Inspirational Archives - Josie's Bookshelf

Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes

I love the Sisterchick series, so I read this one as soon as I could after it was published. Robin Jones Gunn does a great job with this series, and she takes me along with her again as she visits a foreign land. This books is about two friends who have been life-long penpals. Noelle now lives in Holland. Summer finds out she has an abnormal medical test and decides to visit Noelle before having to face more testing.

I want to visit the Corrie Ten Boom house and museum, so it was nice to get to visit with Summer and Noelle. They visited so many great places and had such an adventure one afternoon on an unusual boat. Noelle and her husband treated Summer like an honored guest. Summer was refreshed from the visit and from her quiet time with God every morning. I’m looking forward to traveling again with the next set of sisterchicks!

Inside Story

I found the first book in this series, Frasier Island, at the library and decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did because I found another talented author. Since then, I have read Finding Marie and now, Inside Story. The characters in these stories are engaging and interesting to follow. I have also read and enjoyed a few other mysteries by Susan Page Davis, but this series is my favorite so far. The third novel, Inside Story, is about Claudia, Marie’s sister. She is a journalist and works for a magazine, Global Impact.

I love this story! The story is fun, suspenseful, and leaves me cheering for the main characters. Lieutenant Bill White is believable and easy to admire for his charitable work and dedication to the navy. Claudia is a risk taker and does whatever it takes to find and tell moving human interest stories. I don’t want to say too much and give away the story, but I think you’ll enjoy this one.

The story does make me wonder whether the U.S. Navy would authorize embedding a magazine correspondent with a secret mission unit after deployment, but this is minor and doesn’t detract from the story. The majority of the story takes place in the Philippine jungle. Marie, Pierre, Rachel, and George (characters from the earlier books) appear in this story to help Claudia, Bill, and Bill’s unit.

My Heart Remembers

This is the first book I’ve read by Kim Vogel Sawyer, and I’m very impressed. My Heart Remembers was an easy, enjoyable read. I would gladly read another book by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

The basic story is Maelle, the oldest child in her family, is asked by her Da to take care of her brother and sister during the fire that burnt down their apartment. Her Da went back in to gather some more belongings and bring his wife out with him, but they never made it. Maelle is alone in New York with her brother Matthew and infant sister, Molly when a policeman finds them and takes them to an orphanage. The lady in charge of the orphange places them on an orphan train bound to Missouri. Here the three children are taken by three different families. Seventeen years later, Maelle is still searching for Matthew and Molly. She heads back to Missouri in the spring of 1903 hoping that she will find them.

Sisterchicks Go Brit!

Well, I’ve taken quite a vacation from this blog. Part of my vacation was time I spent in Prince Edward Island, Canada (2 weeks) and the rest I just haven’t been writing. Speaking of vacations, I did enjoy reading the new Sisterchick novel, Sisterchicks Go Brit! (Sisterchicks Series #7). If you haven’t discovered this series yet, you’re in for a treat. These fun books can be read in any order as each novel has new characters. Robin Jones Gunn is a talented author, and she makes you feel like you are traveling with the sisterchicks (see my Sisterchicks in Gondolas review).

I have been to London, England once, so it was nice to read about some of the places I visited in 2001. Kellie and Liz are given airline tickets to visit England by Opal. Kellie, who is trying to start an interior design business, offers to decorate Opal’s apartment. Liz helps Kellie and mentions that she has always wanted to visit England. Opal wants to return to Olney, England to visit her sister so she gives Kellie and Liz the tickets as payment. Kellie and Liz do spend some time in Olney when they first arrive, but after a few days leave to explore England on their own. Liz just can’t wait to see Big Ben. The plans don’t quite go as expected, but Liz and Kellie see that God has other plans for their vacation. I like the way Kellie and Liz allow events to happen and aren’t too uptight about their vacation plans changing. They explore Oxford and Exeter College as well as London. They were able to see more than they had planned. On the way to Windsor castle, they met a young lady from France, Annette, who was traveling alone. They invited her to join them and immediately connected. After spending the day together, Annette invited them both to visit her in France.

