Christian Goodreaders discussion

In electronic format, I've started reading a PDF review copy of my Goodreads friend Shane Joseph's soon-to-be-published story collection, . Since I've greatly enjoyed both of the books by Shane that I've read before, I have high expectations for this one.

One of my Goodreads friends, author Lance Charnes, recently donated his latest novel, , the opener for a projected series, to the Bluefield College library. It's a crime/mystery thriller, set in the world of high-priced art collecting (and sometimes of swindling and stealing), a milieu Lance has done a lot of research in. Since I really liked his debut novel, , I've just started on this new one. And I'm really hoping to read his , which is in one of my many TBR piles, early next year.

When I started my latest e-book read, I expected it to take about six weeks (I usually don't read very quickly in that format). To my great surprise, when I actually got started on it, I finished it in six days! So, I've gone on to start the next PDF in the queue, a review copy of by medical doctor Ibrahim Masoodi. It's a memoir/travelog (the author was, I believe, born in Kashmir), presented along with life lessons and health tips. (This type of nonfiction isn't really my thing, but I agreed to review it anyway.)

As of yesterday, I started two new books, having finished the prior reads pretty much simultaneously. One is the regular book that I'm reading to myself; the other is the "car book" that Barb and I are reading together.

The latter is , the seventh (and so far last) book in Suzanne Arruda's Jade del Cameron series, which we've been reading together pretty steadily since the first one. The other is a review copy of a short story anthology from WolfSinger Publications, , yet another kind gift from my friend Andrew Seddon, who has a story included. This one focuses on the theme of imprisonment (mostly literal), examined from a science fiction perspective. It sounds as if it would be grim and dark --and so far, in the main, it is.

With a common read coming up next month in another group, I wanted the read I started today to be fairly short; and I've also been wanting to sandwich a nonfiction read into this year somewhere, to fulfill a mental commitment I made a couple of years ago to try to read one nonfiction book every year. So I settled on H. P. Lovecraft's classic , which has been on my to-read shelf for awhile; at 106 pages, it should be easy to read before Aug. 1, with plenty of time to spare. Given my love for weird fiction, this should be right up my alley. :-)

Just started The disappearance of Georgianna Darcy. By Regina Jeffers.

I'm taking part this month, in one of my other groups, in a common read of by Graham Greene.

Today, Edwardian writer (and Anglican priest turned Roman Catholic priest) Robert Hugh Benson is mostly known as a writer of ghost stories, and I've read one or two of his works in that genre. But back in the early 70s, I stumbled on a copy of a very different kind of work, his 1907 novel , and skimmed it but didn't have the opportunity to actually read it (long story). Ever since, it's been on my to-read list as a must-read, so it's with special satisfaction that I finally started on it this afternoon. In a very real way, I think it can be said to be Benson's answer to H. G. Wells' A Modern Utopia (1905)

I am just starting Come Sundown, by Nora Roberts.

Although another of my groups is doing a common read in September, the book picked is one I've already read. With another common read possibly coming up in October, I'm taking advantage of the respite to read the book my 11-year-old grandson recently gave me for my birthday, by a new-to-me author, Tami Hoag. (He got a bargain on it at a library sale. :-) ) It's a long novel (the Goodreads description says 574 pages, but the actual count is 590 for the text), so it'll take a fair amount of time to read.

I'm in a Stephanie Lauren's series at present

For some time, the e-book freebie by Bob Moates has been sitting around on my Kindle app, ever since it got an enthusiastic review from a lady in one of my other groups. (When I can, I sometimes take advantage of the option of reading a book by an unfamiliar author for free electronically, to see if it's worth supporting with a purchase in paperback.) This one is fairly short (140 pages), premised on the teaming up of a living homicide detective with the ghost of another cop to solve cold cases, and intended to be humorous. I finally got started on it last night.

Normally, my wife and I both like to read series books in order. But we've just started reading the third installment of Susan Page Davis' Ladies Shooting Club trilogy, , as our car book. Back in 2013, I'd bought a copy secondhand, and gave it to Barb for Christmas, with the intention of getting the first two books as well. However, the paperback editions turned out to be out of print, and there apparently aren't any plans to reprint it. (Sigh!) So I thought we'd see if it stands alone well enough to be worth a read.

