Review: The Unfinished Gift by Dan Walsh

The Unfinished Gift tells the story of Patrick and Collins. Patrick is a seven year old boy whose father is fighting in the second world war in Europe and whose mother has just recently passed away in a car accident. Until Patrick's father can be located, he is sent to live with his grandfather. His grandfather, however, has not spoken to his son in years and harbors a deep bitterness towards him and his daughter-in-law. He is less than welcoming to Patrick making it a very difficult time for Patrick.

I really wanted to enjoy this story, but for me it was very predictable. Which is fine and almost expected in Christmas stories, but I still hope for nice delivery. The characters all felt very one dimensional to me, (Patrick was the perfect child! He shoveled the snow instead of playing in it!) and the writing felt simple. The Christian messages are in your face and talked about by the characters in mini lectures rather than shown in their lives. But even more than these flaws, I simply couldn't understand the rift that had developed between Patrick and his father. And finally, this book seems to adopt the "Catholics aren't really saved" approach.

There were some nice period touches, however, and a great big snow storm which is always pleasant in a Christmas book. Also, I felt like there were a few loose ends so I'm curious as to whether or not this is the beginning of a series?

If you are looking for nothing more than a comfort read heavy on spiritual dialogue and themes than this might work for you. In fact, I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy it and I think it would make a lovely made-for-TV movie. If you'd like to get a sample of the book for yourself please visit this link where you can read an excerpt and see if the writing is more to your style than it was to mine!

Rating: 3/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Christian Fiction
Source of Book: Received from publisher for review
Publisher: Revell (a division of Baker Publishing Group)

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Now that our hearts are full of gratitude we can begin talking about Christmas. Yay!

I absolutely love Christmas. The beauty. The cheer. The lights. The generosity. The time off work. The celebration of the most significant event of my faith. The romance. The friends. The family. The food. The miracles. The scents. The sounds of sleigh bells. The packages in the mail and brightly colored cards. The music.

The music.

I love Christmas music. So very much. My Christmas music collection is probably twice as large as all my other music. I love how listening to Christmas songs can still breathe new hope into my heart, even though I've heard them a million times.

There's something about Christmas that feels so real. It has certainly not been the happiest time in my life every year. I've had my heart broken at Christmas. I've faced life changing experiences, found myself at my lowest, been completely broke and overwhelmed and stressed out.

But it's okay because Christmas heals. Christmas is all about the broken heart and the hope that emerges from underneath. Christmas is about starting over, starting at the beginning and believing. Faith. Hope. Grace. Love.

And Christmas music captures that so well! So starting tomorrow...I'll be highlighting a Christmas song I love each day until Christmas. I also have a couple of extremely special guest posts...days I get to take off while others highlight the songs! I hope it's fun for you and that you can relax and enjoy the Christmas music!

I'll also be reviewing a lot of Christmas books, sharing links I find around the web, participating in the Virtual Advent on the 13th, and I've even done some guest posts for others. When it comes to Christmas? I'm crazy for it!

Not a fan of Christmas? No worries, I still have some other books to review as well. :)

Happy Christmas season all!

Don't Forget! Newsweek's 50 Books for Our Time

Just a reminder that you have one month left to complete your book for the Newsweek Challenge! I hope that everyone prioritizes this read because I'll be recapping your reactions in one massive post at the end of the year. Can't remember what book you signed up for? Check out the list. If you signed up after the first round, I probably didn't update it as I got overwhelmed by tweets and several people signing up for the same book. But the comments are all still there so you can check out what you signed up for and don't forget to add your reviews to the review mister linky so I can easily find them at the end of year!

Thanks everyone!

Give the Gift of Reading by Laura Griffin (and a special giveaway!)

(I'm so excited to bring you this special guest post from romantic suspense author Laura Griffin! I'll definitely be looking out for her book and be sure to read the whole post for a special giveaway!)


It’s been a tough year for many of us, and I for one am looking forward to the holidays. Are you? It’s not that I’m excited about the prospect of fighting for a parking space at the mall, or cooking for hordes of people, or peeling my kids off the ceiling after they’ve gobbled down too many sugar cookies. But I’m looking forward to some family togetherness after what has been a long and trying year.

Maybe it’s the back-to-basics mentality we’ve adopted in our household this year, but my shopping list this holiday is surprisingly short. I’m giving two kinds of gifts: photos and books. Photos because so many people I know have homes filled with clutter and one of the few gifts that really puts a smile on their faces is a framed photograph or a photo calendar or a mini-scrapbook.

And the second item on my list? Books.
I love giving books. I love browsing the bookstore or even surfing online for the perfect title for someone I love. I read somewhere that it takes the average person about ten hours to read a novel. (I figure I can double that for my father’s weighty economics tomes.) But whether I’m buying fiction or non-fiction, I feel like giving a book is really giving someone an escape—a temporary vacation for the mind. People love to escape into a good book.

My favorite type of book is a mystery interwoven with a love story, which is why I love to read and write romantic suspense. My latest romantic suspense novel, UNTRACEABLE, hits bookshelves this week, and I’m celebrating by giving away a $20 gift card to Borders. (And hey, you can use the card online, which means you won’t have to fight for that parking space!) Just drop me a line at laura@lauragriffin.com with the subject line “My Friend Amy” and I’ll enter you in the drawing.

Happy holidays and happy reading!
Laura Griffin

Listen to me on That's How I Blog!

The lovely Nicole was kind enough to have me on her show, That's How I Blog, last night. The show is now archived if you missed it. Thanks to everyone who turned up to listen, a special shout out to Kathy who missed Dancing With the Stars and Jenn who drank so much coffee she was up til midnight. I love you both and I love you all.

Apparently, I laughed no less than 60 times. Shocking, I know. So if you're up for a drinking game like the chat room was last night...well there you go! :)

Topics covered include what I think about book blogging, BBAW and why I do it, giveaways, and what you can expect on my blog in the year to come among other things.

A special thank you again to Nicole!

Waiting for Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

Oh yes, I've been eagerly awaiting the cover of this book so I could put it up for Waiting on Wednesday. What do we think of the cover? I'm not sure I love it, to be honest.

About Radiant Shadows:
Hunger for nourishment.

Hunger for touch.

Hunger to belong.

Half-human and half-faery, Ani is driven by her hungers.
Those same appetites also attract powerful enemies and uncertain allies, including Devlin. He was created as an assassin and is brother to the faeries’ coolly logical High Queen and to her chaotic twin, the embodiment of War. Devlin wants to keep Ani safe from his sisters, knowing that if he fails, he will be the instrument of Ani’s death.

Ani isn’t one to be guarded while others fight battles for her, though. She has the courage to protect herself and the ability to alter Devlin’s plans—and his life. The two are drawn together, each with reason to fear the other and to fear for one another. But as they grow closer, a larger threat imperils the whole of Faerie. Will saving the faery realm mean losing each other?

Alluring romance, heart-stopping danger, and sinister intrigue combine in Melissa Marr’s next volume of Melissa Marr’s New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series.

Radiant Shadows is due out from Harper Teen in April 2010.

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I read a few glowing reviews of this before I went to Book Expo America in May, so when I saw the ARC there I grabbed it. I was really excited about reading it, even though I'm generally not a huge fan of werewolves. With the exception of Carrie Vaughan's Kitty. :)

But I guess I'm coming around. I don't think I'll ever love werewolves like I love vampires, but for some reason that remains unclear to me I do love these paranormal love stories with high stakes and impossible odds.

