Best Western Religious Fiction
--This text refers to an alternate Kindle Edition edition. Nothing in her privileged eastern upbringing has prepared Elizabeth for the challenges of frontier life... Elizabeth Thatcher is young, pretty, cultured, and educated. She received the 1992 President's Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for her significant contribution to Christian fiction, and she has been awarded the coveted Gold Medallion Award for Fiction.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Janette Oke has written series and stand alone books. Series include: Canadian West. Love Comes Softly. A Prairie Legacy. Seasons of the Heart. Song of Acadia. Stand alone books are in the below category: Women of the West. Books on Amazon. Love Comes Softly (Love Comes Softly Series, Book 1). Seasons of the Heart: Once Upon a Summer / The Winds of Autumn / Winter Is Not Forever / Spring's Gentle Promise. The Tender Years (A Prairie Legacy, Book 1). Movies on Amazon. The Complete Love Comes Softly Collection."
"She went to teach children in a place she was unfamiliar with and that was even a little scary."
"I enjoyed all of it and would recommend it to all my friends."
"I bought this book for a college assignment, but I do love Janette Oke's books and the movies made from them."
"It was like a 10 chapter book where chapters 9 and most of 10 got skipped."
"I read these books."
"It keeps your interest,and excitement, and looking forward to the next page."
"I loved reading this book."
The promise of free land lures Roald and Ingeborg Bjorklund from their beloved home high above the fjords of Norway, and after three long years of scrimping and saving to buy tickets for their passage to America, they finally arrive at the docks of New York City. LAURAINE SNELLING is the bestselling, award-winning author of over forty novels.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Very well written and intense story of a Norwegian family that begins to leave Norway in search of the promises of "Amerika". Their plans took a while and many doubts crossed their hearts and minds as they crossed the ocean in very difficult quarters."
"From seasickness aboard ship, to lack of adequate nourishment, to squalid and crowded conditions, to the overwhelming impact of bustling New York City, to stuffy, smelly coal fired locomotive pulled trains, to rough Conestoga wagon living as they travel across the prairies, to the howling rage of North Dakota winters, the images drawn in the reader's mind by Mrs. Snelling captivate the reader and cause them to care deeply about the characters. At the end of the book, the story lingers in the mind as if the reader had actually lived alongside these immigrants."
"After talking with the author @ the Hostfest in Minot, North Dakota, last fall, I bought this book's "prequel", "An Untamed Heart," & I'm glad I started the series with that one, as it has the main character Ingeborg Bjorkland's back story."
"I think Snelling does a great job capturing the day-to-day challenges immigrants faced as they traveled to their homestead. In addition to these challenges, the protagonist (Ingeborg) and her husband (Roald) are faced with adjusting to married life."
"My grandfather (from Norway) and my father (from Sweden) both homesteaded in northern Wisconsin in the late 1800's and early 1900;s. I've heard so many stories in the past decades and really felt myself living out the life of the characters in the book."
"Filled with such vivid and heartfelt times as the young Norwegian families make their mark on American soil."
Best Religious Historical Fiction
Books in this latest edition include a foreword from the publisher, a preface from Francine Rivers, and discussion questions suitable for personal and group use. #1 A Voice in the Wind: Torn by her love for a handsome aristocrat, a young slave girl clings to her faith in the living God for deliverance from the forces of decadent Rome. Francine Rivers began her literary career at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and journalism.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I knew they were mean but aftr reading this first 2 books it certainly makes the first 6 books of the New Testement come alivr.The letters that St. Paul wrote to the Christians are made come alive."
"I recently ordered this set for my mother-in-law, and I am extremely happy with the condition that the set arrived in."
"I fell in love with, Hadassah, the 1st century Jewish slave girl who's humility and faith in Christ teaches 21 century women lessons in true loyalty. Though she is a slave her influence reached further than she even knew. I found myself laughing out loud and crying over certain passages that I had to stop reading just to blow my nose and dry my eyes."
"My most favored books by Francine Rivers."
"The characters stay with you."
"It helped in my walk with Jesus...I could never be like the main character, but it did so much for making me look inside my own life..and I was amazed at the testimony and how it touched my life."
