Books, Movies, and Chinese Food

My Friend Amy , who brought us Book Blogger Appreciation Week has a new carnival in the works, the Faith 'n Fiction Saturday . Each week she will post a blogging prompt, which participating bloggers will answer on their own blogs. Then they head back to the original post and sign Mister Linky! This way we can all come to know each other more closely. Today's Question: Christian fiction is growing as a market, but there are still many unexplored storylines and under-represented genres. What issues or ideas would you like to see tackled from a Christian worldview? Or, what setting would you like to see? Which genres would you like to see more books? I would really like to see more multi-cultural Christian fiction. There is a great amount of African American CF lately and that is great. I love authors like Marilynn Griffith, Claudia Mair Burney and Stacy Hawkins Adams to name a few. But I feel that the other ethnicities and cultures aren't fairing as well. I think for the...

Newlyweds in the Outback Hannah and John have settled down and gotten married in their new home in Australia. Now down with their prison sentences, they are ready to move on and start a new life and family together. However starting a family just isn't happening for the two of them. Hannah is worried that it's her fault, and that what happened in the past is coming back to haunt her. She knows she has to tell John but is scared as to what will happen. Then her secret gets out and is being used to blackmail the couple. Will they be able to survive this or is life as convicts starting to look easier than life as newlyweds? Australian history has always been fascinating to me. It just is amazing that the country was colonized to be a place for prisoners. It's an amazing history and in my opinion, more interesting that the US! This book however focuses more on John and Hannah's relationship than on the Australian history. It was fun reading about how they were adap...

Finding Love in the West Alex Travers has to take care of the family ranch after her father dies. Justin Phillips has come to Last Chance, CA to find a job and someplace safe to take care of his son. After a few hit or miss encounters between the two, Alex hires Justin to help out on the ranch. Things start to improve between them and it even looks like there might be more than just friendship in the air. But then it looks like someone is trying to keep them apart, slandering Justin's name and causing mass havoc at the ranch.. Will they be able to find out who's doing it and why? I really enjoyed reading this story. I think Miralee Ferrell has found her niche in writing historical fiction. The story was fresh and didn't fall into the trap of the usual cliched story. I always worry that I'm going to read the same storyline when it comes to young women living on the frontier and trying to get through life by themselves. Not so in the case of this book, as there w...

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger Penny Sullivan lives alone with her young son while her husband is deployed at sea serving as a navy chaplain. They've moved into a new neighborhood and are learning to adapt to their new surroundings. Penny has to learn to live without her husband and be the head of the house while he's not there. However Penny isn't your regular Navy wife. She experienced a traumatic incident that has haunted her ever since and threatens to shut down her world. This story tells her tell about how she has to break out of the darkness and step back into the light, one step at a time. As someone who has been in a situation similar to Penny's, I could totally understand why she reacted and kept acting the way she did. You don't want to relive the event, yet it's always there haunting you. It's very traumatizing and it takes a long time for you get over it. Therefore I could relate to her and could see how just the small lists s...

I 'm giving away a brand new copy of today's book! Leave a comment with your email ad dress so I can contact you if you win. I'll pick a name and announce the winner on Tuesday, March 3. US addresses only. Good luck! Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court , is the second installment in Chuck Black’s Knights of Arrethtrae series that tells the tale of Sir Bentley, an honorable knight who abandons all to seek the truth of the Prince. Choosing to live as the Prince did, he forsakes his former lifestyle and wealth to live as a pauper. His travels take him to Holbrook, where the townsfolk live in poverty, paying high taxes to support the lavish lifestyle of Lord Kingsley and his court. But something even darker is lurking in the shadows of the beautiful castle. Bentley soon befriends Eirwyn, a mysterious but compassionate young woman who often distributes food among the poor. When Eirwyn is kidnapped by a ruthless tribe to serve as a sacrifice, Bentley battles a vicious mountain crea...

