This week Booklist Announced its Top 10 of 2010 Inspirational Fiction. In gist they are below:
Click here to read more about these books.
Christian Fiction Blog will share it’s Top Ten 2010 in time for Thanksgiving. We are also accepting nominations for Fan Favorite and Book Club Favorites for 2010. Leave your nominations here or on our Facebook Fan Page.
Where is the source of our identities? Our upbringing, occupation, partners? Kate, a driven public-relations exec and mom coming off maternity leave, tells Zora, while interviewing her for a nanny post, that she wants to hire a “substitute me.” Zora, an upper-middle-class African American, wants the job but worries about betraying the dreams of the women who came before her by becoming a domestic. She then finds her passion in cooking, and practices to become a personal chef by feeding the family as part of her duties. Brad, Kate’s egalitarian banker husband, feels uncomfortable making so much money in the pre-meltdown days. Kate misses her son but throws herself wholeheartedly into her work, putting in exceptionally long days. Brad accepts all these household changes, and finds himself spending more time with Zora than Kate. Friends, lovers, co-workers, and family—all armed with opinions and attitudes—play key roles in Tharps’ lively modern domestic drama about why we are who we are. . --Danise Hoover, BookList
Substitute Me reads like ” a modern-day horror story… that will haunt you for days.”
Essence Magazine, August 2010
"Lori Tharps's warm and engaging novel about the struggles of juggling marriage, motherhood and a meaningful career focuses on a story we're each living, but also exposes the secrets we won't tell. An enjoyable read."
-- Heidi Durrow, author of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
Book clubs: Substitute Me will give you so much to talk, laugh and argue about, you might want to schedule two meetings to discuss it. Days after finishing it, I'm still debating who the villain is. Lori Tharps has written a timely, engaging page-turner that every working mom in America should read!"After you’re read the book, I’ll add your praise here. (wink, nod)
-- Carleen Brice, author of Children of the Waters
A fresh, fun, view of "the help" from a writer to watch.
-- Benilde Little, author of Good Hair
Happy Veteran’s Day!
For those of you like me, who like to read stories befitting of the day, I recommend Sarah Sundin’s A Memory Between Us.
About the Book: Major Jack Novak has never failed to meet a challenge--until he meets army nurse Lieutenant Ruth Doherty. When Jack lands in the army hospital after a plane crash, he makes winning Ruth's heart a top-priority mission. But he has his work cut out for him. Not only is Ruth focused on her work in order to support her orphaned siblings back home, she also is determined not to give her heart to any man.
As the danger and tension of World War II rise to a fever pitch, Jack and Ruth will need each other more than ever. Can Jack break down her defenses? Or are they destined to go their separate ways?
From the English countryside to the perilous skies over France, A Memory Between Us takes you on a journey through love, forgiveness, and sacrifice.
An interview with Cindy Woodsmall
Cindy Woodsmall is a New York Times best-selling author whose connection with the Amish community has been featured on ABC Nightlineand on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. This fall she sat down with Christian Fiction Online Magazine to share about her new novel series and some truths about Amish culture in Christian fiction. Following is part two of a two-part series. This month she shares writing wisdom and novel-building techniques. I encourage you to save this and refer to it often. Click here to read on.
photo: Israel Houghton wearing the Mend Mark Bracelet
The Mend Mark tells a powerful story in two words
But wearers should be prepared to be seen. Unique in its design, the Mend Mark is sure to be noticed and gives wearers an opportunity to share the story of the profound love of Jesus for each and every person.
“It was important to me that the design was simple and generic enough that the observer had to ask about it to know what it meant. But I also wanted it to appear distinctive enough that it sparked curiosity,” reveals creator Hunter Harrison. “I wanted it to require the wearer of the product to engage in conversation about the love of Christ (and hopefully show that love to others) instead of just letting the product talk for them.”
The Mend Mark bracelet movement has grown to further fame after being worn during performances by American Idol winner Lee Dewyze, Idol runner up Siobhan Magnus, Decifer Down, Israel Houghton & New Breed, Pillar, and Finding Favour, to name a few, including myself.
Would you like this bracelet?
There are two ways to receive it:
How you do win a Mend Mark?
I will put the entries into a hat and let Selah pick the winner. Cool? I will pick the winner November 19, 2010, so you can get your gift of thanks before Thanksgiving.
*Note. If you’re not a Facebook Friend, invite me to be your Friend and leave a special message that you are entering the Mend Mark contest.
Something evil is drawing them here . . .
Well not to Christian Fiction Blog, but to Mike Dellosso’s Darlington Road. This weekend Christian Fiction Read is a vampire fic. Really?! Yes, read why.
Rob Shields has just lost his wife and son. Battling depression, denial, and an irrational fear of darkness, Rob travels to the small town of Mayfield, MD to check out a house he has inherited from his great aunt Wilda, a woman he has never even met. There in Mayfield strange things begin to happen that lead Rob to believe his son, Jimmy, is not really dead. After a restless night and eerie dream, Rob is convinced the answer to the mystery surrounding Jimmy’s disappearance and alleged death is to be found in a village called Darlington, a town found on no map.
Teaming up with a quirky local waitress who insists she has been there, Shields begins his quest to find the truth about the town—and his son. In Darlington, Rob and Juli come face to face with the town’s secret, creatures called Darklings inhabit the night and instill paralyzing fear in Darlington’s citizens. Their search for Jimmy leads them into the woods surrounding Darlington where, once in, there seems to be no way out.
Never indulging in long boring tangents or fussy character descriptions, Dellosso’s pacing is perfect and passionate. Readers . . . will find this new combo of Christian vampire fare a quick and breathless read and will scream for more.
–Publisher’s Weekly