When I started reading Shiver I didn't love it. I liked some of it. There's a passage early in the book I especially liked, so it wasn't the writing. The writing is lyrical and sweet. But I was just kind of uncomfortable with the idea of this human teenage girl being in love with a wolf. A wolf she didn't realize was also human.

Let me back up. Grace is but a child when she's attacked by some wolves behind her home. One wolf in the pack keeps them from killing her. And it's that wolf she ends up watching her whole life. But the wolves are becoming a problem for the town and a hunting party goes after them. When "her wolf" gets shot and turns human, this turns into the tragic love story.

I liked that the wolves in this book were different. Instead of the full moon bringing on the change it's cold weather. And instead of dealing with it one night a month, they have season...winter/wolf season and summer/human season. But eventually they won't change back into humans and will remain wolves.

Sam, Grace's wolf-turned-boyfriend, is afraid he's in his last human season. So they are spending all the time they have together until he turns, possibly for good. But there's a new werewolf in town and he's also trying to help her deal with that situation since the wolf is much more aggressive and not really hiding his wolfiness.

I ended up enjoying Shiver more than I thought I would initially. It's a little heavy on the romance and sappiness...in fact, they say they are obsessed with each other which is just a little icky for me. But Sam is sweet and tragic and Grace is a girl with a head on her shoulders. I also really liked Grace's new friend Isabel..I thought she was fun.

This is a book where the adults play almost no role. There's a lot of pain, an overall very somber tone to the book, I felt some of the characters could have been more fleshed out, but I still enjoyed it quite a lot, and I look forward to the sequel.

Rating: 4/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Premarital sex, a little language, some violence
Source of Book: ARC picked up at BEA, but the book is in bookstores now.
Publisher: Scholastic Press

Some Winners!

I'm a little behind in announcing winners, but here are a few!

Bethie won The Sound of Sleigh Bells by Cindy Woodsmall

The winner of White Picket Fences is Melanie!

And the winner of Shiver was Vasilly. I didn't announce it before because she was listening on air when she won!

The Sunday Salon: It Isn't What You Read--It's How You Read

Last week, Both Eyes Book Blog asserted that people shouldn't give up on reading the classics and that adults should read more than YA. At least I think I'm understanding her point to be that prize winners and enduring classics are the best reading has to offer and that while you may find them boring and difficult at times, if you persevere you will be rewarded.

I found this hugely problematic to my "read and let read" philosophy and have bounced all over the place this week trying to figure out exactly why. I have talked about it with fellow book bloggers. I have talked about it with people in real life. I almost brought it up with complete strangers.

It isn't that I believe that there isn't a standard of craft or artistic element to books. I definitely prefer books I feel to be well written. I can be really picky about that. But that's me. When it comes to words like value and worth and the best use of the days of your life, I can't in absolute terms tell you which books you should be reading.

Because we are all different. Because different things appeal to us, different life experiences shape us, different themes speak to us, different words touch us.

What I can say is this: whatever you read...read it with your whole heart. Read it with an open mind. Read it because you want to. Read to know, to learn, to embrace, to feel, to experience the world, to escape the world. Read to discover, to think, to be challenged, to laugh, to remember, to forget, to cry, to get mad, to make a difference. Read because you can. Read because reading matters...because you get out of reading what you put into it. Because any book might THE book..the one that changes your life. It doesn't matter what book you pick up, anytime you pick up a book you are inviting someone else into your mind, into your life. So for the love of all that is good, just read. But don't do it halfway, do it like you mean it.

Happy Sunday all!

Reflecting on a Year of Rating Books

It's time to start reflecting on the past year. Since I'll be trying to do a mixture of stepping back from blogging duties, celebrating the holidays, and getting geared up for a great and focused 2010, I figured it's not too early to take stock of what happened in 2009.

One of the big changes for me in 2009 was making the decision to add a rating to my reviews. I was skeptical at first, but in the end I have come to really embrace this decision. I do have to laugh at how much debate bloggers have over this. But I suppose that's a good thing...we're not willing to accept anything without having our passionate reasons for why we do what we do!

What I like about rating books is that it forces me to really think about my level of enjoyment and what I feel I gained from reading the book. Yes, of course the process of writing the review clarifies that for me as well, but making a decision of where it fits in and compares with other books is helpful for me. And I hope it's helpful for you as well.

It's by no means an exact scientific process but it's one I find helpful and it's a process that will carry over into 2010. And I have to admit...I love giving a 5/5! It's like a cherry on top of a sundae! :)

I will be interested to go back and see when I make my top ten list of reads for the year if they are all 5/5. You might think they would be, but sometimes books rated just a little lower end up having more staying power than I think they will originally. How fantastic is it that a book can move in us and live in us long after we've turned the last page!

Faith 'n' Fiction Saturday: Gratitude

Welcome to Faith'n'Fiction Saturday! Please read the introductory post to learn more!

Please note: Next weekend I'll be unplugging from blogging activities to enjoy a restful weekend with my family and reading. There will be no Faith'n'Fiction Saturday! I hope you take the time to enjoy your life as well. :) The following week I'll be asking for your holiday gift guides so be ready!

Today's Topic

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I'd keep it simple today and just ask what you're thankful for this year. Every year is so different, and we learn to appreciate different things in different seasons of life. If you have a favorite Thanksgiving book or passage from Scripture you'd like to share with us as well, please do! Or maybe even just a photo. All I'm asking is that you take a couple of minutes and let the gratitude well up in your heart and onto your blog! :)

My Answer

I'm really thankful to have a job this year. There are many times I realize just how lucky I am to have a relatively stress free job. It seems like a tough market out there, so I'm going to remain thankful for as long as it lasts!

I'm also just really thankful to have had such an amazing year in the book community. I've been lucky enough to go to BEA, the LA Times Festival of Books and the National Book Festival and all of them were wonderful. I've met so many amazing authors and bloggers in person and online and I can hardly remember the person I was before I knew you. Thanks for always making me think and laugh and here's to another year!

Review: Thirsty by Tracey Bateman

Oh how I wanted Christian fiction and vampires to work! But Thirsty is the second Christian fiction with vampire book I've read and it just....really didn't work. At all.

Thirsty is the story of Nina, an alcoholic who has 90 days sober and moves to her hometown to rebuild her life. Her hometown is small town Missouri and she's away from her husband and children. While she's there, some mysterious murders start happening in the town. Oh and she meets her mysterious neighbor who tells her all about the town's vampire legends.

I don't even know where to begin with the problems I had with Thirsty. First of all, I think Bateman was taking the approach that vampires lust for blood is a bit like an alcoholics need for alcohol. Been there, done that. It's weird, but the vampires really felt like an add-on to the story. You could just have easily pulled the vampires out and replaced them with serial killers and it really wouldn't have changed a thing. Not to mention, I couldn't figure them out. They were supposedly born vampires, but yet still some kind of human. I'm actually okay with the idea of vampires as a species but just be more clear about the mythology! The story itself....dragged. And I was left with unanswered questions, which I can't really get into without spoiling anything.

The bottom line for me is that I love vampire stories. I love rich, emotionally complex vampire tales. This book was not that. I don't think it offered anything new to the vampire mythology and while parts of it were relatively entertaining, the story on the whole dragged to me. It was told from multiple perspectives, did more telling than showing, and I failed to ever really connect to the characters or care about their fate.

