OK, some of you might not know this, but those of you who know me won't be surprised at all. I keep a running list of books I've read and movies I've seen in the back of my journal. I begin with the first book I finish each year (I might've started it on Dec. 31 but that's ok; it's books I actually FINISH that get on the list), and continue until Dec. 31 with the consecutive numbering.

This morning I finished book #43 of the year. My personal goal was to read an average of 10 books a month, for a grand total of 120. This would beat last year's total of 113. Since it's only the end of April, I've kept up with my goal. It's okay to be a bit ahead, because with traveling this summer I might not make the goal of 10 each month.

I have enjoyed the challenges I've joined that keep me focused, but I'm like a kid with a new toy when it comes to a new book. I start new books right away, but then I may not finish it. Isn't that sad? That's why I have about seven unfinished books laying around.

I have been reading mostly Christian fiction and some romances lately, because that's what I'm being sent for book reviewing. Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not. I like them. I also like general fiction, women's fiction, literary fiction (if it's not too deep) and essay collections.

I have amassed a collection (through Paperback Swap, of course!) of all four Cleo Coyle coffee house cozy mysteries (the fifth comes out this summer), but I haven't started them yet. I am not sure if I've ever read a cozy! I sorta know what one is, though.

I am also gathering some children's books for a Newbery Award challenge I've joined, and I am really looking forward to reading some of them aloud to my girls this summer. We'll be reading a LOT. It's going to be great!

Not thrilled with Janet Aylmer's Darcy's Story.

It's nearly a direct retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but without Austen's wit.

The only reason I finished it is because it pains me to leave a book unfinished. It's not all that awful, I guess, but it certainly isn't my favorite Austen-esque sequel to P&P.

Remember to Forget by Deborah Raney

Maggie Anderson is on her way back to deliver her boyfriend his liquor, when she is carjacked and left stranded on the side of the road outside New York City. Knowing that this may be her only chance to escape Kevin’s tyrannical rule over her life, she makes the most of her opportunity by depending upon the kindness of strangers. Eventually, Maggie finds herself in the rural town of Clayburn, Kansas.

Trevor Ashlock, publisher of the Clayburn Courier, is trying to make it from day to day. It’s been two years since the tragic accident that claimed his family, but he keeps busy with the paper and working on the Wren’s Nest Bed and Breakfast remodeling project.

When Trevor meets Maggie, he feels as if he is coming back to life. And Maggie as “Meg” begins to feel safe, even though she is trapped in a web of lies she has spun about her past, having always to remember not to reveal too much so that Kevin will never find her.

I really enjoyed the way Deborah Raney told the stories of Maggie and Trevor. Their stories are not uncommon, yet they are fresh and new.

I found myself alternating between wanting to shake Maggie and wanting to hug her and be her friend. Thankfully, she finds a great friend in Wren, another lovable and huggable character.

The people of the town of Clayburn are sweet and kind, which I found refreshing. (No gossip or backbiting here!) No one preaches at Maggie. Rather, they show her the love of God through their love and actions toward her. I like that. I believe this sets a good example for those of us who belong to Christ.

Remember to Forget deals with some unpleasant topics, to be sure, yet Raney somehow writes them in a kind and gentle way. The characters are sympathetic, and that appeals to me as much as the story.

I would recommend this book to fans of Christian fiction and sweet stories that are not saccharine. I look forward to reading more of Raney’s novels in the future.

Katrina of http://callapidderdays.blogspot.com is hosting, you guessed it, a SPRING READING THING CHALLENGE at her blog.

The sign-up post is here:
http://callapidderdays.blogspot.com/2007/03/spring-reading-thing-lets-get-reading.html

My list (because, of course, I MUST join):

[X] Lightning and Lace by Diann Mills
[X]Petticoat Ranch by Mary Connealy
[X] Over Her Head by Shelley Bates (preview copy!)
The Creative Call by Janice Elsheimer
Get Out of that Pit! by Beth Moore
My Heart's in the Lowlands by Liz Curtis Higgs

“Every year I think there must be more to life. And every year—despite a new car or a trip to a new land, new milestones and triumphs in my son’s life, or a redone deck, a pool, a spa, or entertainment system—I take stock and think once again, I was made for more than this. But I love my stuff.”

Sometimes we choose a book because of its cover, or perhaps because we want to be entertained. It's rare when a fiction book has the capacity and the potential to change lives. Lisa Samson's Quaker Summer does exactly that.

