Book Talk

     Light, fluffy, comfort fiction. Happily ever after. We all need a bit of that every once in a while. I've been reading Steven James books so much lately I needed a change of pace, and Shelley Shepard Gray offered a kind of respite with her Chicago Worlds Fair Series. There are two other books that I know of in the series, but they don't necessarily follow each other in a certain order - linked, but not inseparable - Secrets of Sloane House and Whispers in the Reading Room . I read Deception on Sable Hill without any confusion as to who the characters were or what was happening in the story, butI believe it's the second installment in the series.      Gray's selling points in this book are the historical aspects of her fiction, the structure of her plot, and the varied cast of her characters. Not so varied that you lose track of who each person is, and in-depth enough that you know their different tastes and dislikes, and personality traits. I like to get to kno

     I picked up this book fully expecting to be disappointed. I admit that freely. And I also admit, even more freely, that I was pleasantly surprised by the exact opposite of disappointment. This is not another one of those list books that pretends to answer all of life's questions in a less-than-two-digit-step-process. Paula Hendricks writes with feeling, and wisdom, and a great amount of love.      This book is not for everybody. It's written for teens - I would say 13+, but it depends on the person - but I have a feeling the older teen would appreciate it all the more, even if it is written for a younger audience. And definitely dependent on the place you're at in life, emotionally and in terms of maturity. But for me, it was encouraging. And empowering. And demonstrative of how a young woman might draw closer to God.      If you ever need confirmation that being single, in a world permeated by the lust for companionship and intimacy, can be entirely beneficial

     Previously, I reviewed the first book of Steven James' Jevin Banks Series , Placebo. I made mention to another series of his, The Patrick Bowers Files. I had read the first book, The Pawn , quite some time ago and I remember being gripped by it, so I decided to pull it from the shelf and read it again.      It was better than I remembered.      His writing is raw, gripping, and thrilling, and I read the first two books, The Pawn and The Rook , in two days. He follows up with The Knight , The Bishop , The Queen , and then The King . Opening Moves was written between The Queen and The King , as a prequel to the series, and I'm reading it now. Engrossed, of course. It seems to be the darkest of them all, but of course, just as gripping. If not more so. Checkmate fits into the series as well. I'm not sure how it all pieces together, yet, but I am anxiously awaiting the twists I'm sure to encounter.      Patrick Bowers is a geographical profiler, meaning he st

     Erin Healy has written two books in collaboration with Ted Dekker: Kiss and Burn . Both intense and thrilling and all things Dekker that I love and know. I had never read any of Healy's books before, but her latest release, Hiding Places , came into the store shortly after I read Burn again. Naturally, I couldn't resist the pull. And true to her best-selling reputation, Healy did not disappoint.      Hiding Places follows the lives of a wider cast of characters, but the one that Healy gives the most attention is an eleven year old girl named Kate. She has two half-sisters and lives in a hotel lodge run by her family. And for the most part, she passes by unnoticed. She's a small, forgotten part of a quiet life, playing spy and secret agent to the indulgences of her grandfather. The lodge has reams of hiding places and secret passageways, as a result of World War II, when the owners - Kate's great-great-grandparents - were trying to keep Japanese immigrants