Rating: 2.5/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Christian fiction
Source of Book: Received for review from publisher

Thoughts: Touched by a Vampire by Beth Felker Jones

It is inevitable that whenever a book or TV show becomes really really popular, that a Christian will write a sort of response and tell us how to see it from a Christian point of view. Twilight is huge and so we now have a guide with questions to help us know how to think about Twilight.

It's not that I'm opposed to the idea. I actually really love and support the idea of Christians reading and discussing books together with their kids rather than keeping them from reading them. This book just wasn't as much as I had hoped it would be. I think if the author had drawn less conclusions and instead offered up more questions and study of passages that it would be a more effective and useful tool.

Basically, she sets out to explore the themes in Twilight and then shares what she feels is the truth. It's not that I always disagreed with her, it's just that I think parents will find this more useful than teenagers. Check out Touched by a Vampire on the publishers website. They provided me with a copy of this book.

Short Story: The Squire's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell

I spend so much of my time reading the latest releases that I rarely have time to dip back into the classics. Admittedly, I often find the classics a bit harder to read...the language forces me to think harder and reread sentences more often than in my normal reading. But I do want to read certain authors and Elizabeth Gaskell is an author I have very much wanted to read. So I was excited she was going to be on the classics circuit!

I signed up to read a short story because I know the reality of my time. I didn't realize I would have even less time, though, than I originally thought! So I confess...almost as if this was a class assignment, I chose one of the shorter stories in my book.

And....that was probably not the wisest choice. Because to be completely honest, I have no idea what the point of this short story was.

The story is of the squire who meets a nice man who his daughter ends up eloping with. And not everyone approves of this situation. And then there's a murder! And maybe there's still some money hidden in the house of the murderer. The end.

I felt a bit like the story rambled on introducing a chain of characters and then one quick event and it was over. And that's not really my style.

That doesn't make for a very interesting post so I went back to gather information from the introduction in Gothic Tales the short story collection I bought for this tour. It turns out this is a retelling of a local legend! The Knutsford local legend Edward Higgins. And I found out in this context that Gaskell "borrowed" quite a lot for her stories.

So...this is my first experience with Elizabeth Gaskell, but it's unlikely to be my last. I still want to read Wives and Daughters and North and South. At some point.

A very special thank you to the Classics Circuit for allowing a Classics loser like myself to give it all a try!

The first chapter of The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey

I will be giving away a signed copy of this when I'm able to present my full review in a couple of days so look for that if you enjoy the first chapter of The Swiss Courier!

To the Reader

In the early afternoon of July 20, 1944, Colonel Claus Graf von Stauffenberg confidently lugged a sturdy briefcase into Wolfsschanze—Wolf’s Lair—the East Prussian redoubt of Adolf Hitler. Inside the black briefcase, a small but powerful bomb ticked away, counting down the minutes to der Führer’s demise.


Several generals involved in the assassination plot arranged to have Stauffenberg invited to a routine staff meeting with Hitler and two dozen officers. The one o’clock conference was held in the map room of Wolfsschanze’s cement-lined underground bunker. Stauffenberg quietly entered the conference a bit tardy and managed to get close to Hitler by claiming he was hard of hearing. While poring over detailed topological maps of the Eastern Front’s war theater, the colonel unobtrusively set the briefcase underneath the heavy oak table near Hitler’s legs. After waiting for an appropriate amount of time, Stauffenberg excused himself and quietly exited the claustrophobic bunker, saying he had to place an urgent call to Berlin. When a Wehrmacht officer noticed the bulky briefcase was in his way, he inconspicuously moved it away from Hitler, placing it behind the other substantial oak support. That simple event turned the tide of history.


Moments later, a terrific explosion catapulted one officer to the ceiling, ripped off the legs of others, and killed four soldiers instantly. Although the main force of the blast was directed away from Hitler, the German leader nonetheless suffered burst eardrums, burned hair, and a wounded arm. He was in shock but still alive—and unhinged for revenge.


Stauffenberg, believing Hitler was dead, leaped into a staff car with his aide Werner von Haeften. They talked their way out of the Wolfsschanze compound and made a dash for a nearby airfield, where they flew back to Berlin in a Heinkel He 111. When news got out that Hitler had survived, Stauffenberg and three other conspirators were quickly tracked down, captured, and executed at midnight by a makeshift firing squad.


An enraged Hitler did not stop there to satisfy his bloodlust. For the next month and a half, he instigated a bloody purge, resulting in the execution of dozens of plotters and hundreds of others remotely involved in the assassination coup. The Gestapo, no doubt acting under Hitler’s orders, treated the failed attempt on the Führer’s life as a pretext for arresting 5,000 opponents of the Third Reich, many of whom were imprisoned and tortured.


What many people do not know is that Hitler’s manhunt would dramatically alter the development of a secret weapon that could turn the tide of the war for Nazi Germany—the atomic bomb.


This is that story . . .



1

Waldshut, Germany

Saturday, July 29, 1944

4 p.m.


He hoped his accent wouldn’t give him away. The young Swiss kept his head down as he sauntered beneath the frescoed archways that ringed the town square of Waldshut, an attractive border town in the foothills of the southern Schwarzwald. He hopped over a foot-wide, waterfilled trench that ran through the middle of the cobblestone square and furtively glanced behind to see if anyone had detected his presence.


Even though Switzerland lay just a kilometer or two away across the Rhine River, the youthful operative realized he no longer breathed free air. Though he felt horribly exposed—as if he were marching down Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm screaming anti-Nazi slogans—he willed himself to remain confident.


His part was a small but vital piece of the larger war effort. Yes, he risked his life, but he was not alone in his passion. A day’s drive away, American tanks drove for the heart of

Paris—and quickened French hearts for libération. Far closer, Nazi reprisals thinned the ranks of his fellow resisters. The young man shuddered at the thought of being captured, lined up against a wall, and hearing the click-click of a safety being unlatched from a Nazi machine gun. Still, his legs propelled him on.


Earlier that morning, he’d introduced himself as Jean- Pierre to members of an underground cell. The French Resistance had recently stepped up their acts of sabotage after the Allies broke out of the Normandy beachhead two weeks earlier, and they’d all taken nom de guerres in their honor.


Inside the pocket of his leather jacket, Jean-Pierre’s right hand formed a claw around a Mauser C96 semiautomatic pistol. His grip tightened, as if squeezing the gun’s metallic profile would reduce the tension building in his chest. The last few minutes before an operation always came to this.


His senses peaked as he took in the sights and sounds around him. At one end of the town square, a pair of disheveled older women complained to a local farmer about the fingerling size of the potato crop. A horse-drawn carriage, transporting four galvanized tin milk containers, rumbled by while a young newsboy screamed out, “Nachrichten!” The boy’s right hand waved day-old copies of the Badische Zeitung from Freiburg, eighty kilometers to the northwest.


Jean-Pierre didn’t need to read the newspaper to know that more men and women were losing their lives by the minute due to the reprisals of a madman.


Though the planned mission had been analyzed from every angle, there were always uncertain factors that would affect not only the outcome of the mission but who among them would live. Or die.


Their task was to rescue a half-dozen men arrested by local authorities following the assassination attempt on Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler. If things went as Jean-Pierre hoped,

the men would soon be free from the Nazis’ clutches. If not, the captives’ fate included an overnight trip to Berlin, via a cattle car, where they would be transported to Gestapo headquarters on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 8. The men would be questioned—tortured if they weren’t immediately forthcoming— until names, dates, and places gushed as freely as the blood spilling upon the cold, unyielding concrete floor.