After we'd started it, Barb was able to recall that she'd actually read it not long after she got it; she remembers both liking it and recommending it to me. But by now, her memory of the details is hazy enough that she's willing to read it again. (She rereads books oftener than I do.)

The second book of the seriesI seems more blah It is almost a copy of the first. Normally I like all the family in some dangerous intrigue, but this one so.far is bogged down. I'm also reading Two Nights, the new book by Kathy Reichs. It is also pretty slow going. A young girl is missing. and a bobbing has tKen place, but the investigator is private , and the police just seem of little interest.

Here's the link to the Gooreads description for the Kathy Reichs book Pamela mentioned in her post above: Two Nights. (As she noted, it deals with a bombing, and a missing girl.)

Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading by Eugene H. Peterson

And A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron

Are two in my currently reading stack.

Last night, I started on the e-book version of the novel by Greg Wagner, who's a Goodreads friend and also in another of my Goodreads groups. He offered it to group members as a free review copy; I don't usually read book previews, but in this case I was intrigued enough to do so, and when I'd finished with that, I took him up on his offer.

Because the book I just started reading today is unpublished so far, I can't link to it in the Goodreads database (and won't be able to rate or review it, at least not right away. My friend Andrew Seddon (who's a member of our group) has given me the opportunity to beta read Farhope, a prequel to his excellent science fiction novel Wreaths of Empire, which got five stars from me when it was published in 2015.

I'm currently reading Think Better Live Better by Joel Osteen. It's a very good read and great teaching! It primarily teaches how our thoughts about ourselves and situations determine the outcomes. It’s very encouraging. And if someone needs a boost in self-esteem, this book will do it!

I am currently reading Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy? by Gary .L Thomas . This book was recommended by our pre-marital counselor, This book dissects the marriage and exposes the worst.But it also shows that Marriage has the ability to make us more like Jesus.

I just finished reading a great book - A Time to Stand. I REALLY enjoyed this book. Has anyone else in this group read it? I would love to hear your thoughts on it if you have. If you haven't read it, I recommend that you do so soon. It covers a topic that is current and very relevent to our time: racial tension. The way it is presented is through the shooting of a black youth by a white police officer in a small southern town. The story unfolds and develops from there. I thought it was well presented and I loved the opposing points-of-view presented. I don't want to reveal too much by stating my opinion about the ending; however, if you're interested in what I thought you can read my review.

Thanks, Myra. I added that one to my list.

Myra wrote: "...if you're interested in what I thought you can read my review."

Myra, could you link to your review here? You can insert the URL by using the copy and paste function; if you don't know how to do that (and the technique took me awhile to learn!), I can give you directions.

Werner wrote: "Myra wrote: "...if you're interested in what I thought you can read my review."

Myra, could you link to your review here? You can insert the URL by using the copy and paste function; if you don't ..."

Werner I am not versed in how to insert a URL. Please send me instructions.

Myra, good question (probably a lot of other folks don't know how to, either!). Leave this window open, and position your cursor in the comments box, where you want to insert the link. Then open a second window, and bring up your review. When that's done, click on the URL in the long box near the very top of your screen; it will turn dark blue. Hold down the Control key (Ctrl) and simultaneously hit the c key. Then go back to the first window, hold down the Control key again, and hit the v key simultaneously. That should reproduce the link, and it will become clickable when you hit "Post." Hope that helps!

This month, my Supernatural Fiction Readers group is doing a common read of Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel , so I'm taking part in that. Goodreads treats this book as #2 of the "Green Town series," but there is actually no Green Town series, in the true sense of a series. Bradbury set several books and stories in his fictional town of Green Town, Illinois (patterned after his hometown of Waukegan, north of Chicago), but they aren't otherwise related, and don't fit into any sort of chronological progression.

While on a road trip this past weekend, Barb and I embarked on a new "car book:" by Heather Day Gilbert, the first book in her A Murder in the Mountains series, set in contemporary West Virginia (the author's native state) and featuring amateur sleuth Tess Spencer. (Heather is a member of this group, and a Goodreads friend of mine, but the book isn't a review copy; I purchased it for Barb this year as a Mother's Day gift.) Having finished, earlier this year, with reading one great mystery series together (Suzanne Arruda's Jade del Cameron books), we're hoping this will fill the gap. :-)

Just Mercy: A story of Justice and Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

I just finished reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker, which really blew me away. She doesn't take necessarily an orthodox view of God, but she really allows her characters to wrestle honestly and realistically with who God is in the context of unimaginable pain and abuse, especially in a patriarchal setting.

Now I'm moving back to nonfiction and reading The Optimistic Leftist: Why the 21st Century Will Be Better Than You Think by demographer Ruy Teixeira.

My Goodreads friend Andrew M. Seddon (who's a member of our group) is a distinguished writer of ghost stories that stand very much in the classic tradition. He's collected 11 of these in , newly published by Far Wanderings, and kindly gave me a copy. Although I've beta read them in their original form (and he graciously mentioned me in the acknowledgments), and contributed an endorsement for the back cover, I'm now reading the book to savor them as a whole in their final form.

Reading: The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard ( A Challenging Call Back to the True Meaning of Discipleship)

This month, I'm taking part in our group's common read of !

Goodreads author Justin W. M. Roberts, whose debut novel is the recently-published action-adventure thriller , is a fellow member of another of my Goodreads groups. He offered me a free review copy earlier this year; I've been anxious to get started on it, and was finally able to do so today. Obviously, I'm not far into it yet; but I'm liking it so far!

Since I knew Barb and I would soon be needing to start a new "car book," I've been giving some thought to what to pick for the next one; and having advance rumors from the North Pole about what Barb will get for Christmas, I wanted a short read that we could be finished with and ready for a new book around that time. Knowing her fondness for Christmas-themed movies, I figured that taste would manifest itself where books are concerned, too; so I decided to try a novella I read last December, , by one of my favorite writers, Sharyn McCrumb. I don't think the Ballad series as a whole would be up Barb's alley, but I believe she'll like this one; and we started on it earlier today.

I was wandering through my local library yesterday morning and came across a book that caught my eye. After reading the brief description on the back cover I decided to give it a try. Yesterday afternoon I decided to take a respite from housework and read for a bit so I started reading . I am really enjoying it so far. I also experienced a traumatic event in my life many years ago and can therefore relate to the story's protagionist. Im anxious to see how things turn out.

I’m in to seasonal reading. Christmas at Edgewood Park by Shela Kay.

Another group I belong to, the Reading for Pleasure group, does group-wide common reads (which I've never taken part in so far) all through the year; but they also always have several mini-reads going on, for whoever wants to take part. (They call these "buddy reads," though I usually think of those as two-person reads outside of a group context.) Anyway, a seasonal one going on this month is of Henry Van Dyke's 1895 classic The Story of the Other Wise Man, and I'm taking part in this, though starting late. (Since it's short, Barb and I are reading it together as our latest "car book.")

I've started on the next book up in my current queue of review copies, What Darkness Remains, a collection of tales of the macabre, uncanny and supernatural by my friend Andrew M. Seddon, who's a member of our group. This may not seem like the most season-friendly reading; but actually, I understand that in England, it's quite traditional to read or tell ghost stories (which some of these are) around the Christmas season. :-)

I'm reading "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis. So far it is excellent. It isn't a book for quick reading. I think 2018 will be a year of reading old books--really old books.

Stan wrote: "I'm reading "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis. So far it is excellent. It isn't a book for quick reading. I think 2018 will be a year of reading old books--really old books."

This was one of Beethoven's favourite books. Also CS Lewis liked reading it.

I am currently reading a steampunk SF novel published this year:
The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson. I am about a third of the way through; it is an intriguing novel of mechanized (not computerized) android-like people with personalities, free will, and "souls," called "anima." These creatures call themselves "Automat." Each chapter in the book alternates between the past (the 1700s) and the present.

It's unusual for me to start on two different books in one day. That happened yesterday, though! :-)

Barb and I read the third book of Susan Page Davis' Ladies Shooting Club trilogy, The Blacksmith's Bravery, together out of order last year, because I believed the first two books were out of print and unobtainable. Subsequently, though, I discovered that, while they ARE out of print, there are dealers who still have copies and can be contacted through Amazon. So I gave Barb the first book, The Sheriff's Surrender, for Christmas, and we've started it as our next "car book." (As she said, "It'll be like visiting old friends!")