The story flows well and puts you in the mood to have an adventure of your own. I’m glad I read it before going on my trip! We made friends with a couple the first time Sean and I visited Prince Edward Island. It was an instant connection like Robin Jones Gunn described when they met Annette. We have kept in touch over the years. They have discussed coming to visit us sometime, too. I felt like God did guide our trip, too. I was wishing we could see the talented fiddle player that we saw on our first visit to PEI in 1995. He went on to travel and play all over the world. We have been listening to his CDs, but haven’t seen Richard Wood in person since that first island visit. He was going to be playing before we arrived and after we left the island. We were strolling through the Charottetown area with our friends, and a couple of guys were playing music on small stage. One of the gentlemen starts playing on a fiddle and our friend says, “That’s Richard Wood.” I felt so blessed to be able to hear him play again.

I would love to hear about your vacation. Did you feel God directing your vacation? Did you instantly connect and make a new friend or friends?

The Convenient Groom

This week’s post is more light-hearted. I enjoyed this story so much that it only took me 3-4 hours to read it. It’s the story of a relationship adviser that has trouble following her own advice. It does follow Surrender Bay (Nantucket Love Story Series #1), but is a stand-alone story. Denise Hunter’s pleasurable tale, The Convenient Groom (Nantucket Love Story Series #2), gives you a wonderful feeling that stays with you long after you finish reading the book.

Kate Lawrence gives relationship advice and is getting ready to showcase her own wedding to the perfect man. Then, her fiance calls to break up with her a few hours before the wedding. Lucas Wright, who had just put the finishing touches on a gazebo he made for the wedding, overhears the conversation. He offers to marry her to save her from the media disaster of having to announce that the wedding is canceled. Lucas has reasons for offering to marry Kate, one he share with her and one he doesn’t.

Each chapter starts with a quote from Kate’s book. This was a fun book to read. The characters were lovable. Lucas has so much patience with Kate and treats her like a queen. His character moves the story along and makes it so endearing.

Update: This book was made into a Hallmark movie! I thought it was true to the book and enjoyable to watch. Please let me know if you’ve seen it and what you think.

Someday

I read Someday (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 3). This is a series that is best read in order and focuses on the Baxter family. There are 3 sets of books about the Baxters. The first set is called the Redemption Series. Karen Kingsbury co-wrote it with Gary Smalley. The next set is the Firstborn Series, and Karen wrote these on her own. Then, she wrote the Sunrise Series. The book I’m reading now is the 3rd book in the Sunrise Series. It’s unusual to have so many books about the same family (14 books).

I find this family is easy to love, and I feel compelled to read to the last book to find out what happens to them. Some of the story lines throughout the series took a little while to grow on me especially in the Firstborn Series. The story line with Dayne and Katy is the only one that seems to drag at times. I think Karen is an extremely talented writer. When I worked at the library, we couldn’t keep her books on the shelf. This is one of the few authors that writes books that make me cry. Her stories are so realistic that it’s easy to transport yourself to her world. All the books in this series are hard to put down after you start reading.

Karen Kingsbury does something unique. She raises funds for charity by including characters in her book based on real people. The winner of the bid at the charity gives Karen the name and details about a person they want to honor. She creates a character in her book to honor the person. In Someday (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 3), Karen creates 3 characters based on the life of three people. To read more about it go to Karen’s website and click on the ‘Forever in Fiction and Karen’s Trademark’ link.

The current book, Someday (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 3), follows Ashley, John, Brooke, Luke, Katy, and Dayne. I am enjoying it so far. I can’t give too many details as I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who haven’t read it yet and possibly not read any of this series. Usually when a book has too many story lines in one book, I don’t like it. It doesn’t bother me in this book, probably partially because I know the characters from the other books and partially because of Karen’s gifted writing. I like the fact that Ashley takes the lead in keeping the family connected. She has a big heart and a strong faith in God. She has her flaws, but she cares deeply about her family. Ashley is my favorite character in the whole series.

If you have read some of this series, please comment on if you are hooked or not in reading this series.

Baxter Series:

Redemption (Redemption Series-Baxter 1, Book 1)
Remember (Redemption Series-Baxter 1, Book 2)
Return (Redemption Series-Baxter 1, Book 3)
Rejoice (Redemption Series-Baxter 1, Book 4)
Reunion (Redemption Series-Baxter 1, Book 5)
Fame (Firstborn Series-Baxter 2, Book 1)
Forgiven (Firstborn Series-Baxter 2, Book 2)
Found (Firstborn Series-Baxter 2, Book 3)
Family (Firstborn Series-Baxter 2, Book 4)
Forever (Firstborn Series-Baxter 2, Book 5)
Sunrise (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 1)
Summer (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 2)
Someday (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 3)
Sunset (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 4)

Christian Fiction books made into movies

This week I have been reading, but not reading Christian fiction. I thought I would share some thoughts on the movies that are based on Christian fiction books. I watched the newest movie of the Love Comes Softly series by Michael Landon Jr., Love’s Unfolding Dream. I appreciate the fact that the first movie, Love Comes Softly, did stick with Janette Oke’s story line. The other 4 movies have not been as faithful, but are still enjoyable movies. Love’s Unfolding Dream focuses on Missy’s adopted daughter, Belinda, as she follows her dream to be a doctor. The acting isn’t the best, but if you are a fan of the movies, you will enjoy the story.