Not that revealing any secrets would save their lives. When the last bit of information had been wrung from their minds, they’d be marched against a blood-spattered wall or to the gallows equipped with well-stretched hemp rope. May God have mercy on their souls.


Jean-Pierre willed himself to stop thinking pessimistically. He glanced at his watch—a pricey Hanhart favored by Luftwaffe pilots. His own Swiss-made Breitling had been tucked inside a wooden box on his nightstand back home, where he had also left a handwritten letter. A love note, actually, to a woman who had captured his heart—just in case he never returned. But this was a time for war, not love. And he had

to keep reminding himself of that.


Jean-Pierre slowed his gait as he left the town square and approached the town’s major intersection. As he had been advised, a uniformed woman—her left arm ringed with a red

armband and black swastika—directed traffic with a whistle and an attitude.


She was like no traffic cop he’d ever seen. Her full lips were colored with red lipstick. Black hair tumbled upon the shoulder epaulettes of the Verkehrskontrolle’s gray-green

uniform. She wielded a silver-toned baton, directing a rambling assortment of horse-drawn carriages, battered sedans, and hulking military vehicles jockeying for the right of way.


She looked no older than twenty-five, yet acted like she owned the real estate beneath her feet. Jean-Pierre couldn’t help but let his lips curl up in a slight grin, knowing what was

to come. “Entschuldigung, wo ist das Gemeindehaus?” a voice said beside him. Jean-Pierre turned to the rotund businessman in the fedora and summer business suit asking for directions to City Hall.


“Ich bin nicht sicher.” He shrugged and was about to fashion another excuse when a military transport truck turned a corner two blocks away, approaching in their direction.


“Es tut mir Leid.” With a wave, Jean-Pierre excused himself and sprinted toward the uniformed traffic officer. In one quick motion, his Mauser was drawn.


He didn’t break stride as he tackled the uniformed woman to the ground. Her scream blasted his ear, and more cries from onlookers chimed in.


Jean-Pierre straddled the frightened traffic officer and pressed the barrel of his pistol into her forehead. Her shrieking immediately ceased.


“Don’t move, and nothing will happen to you.”


Jean-Pierre glanced up as he heard the mud-caked transport truck skid to a stop fifty meters from them.


A Wehrmacht soldier hopped out. “Halt!” He clumsily drew his rifle to his right shoulder.


Jean-Pierre met the soldier’s eyes and rolled off the female traffic officer.


A shot rang out. The German soldier’s body jerked, and a cry of pain erupted from his lips. He clutched his left chest as a rivulet of blood stained his uniform.


“Nice shot, Suzanne.” Jean-Pierre jumped to his feet, glancing at the traffic cop, her stomach against the asphalt with her pistol drawn.


Suzanne rose from the ground, crouched, and aimed.


Her pistol, which had been hidden in an ankle holster, was now pointed at the driver behind the windshield. The determined look in her gaze was one Jean-Pierre had come to

know well.


One, two, three shots found their mark, shattering the truck’s glass into shards. The driver slumped behind the wheel.


As expected, two Wehrmacht soldiers jumped out of the back of the truck and took cover behind the rear wheels.


Before Jean-Pierre had a chance to take aim, shots rang out from a second-story window overlooking the intersection.


The German soldiers crumbled to the cobblestone pavement in a heap.


“Los jetzt!” He clasped Suzanne’s hand, and they sprinted to the rear of the truck. Two black-leather-coated members of their resistance group had already beaten them there.

Jean- Pierre couldn’t remember their names, but it didn’t matter.


What mattered was the safety of the prisoners in the truck. Jean-Pierre only hoped the contact’s information had been correct.


With a deep breath, he lifted the curtain and peered into the truck. A half-dozen frightened men sat on wooden benches with hands raised. Their wide eyes and dropped jaws displayed their fear.


“Don’t shoot!” one cried.


The sound of a police siren split the air.


“Everyone out!” Jean-Pierre shouted. “I’ll take this one. The rest of you, go with them.” He pointed the tip of his Mauser at the men in leather jackets.


The sirens increased in volume as the speeding car gobbled up distance along the Hauptstrasse, weaving through the autos and pedestrians. An officer in the passenger’s seat leaned out, rifle pointed.


Jean-Pierre leaned into the truck and yanked the prisoner’s arm. Suzanne grabbed the other. “Move it, come on!”


Bullets from an approaching vehicle whizzed past Jean- Pierre’s ear. The clearly frightened prisoner suddenly found his legs, and the three sprinted away from the speedingcar.


Jean-Pierre’s feet pounded the pavement, and he tugged on the prisoner’s arm, urging him to run faster. He could hear the screech of the tires as the police car stopped just behind the truck. Jean-Pierre hadn’t expected the local Polizei to respond so rapidly.


They needed to find cover—


More gunfire erupted, and as if reading his thoughts, Suzanne turned the prisoner toward a weathered column. Jean-Pierre crumbled against the pillar, catching his breath.


The columns provided cover, but not enough. Soon the police would be upon them. They had to make a move. Only ten steps separated them from turning the street corner and sprinting into Helmut’s watch store. From there, a car waited outside the back door.


Another hail of gunfire struck the plaster. Jean-Pierre mouthed a prayer under his breath.


“Suzanne, we have to get out of here!”


She crouched into a trembling ball, all confidence gone. “They’re surrounding us!” The terror in her uncertain timbre was clear. “But what can we do? We can’t let them see us run into the store.”


“Forget that. We have no choice!” Jean-Pierre raised his pistol and returned several volleys, firing at the two policemen perched behind a parked car.


“Listen to me,” he said to Suzanne, taking his eyes momentarily off the police car. “You have to go. You take this guy, and I’ll cover you. Once you turn the corner, it’s just twenty more meters to Helmut’s store.” His hands moved as he spoke, slamming a new clip of ammunition into his pistol.


“But what if—”


“I’ll join you. Now go!”


Jean-Pierre jumped from behind the protection of the column and rapidly fired several shots. One cop dared expose himself to return fire—not at Jean-Pierre but at the pair running for the corner.


No!


Jean-Pierre turned just in time to see Suzanne’s body lurch. The clean hit ripped into her flesh between the shoulder blades. She staggered for a long second before dropping

with a thud. The gangly prisoner didn’t even look back as he disappeared around the corner.


I can’t lose him, Jean-Pierre thought, remembering again the importance of this mission.


Yet to chase after the prisoner meant he’d have to leave his partner behind.

Suzanne . . .


He emptied his Mauser at the hidden policemen, ducking as he scrambled toward his partner. Sweeping up her bloody form, he managed to drag her around the corner to safety.


“Go,” Suzanne whispered.


“I can’t leave you. Stay with me—”


Her eyelids fluttered. “You need to go . . .” A long breath escaped, and her gaze fixed on a distant point beyond him.


Jean-Pierre dropped to his knees and ripped open Suzanne’s bloodstained woolen jacket. Her soaked chest neither rose nor fell. He swore under his breath and brushed a lock of

black hair from her face.


Jean-Pierre cocked his head. Incessant gunfire filled the air. His colleagues were apparently keeping the German soldiers and local Polizei at bay, at least for the time being. He knew only a few valuable seconds remained to escape with

the prisoner.


