Skip to main content

Early Christmas Tale

I've written before that Amish fiction has puzzled me and given me a bit of concern.  But, every once in awhile, I take another chance on it.  This week I read A Lancaster County Christmas by Suzanne Woods Fisher.  Here's my disclaimer:  This is fiction.  It is not nonfiction.  Please keep this in mind if you read this book.  Suzanne Woods Fisher hosts a radio show called Amish Wisdom.  I listened to a short excerpt of the show yesterday, which I do have thoughts about, but those thoughts are probably better suited to a separate post.  So, I'll limit this review to this book. 

Storyline:  Jaime and C.J. have been married for 3 years.  Jaime is having doubts about her marriage and her ideas about what life should be have gotten skewed by the influence of her father who has reappeared in her life after being an absentee father almost her entire life.  Mattie and Sol are Amish and live with their son, Danny, and nephew, Zach, on a farm.  The two families intersect when Danny leaves his whistle at the doctor's office and the doctor asks Jaime to return it to him.  Jaime and C.J. find themselves stuck at the Amish family's home over the Christmas holidays when they try to return the whistle as they are leaving town.  The story is about what transpires over those few days and how hearts change.

Writing:  I thought that her writing was better than in another book I read by her.  It was pretty good and the dialogue was far less contrived than another fiction book I read recently by a different author. 

Plot:  The plot is clear in the first chapter.  No surprises.

Conclusion:  If you enjoy Amish fiction, then you'll probably really like this book.  Is this a genre I'd recommend?  Not really.  But, that's another topic for another day...

Please note that I was given a complimentary copy of this book for review by Revell Publishing.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ESV, NIV, or NASB and then there's the ICB, ESV or NIrV...which should we read?

I am so thankful for my friend's question about the ESV vs. NASB and NIV. I couldn't remember the difference so I went to look it up. I knew that John Piper and Tim Keller, both pastors and authors that I deeply respect have switched over to the ESV. All of the churches that we have attended over the past few years PCA or Reformed Baptist have also switched to the ESV. I did find a blog that explained the differences and that helped me ( http://thefoolishgalatian.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/niv-vs-esv-and-why-piper-switched/ ) I knew why I didn't like the KJV--it was written in the days when writers were paid by a patron and that often slanted the translation. The NKJV, from what I understand, is a revision of the KJV that uses more modern language. Most churches I have attended used the NIV until the ESV came out. The blog I found explained that the ESV is a more literal translation---like the NASB. The NASB is a very literal translation. The ESV has come to be consid...
Post a Comment
Read more

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story.  My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard.  Am I questioning too much?  Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way.  But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them.   Recently, I read a book that troubled me.  The book I finished reading was  Guiltless Living  by Ginger Hubbard.  When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...
Post a Comment
Read more

listening or rather not listening to directions...

This week has been very eye opening. I am observing and noticing what I need to learn in order to be a better homeschooling mom and teacher and what my daughter needs to learn to be a good homeschooling student. My weakness when I was a teacher in a first grade classroom was not understanding how small concepts had to be broken down--and I lost my patience very quickly. This week, in particular today, I am seeing how detailed my directions need to be. I am going to be working very consciously and deliberately on this. On the other hand, I realized that my daughter does not listen! Wowsers! In a classroom, Autumn listens very well. She is a compliant child and very influenced by peer pressure and conformity. So, she listens along with everyone else and follows directions. But, at home, it's just Autumn and maybe Sami and Mommy. Very, very different! I had forgotten that most of kindergarten in the public schools is not focused on teaching students academic and learning co...
1 comment
Read more