Heather Curridge is Everywoman. Everywoman in an upper-middle-class sort of way, that is. She’s got it all, yet she feels discontented and unhappy. Outrageous spending sprees don’t help. Volunteering at her son’s school only stresses her out more. Planning a tennis court in their backyard doesn’t help. She can’t even find a church she likes. Heather feels as though her entire life is in turmoil. Everything is changing all around her and she hardly even knows her own mind.

That is, until the night she and her doctor husband get lost in an unsavory part of town. There they meet Sister Jerusha of the Hotel, a homeless shelter. Heather finds herself inexplicably drawn to the people there.

If that’s not enough to rock Heather’s precariously-balanced world, a car accident brings her to the door of Liza and Anna, two older Quaker sisters who care for her in their home as she recovers from her injuries.

Throughout the rest of the summer, Heather undergoes a transformation of the mind, the spirit, and the “stuff.” She gains clarity and strengthened faith through the relationships she nurtures. Her marriage is nearly in proportion to the amount of money she isn’t spending and the stuff she is getting rid of. She gets to know her son and his heart for ministry.

I identified strongly with the yearnings of Heather’s heart. Who wouldn’t love a woman who says, “I’m living in a puzzle”? She is frustratingly, endearingly human. In a sense, she is me (the wanting to change part, not the rich and spendy part). Striking a balance between her old and new self, her current life and friends—it’s a very real struggle I believe all women face. There’s got to be more to life than this. The good news is, there IS more.

Lisa Samson takes us along on Heather’s wild journey. In doing so, she encourages us to pursue our own faith walk and find our own balance of life, the Gospel, Christ, serving others, and cake.
With several older and wiser peripheral characters, we have the privilege of witnessing Heather's transformation and embracing of the "ministry of presence," and it is good. It is very good.

A Valley of Betrayal
Tricia Goyer

The Spanish Civil War, often ignored, is a prelude of sorts to World War II. Yet, it deserves to be more than a prelude, and Tricia Goyer gives it the attention it deserves through this new series of historical fiction, The Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War. In this war, the lines between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” are blurred. Fascism and Communism, neither of which seems desirable, are the two sides dividing the people of Spain who long for personal, religious, and political freedom.

Other people from other countries come alongside the Spanish people to fight for and with them.
Disillusioned Deion, a black man from Chicago who wants to escape from the racism of the American South. Artist Sophie, who traveled from Boston to Spain for love, but instead finding her life’s purpose in war-torn Spain. German pilot Ritter, flying for the cause he believes in so strongly. Philip, accompanying his friend but finding his own desire to fight along the way. So many others, whose stories tug at our heartstrings as we read this complex story.

To this reader who spent her adolescence at the end of the Cold War, reading about a time when Russians and Communism were seen as preferable by some, and not as enemies of the United States, seems a bit disconcerting. Knowing through hindsight that Communism in practice doesn’t work as well as its ideals claim seems to add a fatalistic air around these characters laboring under its illusions and ideals.

The stories here are compelling. The characters are well-rounded and sympathetic on both sides of this civil conflict. Tricia Goyer does a fantastic job of making sure we readers are not able to choose a side, and this ability to make the characters sympathetic accentuates the brutality and incongruity of this war.

If you like the fiction of Bodie and Brock Thoene, you will enjoy this novel.

Thank you to Harper Collins Publishing for an advance review copy of this book.
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Few writers could take a setting as stark as the Texas oil fields during the Great Depression and make it beautiful. Paulette Jiles does just that and more.

Tragic circumstances force the women of the Stoddard family from the oil fields where they’d pursued a living for years, back to their abandoned family farm with no money, a few belongings, and a wild racing stallion named Smoky Joe. Each of the Stoddard women faces her own personal challenges.

Stormy Weather is seen primarily through the eyes of Jeanine, the middle daughter and her father’s favorite. She is the one who shares her father’s love of horses and racing.

Through tragic circumstance after tragic circumstance, the Stoddard women prove their mettle, endure the tough times of the Depression with grace and certain strength, and do more than persevere—they thrive. Each finds her own hope in spite of the seemingly hopeless time and circumstance. They truly weather the storms, both physical and metaphorical.

Smoky Joe, the unpredictable wild race horse, becomes a symbol of hope, that the Great Depression will not overcome Jeanine and her family.

It’s been several years since Jiles’ excellent bestselling novel Enemy Women, and Stormy Weather was truly worth the wait. The characters are rich, the setting starkly beautiful, and the story compelling.

You can preorder this May release from Amazon.com.