"I have read this series several times over the years, and each time, I find myself engrossed in the story."
"Only Francine Rivers could weave these characters into a story that you cannot put down, and at the same time be a life changing experience for you too."
Best Religious Mysteries
Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. --Eugene Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C. "The Shack" cuts through the cliches of both religion and bad writing to reveal something compelling and beautiful about life's integral dance with the Divine. Through my tears and cheers, I have been indeed transformed by the tender mercy with which William Paul Young opened the veil that too often separated me from God and from myself. With every page, the complicated do's and don't that distort a relationship into a religion were washed away as I understood Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the first time in my life. -- Church Times 20081125 'This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. -- Mike Morrell, Zoecarnate.com 20081001 'Reading THE SHACK during a very difficult transition in my life, this story has blown the door wide open to my soul.'.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I didn't read this book when it first came out , I didn't have the interest."
"I wish to express my love to the author, William P. Young for this book which has increased my knowledge of love, glory and redemption, not to mention the concept of the three as one and one as three to have in my personal relationship with GOD."
"Both this book and the movie sure made me see that and made my heart so full. My only wish, if for more books and movies to come out like this."
"What I will say is it's an amazing book and if you have ever thought about reading about God and how it all works -- this book is for you."
"It was evident once I started reading it that this man had been through many of the emotions and "The Great Sadness" that he describes in heartbreaking detail and in a way that the reader can feel the character's pain. When he gets to the part of meeting God and speaking with the three aspects of him, I could feel the pain I felt for the character melting away as he delved further into the nature of God and discovered that He is all about love and that he, the character was never alone and neither was his daughter who was murdered. I don't consider myself to be a "religious" person."
"Read through to the very end including words from the author to feel the total magnitude of the message this book brings."
"This book presents the triune God in a way that humans can relate to."
"I read the book in two evenings."
Best Religious Romance
Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does…the One who will never let her go. A powerful retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love. "The timeless biblical themes...are beautifully portrayed and brought to life through her unforgettable characters." "My heart and soul were profoundly shaken as I realized anew the lessons portrayed through the stories of Hosea and Gomer, Michael and Angel.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book was recommended for our book club and we have not met to discuss it yet, but I think it will be a very interesting conversation."
"Throughout the story there are several flashbacks that help tell Angel's story so you can better understand her character."
"A very special lady in my life recommended I read this book."
"Wonderful story of a love that would not quit - beautifully describes the love that God has for His children."
"This book will have your heart exposed with emotions for the characters."
"This book grabs you from the first page, and keeps you till the very end."
"Read this book and you will understand on a totally different level the unending, undying love the Father has for you."
"This story is a beautiful depiction of redemption and grace and helps me to more fully understand God's enormous grace and love."
Best Religious Science Fiction & Fantasy
Heather and Picket are two young rabbits improbably thrust into pivotal roles. S. D. Smith was born and raised in the hills and hollows of Appalachia, but spent many years in the foothills of the Dragon Mountains in South Africa.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My kids, 9, 7, and 4 have named at least four of their stuffed animals after characters from this book, and I hear these names repeated again and again as the kids imagine and act out adventures of heroism using characters they have derived from these stories."
"My family loved the first book in this series, and waited with baited breath for this book."
"Just when I thought the S. D. Smith could not top his previous book (The Green Ember), he masterfully spins an incredible tale, surpassing the first book in bravery and adventure."
"This book has been a challenge for our hearts as we watch our beloved characters face adventure mixed with moments of joy and sorrow, renewal and betrayal, loss and hope."
"Our entire family has loved this book series."
"Like "Two Towers" or "The Empire Strikes Back", "Ember Falls" challenges us by stretching the characters we have come to love. Some of the stretching comes from having to learn to forgive and trust characters who have proven dangerous in the past but seem to be giving us good reasons to see them in a new light. These books are not just wholesome adventures, they are a battle for truth, goodness, and beauty in the moral imagination of our families. I am grateful that my children will grow up with friends like these who are informing their moral decision making and fostering their imaginative play."
