Favorite Christian Books

The Interview: I’m so excited to have Beth Vogt join me at Favorite Christian Books.  Especially since this is the first book I’ve read of Beth’s and thoroughly enjoyed it!

FCB: When you reach heaven, other than Jesus, what Biblical character are you most looking forward to meeting and why?

Beth: I want to talk with Peter. He was such a man of extremes – big faith, big doubts. And Jesus loved him just as he was. When I was going through a difficult time, it comforted me that God used someone as imperfect as Peter to tell others about his gift of reconciliation.

FCB: What would be the first question you would like to ask him/her?

Beth: What was it like to walk on the water in the midst of that storm with Jesus holding on to your hand?

FCB: When you were a little girl what did you want to be when you grew up?

Beth: I wanted to be a writer. A few years ago, I sat in a writers conference and listened to a speaker exhort us to pursue our dreams – and I cried because I realized I was living mine.

FCB: In your book Daniel travels many places, are you traveler? If so, where was your favorite place to travel?  If you’ve not traveled a lot, where would be the ideal place for you to go?

Beth: I married a man who was in the Air Force, so yes, I’ve traveled. We lived in Turkey for two years when our first three children were toddlers – that was the most unexpected place we ever traveled to. While there, we vacationed in Italy and got to visit Venice. One day, I’m going back! The postcards in Wish You Were Here? Many of them chronicle places I’ve lived or visited.

FCB: We see a lot of advice out there for writers, but what advice would you give someone like me, who enjoys reading and writing reviews on a book? What makes a good review?

Beth: As a writer, I have great respect for reviewers and I believe that both readers and reviewers are entitled to their honest opinions about the books they read – mine included. That said, I do believe you can be honest without being hurtful. The adage, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” comes to mind. Maybe you’re just not that author’s audience. I also think a good review warns readers if there are spoilers included. I like my readers to be surprised while they’re reading my novels, not while they’re reading a review about my books.

FCB: Thanks so much Beth! I agree no spoilers!

Review: Allison has everything a girl could want a great job doing what she loves without punching a time clock, and in just a few days she’s marrying her perfect man in a big beautiful wedding in the perfect dress. Well, everyone else thinks it’s the perfect dress, Allison hates it. Then to make matters worse she ends up kissing the groom’s brother, Daniel, just five days before the wedding.

This story gave me things to laugh at, to cry about, and to think on. The author did a great job of balancing the story to what real like can be like. Allison is a great character, in that she is like so many women who get swept with the current of expectations. Fortunately, Allison realizes before it is too late it’s time to jump ship and stand on her own two feet.

The author touched on a couple of topics that I hadn’t see before, but sorry I won’t share those here, it would be better for you to experience them yourself. The author also kept me guessing how how things would end. I saw a couple of different directions she could have gone and wasn’t sure until the very end how the story would conclude. Which is really hard to do with romance so a definite bonus with this book.

The author did a nice job with the spiritual aspect. She highlighted Allison’s life decisions very true to real life. As women, it is too easy to forget our first love, Christ, and put other things ahead of Him. However, the Christian message is not so heavy that it scare anyone off. 

For those of you who love romance, you should enjoy this one, if you’re not a big romance fan this book still has a lot to offer, with a fun and interesting storyline a great characters to love and to hate.

To learn more about Beth K. Vogt visit her website.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Howard Books for the opportunity to read and review this book. I was under no obligation other than to give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

GIVE AWAY Because Howard Books sent me a real book to review, I have one to give away.  If you would like a chance to win my copy, please leave a comment with your name and home state and for fun a place you would like to visit. I’ll pick a winner on May 15th at 9:00PM PDT.

Review Summary:  To say Bryan Clay was an angry troubled child would be an understatement. From elementary school he was a fighter and a rebel and not to give too much away, he was a rebel without a cause until his junior year of college. Throughout his story Bryan is honest about his faults, even after he decides to turns his heart to God. Although, at times the story gets into the mechanics of track and field and particularly the decathlon, however, Clay always brings the focus back to how God worked in his life.

This is an encouraging story God’s faithfulness, and I found myself more than once tearing up because of the different situations that Bryan shares about his experiences. My favorite line in this book is:
“…I do not expect you to be perfect. I just expect you to do your best. I’ll make it good enough.” 