He planted a soft kiss on Suzanne’s forehead. “Until we see each other in heaven,” he whispered.


Jean-Pierre darted to a trash can, where the shaken prisoner had hunkered down, covering his head. The resistance fighter clutched the man’s left arm and hustled him inside the watch store, pushing past two startled women. The rear door was propped open, and a black Opel four-door idled in the alley.


With a few quick steps, they were inside the vehicle.


Before the rear door was shut, the driver jerked the car into gear, and the Opel roared down the tight alley. The door slammed shut, and Jean-Pierre glanced back. No one followed.


The car merged onto a busier street, and only then did Jean-Pierre sink in his seat and close his eyes.


Soon they’d arrive at a safe house pitched on the Rhine River. And later, with the dark night sky as their protection, a skiff would sneak them into the warm arms of Mother

Switzerland—a skiff piloted by the mentor who’d recruited him. His nom de guerre: Pascal.


Jean-Pierre’s mission would soon be complete, but at what cost? Another agent—a good woman and a friend—had been sacrificed.


He had followed orders for the greater good, to save the life of a nameless prisoner. He only hoped this mission was worth it.


Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey, The Swiss Courier: A Novel,

Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2009. Used by permission

Review: Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Last week, I was able to participate in the 20 minute book club that is at the end of every That's How I Blog show that Nicole does. It was so much fun and the discussion of The Forest of Hands and Teeth made me appreciate the book more than I had while reading. Which, I think, is the benefit of discussing books....we get new perspectives and ways of looking at things.

So I decided I wanted to try to read as many of the 20 minute book club books as I could. Michelle chose Hate List, a book I knew she loved but hadn't really been on my radar. I quickly secured a copy and began reading. First I have to say that NO ONE TOLD ME that I was going to sob pretty much throughout the entire book and I started reading in public. So my first warning is don't read this on the bus or at the coffee shop like I did, because this is a very emotional book.

Hate List is the story of Valerie. The book opens the first day that Valerie has to return to school but she doesn't want to go. In fact it's very difficult for her to go because the last day she was at school, her boyfriend shot several of their classmates including Valerie, and then shot and killed himself. And for awhile, Valerie was also a suspect in the plan because she had helped to write a list of everyone they hated at the school, and that's the list Nick was going after on the day of the shooting.

So we have Valerie, who's struggling to come to terms with the fact that she helped make a death list but is also deep in the throes of grief over her boyfriend of three years. She sincerely and deeply loved Nick and the shooting was a huge surprise to her. She never took seriously his talk of death. And the hate list which she started, was nothing more than a coping mechanism for the constant bullying they endured. To Nick, it became a guide on who to kill.

But Valerie has one huge thing in her favor which is that she's the one that stopped the shooting. So not everyone at the school hates her but there is definitely a lot of discomfort.

Man this story broke my heart. Brown digs really deep into the emotional reality of what Valerie is going through...and she's going through a lot. She starts at a place of rock bottom in the book, grieving alone, enduring alone, coming to terms with what happened and how to build a new life. What happens when the person you loved most, who was your sanctuary does something so terrible? And then is also lost....you still have to grieve. You grieve even when it wasn't all right, even when that person did something terrible. And she's got a lot against her, but luckily there are a few people on her side.

And what I love is that Nick is actually painted pretty sympathetically. What he did was absolutely wrong but Brown shows how it didn't happen in a vacuum. It wasn't an act of random violence, it sprang from a place of deep hurt and despair. And of course we are seeing this through Valerie's eyes (the book is first person) who loved him deeply but Nick definitely broke my heart. And so did Valerie. And so did the kids who who were shot who were on the hate list, who wrestled with their own profound guilt and suffering.

But it isn't all gloom and despair...this is a story of rebuilding. There's not sunshine and puppies or empty platitudes or easy answers. But it is a story of a lot of people trying to heal, trying to figure out what it means to move on to forgive and to love. And because this book is grounded in the real world...that doesn't work out for everyone.

I shed a lot of tears during this book, more than I can remember for a long time. I've been thinking about it, too, thinking so much about it. It's the kind of book that while emotionally devastating you, also makes you want to be kind to the people in your life because you never know what their private hell is. And it sort of makes you want to take all teenagers in the world and give them a big hug and say, "this too shall pass."

The endorsements on the back of this book are misleading. They say things like, "must read." Well just about every book says that. I think it should say something like, "one of the year's most heartshattering reads, read only with a box of kleenex, but for the love of God, read this book!"

Huge thanks to Michelle for picking Hate List for her Blog Talk Radio show tonight and Nicole for adding the 20 Minute Book Club to it.

Rating: 5/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Some language
Source of Book: Bought it
Publisher: Little, Brown

Are you a SoCal Book Blogger or Author? Let's Chat!

Every once in awhile I try to get Southern California bloggers together or try to find out who the Southern California authors are so that I can support them, but this information is harder to find than you might think! Plus I'm not terribly organized (like writing down a list I rely heavily on my memory) so I've longed for a more organized way for us all stay connected.

And then I thought...why not have a site where we can find each other, but also promote the excellent authors in Southern California as well as the excellent bloggers? Florinda of the 3Rs blog agreed it was a good idea and we started brainstorming a little bit but we want input from other Southern Californian bloggers and authors.

Basically, we have envisioned a central site where a person could go to find other book bloggers in Southern California, find out about Southern California authors and book events. A place where we can promote and support each other. Really connect and become a bit more organized and connected.

If this sounds like something you'd be into and you are a Southern California book blogger or author (and we are defining SoCal as Santa Barbara down to San Diego) ten please fill out this form. Obviously, we're just in the beginning stages of planning and we want to see what kind of interest there is in something like this! So if you're interested, please fill out this form!

That's How I Blog! And a little Bribery

Nicole of Linus's Blanket, a super cool girl if I do say so myself, has started a fab new Blog Talk Radio program where she interviews fellow book bloggers. I thought this sounded like a cool idea and all, but when I realized how much FUN it was I was sold. Now I'm frantically trying to read all the books in time for 20 minute book club, a segment of the show where she chats about a book with her guest for that week.

Anyway, Nicole will be hosting me next Tuesday and I'm a little nervous no one will show up. It's the Tuesday right before Thanksgiving and I suspect many of you will be busy traveling and just generally enjoying your lives with family and friends. So to bribe you I'm doing a one day giveaway.

The book Nicole and I will be chatting about is Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. If you are a fast reader with time to read the book this weekend and have next Tuesday evening free at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST to follow along with the discussion, then this giveaway is for you! To enter, you must email Nicole a question she can ask me next Tuesday night by tomorrow night at 6 PM EST/3 PM PST. Nicole will randomly choose a winner and announce them on air during her show with the fabulous Michelle of Galleysmith. Then and this is very important, you must get your address to me by 6:00 AM PST on Wednesday so that I can make sure the book gets to you on Friday. If you do not, you forfeit the prize! Sorry, but this is a US only giveaway.

So let's review:
1) You email a question to Nicole at nicoleATlinussblanketDOTcom for her to ask me next week. Just put Question for My Friend Amy in subject line.
2) She'll announce the winner tomorrow on her show with Michelle. (and I will post)
3) Winner gets their address to me, reads the books this weekend, and joins in the conversation next Tuesday during my show!

Fingers crossed we get a few entries!

Now...think up some questions and let's have fun!

