I came across this interesting piece about the BBC’s lost J. R. R. Tolkien audio recordings when poking around on the internet a few days ago. I thought I’d pass it along to all of you! As someone who devoted a great deal of time when I was a teenager to recording history in the making on my tape recorder, this fascinates me. So glad a part of history has been recovered!
Category Archives: Interviews With Authors
Writers to Read (Moody Program)
Hi, all! I wish I hadn’t slept too long on listening to this program on Chris Fabry Live! on Moody Radio. I just listened to it and heard enough interesting thoughts to write a three page document of notes! Featuring the guest Douglas Wison, author of The Case for Classical Christian Education and Writers to Read (both of which I will be looking for at the library sometime), the discussion revolves around his latter book in which he suggests nine specific great authors to read and why. Books are always a great discussion, but I actually had to laugh out loud a time or two while listening to this! 🙂 Please don’t wait too long to listen, as it expires Sept. 17.
Christy Awards & Summer Reading
Hey, there! Are you looking for something really good to read this summer while on vacation? Or maybe you’re looking for a book to take you on vacation if you can’t get away for real? Chris Fabry recently aired a program on Chris Fabry Live where he interviewed various authors awarded the Christy Award for 2016. He spent two hours talking about their books and the stories behind the stories. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I can’t wait to scout out for more interesting reads to add to my To Read Notebook! *Please be aware these programs are playable for a limited time only.
Edgar Harrell’s Story
Not one weekend newspaper goes by that I don’t see at least one -if not several- World War II veteran obituaries. It is estimated that 430 of the ‘greatest generation’ vets pass away each day. So with Independence Day approaching, I thought I’d post a link to the story of a noble WWII vet with a remarkable survival story. I remember listening to Edgar Harrell being interviewed years ago by Charles Morris on Haven Today. It was such an edge-of-your-seat true tale that we didn’t dare miss the next day’s episode! I wasn’t able to find that same interview unfortunately, but you can listen to Harrell’s interview on In the Market with Janet Parshall by clicking here. You can also watch him tell his story on a video posted below. Edgar wrote an autobiography about his experiences called “Out of the Depths.” I highly recommend this to you! And don’t forget to say thank you to the veterans who fought for your freedom (regardless of which war) in your life!
Interview with “Unbroken” Author Laura Hillenbrand
I’m super excited to see the movie “Unbroken” (based on the book by the same title) in theaters this December! The story follows the life of Louis Zamperini, Olympic track athlete, turned airforce hero during WWII. Interned in a Japanese POW camp for several years, Louis overcame many odds and lived to serve God with his life after the war. Seriously, everyone from my pastor to my dentist has been reading this book (you can read my own book review here). Recently on In the Market with Janet Parshall, Janet interviewed the author of this bestselling nonfiction book, Laura Hillenbrand. You can click here or on the picture to listen to it. Don’t miss this true-life amazing story!
Interview with Francine Rivers
Never read a book by Francine Rivers? What are you waiting for?! Rivers is flat-out one of the best fiction writers on the Christian market and her books have impacted so many people with her stories of redemption. Click here to listen to an interview Chris Fabry had with her (available for a limited time), where they discuss her books, her writing techniques, and her latest bestseller, Bridge to Haven.
Book Review: A Bride Most Begrudging, by Deeanne Gist
Genre: romance; Christian fiction; historical fiction; comedy
Plot Summary: Headstrong Lady Constance Morrow’s life does a 180 when she is suddenly abducted and sent to the Americas on a ship full of prison women intended to be brides in the New World. When Drew O’Connor wins her in a game of cards and subsequently is forced to marry her, a marriage of convenience that seems ANYTHING BUT gradually starts to change into a situation of “opposites attract.”
My Review: This really was a rare book for me to pick up. I don’t usually enjoy full-blown romance novels. But the plot sounded interesting and I was curious, so I gave it a try. I was aware that this was the author’s first novel, and although I thought at times that this fact was a little apparent, there was something that made me keep going. I think it was because of the author’s descriptions that made me laugh. This really was a humorous book! I loved the part where Constance tries to behead turtles for turtle stew.
One of my favorite scenes is a conversation Drew has with his grandmother. He is hurting over the many losses he’s had in his past and is afraid of opening his heart up to Constance. Grandma shows him that he would never really be living unless he also loves.
