I am so thankful for so many things this year! As far as I’m concerned there is always something to be thankful for. So, here is a short list:
1) Jesus
2) My family
3) My friends
4) My health and the health of family and friends
5) Finishing law school/passing the bar
6) My country
7) This blog 🙂
Feel like giving any shotouts today! Go ahead!
About
A couple of weeks ago, I came across some subjective reviews that lowered the rating on a book based on the reader’s experiences. Last week I discussed when this kind of thing was okay. This week, I’m following up with how you keep subjectivity out of reviews. So, how do you keep subjectivity out of reviews? Well, there are a number of things that I consider before I will allow my personal opinion to infiltrate a review. Here they are:
1) Did I finish the novel? If I finished the novel, there was obviously something about it that drew me in and made me want to keep turning the pages. For example, I’m not a huge Amish/Amana fan. And I have a list of reasons why. That said, if the author wrote a good book and the people are bonnet people, it’s still a good book.
2) Am I becoming bitter? To a certain degree, fiction will be….fiction. I think, in romance novels men are allowed to be the next best thing since sliced bread and women can be stunning (as an author you run the risk of pigeon-holing yourself if this is your constant practice however). If I start to get bitter about the perfect man or woman in the novel, than I’m doing too much. It’s a novel. It’s escapism. It’s okay if the fiction world is perfect. So long as you don’t start expecting real people to be perfect it’s all good.
3) Am I aware that this is fiction? If it is fiction, the author is allowed to create situations where you might think certain things could never happen. That is all a part of the fun. I don’t mind suspending my disbelief for a good novel because guess what? It’s fiction. If I want real life I can watch the news.
4) I want to read more. There is an author who, I personally feel does not quite know how to treat certain topics. Sometimes, she steps on my toes a bit. That said, a phenomenal writer. Everytime I put one of her books down I do two things: roll my eyes and find out when the next one is coming out. At the end of the day, she is good writer and her books are engaging and while I’m not against addressing issues in my reviews, I wouldn’t mark her book down because she stepped on my toes a little.
So, anyone have any other ways to keep subjectivity out of reviews? Agree or disagree?
About
Review
For those who love time-travel, this was a fun read. One of the things that drew me to the novel was that Analiese and Adam were from the 21st century and both went back in time. I personally think it would be hard to fall for a guy in the old days. What I really liked about this book? It was so realistic. I liked how when Adam and Analiese first arrived, the people smelled really bad and women just didn’t play a role (ok that’s not a good thing, but the novel was true to the times). The only drawback to this novel? It was realistic. I felt that the ending was a bit awkward as I imagine it would have been in real life. Spiritually, I like the way Analiese witnesses to Adam and the effect salvation has on his life. Not cheesy at all. Good Book. Recommended
About
When Karlina Richter finds out that a new shepherd will be sent to East Amana, she fears she’ll no longer be able to help her father with the sheep. She’ll be relegated back to kitchen work, a job she dislikes. Her fears increase when Anton Becker arrives and shows little interest in the flock–or in divulging why he’s been sent to East. Dare she trust Anton to help her father, or is he keeping secrets that will impact them all?
After learning that her father will be transferred from Cincinnati to a job in Texas, Dovie Cates decides she wants to visit the Amana Colonies, where her mother spent her formative years. She writes to relatives still living in the Colonies and is invited to spend some time there. Soon after her arrival, Dovie meets Berndt, the handsome young man who delivers bread to the kitchen house each day. But when Dovie begins to ask questions about her mother’s past, no one seems willing to tell her anything, so Dovie decides to take matters into her own hands. Will her decision spell disaster for her future with Berndt?
Review
I really liked this book and I was surprised because I’m not a huge fan of bonnet books. Dovie and Karlina were such great heroines that you couldn’t help but like them. I thought the mystery behind Dovie’s mother, however, was the most intriguing part. It had me turning pages late into the evening. I did think the romance was a bit rushed in this novel, but that might be due to the fact that there are two heroines. I thought Anton was a unique and interesting hero, and I enjoyed watching him develop. Berndt, though, didn’t give me that much information to work with. I also was surprised with Dovie’s decision in the end because she didn’t seem like that much of a rule follower. That said, good writing and an absolute page-turner! Spiritually, I enjoy how Dovie and Karlina constantly ask God to help them make decisions. He is a vibrant part of their lives. Recommended!
**I recieved this copy from BethanyHouse. My opinion was not affected in any way**
About
One Woman. Two Men.
One stirs her pulse and the other her faith.
But who will win her heart?
