Staff Picks

Take a look at what several of our staff are reading and recommending:

Linda - Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews is an amazing book!  This is my current favorite. I loved it because I really like reading fiction based on Bible characters. Job is not often written about, probably because it would be too depressing! But this book made him a real person and helped me understand the circumstances that he went through."

Also from Linda - "Another favorite fiction book is Love Me Back to Life by  Missy Horsfall which shows a realistic portrayal of the healing process from sexual abuse in the family setting."

Bonnie - "My favorite book right now is called Heaven is for Real about a little boy at death's door during a serious surgery. He reveals over time, after recovering, that he actually spent some time with Jesus in heaven.  It is the most genuinely encouraging story coming from the sweet lips of a 4 year old who could not possibly have known of such details of heaven had he not visited it himself.  It gives me such joy and hope for my loved ones who are suffering from terminal health issues.  Their bodies will be completely restored and I am so excited for them to experience all that awaits them beyond the pearly gates (which by the way are described in this book!)"

  Jacelyn says "It's a rare book that will have me actually chuckling out loud, but Jenny B. Jones accomplished the feat...with all three books in her series about a spoiled New York teenager who gets plunked down on a farm in Oklahoma.  Jones' writing is witty, clever, and snarky enough to keep you coming back for more.  The Charmed Life Series includes So Not Happening,  I'm So Sure, and So Over My Head.  For more hilarity, visit www.jennybjones.com/blog. (She sings! She eats! She posts funny videos!)

 

Rick writes enthusiastically about An Eye for Glory by Karl Bacon - "This is a deeply spiritual, compellingly realistic, profoundly disturbing book about the American civil war. The main character starts out by volunteering for what he considered would be a brief struggle to get rid of slavery and set his country on the path to righteousness. The senseless slaughter and banal stupidity and futility of a soldiers life, gradually wears down his soul. By the time the war is over, he is an empty shell, devoid of the faith and hope that is so essential to a meaningful existence. The story of how God orchestrates his redemption is one of the beautiful features in this book that is so full of death and destruction. The character development is excellent, the writing is top rate and the writer knows his subject very well. An amazing book, but not for some wanting a fluffy, "feel good" story!"