I'm Persuaded

My review of Persuasion: A Latter Day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison went live on AAR today.  I was prepared to bash the book because it's a contemporary retelling of Austen's Persuasion, only set in a Mormon community in Northern Virginia.

Instead, it turned out to be quite clever and enjoyable, proving once again that I should never start a book with a preconceived notion.  I seem to be proved wrong almost every time.
I even love the cover of the book.  Go figure!

Before Surgery a Disappointing Inspirational

As I go into kidney surgery today, I see that my review of Naomi King's Abby Finds Her Calling is running on AAR.  This truly was one of the strangest books I've read in quite a while.  For starters the Abby of the title has found her calling from page 1.

Stranger still is that Abby loves wishy-washy James who loves Abby's younger sister Zanna who loves black sheep Jonny. Fortunately Zanna bags Jonny by the end of the book, and equally fortunate, Abby and James still aren't together.  And Abby, the Abby of the title, still has the calling she had at the beginning of the book.

So why isn't it called Zanna Finds a Husband since that's the point of the book?  Got me.  And I have to wonder which editor at NAL didn't read this book at all, but grabbed it because Amish books have made a resurgence.

Feeling Cheated

At AAR reviewers pick what they'd like to review from a huge list mailed out by the editor-in-chief on a sporadic basis.  She gives the title, author, and subgenre which doesn't leave much to go on if the author's name isn't familiar within a subgenre.  Typically, I go through the list looking for subgenres I haven't burnt out on (paranormals and Regencies are definitely out for me these days), then take out the titles I've already reviewed for Booklist which has an earlier publication schedule.

Then with the ones left, I go to Amazon or the author's web page or blog, and read about the title.  This works well as long as the finished book does what she (or sometimes he) posts that the book is about.

In the case of Cowboy Father by Linda Ford, the book that's reviewed on AAR today, I chose to review the book even though it sounded a little on the heavy-handed side of Christian because it was set in Alberta, Canada, during the Depression.  Since I've never read anything else with that time and place setting, I thought I'd get an insight into what it was like there during the time period.

Alas, that was not to be.  Ford's book could have been set anywhere in the North America.  Maybe Canada wasn't too different than the United States during that time period, but at least Ford could have given some feel for Alberta since I'm sure not all Canadian provinces aren't alike.  I'd like to know how they differed then.

So I was cheated.  Ford didn't hold up her end of the promise with this book.

I'm Not Amish But This Is a Good Read

My review of Katie's Way by Marta Perry has been published on AAR today.  I don't know what appeals to me about the Amish books.  Maybe it's the ideal of a close-knit community even though I know that such communities are rife with gossip and backbiting.  But ideal is still there.

Maybe it's that in this age of laxity, the Amish are a group whose glue is living by rules.  Or maybe it's the facade of purity and serenity.

Or possibly it's that I know myself well enough to know that I could never, ever live the life of an Amish person.

I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and almost from the moment I was born, I wanted to leave.  I guess that's why I was so surprised years ago when I met this very gentle young Amish man (mid- to late-teens at a guess) who when finding out I was from Nebraska gushed, "Oh, I've always wanted to go there!  Tell me what it's like!"  No one I've known before or since has been that enthusiastic about the state.  In our conversation, he said that Nebraska was where he ultimately wanted to live.  I sincerely hope he's living a long, healthy, happy life there.

Don't Discredit Christian Romance

The review for Robin Lee Hatcher's Belonging is running on today's AAR site.  If romances in general are looked down upon by some people, it seems Christian fiction is often seen as being lower than the low.  In fact, until I started reading them for review, I often caught myself disparaging them.

But I and anyone else who does look down on the books as a whole are wrong.  Hatcher's book is a prime example of a Christian romance fiction book that is entertaining while still keeping its religious roots.  These aren't Bible-thumpers as most of us aren't, but regular small-town Idaho citizens trying to make a living at the end of the nineteenth century.  Like any group of people, there are good ones and not so good ones, but all are realistically drawn and compelling people to read about.

After reading this book, I'm definitely putting Hatcher on my "watch for" list.

The Heartache of Reviewing a Syrupy Book

My review of Healing Autumn's Heart by Renee Andrews is posted at the AAR website today.  I'm eclectic in my romance reading, having reviewed pretty much the complete spectrum from solidly religious books to erotica and from time periods extending from the early Roman Empire to far into the fantastic future.  I can find an interesting romance in every subgenre.

Healing Autumn's Heart isn't one of the interesting Christian-based books, however.  Mostly this is because of the upbeat, almost giddily happy tone that belies the grim subject of breast cancer.  That coupled with the attitude of God as the opiate of the people with no purpose except to make people feel better about their lot in life stunned me.

Given all of that, however, I still don't like to write negative reviews.  But as the saying goes, someone has to.  Ugh.

Two Reviews to AAR; Reading Booklist duo

Over the weekend I sent in reviews for Leah and the Bounty Hunter by Elaine Levine and Healing Autumn's Heart by Renee Andrews to AAR.  AAR is wonderful in that I get to pick which books I review from a list sent to me.  But why I pick substandard books from the five to six page list is beyond me.  Since I like to read new authors, I usually check with Amazon or B&N to read a quick plot synopsis of the books whose authors' names don't ring a bell.

I knew Levine because I'd read her two previous books and enjoyed them.  But I'd never heard of Andrews.  Sigh.  And now I still wish I'd never heard of Andrews.  Enough said.

Today I start writing AAR reviews for Belonging by Robin Lee Hatcher and Night after Night by Janelle Denison.  I'd never read anything by either author, but will look for further books by one of them.  Read the reviews to find out which!

And finally, on the review front, I'm currently reading Silver Sparks by Starr Ambrose for Booklist.  So far so good, but I'm only about a third of the way through.  A lot of times a really good book is ruined in the last third or quarter.  We'll see with this one.  It's got an intriguing plot about a woman who takes on a murderous celebrity and the popular press who chronicle his life.  What a tangled web!