Marceline Murphy is a gentle beauty with a well-founded aversion to rogues. But when two of Boston’s most notorious pursue her, she encounters a tug-of-war of the heart she isn’t expecting. Sam O’Rourke is the childhood hero she’s pined for, the brother of her best friend and a member of the large, boisterous family to which she longs to be a part. So when his best friend Patrick O’Connor joins in pursuit of her affections, the choice seems all too clear. Sam is from a family of faith and Patrick is not, two rogues whose wild ways clash head-on with Marcy’s—both in her faith and in her heart.
While overseeing the Christmas play fundraiser for the St. Mary’s parish soup kitchen—A Light in the Window—Marcy not only wrestles with her attraction to both men, but with her concern for their spiritual welfare. The play is based on the Irish custom of placing a candle in the window on Christmas Eve to welcome the Holy Family, and for Marcy, its message becomes deeply personal. Her grandmother Mima cautions her to guard her heart for the type of man who will respond to the “light in the window,” meaning the message of Christ in her heart. But when disaster strikes during the play, Marcy is destined to discover the truth of the play’s message first-hand when it becomes clear that although two men have professed their undying love, only one has truly responded to “the light in the window.”
Review
Oh I know! This one is my favorite! Ms. Lessman gets better and better with each novel she pens, so I think its fairly obvious I have enjoyed the O’Connor series. When I first ordered this book, I figured I knew what was gonna happen thanks to some hints in the previous novels. I was wrong. I was fairly surprised as I turned the pages of this book. And for those of you who are not fans of having two men and one girl, this novel doesn’t follow that same pattern. I never felt like I was having a hard time choosing which guy I prefered or that Marcy was playing the field. I’ve always liked Patrick, but I really liked how the younger Patrick saw Marcy and changed. And in those times he wasn’t sure he would have Marcy, he still continued to change for the better. Watching his faith develop and grow in God was a beautiful aspect of the novel. And Marcy was a terrific heroine. I always complain about the annoying ones, but she isn’t annoying, every decision she makes, makes sense to me. Also, I really liked the emphasis on friendship. I’m not married, but I imagine that’s quite important when choosing your spouse. Spiritually, I love the emphasis on the power of prayer and how a real relationship with Christ will change you. The only two drawbacks? I wanted to see Sam’s reaction in the end, and this is the last O’Connor book. Sad to see the series end! Highly Recommended!
This past week, I was perusing books on Amazon when I came across a review that said something like this “I liked this book. I really did, but why is it that most heroines are in their mid-twenties? Maybe it’s just my own hangups because I’m in my thirties, but these romance novels make it seem like once the heroine turns 28, romance is too late for her.”
The reviewer gave the book 3 stars. So that got me thinking, when is it okay to allow subjectivity to rate a book? Next week I will discuss how to avoid subjectivity in book reviews. But first things first, a really great novel surpasses all subjectivity. Anywho, subjectivity is allowed when:
1) The setting is all wrong. I just read a book about a high school in Chicago that had a really weird racial dynamic. And it bothered me because, except for a few special exceptions, Chicago is about as segregated as you can get. I tried to squeeze the novel into one of those exceptions…it just wasn’t working. If the author gets things wrongs about locations, that has a tendency to turn off the reader, and I think its fair to lower a rating. A good book can surpass this, but it’ll still be in the back of the reader’s mind.
2)Ethnicity Issues. I’m going to go there. And it’s not always one race portraying another, sometimes its your own race or ethnic group portraying ‘you’. Without going into detail, if the author portrays your race in a significant way that you find annoying, it will detract from the book.
3) Nuances aren’t explained. I don’t really understand strong female voices in historical novels. I just don’t think women were that brave or that bold to stand up against or for issues (otherwise we wouldn’t have waited as long for the women’s right to vote). Therefore, the author should explain why their heroine is the way they are. And it must make absolute sense, I always tell my mom, no woman in the west in the 1800s would turn down a marriage proposal from a good Christian man. Life was too hard back then to be trying to do it on your own. The reason has to make sense! I’ll be honest, even in books today, I envy these girls their fierceness. But, I can understand it today, it makes no sense to me if the novel is a historical.
4) Get your facts straight. I’ve been leading up to this one. I’m a lawyer, I love legal thrillers…now more than when I was in law school, but nevertheless, when I’m reading books like these, my legal mind does not turn off. I’m constantly asking myself if the lawyer can do that. Same thing goes with historical facts. They must be accurate. You can play fast and loose with certain details, but others are written in stone. Know the ones written in stone.