Review: White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner

What I love about Susan Meissner is that she tackles these issues and themes that I love and that I don't think many authors deal with in a way that is satisfactory to me. I think this is because we share the same faith, but I would like to point out immediately that this is not a faith book. Which is to say that while there is some mention of God, this is not a book where the characters are grappling with their faith. So while they go to church, and there's a secondary character that brings up God, there is nothing that strongly distinguishes this book as Christian.*

The Shape Of Mercy is one of the best books I've read about perception and judgement and White Picket Fences is another excellent example of peeling back the layers to see what's inside. In fact the structure of this book is just perfect. We are introduced to the Janviers and they seem like the perfect family. Neil and Amanda are in love, they have one boy and a girl, Neil makes beautiful pieces of furniture in his spare time and donates them to charity. They take in their niece when her grandmother dies while her father is in Europe and they can't reach him.

So all seems fine and then BAM! We learn that everything is not fine. And the way this was introduced, I wasn't expecting it and then my lunch break was up! I can't tell you how frustrating that was! Anyway, there's quite a tragedy in the Janviers past and the parents aren't sure their son remembers it, but maybe he does and they are at odds with how to deal with it and meanwhile they haven't heard from their niece's father. The son, Chase, and the niece, Tally also are working on a sociology project where they interview some Holocaust survivors. This was also a great thread in the story.

I really enjoyed this book, but I'm going to confess that it wasn't perfect. In fact, I was really disappointed by one of the ways things turned out...I can't really say more than that, but I feel like Meissner took the easy way out in the resolution of one of the storylines.

But otherwise this is another great read, I really enjoyed it. It was gripping enough that I wanted to keep reading it and it was another great exploration of perception and the importance of embracing the past.

There's an interview with Susan Meissner at the back of the book that I also found very interesting and I really loved what she had to say, including, "To ignore what is ugly is to cheapen what is beautiful."

(*I mention this because some people want to know)

Rating: 4.5/5
Things You Might Want to Know: God is mentioned for about 2 pages. Also, very very minor language
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Source of Book: Review copy

GIVEAWAY

I have a copy of this book to giveway! I will ship it anywhere in the world, but you have to participate in the giveaway. I am doing the giveaway in a very different way--it's an idea I'm blatantly stealing from Kat.

To enter, you have to answer the question of the commenter before you and then ask another one yourself. So for example:
Commenter A: What's your favorite color?
Commenter B: Purple, what's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

You can enter as many times as you like, but the commenter ahead of you must not be you! Does that make sense?

Go have fun!

Faith 'n' Fiction Saturday: Do you "warn" people about Christian Fiction?

Hello! If this is your first time participating in Faith'n'Fiction Saturday please read the introductory post.

Today's Question

Do you recommend or lend your Christian fiction books to people who don't share your faith? If you do, do you tell them in advance that the book is Christian fiction? Why do you or don't you tell them?

My Answer

It wasn't until I started reading online reviews that I realized there were some people who would get upset if they read a book with Christian themes. So much so, that they would trash the book in their reviews. I have a strong affection for Christian fiction and a kind of family feel towards it...you can't knock it unless you're also a fan of it. ;)

Since then, I have a sort of informal policy to let someone know if a book is Christian fiction. Does this turn some people away? Yes, but I'd rather they not read the book and trash it unfairly. Truthfully, I like to know if books contain certain elements in advance as well. If I want this courtesy, I can understand why others would, too! I know some people may see Christian fiction as being lesser or not as good as other kinds of fiction. I think that's a battle that every single book that gets classified in a genre battles. It's unfortunate, but at the end of the day, it's the reader who censors themselves this way that's missing out on great books. I guess I never see information as being negative, I think it's important to arm people with information so they can make their own choices.

Your Turn

Do tell your thoughts! Also if you aren't a Christian feel free to weigh in about whether or not you want to know in advance and why!

Thanks for Participating in Baby-Sitters Club Week!

While I ran out of time to write the essay I wanted to write, I suspect there will be a celebration over the Baby-sitters Club in April when this book releases!

Before there was the Baby-Sitters Club, there were four girls named Kristy Thomas, Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, and Stacey McGill. As they start the summer before seventh grade (also before they start the BSC), each of them is on the cusp of a big change. Kristy is still hung up on hoping that her father will return to her family. Mary Anne has to prove to her father that she's no longer a little girl who needs hundreds of rules. Claudia is navigating her first major crush on a boy. And Stacey is leaving her entire New York City life behind...
...in order to find new friends in Stoneybrook, Connecticut.

The Summer Before . . . is a sweet, moving novel about four girls on the edge of something big - not just the Club that will change their lives, but also all the joys and tribulations of being twelve and thirteen.


Is it ridiculous that I'm really excited about this? Anyway, here are today's great links:

Bella reviews Kristy's Big Day at A Bibliophile's Bookshelf.

Heather is reviewing both Kristy and the Secret of Susan and Claudia and the Terrible Truth at Book Addiction.

Jordyn shares a memory post.

Bri shares, "a look at my appreciation of the series as a fan from childhood to now (as I still read and collect them). And maybe a look at my BSC collection!" at Bri Meets Books.

Deborah provides a character spotlight of Shannon.

And depending on the weather, Shannan may have some reviews up if she has power. (thinking of you Shannan!!!)

CFBA Book Spotlight: The Prisoner of Vesailles by Golden Keyes Parsons

About the Book: Madeleine's faith puts her at odds with an intimidating rival: King Louis XIV.

Having fled their homeland of France because of the persecution by Louis XIV, the Clavell family seeks refuge in Switzerland. However, the king is not about to let the recently widowed Madeleine, his childhood sweetheart, escape that easily. He sends musketeers to kidnap her and her oldest son, Philippe, holding them captive in his opulent palace. King Louis is suspicious that Philippe could be his son, and he's enraged by the growing affection of one of his courtiers for Madeleine.

Will Madeleine escape the king with her life or lose everything that she's fought so hard to keep?


(CFBA is the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. CFBA organizes blog tours to promote Christian fiction. I received a copy of this book for review, but want to read the first book in the series first)

Baby-sitters Club -- Day 4 and a Trivia Game!

Today's fabulous participants include:

Memory who is sharing memories about the BSC at Stella Matutina.

Debbie who is reviewing Mary Ann and Too Many Babies at Debbie's World of Books.

Jessica will be sharing how The Baby-Sitter's Club and the Baby-sitter's little sister series inspired her love of reading and books.

And Deborah spotlights the character of Claudia!

And NOW


It's time to test just how much you remember about the Baby-sitters Club! A million thanks to Deborah for writing these questions...she rocks!

Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

These memories descend out of nowhere, giving me pieces of who I was, but their significance is lost. I sigh and resume my walk, not knowing if this memory is important, or just more of the jumbled trivia of Jenna's life, like sock shopping. Maybe that is all my life is composed of, trivia that eventually adds up to a person, and maybe I just don't have enough of it yet to be a whole one.

Even when The Adoration of Jenna Fox was making the blog rounds, and getting rave reviews I didn't really feel a desire to read it. The title turned me off. The weird cover with the butterfly turned me off. It just didn't look like something I would enjoy reading. Then one of my favorite bloggers, Lenore reviewed it and really raved about it (and Mary Pearson's newest book, The Miles Between which I already bought!) In fact, I think this is the phrase that really drew me in, "Mary E. Pearson knows how to deliver an intelligent, satisfying YA novel with mega crossover appeal." (that's blurb worthy)

When I was at Comic Con over the summer I had the good fortune of attending a panel with YA fantasy authors and Mary Pearson was on that panel. Afterwards, I went ahead and bought the book so I could get it signed and I really enjoyed talking with her. (and of course mentioned Lenore in our conversation!) As a result, I've been looking forward to reading Jenna Fox ever since.