A Jane Austen "What If" Book Emma Grant has traveled to England, to get away from the scandal involving her ex husband which caused her to lose her job as a professor. Her goal is to find the missing letters of Jane Austen that have been highly coveted by researchers and fans of Austen for years. The owner of one of the letters invites Emma to participate in a scavenger hunt of sorts to find the rest of the letters and discover who the real Austen really was. Along the way Emma begins to not only find out more about the true life of Jane Austen, but finding out more about her own self as well. As a huge Jane Austen fan, I've been snapping up anything to do with her lately. She's become the newest trend in books, TV shows, and movies. And frankly I'm loving it as she was one of the best authors ever in history. This novel is a "What could have happened?" type of story dealing with Jane Austen and her long lost letters. Fans and researchers of Austen ...

I'm giving away 5 brand new copies of today's book! Leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you if you win. I'll pick a name and announce the winners on Sunday March 1. US and Canada addresses only (No PO Boxes). Good luck! When Thelma Meyer tells it to you, she tells it straight: Clean the kitchen daily! Don't waste anything (not even the water leftover from those potatoes you just boiled)! Always work hard! This philosophy meant that when Thelma's daughter Monica founded Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products (named after her mom), the products were designed to work hard for you . Now for the first time, Thelma's sage advice is being made available in this revolutionary cleaning guide chock full of practical tips and secrets based on the premise that life is hectic and messy -- and so keeping your house clean and nice is the only sensible thing to do. With shortcuts and tips for cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room, MRS MEYER...

My Friend Amy , who brought us Book Blogger Appreciation Week has a new carnival in the works, the Faith 'n Fiction Saturday . Each week she will post a blogging prompt, which participating bloggers will answer on their own blogs. Then they head back to the original post and sign Mister Linky! This way we can all come to know each other more closely. Today's Topic One of area of Christian fiction that is thriving is Biblical Fiction. Biblical fiction, in case you don't know, is when an author takes a story from the Bible and imagines more of the details. Tosca Lee's Havah would be a recent example of Biblical fiction. What I want to know today is how you feel about Biblical fiction. Have you ever read any Biblical fiction? Did you enjoy it? Do you think Biblical fiction helps us to understand people who lived during Biblical times better or do you think that it's unnecessary? Have you ever read any Biblical fiction that offended you? I LOVE Biblical fiction! It is ...

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Stephen Lawhead and the book: Tuck Thomas Nelson (February 17, 2009) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stephen R. Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium, Patrick, and the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, and The Song of Albion. Stephen was born in 1950, in Nebraska in the USA. Most of his early life was spent in America where he earned a university degree in ...

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Tender Grace Bethany House (February 1, 2009) by Jackina Stark ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I have also spoken nationally and internationally at many retreats and seminars and enjoy running into many readers and former students. I have written frequently for both Christian Standard and Lookout, periodicals of Standard Publishing. Years ago I wrote two non-fiction books, published by College Press, but currently out of print. These days, I’m exploring fiction. My first novel, Tender Grace, will be released by Bethany House January 30, 2009, and a second, Things Worth Remembering, will be released in October, 2009. I’m working on new projects, including a third novel, as time permits. Whether speaking or writing, I love the opportunity to tell about Him whom Jesus called “Holy Father” and “the only true God.” She lives in Joplin, Missouri with her husband, and she spends most of her free time doing is reading and writing. That is what s...

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Debbie Viguié and the book: Spring of Candy Apples (A Sweet Seasons Novel) Zondervan (February 1, 2009) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Debbie Viguié has been writing for most of her life. She has experimented with poetry and nonfiction, but her true passion lies in writing novels. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from UC Davis. While at Davis she met her husband, Scott, at auditions for a play. It was love at first sight....

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Paul McCusker and the book: Out of Time (Time Thriller Series #2) Zondervan (February 1, 2009) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Paul McCusker is the author of The Mill House, Epiphany, The Faded Flower and several Adventures in Odyssey programs. Winner of the Peabody Award for his radio drama on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer for Focus on the Family, he lives in Colorado Springs with his wife and two children. Visit the author's website . AND NOW...