Books of the Year ~ Gold Medal Winner

DISCLAIMER: True, I write fiction. Fiction is what I devour, love, breathe. But you should know that this year's winner is a non-fiction book. Why? Because the writing is so stellar, the prose so weepingly beautiful, that it just had to be in first place.

One Thousand Gifts

By Ann VoskampZondervan
978-0310321910

BACK COVER:

It's only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the 

life we've always wanted...a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved--by God.

MY REVIEW:

Awesome. With a side of awesome sauce. Ann Voskamp rocks. Not only does she have fantastic, insightful, inspirational things to say, but she says them in ways that make this writer's jaw drop. Her prose is a-freaking-mazing. Do yourself a favor and snatch up a copy of this book. You will NOT be sorry.

Books of the Year ~ Silver Medal Winner

Marvelous
By Travis Thrasher
TH1NK Books
978-1612916231

BACK COVER:

Brandon Jeffery’s summer started out with a bang―as in, a friend crashed his car and now he has to work two jobs to pay it off. It’s at Fascination Street Records that he’s introduced to a beautiful but quiet girl named Marvel. She’s new to Hidden Cove and looking for a summer job, so Brandon secretly strikes a deal with their boss to work for free so she can be hired.

When a classmate is found murdered, however, their summer takes a turn for the mysterious. Brandon’s friend Devon is sure he knows just who’s to blame: the creepy recluse of the town quarry. But the police have few leads, and Brandon has the sneaking suspicion he’s being watched.

That’s not what’s in the forefront of on his mind, though. More than trying to pay off his car to his unemployed, alcoholic father and protecting Seth Belcher from the school bullies, he’s determined to date Marvel. He doesn’t understand why they seem so close and she refuses to date him, but as the mystery behind her tragic past begins to unravel, Marvel finally confesses her reason: God has revealed she’s destined to die saving others―and it’s going to be soon.

MY REVIEW:

Thrasher knocks this one out of the park. Loved it. The thunderstorms. The lurking danger. The complete lack of safety anywhere. Marvelous is one creepy read, but not too creepalicious. I seriously expected one of the characters I cared about to die by the end of the book. Yeah, there are two deaths, but none that wigged me out. Whew. Dodged the bullet this time, but I seriously need the next book NOW. As in why am I typing a review when I should be over at Amazon buying WONDER, the next book in the series?

My favorite character is Brandon, the hero. He's not perfect, which makes him totally believable, but his heart is big. He's got a lot of questions about God that go unanswered. Again, just like real life, eh? I have hope for him, but there's also a certain amount of dread because there's lots of foreshadowing that goes on in this book. I have high expectations for the next one, but I'm pretty confident Travis Thrasher can pull it off.

If you know a teen that likes scary, I heartily recommend this book.

Books of the Year ~ Bronze Medal Winner

Mist of Midnight
Sandra Byrd
Howard Books
978-1476717869

BACK COVER:

Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Mutiny, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. Upon her return, people are surprised to see her… and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca’s name, but her home and incomes.

That pretender died within months of her arrival; the servant fled to London as the young woman was hastily buried at midnight. The locals believe that perhaps she, Rebecca, is the real imposter. Her home and her father’s investments reverted to a distant relative, the darkly charming Captain Luke Whitfield, who quickly took over. Against her best intentions, Rebecca begins to fall in love with Luke, but she is forced to question his motives–does he love her or does he just want Headbourne House? If Luke is simply after the property, as everyone suspects, would she suffer a similar fate as the first “Rebecca”?

A captivating Gothic love story set against a backdrop of intrigue and danger, Mist of Midnight will leave you breathless.

MY REVIEW:

Hot dang! I'm a jaded reader, so it's a rare occurrence when I find a new author that I actually like. Sandra Byrd is the lucky winner this year. In her book, MIST OF MIDNIGHT, I discovered some sweet turns of phrases in a setting that I wouldn't mind packing my bags and moving into right now.

What's not to love about a manor home in England? A handsome captain who may or may not be a bad boy? Lots of intrigue and a French maid that you kind of want to slap? All these ingredients make for a fine read to cozy up with this winter.

I loved heroine Rebecca Ravenshaw. She's brave, with just enough fear to make her believable. The entire story is told in her point of view. Honestly, I would've liked to have been in Captain Luke Whitfield's head a time or two to know his reactions and feelings to situations.

There's a twist at the very end that I didn't see coming. An interesting one -- that I won't give away. Just know there's a "Surprise" after the credits, so to speak.

Book Vending Machine

I scored pretty good from Santa this year. Three CS Lewis books, a one-hundred-year-old book on rural England, and a pair of socks. Hey. Don't judge me. They were Smart Wools. So guess I won't be standing in the ol' return line this week.

And if you lived in Germany, you wouldn't have to either, because instead you could simply stop at a vending machine.

Here's the dealio . . . book retailer Hugendubel teamed up with Bastei Lübbe (a German trade publisher) and came up with a brilliant idea. All you do is bring your unwanted gift to their vending machine, pop it in, then choose from one of seven bestselling titles and voila! You get a book that you want instead of some stupid brick of fruitcake from your great-aunt-once-removed.

Win. Win.

Did you get anything under the tree this year that you'd like to trade-in for a book?

Wise Words for Christmas

Santa sure knows how to shop.
Here's what I found in my Christmas stocking this morning . . .

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

~ C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Author Behind 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen'

Today I'm featuring my number one Christmas carol because . . . well . . . it's Christmas Eve and I can. So there.

I don't actually know who the author of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is. No one does, really. It's believed to have been written more than 500 years ago. That's old. So instead of featuring the for-real author of this song, here are a few fun facts about it.

This is the only song mentioned in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Because of its singularity, it is -- for all intents and purposes -- the Christmas carol of the title.

Speaking of titles, let's talk about the comma, shall we? It's not between Ye and Merry, where many grammar rookies place it. The comma goes between Merry and Gentlemen. I know, right? What the heck?

The heck is that words change meanings over the centuries. Rest may have meant "to keep" and merry meant "strong" or "mighty" (such as in Robin Hood's "merry" men). Keeping that in mind, the title is not about happy fellows being urged to rest, which is what we might think today. The title may, in fact, be seen as a reassurance that God will keep these men safe and strong through Christ because Christ has been born on Christmas Day. Savvy?

But more important than pondering the placement of a punctuation mark is pondering the meaning of the words. Think on this stanza (circa 1760) today and tomorrow as you celebrate Jesus's birthday:

God rest you merry, Gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

For Jesus Christ our Saviour

Was born upon this Day

To save poor souls from Satan's power

Which long time had gone astray

Which brings tidings of comfort and joy.

The Author Behind 'O Little Town of Bethlehem'

Phillips Brooks

Phillips Brooks, an American rector at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia, visited the Holy Land in 1865. He did all the usual schlocky tourist things: bought a tee-shirt that said 'I was Here' with an X in the middle of Israel, purchased one of those stupid tiny silver spoons to hang on a rack, and yes, wrote, stamped, and mailed at least twenty-five postcards.

None of that will be remembered, though. What was immortalized by his visit was a simple horseback ride from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. He wrote about that experience three years later, the words of which are found in a song he put together for his church's children's choir. He never expected anything to come of it, other than music for that particular service. But in 1874, the song was published in Huntington's Sunday School hymn book, The Church Porch.

And the rest really is history.