5) The fifth book. There are some authors out there who I will tell you that I like, but don’t read. Because of the fifth book. When you read a lot of books by one author, after some point, you will begin to pick up on a pattern in they way they write, think, the words they use, when they introduce the villain, etc. For some authors, its so minor, its not relevant. For other authors, you begin to feel like if you changed the names and the cover, you would have the same books. When you can predict the characters’ personalities and what happens next, you’ve read the fifth book. I think you have the right as the reviewer to demand that the author branch out a bit more.
Well, these are my thoughts. Got anymore to add? Any you would detract?
About
A Voice in the Wind brings readers back to the first century and introduces them to a character they will never forget–Hadassah. Torn by her love for a handsome aristocrat, this young slave girl clings to her faith in the living God for deliverance from the forces of decadent Rome.
Review
If anyone ever asks me what my favorite book is (though I have many), I usually say Francine Rivers’ A Voice in the Wind. If you haven’t read this book yet, you do not know what you’re missing. A lot of people say her best book is Redeeming Love, and that book is a hit, but A Voice in the Wind was pretty revolutionary for me. It’s the best book out there, second to the Bible, that will teach you about forgiveness and love. And even though it takes place in the Roman era, so many of those same issues are relevant today. There are such strong characters in this novel, there is Marcus who embodies the classic, dark, brooding hero except that there is so much more to him. There is Hadassah who embodies Christ. Julia, the girl we love to hate and Artretes the tortured soul. One of the things that I so love about this book is the way Marcus falls in love with Hadassah. It’s slow, but intense the way only Ms. Rivers can do. I think I would have loved to see what there life was like when they were married. So cheers to A Voice in the Wind and it’s 20th Anniversary!
About
Hundreds of miles from home, Susannah faces an uncertain future as a mail-order bride on the untamed Dakota prairie.
When her parents die suddenly, and no suitors call, Susannah resigns herself to the only option available: becoming a mail-order bride. Agreeing to marry her pastor’s brother, Jesse, Susannah leaves the only home she’s ever known for the untamed frontier of the Dakota Territory.
Her new husband is more loving and patient with her than she believes she deserves. Still, there is also a wildness to him that mirrors the wilderness surrounding them. And Susannah finds herself constantly on edge. But Jesse’s confidence in her—and his faith in God’s perfect plan—slowly begin to chip away at the wall she hides behind.
When she miscarries in the brutal Dakota winter, Susannah’s fledgling faith in herself and in God begins to crumble. Still, Jesse’s love is unwavering. Just when it seems like winter will never end, Susannah finally sees the first tentative evidence of spring. And with it, the realization that more than the landscape has changed.
She looks to the future with a renewed heart. Yet in her wildest dreams, she couldn’t predict all that awaits
Review
I loved this book! I loved that though it was a marriage by proxy (who has ever heard of those?) the author didn’t have them meet and then decide to be friends first or something equally odd. They got married first and then learned to be friends and that in my opinion, made this novel so original. Jesse, was such a unique hero because he was a constant talker while Susannah was the quite one. You can’t help but really love Jesse in this novel. The only drawback is that once Jesse leaves for a job, the novel kind of misses him too. Spiritually, Susannah comes to know and trust God on her own and Jesse has to learn that God’s plan isn’t often our own. I really enjoyed this novel. Highly Recommended!
About
Fed up with the poor quality of life in 1880 New York, Tarsie Raines encourages her friends Joss and Mary Brubacher to move with their two children to Drayton Valley, Kansas, a booming town hailed in the guidebook as the land of opportunity. She offers to help with expenses and to care for Mary and the children as they travel west by wagon train. But when tragedy strikes on the trip across the prairie, Tarsie is thrown into an arrangement with Joss that leaves both of them questioning God and their dreams for the future. As their funds dwindle and nothing goes as planned, will Tarsie and Joss give up and go their separate ways, or will God use their time in Drayton Valley to turn their hearts toward him?
Review
When I read the back of this novel, my immediate thought was that I’ve read this before….and then I was introduced to Joss. Joss, to say the least, is a bit rough around the edges, but he grows on you. And I like how Tarsie doesn’t give Joss an inch. Though the novel, is to a degree predictable, the details surrounding the plot make it original. I felt that the novel was more focused on Joss getting his life together (as it should have been) than on romance and so the romantic thread was quicker than I liked. Spiritually, Tarsie and Mary’s continual faith in God through bad circumstances was strong and the conversion in the novel believable. Good novel. Recommended.
** I recieved this novel from BethanyHouse publishers. My opinion was not affected in anyway.**
remaininhislove 