Last week, I was suffering from serious readers indecision. Nothing I picked up was sticking even though it was all good...books I thought I would enjoy in a different frame of mind. I grabbed this book because it was small, because Lenore loved it, and because I needed something totally and completely different.

I loved it. From the very first, I was completely sucked in to the story. Jenna wakes up from a year and a half coma and she doesn't really remember anything...that's not exactly accurate though, she remembers facts and how to do things but she doesn't remember anything personal. And despite her mother's desperation for her to remember, other circumstances seem odd. Her mother doesn't want her to go out. Her grandmother is treating her strangely. Her father is living across the country. And Jenna doesn't know why.

I am unwilling to really say anything else as this book is best left unspoiled. I will say that it's one of the finest explorations of identity, self, and what it means to be human I've ever read. It's jam packed with thought provoking questions and ideas, wrapped in a story that is completely fascinating. I love it and think it deserves all the praise it received.

Rating: 5/5
Source of Book: Bought it
Publisher: Henry Holt

Baby-sitters Club -- Day 3

Anyone else enjoying this trip down memory lane as much as me???

Here are today's links! Lots of good ones. Come back tomorrow for a Baby-Sitters Club Trivia Quiz.

Deborah takes a trip down memory lane.

Nari of The Novel World spotlights the character of Stacey.

Priya of Book Crumbs shares "A short memory post about the first few BSC books I read and my elementary school experiences with the series."

Julie, Booking Mama reviews Baby-sitters Super Special Baby-sitters on Board! and Booking Daughter reviews Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever.

And Katie of Read What You Know, shares "Stacey McGill, or why I'm so fascinated with New York City: review, character profile, and a lot of memories."

I NEED this book!!! Fireworks over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff

I know I already posted about a book I'm lusting after but then I found out about THIS BOOK and I MUST have it!!



Okay I have to admit this strong need comes from the setting. In case you didn't know, I attended college in the town of Toccoa, Georgia. So many happy memories!!! But it's not very big so to see, oh a book take place there? Pure awesomeness.

But wait!! There's more! Karen White, one of my favorite authors, endorsed it!!!

And it sounds like a real tear jerker of a love story and I always appreciate those!

From the Macmillan website:
Every so often that story comes along that reminds us of what it’s like to experience love for the first time—against the odds, when you least expect it, and with such passion that it completely changes you forever.

An unexpected discovery takes eighty-four-year-old Lily Davis Woodward to 1945, and the five days that forever changed her life. Married for only a week before her husband was sent to fight in WWII, Lily is anxious for his return, and the chance to begin their life together. In honor of the soldiers' homecoming, the small Georgia town of Toccoa plans a big celebration. And Jake Russo, a handsome Italian immigrant, also back from war, is responsible for the elaborate fireworks display the town commissioned. But after a chance encounter in a star-lit field, he steals Lily's heart and soul--and fulfills her in ways her socially-minded, upper-class family cannot. Now, torn by duty to society and her husband--and the poor, passionate man who might be her only true love--Lily must choose between a commitment she's already made and a love she’s never known before.

Fireworks Over Toccoa takes us to a moment in time that will resonate with readers long after the book’s unforgettable conclusion. A devastating and poignant story, this debut novel will resonate with anyone who believes in love.

Okay, I know you're all just as excited about this as I am...I mean Toccoa!! Karen White's endorsement!! Love, romance, and freely flowing tears!! But there's bad news...it doesn't come out until April of 2010 from St. Martin's Press. :(

Waiting for Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson

Good news!! Joshilyn Jackson has a new book coming out in 2010. So yeah, it's not coming out until June 2010 but there's no time like the present to get excited!!

Here's what it's about:
Rose Mae Lolley's past is littered with bad men. From her earliest intimate relationship with her father's fists to the string of bad news boyfriends she dated and ditched after leaving home, she has always courted trouble. As "Mrs. Ro Grandee," she's managed to tamp down the fierce and dirty girl Rose Mae once was under flowery skirts and bow-trimmed ballet flats and lunches cooked for the church bazaar. Trapped in a marriage thick with love and sick with abuse, Ro performs her role of dutiful wife perfectly in her new home in rural Texas, gracefully working in her husband's daddy's gun store in between making eggs, ironing shirts, and taking her punches. She seems doomed to spend the rest of her life battered on the outside by her husband and on the inside by her former self, until fate throws her in the path of an airport gypsy - one who shares her past and knows her future. The tarot cards foretell that Rose's beautiful, abusive husband is going to kill her. Unless she kills him first.
Hot-blooded Rose Mae escapes from under Ro's perky compliance and emerges with a gun and a plan to beat the hand she's been dealt. Following messages that her long-missing mother has left hidden for her in graffiti and behind paintings, Rose and her dog Gretel set out from Amarillo, Texas back to her hometown of Fruiton, Alabama, and then on to California, unearthing a host of family secrets as she goes. Running for her life, she realizes that she must face her past in order to overcome her fate - death by marriage - and become a woman who is strong enough to save herself from the one who loves her best.

Sounds fantastic. No, I'm not begging for an ARC. Promise.

Okay maybe just a little.

Backseat Saints releases in June 2010 from Grand Central Publishing.

Say Hello To Your Friends....Baby-Sitters Club Week Day Two

Much the same way I now get excited when I find out my favorite books are being made into movies, I was thrilled and excited to watch The Baby-sitters Club TV show...even if the actresses looked nothing like I imagined my beloved baby-sitters to look like. (And Dawn, my favorite baby-sitter was kind of annoying.)

Looking back....well I have to admit there were just a bit cheesy. And...I think I even knew it at the time! :)

Let's take a trip down memory lane shall we?




Today, the trip down memory lane continues as Alita reviews The Truth About Stacey and Shannon reviews the book that started it all, Kristy's Great Idea!

Welcome to Baby-Sitters Club Week!

There's something about the reading we do when we're younger that is special and memorable. And it's yet another shared experience so many of us have...we loved the same books when we were young.

I absolutely LOVED The Baby-sitters Club. I was completely obsessed. I saved up my allowance to buy the books. I joined a club through the book order that sent me BSC stationary, and knick-knacks. I (and this is completely embarrassing) even asked my teachers to call me by the names of the characters in the book. (okay me and my friends) I longed to have the exciting lives of the characters in the Baby-sitters Club.

So when I discovered the society of readers (otherwise known as book bloggers) and so many others who loved these books, I knew we had to celebrate them! And it turns out we're just in time...a prequel to these beloved books of our youth is being published this April!

Every day this week, bloggers will be presenting posts at their blog on the subject of The Baby-sitters Club. Posts filled with memories, reviews, character spotlights and more! And who knows what other goodies we'll come up with!

Today's Posts

Claire from Paperback Reader presents a round-up of recent BSC links found and nostalgic comment.

Cass from Bonjour Cass reviews the first four graphic novel adaptations of the books!

Ashley of Ashley's Library spotlights the character of Mary Ann.

Zee from Notes from the North reviews Baby-Sitters Summer Vacation Super Special #2.

