to readers in the present. Kimberly Duffy has done this brilliantly, particularly in terms of Gussie’s spiritual journey. There are also more than a few nods to lockdowns and quarantine in the plague scenes.

While Every Word Unsaid is definitely the story of Gussie’s personal and spiritual journey, there is also a lovely romance (and a few kissing scenes).

Kimberly Duffy has done a huge amount of research, and it’s woven beautifully throughout the story in both the language and the description. It leaves me wanting to visit India. I hope to see more books set in India, as it’s obvious Duffy has a passion for the country and the people.

The novel is entirely written from Gussie’s point of view—something I didn’t realise until I’d finished reading. While she’s a little annoying (and possibly immature, even at the age of twenty-five), her voice was compelling and it kept me turning the pages. That’s largely because of the writing, which was excellent. There were wonderful descriptions, unique turns of phrase, intertwined with deep spiritual truths that show our modern problems are actually age-old problems.

Every Word Unsaid by Kimberly Duffy is an outstanding novel, with brilliant writing, and an encouraging Christian message. #BookReview #ChristianFiction Share on X

I highly recommend Every Word Unsaid, especially for the wonderful locations, and the encouraging Christian message.

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Kimberly Duffy

Kimberly Duffy enjoys writing historical fiction that takes readers back in time and across oceans. Her books often feature ahead-of-their-time heroines, evocative settings, and real-life faith. When not writing or homeschooling her four children, she enjoys taking trips that require a passport and practicing kissing scenes with her husband of twenty years. A Long Island native, she currently resides in southwest Ohio.

Find Kimberly Duffy online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram

About Every Word Unsaid

Augusta Travers has spent the last three years avoiding the stifling expectations of New York society and her family’s constant disappointment. As the nation’s most fearless–and reviled–columnist, Gussie travels the country with her Kodak camera and spins stories for women unable to leave hearth and home. But when her adventurous nature lands her in the middle of a scandal, an opportunity to leave America offers the perfect escape.

Arriving in India, she expects only a nice visit with childhood friends, siblings Catherine and Gabriel, and escapades that will further her career. Instead, she finds herself facing a plague epidemic, confusion over Gabriel’s sudden appeal, and the realization that what she wants from life is changing. But slowing down means facing all the hurts of her past that she’s long been trying to outrun. And that may be an undertaking too great even for her.

You can find Every Word Unsaid online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong