May's Faith and Fiction Round Table Discussion of Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

For the month of May, the Faith and Fiction Round Table discussed Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. Each month, the participants change. For a complete schedule of Faith and Fiction round tables, please refer to the schedule. I am in desperate need of participants for July's inter-faith discussion of Passage to India by E.M. Forster. Whether you are a believer of any faith, an atheist, or agnostic, we'd love to have you join us.

We had four people drop out of the conversation this month, so my heartfelt thanks to those who persevered through. May's Participants were:

Jen of Devourer of Books. Jen says, "I read constantly, even with my new son. I'm all about finding any and every opportunity to pick up my book. My husband has (mostly) accepted the steady influx of books into the house and is (mostly) supportive of the time I spend reading and blogging. If I'm not reading or blogging, I'm probably at work or playing with my baby.

On my blog I review primarily general fiction, historical fiction, literary fiction, and women's fiction." Jen's favorite book is East of Eden by John Steinbeck and one of her favorite posts is about Drop Everything and Read.

Pete Peterson of The Fiddler's Gun
Pete Peterson is a film aficionado, book lover, cheese-maker, sandwich critic, chair-sitter, and haver of many things both strange and uniquely ordinary. He is also the author of The Fiddler’s Gun, a novel of high adventure that will blow your mind and is presently available wherever great books are sold. His favorite book is August's Faith and Fiction Round Table book, Godric by Frederick Buechner. One of his favorite posts is about seeing through the creator's eyes.

Hannah of Wordlily
Hannah reviews a variety of books, but she seems to focus somewhat on literary fiction and mysteries. She's particularly interested in well-written stories at the intersection of life and faith. Besides talking about books, she also blogs a bit about her fibery pursuits (knitting, spinning) — and sometimes pictures of Maisie, her Old English Sheepdog puppy, sneak in. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy is one of her favorite books and one of her favorite posts is about the home of Willa Cather.

Melanie blogs at Melanie's Musings and reviews mostly YA and Christian fiction.

Caite blogs at a lovely shore breeze. Caite says, "I read mostly fiction, and although I have branched out a good bit since I started blogging, my first love in the reading world are mysteries. Dark and gruesome, I am afraid to say, with a deep moral center, as I think all great mysteries have, and some great characters."

Our discussion can be found divided up among the participants:
My Friend Amy--Introduction
Devourer of Books--Expectations
Wordlily--General Impressions
A Lovely Shore Breeze--Davy Part 1
The Fiddler's Gun--Davy Part 2
Melanie's Musings--Other Characters

April Round Table for Faith and Fiction Saturday: Offworld by Robin Parrish

The end of every month is reserved for the Faith and Fiction Round Table. The round table is an opportunity for a diverse group of Christian bloggers to discuss a book. This month we read Offworld by Robin Parrish.

About the Book: The return of NASA's first manned mission to Mars was supposed to be a momentous day. But when the crew loses touch with ground control before entry, things look bleak. Safe after a treacherous landing, the crew emerges to discover the unthinkable--every man, woman, child, and animal has vanished without a trace. Alone now on their home planet, the crew sets out to discover where everyone has gone--and how to get them back--only to discover they may not be as alone as they thought.

This month's participants and discussions:

Reading to Know -- Characters
Ignorant Historian -- Christian Aspects of the Book
Behind the Eyes, Oversimplified -- Science Fiction
Random Ramblings from Sunny Southern CA -- Overall Feelings on the Book
Mrs. Q Book Addict -- Christian products and review

Next month we'll be discussing Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. Be sure to read in advance so you can join in the conversation. And if you'd like to join in a future discussion, please check out the schedule and information.

March Faith and Fiction Round Table: In the Garden of the North American Martyrs

The Faith and Fiction Round Table is a monthly event where a group of diverse Christian bloggers discuss a work of fiction or nonfiction.

This month's book was In the Garden of North American Martyrs by Tobias Wolff which is a "best-of" collection of Wolff's short stories. The short story format may have made the discussion a bit more disjointed this month, but once again I appreciated the insights of each participant. Even if you have not read the book, you should still be able to follow along with the various pieces of the conversation. And hopefully you'll make time to read along for the upcoming months!

Stuck In A Book--About Short Stories

The Quirky Redhead--The Stories we liked best and the ones we didn't

Wordlily--The tone and content of the stories, discussion on Face to Face

The Fiddler's Gun--The themes and where was the light? (by the way I really encourage you go to and weigh in on whether or not books need "light")

Strange Culture--The Coen Brothers and thoughts on "Smokers"

Rebelling Against Indifference -- The title and how the stories worked as a collection

My sincere thanks to all this month's participants for sharing this reading experience with me.