Soon I got more and more sucked in. The romantic tension was enticing; I wanted to know what happened next; I couldn’t get the story and it’s scenes out of my mind. I practically thought about it all day long and couldn’t wait for the time when I could pick it back up and read the next part. It got the heart thumping. I felt addicted to it…
Author Deeanne Gist
And that’s when I knew I had a problem. Something wasn’t sitting right in me. Now, I’m not in any way going to judge the author, her intentions, or other people who loved the book. I am only going to review my reading experience. I got about ¾ of the way through the story, craving more of it, when all of a sudden I sat back decided that it would be in my best personal interest to take the book back to the library and perhaps finish it at another time. You see, it was that craving that was starting to scare me. I know that this book falls under the category of Christian fiction. The characters in the story were not acting improperly. And since I have not finished it I do not know what happens next or how it ends, so I cannot make any case that it was graphic in anyway (though I have enough faith in the author that I highly doubt it and would be quite surprised if it was). However, as the story progressed, I found that a lot of the plot hinged on the question: When will the hero and heroine go to bed with each other? There certainly was a few Christian themes to garner from it, but this was what I was mostly taking away from it. And I felt like I was starting to react similarly to how I might if I really were to read something explicit. It’s what became the magnet pull back to the book for me. It’s not that I necessarily believe that the book was naughty or dirty. A married couple falling in love with each other in every way is a very good thing, so I’m not trying to be a joyless prude! But I also didn’t need to excite my imagination and take it to the brink in a titillating way where I struggled against taking it farther. It just didn’t seem like a healthy use of my imagination. It was my personal reactions that caused me to make the decision to put it away for a while.
Maybe my experience was unique to me; perhaps others reading it would not be affected in the same way. And I won’t say I never will finish it. I hate to put a book down after investing 2 weeks of reading most of my way through it! But at this point in my life, I did not feel it was a healthy one for me to continue with. I suggest reading a few other reviews on both sides of the aisle before you make your decision whether or not to pick this one up. LATER: After some time has gone by, I’ve decided not to finish reading the book. Reasons being for the ones posted here, and because the story just wasn’t enough of a classic to make me want to go back to it.
I’m feeling sorry that most of my review has been on this topic. Overall, I would say this book was definitely light reading and enjoyable.
Below is an interview with author Deeanne Gist, in which she is asked about the “sexual tension” in her books. Agree or disagree, I appreciated listening to the honest discussion and her answers:
What Story Are You In?
I was listening to a past program on Moody’s Chris Fabry Live! show where he hosted the author Justin Buzzard talking about the book “The Big Story”. I took some lovely things away from it and thought I’d post a link to it.
Do you crave something more? Do you yearn for your life to be a bigger story than just what you do? Though written by a Christian and embraced by a wide Christian audience, many non-Christian are enjoying reading “The Big Story,” as well. I hope you’ll click the link below to hear more about God’s bigger story for you.
Interview with Justin Buzzard on Chris Fabry Live!
Book Review: Magnus, or Wings of Dawn
Genre: historical fiction; adventure; young adult fiction; fantasy; Christian fiction
Plot Summary: Young Thomas, living in medieval England, is destined to be teenaged ruler of the city of Magnus. But he must use his clever mind and the special knowledge he has learned in secret to find a way to overcome the evil Druidic rule over the city. Someone is trying to kill him, and ancient, close-guarded secrets abound, but who can Thomas really trust? Who is the mysterious girl who hides behind a face covering? And who is the beautiful mute girl?
My Review: When I was a kid, I loved the Accidental Detective Series by Sigmund Brouwer. I picked this up, excited to read my first novel for adults by the same author, only to find it really falls under junior fiction. I suppose if I were a 12 year old boy, I would love this high-action adventure story much better than I did, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the read. Something needs to be understood first—this is a thick book. That’s because it’s really a compilation of an 8-book series called The Winds of Light, which also goes by another series title: Merlin’s Immortals. Magnus also goes by another title: Wings of Dawn. It’s a little confusing, but I believe this is correct. You can view the titles to each book in the series here.
I’ve posted before about the importance of book cover art. Depending on which version you pick up, you may not be very tempted to read it. (Which of the above cover art is most appealing to you?) But if you’ll read other reviews, you’ll find that others highly enjoyed the adventure, despite their first inhibitions. I like the cover art of the first book to the Merlin’s Immortals series best, and the exciting book trailer created for it:
One of the things I’ve always appreciated about this author is that Brouwer is great at weaving mysteries throughout his stories. Suspense abounds, and surprise twists never cease to end, right up to the last page. There’s even a love interest for Thomas (although which girl is the answer to a long-awaited question!). I wasn’t sure what genre to categorize this under. It’s hard to call it historical fiction because of the “fantasy feel” of it, even though it takes place in an historical era and is set in England. But it’s not really fantasy, as nothing magical happens in it. We learn that Thomas has been a special student of advanced scientific knowledge rare for the time and place this book is set, which makes his methods of “power” seem magical to those around him who are less learned. This is why I call the book a healthier alternative to Harry Potter. In the back, historical notes are written to commentate on the time era, which were interesting, and kept the facts from interrupting the magical feel and flow of the story.
I would make the recommendation of reading this in the format of Brouwer’s 8 book Winds of Light Series, instead of the 550+ page tome of Magnus. The reason for this is that in one large book, the pacing seems off and certain themes become repetitive (probably because they are acutally recaps from where the books have been joined together).
Readers may find it unbelievable that the main character is a teenager. The author explains that teens were considered adults by the age of 12-14 in the medieval era. I find it refreshing to have a responsible, mature 14 year old as the hero of a junior fiction book.
If you’re a young adult reader, or know a junior reader who needs “something to do” this summer, this read will keep him/her on the edge of their seat for a while!
Have you read Magnus? Share your thoughts!…
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