Book Recommendations

I admit it. I'm a Christian who doesn't read Christian fiction. At all. Or, hardly ever. In fact, in my life, the only true Christian fiction that I have read, and enjoyed, is Christy by Catherine Marshall, Frank Peretti's Children's series, the Flabbergasted series by Ray Blackston, and... um... The Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis. That's about it. Oh!! And when I was younger, the Mandie Series by Lois Gladys Leppard.

That being said, that is, by far, not the amount I read. I read a LOT. I gobble up books like they're going out of style. I got books out of the library on Wednesday, and had finished the first one by Thursday. There are a ton of authors that I love reading. A lot of them aren't Christian, nor do they have very many Christian beliefs that show up in their writing. This is all sort of a disclaimer to set up for something I'd like to start on my blog. Book recommendations. So, if you're a die hard Christian who doesn't read anything but Christian fiction and non-fiction, I don't really recommend picking up any of these books unless I say their "safe".

So, for my first recommendation, I recommend an author, but namely 2 of her books (or, okay, really three).

Jane Green. She started off as purely "chick-lit". And BRITISH chick lit at that! I think I started out by reading Jemima J, and then... well, I don't remember. I do know I have read every one of her books but 2. I did NOT care for Mr. Maybe, and I just haven't gotten around to reading Switching Lives. But, none of those books are books that I am recommending today.

The first book I'm recommending is To Have and To Hold, or Spellbound (the American and British titles for the same book). I actually own both.

Anyway, Spellbound is a wonderful book about a woman who was married to a high-profile banker, and then settled in the country while he commuted from NYC. She discovers that he is quite a cheater, and...well, I'm giving away the book. Very good book, and it has characters that are in the 3rd book that I'm recommending.

The Beach House: I have to admit that after trying to read Mr. Maybe recently, I was disheartened with Jane Green's writing style. Also, I had been reading a LOT of chick lit recently, and getting tired of the whole genre... so, after probably six months of no chick lit, I was in the library, trying to find something else to read since the 15th book in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series wasn't in our library yet. I saw two new books by Jane Green and thought, "Why not? It's a library... I can bring them back if I don't like them." So, I checked them out.

That night, I began reading The Beach House
. For the first few chapters, I couldn't decide if I truly liked it or not. It was a complimation of several different stories, and I didn't see how they fit together, and was pretty confused about them in general. But, there was something about the writing style that kept me going. Suddenly, it was slowly beginning to make sense, it was slowly fitting together, then there was a plot twist I didn't see coming, and before I knew it I had finished the book and was begging for more. It was very, very good, and very, very different from Jane Green's normal writing style. I loved it. I didn't agree with some of the morals of the plot-lines (there's a gay man and his escapades in one part, and a TON of casual divorce) and, to be truly honest, it was probably written for an age group that is older than me. But still, it was a very good read, and one I highly recommend.

Finally, I recommend Dune Road.

Now, I haven't finished this one yet. I'm actually at a point where I don't want to finish it because then it will be over and I don't want it to be over because I want to continue in the lives of these characters. But so far it is wonderful. I think I have the majority of the plot lines figured out, but she threw a shocker in there last time, so I wouldn't be surprised if she did it again. This story is set in the same town as Spellbound, and has a new set of characters, except for some minor characters. It's about a famous author, his assistant, and her group of friends. Sounds boring, I know, but it deals with life after divorce, financial crisis, abusive boyfriends, and friendship. So far it's wonderful, and I'm upset that I'll probably finish it by tomorrow!

So, there you have it. My two cents on books. Hopefully I'll write more. I really need to delve back into movie reviews, as Netflix has become a good source of entertainment. As it is, right now I should be working on an overdue homework assignment that I got confused!

Pray for my friend S. She's being induced today! Also, continue praying for my husband and I. A decision was made today, but I can't blog about it until later this week. I will though, I promise.