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.

Upcoming Book Reviews...

For a week, I thought I felt at a loss with no books to read and review.   It was a good loss, because my load lightened.  I was reminded of a few lessons I've learned along the way.  The biggest of which is:  Don't take on more than one heavy book at a time!  I took on too many in January...

So, here's my new list of upcoming books to be reviewed:

Two Devotionals for children--
Get Wisdom by Ruth Younts
God's Names by Sally Michael
I chose these because I like to read devotionals with my children at night--as much for them as for me.  I want to find some solid, biblical books that I don't have any concerns or reservations about.  I read several devotionals last year.  I loved The Jesus Book and Mighty Acts of God and Starr Meade's two devotionals for middle schoolers.  But, none of the others I read for elementary age children stood out to me.

Memoir--
Scars of a Chef by Rick Tromonto with Lisa Jackson
Rick went from a pit to becoming a world class chef, but more importantly he became a believer.  I started it this morning...

Crafts--
Sewing School by Amie Plumley and Andria Lisle
I have been searching for a home economics/life skills curriculum for my girls.  I've been working on a list for the past week.  I'm going to post it as a separate tab on this blog.  I'll write another post about this soon...

Parenting--
The Cleaner Plate Club, a book/cookbook for parents of picky eaters (like me!), by Beth Bader and Ali Benjamin
Sami is my ever picky eater and this book sounded interesting.  I liked the formatting of it from the preview and the premise of the book.  I'm looking forward to reading it!

Blanket Recommendations

The last book I reviewed got a mixed review from me. I said I like it--and I do. I like it because I think there's a lot of really good stuff in it. Is it the first book I would recommend? No. Definitely not. If that is the kind of book you like and Sheila Walsh is an author you have enjoyed in the past, you will probably really like it. I like her style of writing because it is easy to read. But, if I were to recommend a book about trusting God, I would first point someone to Trusting God by Jerry Bridges because I think it explains what it means to trust God better--both theologically and practically. It is deeper though and a lot more to chew on. I think Fearless by Max Lucado had a very similar message and I would also recommend it over Sheila Walsh's book. It was more scriptural and didn't read into the Word.

In reading so many books recently, I have come to realize that people are encouraged by different books and that people have different reading levels--which can affect what kinds of books they choose to read. My mom just told me this morning that her small group and her church (of 6,000 people) are going to begin reading Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life again. Is that a book I would recommend? No. It was the publicity for that book that predisposed my view of it actually way back when it was first published. I am also very skittish about books that develop cult-like followings. (Like the Prayer of Jabez).

But, my mom enjoyed the book then and is looking forward to reading it again. It has encouraged her in her walk with the Lord. I know that it has. I think there is a fine line between giving negative reviews about books (sharing concerns about the content of particular books) and causing division/making comments that are not edifying to the body of Christ. Such comments could be discouraging and feel like attacks. When we feel attacked, we also feel defensive which leads to discord.

Yet, isn't it still important that I say when I think a book is unbiblical or isn't scriptural? Yes. Is it important to point out that a book is more Christian psychology than Bible Study? Definitely yes. It is easy for us to be decieved. With Sheila Walsh's books, the wisdom that I found and agreed with was simple. It wasn't unbiblical. Did I agree with her way of going about making those points? Not really. It wasn't what I would wish for--but I agreed with her conclusions and the thoughts she wanted to encourage women with. Does that justify her means? No. But, that was why my review encourages anyone who reads the book to take those stories back to the Bible and make sure that they know what the Bible says and what it doesn't so that they don't let man's interpretation and extrapolation get confused with what God really put in His Word.

I know this probably seems like a circular argument within my own head =) And to some degree it is a back and forth argument I have with myself. But, in the end, I always take sides with the side that desires for books to be Biblical and for them to point me towards God and not man. =)

Thanks for listening to this argument I'm having in my own head!

Books

A few more thoughts about books...

It has been really interesting this past month as I've considered many of the books I read and what is beneficial for me to read and what isn't. The past two weeks, I've had the option to review several books that I've opted not to. What I review is a choice on my part. In the past, I've chosen to review a lot of books that I've been iffy about, but after last month, my mind has changed a lot about that.

I guess this is what I'm trying to say is...if I review a book and give it a not so positive review, it will be because I've had high hopes that it will be a good book--otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to review it. I also am choosing not to review books that I know outright that I will disagree with, unless I feel a strong impulse that I should read it. And there have been times that that has happened to me. But, I think that if I'm not the person who would be inclined to buy and read that book, then I don't think that I'm the best person to review it.

Here's an example...I don't think I'm the best person to read a historical Christian romance. After reading the romances last month that I did, I realized that I didn't notice a big difference between them and that they aren't really what I would recommend to people to read. I read the reviews by other people and they loved the books that I only felt so-so about. I'm not anti-romance books, but I like romance when it is more realistic like in The Sweet By and By or Dreams That Won't Let Go. It's the same reason that the ending scene between Jennifer Anniston and Ben Affleck in He's Just Not That Into You makes me smile. There is a genuine sense of being realistic to the relationship rather than simply being about emotion. There was a chemistry between them because they simply loved going through life together in a very down to earth way.

One more quick example...I don't think I'm the best person to review a Catholic Prayer book for Children. There are some distinct facets of Catholic theology as it is taught to children in the catechism that are not what I believe (ie. prayer to saints), so it isn't a book I would buy or check out of the library to read to my children.

When I am given the choices about what to review on Amazon, though, I do not solely review Christian books. Many of the books I choose are not and I have learned so much from them and have enjoyed many of them!

Anyways, I just thought I'd explain a little about why I choose to review the books that I do and don't choose others.

Not sure what to think...

I have had a lot to contemplate this week about the books I read. Today I have something new. I am having a new experience. For the first time, I am reviewing a book by someone that a good friend of mine knows. Because of that, I have knowledge of who this person is--not who they present themselves to be in their book. I connected the two last night when I read the description of the author.

So, I find myself in a quandary. How does that affect how I feel about the book? How does it shape what information I'll take from the book? Can I trust the advice the author gives in her book? Do I want to look to her book for advice?

Here are the conclusions I've come to after talking to my husband about it and a friend. My friend pointed out to me that a lot of people present themselves one way and really are another. But, we love them and show them grace anyways.

My husband pointed out that I need to review the book based on the book's own merits and exclude what I know. He compared it to watching Minority Report. He enjoys the movie, but doesn't agree with Tom Cruise's beliefs at all. I think this may be a little different because this is a nonfiction book (not a fiction one), but I definitely can see his point.

I think the conclusion that I am coming to is that for this particular book, I can review it on its own merits. I had written, but not published, my review before I realized who she was and I will leave it as it is. If I was reviewing one of the books that she's previously written--because of their subject matter--I don't know if I'd be able to do the same. I'd really have to pray about it. My thought at this time is that I'd have to return the book and abstain from reviewing it period--if it was one of her other books. When I review the book I just read, I realize that I'm not giving a blanket recommendation to her other books or website.