"Very well written, full of action and intrigue, good and evil, courage and danger, loyalty and betrayal."
"These stories pull you along...riding up and down...through the adventures of Heather, Pickett, their family, and friends...until you are left breathless at the end...gasping for more!"
Best Jewish Literature & Fiction
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Inspired by the incredible true story of one Jewish family separated at the start of World War II, determined to survive—and to reunite— We Were the Lucky Ones is a tribute to the triumph of hope and love against all odds “Love in the face of global adversity? Hunter sidesteps hollow sentimentality and nihilism, revealing instead the beautiful complexity and ambiguity of life in this extraordinarily moving tale.” — Publishers Weekly. But the true wonder of the book is how convincingly Hunter inhabits these characters, each modeled after her own family members. A brave and mesmerizing debut, and a truly tremendous accomplishment.” — Paula McLain , author of The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun. Georgia Hunter pulled me into another world, vivid, horrifying, astonishing, and heartbreaking.” — Lauren Belfer , New York Times bestselling author of And After the Fire , A Fierce Radiance , and City of Light . “ We Were the Lucky Ones is a skillfully woven reimagining of [Hunter’s] own family’s struggle for survival during World War II . This emotionally resonant, gripping portrait of the war is filled with beautifully drawn and wonderfully heroic characters I won’t soon forget.” — Jillian Cantor , author of Margot and The Hours Count. “Georgia Hunter has crafted her own family history into a sprawling, yet still intimate portrait of those swept up in the devastation of war and scattered to the winds. We Were the Lucky Ones is a compelling read, notable for Hunter’s clear portraits of her plucky, resilient family, and for her ability to build suspense and investment without emotional manipulation.” — Courtney Naliboff, ReformJudaism.org.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As a third-generation immigrant, like Hunter, my grandparents came from Poland, and while they were in America before the war, nothing has impacted my heart more than reading this book. Surely my grandparents left behind friends and family and felt similar heartache as the Kurcs did with their beloved country. She has not only written a remarkable piece of literature but the effort that she put forth to gather her family’s history seems to have been no small feat, as you will learn."
"400+ pages read in just 3 days.... yes it is that good."
"First off, thank you Penguin-Viking for allowing me to read this beautiful ARC. I will start with the dislikes, move on to the likes, and my own personal thoughts. Even though I know it's based on a true story, I enjoyed the characters. Finding out more about what the Jewish community really went through in order to survive. Not many writers want to talk about their family's history. For the first time, I feel completely satisfied and that's hard to achieve. We cannot deny the painful part of our prior history. It made my stomach churn and drop. Yeah, maybe some parts were dramatized but Mrs. Hunter took me there. I plan on buying this book on hardcover and it will remain a treasure for the rest of my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your story."
"It is a story that has stayed with me."
"It was difficult to read at times but I’m grateful to have learned from continuing on."
"I am an avid reader of historical novels and the fact that this one is. based on a true story made it all the more powerful."
"Amazing that a true story could be told in such a way that character and personality come through and one cares about the individuals and family."
"Creative format and wonderful telling of a most complex story."
Best Religious Short Stories & Anthologies
A collection of Father Tim's favorite words of wisdom and spiritual inspiration--from the bestselling author of At Home in Mitford and Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good For years, Mitford’s Father Tim Kavanagh has transcribed into his dog-eared journals words of wisdom, faith, and encouragement. Like Patches, this "commonplace book" collects favorite quotations of Karon's protagonist Father Tim on things quotidian and spiritual. Father Tim (and Karon) are nothing if not well read: other sources of wisdom in this slender volume include Thomas Jefferson, George Herbert, Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor, William Shakespeare, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, St. Augustine, Epictetus and Dorothy Sayers.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A Continual Feast is is full of comfort as noted in title."
"The book was in excellent condition."
"I experience an emotional range of laughter and tears from the daily lives of the. characters in Ms. Karon's books in this series."
"Anything written by Jan Karon is worth the read."
"I haven't had time to get very far in this book yet."
"Anyone who likes small bites of wisdom and humor will enjoy reading this book, which truly is a "continual feast" of words."
"Know this will be near me always."