As I work through the review copies in my current queue, the one presently up is the opener for a projected series about a 21-year-old female target-shooting champion who becomes a rookie sheriff's deputy, Ro's Handle (published by World Castle Publishing, which also publishes my novel, though that's just a coincidence!) by Goodreads author Dave Lager, who's a member of another of my Goodreads groups. It's particularly interesting to me, because it's set in the part of Iowa where I grew up.

I usually have a few reads going at once. It's likely not the most efficient way to read, but it's a habit that has evolved out of my tendency to chase one topic into another as questions and curiosities arise. I'm currently putting my time into three books. I'm reading Bonhoeffer's "The Cost of Discipleship", and splitting my audio book time between "The Desire of Ages" by Ellen G White and "Surprised By Joy", by C.S. Lewis. I recently finished Eric Metaxas' biography of Bonhoeffer, so Bonhoeffer's own book was a natural progression. "The Desire of Ages" has already proven to be a very profound work and I think I'll start it over immediately upon finishing it. There's simply too much to take in on a first reading (or second...or third, probably). Both of the aforementioned are pretty theologically weighty and, to be honest, leave me feeling pretty insufficient as a disciple of Christ, so the levity and humility of Lewis's autobiography has served as a welcome reprieve.

I’m working on clearing out the books that caught my attention from Amazon sales in the middle of the night. LoL. I’m about to start book two of a Victorian series of three. Yes, I bought them all. Book one was great, and I’m only ten pages into book two. How to kiss a Rogue. By Amanda Mariel. So many good books out right now, but my kindle needs some of these read.

Finally, I've reached the last paper book in my current queue of review copies, which I've just started on this morning. It's a nonfiction title, Who's Got Dibs on Your Kids? by Betty Pfeiffer, who's a member of this group.

I've gotten around at last, starting this weekend, to reading the stand-alone action thriller (yes, at the age of 65, I'm finally starting to use that term in something besides a derogatory sense! :-) ) South by my Goodreads friend Lance Charnes, which has sat around in one of my mountainous TBR piles for far too long. (It's a book I purchased, not a review copy.) Both the novels by this author that I previously read earned five stars from me, so I've really been looking forward to this one and have high expectations for it!

I just finished reading Sphere by Michael Crichton which I'm about to review. I started a new book last night in Captain America: Dark Designs Prose Novel which I'm excited about because Cap is my favorite superhero. I'll be real picky on this so let's see if they get this right.

On the nonfiction side of things, I'm reading a great book called Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life which has turned out o be quite good and a book I'll be recommending to Christians. It has blessed me tremendously and I'm only halfway through it.

When I took advantage of a Goodreads credit, earmarked for e-books, last year to download The Hitwoman and the Family Jewels, the fourth installment of J. B. Lynn's Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series, I'd planned to read the first two novels before that one. (I've already read the third installment, which is a short e-story.) But my Internet connection temporarily went down at lunchtime today; and having gotten into the habit of eating in front of the computer, I resorted to bringing up my Kindle app, and starting this book. I'm actually familiar enough with the main character and the premise of the series that reading it out of order shouldn't be a prohibitive problem; and I expect it to be a pretty quick read.

Tomorrow, in paper format, my Goodreads friend Urs and I plan to start a two-person buddy read of Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, which I expect to be an even quicker read. An "Around the World in Books" challenge in another group prompted me to add this to my to-read shelf in the first place (I wanted a book set in Denmark --forgetting, at the time, that I've already read Hamlet!), but my interest in it had been piqued for a long time before that.

I saw that book last evening on my son's bookshelf in his room and have decided to make it a book that I read to him and my other son during bedtime story time. They are both a bit older now so they should be able to understand it. It's just not a book that they would read on their own. I'm looking forward to having that time with my kids!!

My daughter read this book in school a few years ago. It really made an impression on her and her classmates.

On a lighter note, I am currently reading a book by Jimmy Buffet. Yes, the man of "Margaritaville" fame. This is my first time reading one of his books. (Believe it or not he has written several books.) This one - Swine Not?: A Novel Pig Tale - is a fictional tale about a pig (and her human family) living in a four-star hotel in NYC. So far it has been an absolute delight. If your looking for some entertaining, light reading you might want to check it out.