The other movies have been fair, but I wish someone would try to keep the story closer to the book, like Peter Jackson did with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I did enjoy The Nativity Story, but the book by Angela Hunt was written based on the movie screenplay. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching. I didn’t expect to like it, but the acting was excellent and so was the story.

I am waiting for the 3 movies based on Karen Kingsbury’s books to come out – Like Dandelion Dust, A Thousand Tomorrows, and Gideon’s Gift. Here’s a list of movies based on Christian fiction books that I have seen with a rating (A – D).

Love Comes Softly (A-)
Love’s Enduring Promise (A-)
Love’s Long Journey(A)
Love’s Abiding Joy(B)
Love’s Unending Legacy(B-)
Love’s Unfolding Dream(A-)

I enjoyed these movies:

Amish Grace

The Convenient Groom

Denise Hunter’s book turned into a movie.

Audiobooks

Love Comes Softly

Love’s Enduring Promise

Love’s Long Journey

Sisterchicks in Gondolas

In honor of the new Sisterchicks book coming out on May 20, I am reviewing one of the Sisterchicks sagas. I will review Sisterchicks Go Brit! (Sisterchicks Series #7 as soon as I read it. I love this series! All the books in this series are a fun, fast read. Each book has different characters, so they can be read in any order.

Here’s the author’s definition of a Sisterchick: “a friend who shares the deepest wonders of your heart, loves you like a sister, and gives you a reality check when you’re being a brat.”

Sisterchicks in Gondolas (Sisterchicks Series #6) by Robin Jones Gunn focuses on Jenna and Sue. Jenna is invited to cook for a Christian group on a retreat in Italy, so she quickly invites her sister-in-law Sue, who is a talented cook. The place where they stay is a 15th century restored palace. The women have time to relax and become closer. Jenna was left by her husband to raise her daughter alone. Sue’s husband has been in a terrible accident and relies on Sue to help him recover. Jenna moved closer to help her brother and Sue. Both women discuss how God has helped them with the struggles of life.

Robin has a talent for making you feel like you are traveling. I enjoyed learning more about Venice and its way of life. I could get used to trying a new gelato flavor every day. I’m not sure I would feel comfortable sleeping on the roof, but it would be a nice way to view the city.

The characters are genuine and lovable in this exciting adventure story. Don’t wait another minute, start reading and travel to Venice with Jenna and Sue!

Sisterchicks series:

Take Flight!: A Sisterchicks Devotional

Audiobooks:

Sisterchicks on the Loose!

Sisterchicks Do the Hula

Sisterchicks in Sombreros

Sisterchicks Down Under

Sisterchicks Say Ooh La La!

Sisterchicks in Gondolas

Sisterchicks Go Brit!

Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes

Whispers of the Bayou

Whispers of the Bayou is Mindy Starns Clark’s first standalone mystery. Her other series are worth reading, too. They are the Million Dollar Mysteries and The Smart Chick Mysteries.

Miranda Miller is raised by her aunt. She thinks that her family in Louisiana is not interested in her. Miranda doesn’t have that many memories of her childhood before living with her aunt. The past comes alive for her when she returns to Louisiana at the request of the caretaker of her grandparent’s estate, Willy Pedreaux. Miranda’s career in art restoration works its way nicely into the story. She is able to preserve most of the artwork her grandmother painted on walls in the family home. Miranda does find out about her family and the reason behind decisions that were made for her when she was a child.

I enjoyed this book. It had many twists and surprises. I didn’t want to write too much about the story and give away the ending. The characters are vivid and the conversations between characters are interesting. The author does list the parts of the story that are based on fact on her website, www.mindystarnsclark.com. If you haven’t read any books by this author, you should give this one a read. In my opinion, she writes as well as other Christian fiction authors like Melody Carlson, Robin Jones Gunn, Dee Henderson, Susan May Warren, and Terri Blackstock.

Audiobook:

Whispers of the Bayou