Happy reading everyone! And come back tomorrow for BSC goodness! In the meantime....who was your favorite character?

The Sunday Salon -- A Book Pulls Me Out of the Funk, Bookish Movies and TV Shows

Earlier this week I posted my frustration with my reader's indecision which was causing me to be unable to finish any books, even though the books were good. When I get into these weird moods, I really try not to read anything I'm anticipating will be good, because I want to give the book a fair shake, and I don't want to ruin a good reading experience with my moodiness. This time, I picked up a book I got over the summer and was so so so thrilled to be so completely sucked in by it. It's one that got pretty good reviews around the blogosphere, but to me it was a great reminder that...hey I really do like this reading thing. The book, by the way, was The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

This week is usually the start of the holiday season for me. Of course I still very much believe in celebrating Thanksgiving and the spirit of it, but November is a really good time to sort out Christmas details, like shopping, cards, what special events I want to partake in, planning my time off, etc. In the past, I always attended an event at my parents former church that was focused on Christmas and had a shopping boutique with handmade crafts for sale and the like. This year, the event was not at all for Christmas, but instead decorated for harvest. For some reason, I found it to be a huge disappointment, even though it was still enjoyable. The other tradition for this weekend is Hallmark's Holiday Open House, which was also massively scaled back this year, there was no new roll out of ornaments, no special Christmas CD, and our Hallmark which usually has a nice refreshments table for the event had only some candy out. The poor economy, I believe, is really showing this year.

Of course these things don't make the season, and aren't that important in the long run. They are just a reminder that life is always changing.

Movies
I've been wanting to write about Where the Wild Things Are since I saw it a few weeks ago. I really really loved it, I found it to be beautiful and bittersweet. I haven't seen many other book blogger reviews, but I also have had my blog reading time be massively shortened. Has anyone seen it? What did you think? I've seen a lot of negative reviews in general, so I'm interested.

I also saw The Box and let me tell you something....I feel like this was a story that had huge potential, a fantastic concept, but just absolutely insisted on being WEIRD. The beginning and the end worked for me, but the middle? No, no, no, no. A big disappointment.

TV
Okay, I have a confession to make. I did NOT like the turn Supernatural took this week. SPOILER ALERT Why did they have to make the Trickster an angel????? That episode started out so awesomely, I loved the whole television show thing, couldn't stop laughing in fact, but then they pulled that the trickster-is-really-Gabriel business...and I think maybe they thought it was brilliant but I thought it was a huge disappointment.

BUT, the true bookish TV thing I want to discuss is Rizzoli! I'm a huge fan of Tess Gerritsen as you may know and very interested to see how this show will turn out. The casting is in full force and the role of Jane Rizzoli..one of my favorite bookish characters has been cast....Angie Harmon will be playing Jane.

I have really mixed feelings on this. I like Angie Harmon, but she did bring to life Lindsay Boxer and that show failed. And she's not quite how I pictured Jane Rizzoli. But I'm willing to give her a chance...and I really hope they make this show interesting and that someone really awesome gets cast as Gabriel Dean. :) Any other Gerritsen fans out there care to weigh in? (Sasha Alexander has been cast as Maura Isles)

Well that's all I've got for the moment. Here's to finishing lots of books this week! What are you Sunday plans? Books, relaxing, work? Tell me all!

Faith 'n' Fiction Saturday: What Makes a Book Stick?

Welcome to Faith'n'Fiction Saturday! If this is your first time participating, please read this post to learn more!

Two Announcements!

1) Deborah and I are a hosting a reading challenge to encourage the reading of the Christy nominated and awarded books. If you sign up by November 15th, you have the chance to win some pretty fantastic books (hint: recent Christy winners!) I hope you'll go sign up and and join in the fun of a year of discovering some great Christian fiction!

2) Now that twitter has lists, I want to make a list of Faith'n'Fiction participants who tweet! So if you participate in Faith'n'Fiction Saturday and you use twitter, please leave a comment with your twitter name and I'll make a list!

Today's Question and my Answer all Mixed Up in One:

As I was going through the Christy list to try to pick a few top recommendations, I realized that nearly every book that made it onto my top list of recommendations had a small, specific part of the book that was incredibly thought provoking to me. Something that I still come back to contemplate or see as a turning point in the way I think about things. And I realized that sometimes it's not the big package that makes a book meaningful, but all of the little treasures inside as well. I will never get over this amazing mystery of reading, that the simple turn of a phrase can open up understanding or meaning to something. And that's what makes a book really stick for me... a new way of thinking about things, or a new way of feeling.

What about you? What makes a book memorable long after you've turned the last page? The characters? The surprising plot? The spiritual truth? The gorgeous writing?

Just write up your answer and drop your permalink below!

Recommended Reads for the Christy Challenge

A few of you wonderful folks out there in blogging land have expressed interest in joining the Christy Challenge, causing Deborah and myself to jump up and down with glee, but since you are ,perhaps, just dipping your toes into the complex world of Christian fiction for the first time, you want some guidance.

I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite books out of the Christy list, and hope that it gives you something to think about while making your decision. :)

Songbird by Lisa Samson is a good pick for any of you who enjoy literary fiction. Lisa actually has quite a few titles on the list, and while I haven't read all of her books, they are sure bets. She has a knack for creating true to life characters that encounter real life issues. I am always touched by her books, and her book The Passion of Mary Margaret is one of my top reads for this past year.

Finding Alice by Melody Carlson is also a pretty good read about a girl suffering from schizophrenia. I learned a lot about some of the struggles someone who is schizophrenic might face while reading this book. (The 2004 Contemporary category would be a great choice for fans of literary fiction or women's fiction.)

If you love suspense, I definitely recommend Ted Dekker's Thr3e. It was my introduction to this now best-selling author.

Levi's Will by Dale Cramer is an excellent choice. It's just recently been reissued to look like every other Amish book, but it's not. I felt like this book took a hard look at the Amish lifestyle and the difficulty of leaving it in a way that was true. I simply can't recommend it enough, it really really made me think.

I do recommend Last Light by Terri Blackstock. If you read the Moon Crash books by Susan Beth Pfeffer, you might also enjoy these. While not as intense, a lot of similar issues are covered and I found it gripping when I read it.

If you are blogger, you should definitely read The Cubicle Next Door by Siri Mitchell which is a fun chick lit story that includes a blog!!! Yay!

And Everything's Coming Up Josey by Susan May Warren almost goes without saying...she is one of my favorite authors and that is one of my favorite books. (Josey is a huge LOST fan, too. Whee!!)

Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson was a life changing book for me, one that consumed me and made me think about every way I spend my time and money and what it means to follow Jesus. Probably a bit more spiritual than the rest, but just....I have so much love for it.

My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay is one of my number one recommendations!!! I LOVED this book! If you like survival stories I think you will enjoy this. I want to say if you liked The Hunger Games you'll like this but then I'm afraid your expectations will be too high. So just think..teens surviving in the jungle!

From a Distance by Tamera Alexander is also a great read with sharp characterization and great writing. The Moon in the Mango Tree is another one of my favorites that I highly recommend.

In conclusion, My top recommended picks are:
Levi's Will by Dale Cramer
Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson
My Hands Came away Red by Lisa McKay
The Moon in the Mango Tree by Pamela Binnings Ewen
Everything's Coming Up Josey by Susan May Warren

But of course I haven't read them all! Have you read any of the books on the Christy list? What do you think of my recommendations?