Digging Deeper:  Having worked at Azusa Pacific for over 25 years I am familiar with Bryan Clay the athlete and was excited at the opportunity to review this book for Thomas Nelson. I haven’t willingly read many autobiographies and I was a little skeptical. This book was so much more than I expected and I’m really glad I made the choice to read this book.

As Bryan tells his story he not only tells the dark side of his life, but he shares about the people who have made an impact on his life. The people who loved him unconditionally but did not allow him to settle. Bryan’s story reminded me that we should not be afraid to invest in a child’s life, even those “problem” children. We never know what God’s plan is for that child.

This book does look in depth on the training and participation of the decathlon which if you’re not a fan those sections might get a little long. But even if you are not a fan you have to admire what these men do in preparation for this event and how grueling a competition is not only physically but mentally. I finished the book with a new respect for these athletes.

The greatest strength of this book is the honesty that Bryan shares. He didn’t commit his life to God one day and win a gold medal the next. He still faced adversity and struggled with doubts in himself and God. This book is not preachy, but Bryan shares his faith and his heart.

Give Away: I’m giving away my copy of this book. Leave a comment including the state you’re from to be entered. I’ll pick a winner next Sunday night, May 13 at 9:00PM PDT.

Here’s a picture I took of Bryan throwing the javelin at the Bryan Clay Invitational Track at Azusa Pacific University meet April 2012.  It was amazing to see the difference in his throws compared to those of collegiate athletes. Unfortunately, this was the only event he was in that I got to shoot.

Relentless Pursuit, Secrets of Roux River Bayou Series #3 By Kathy Herman / David C. Cook Sax Landry is tormented by guilt. To escape his father’s abuse he left home, abandoning his mother and sister. Now his parents are dead, and he’s in Barbes, Louisiana, searching for his sister. But it’s not safe—people are dying because of a bioterrorist attack. He should leave, but stays. Will he find his sibling—and peace?

Summary:  Kathy Herman is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. With this third installment of the  Secrets of Roux River Bayou I’m again captured by the lives of the characters of Les Barbes.  This story broke my heart but also warmed my heart as the characters struggle with real life issues of understanding senseless deaths and the need to forgive. The one drawback for me, is very early on I had a good idea who our culprit would be, but this didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story.  As in Dangerous Mercy Herman deals with the attitude too many have toward God and with grace and mercy she deals with the topic of why a good God would let such bad things happen.

Digging Deeper:  Although this is part of a trilogy, one doesn’t necessarily need to read the first two books to enjoy this one. The author gives just enough back story throughout that you have a basic understanding of where the characters came from and some of their hang ups with life.  Of course, reading the previous two installments will add to the impact of the story’s conclusion. This story happens about 4 years after book one and two years after book two, so the characters have grown in many ways.

The Characters – One of the primary characters is a new comer to Les Barbes, but no strangers to Kathy Herman readers, Emily Jessup was part of Herman’s Sophie Trace series. She’s now 19 and attending college at LSU planning to be a doctor. She comes to Les Barbes to spend the summer with her sister, Vanessa Langley.  But she soon finds herself dealing with a grief-stricken, Chance Durand, who’s parents are both killed along with several others in this quiet city.

We also meet Sax Henry who is in search of peace and relief from the guilt he has dealt with for almost 30 years.  He’s looking for the sister he left behind in the hell they knew as home. His search as brought him to Les Barbes and the doorstep of Adele Woodmore.  Again, Adele plays a key role in this story and she is truly wonderful. She is an example of God’s grace in action.  She is tough and willing to speak her mind, but she loves people deeply. She may be my favorite character in the series.

The key characters from the previous two books are back and an active part of the story. The author does an amazing job tying the characters together through the book and the series.

The Story – It was solid and a little too real life. Bottled water and a food bar have been tampered with and people die. I thought he author did an amazing job with the funeral mass of the child who died.  It was touching and spoke some good truths that we can take to heart. 

As I said in the summary, I was pretty sure early on who our killer was and the basics of why.  The author leaves subtle clues throughout the story to lead you. 

There’s a lot more I could say about this story, but I don’t want to give you too much.  It’s a solid story with a fairly strong mystery plot, but I think the story of Sax Henry is even stronger. I really liked it!

Disclaimer:  I did receive this copy from the publisher but was under no obligation to give anything but my honest opinion.