I hope everyone has themselves a merry little Christmas! It doesn’t have to big, it doesn’t have to bright, it doesn’t have to be loud. But I do hope it is merry, and that we ponder it in our hearts.
Chris Fabry did a recent program with past recordings of Christmas stories narrated by Mike Kellogg. I thought I’d post it here for us to enjoy together.
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.
Do you like poetry? I confess, it hasn’t been until the last year or so that I’ve started to gain interest in this style of writing. I think it was because I just never understood it very well. But I’ve been discovering that poetry is so much fun to read out loud, and lately I’ve been wanting to educate myself on how to read poetry and how to take meaning from it. So yesterday I listened to a program I’ve been meaning to listen to for a while that aired on the Chris Fabry Live! program last year and features guest Dr. Rosalie de Rosset, professor at Moody Bible Institute. (Click here.) Chris and Rosie discuss good poetry vs. bad poetry, how to read it, whether Christians can enjoy secular poetry, and also delve into various interpretative meanings of Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. Unfortunately, this link is only available for about a month after this post-date. I hope to be able to provide more great links on the subject of poetry in the future!
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.
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!
Summer’s winding down and either you’ve already taken your summer vacation or are planning on going somewhere special soon before the fall kicks in. Or maybe you are unable to get away, so books are your vacation!
What are some of your favorite reads from the summer?
I seem to have gotten into a summer slump of late, but my latest favorite is “Wonderland Creek,” by Lynn Austin. Hopefully an upcoming review on that!
Having recently spent a 2 week trip in OH, I thought I’d share my book life while on vacation:
I planned on doing LOTS of catch-up reading, and originally packed tons of books, but realized there wasn’t room in the car, so ditched the ones of lesser importance. The one fiction book I brought along was, “The Amethyst Heart,” by Penelope J. Stokes (good book!), along with some good self-help books. Unfortunately, I did not have as much free time as I thought I would, so didn’t finish anything I brought!! I wish I could read on a car trip, but I get too carsick…
My plan was to attend a huge public library book sale while in OH, but an unforeseen family situation prevented me from that. Oh well,– there are some things more important than 50 cent paperbacks!
I visited my Aunt E., who has influenced me a lot growing up in the world of books. She shared some of her latest reads, including the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael mystery series. She also shared a much-loved dog-eared James Herriot’s Yorkshire by James Herriot and Derry Brabbs. I wish there had been more time to talk about books!
Disclaimer*- This photo is not of Books In Stock, though it is similar.
I also spent an afternoon at my favorite bookshop. This place has atmosphere! I love walking in and being surrounded by long rows and rows of old books. It’s pretty much an organized mish mash under a low ceiling and fluorescent light, and the place reeks of old book glue and attic smells. Books are crammed from the carpeting on the floor to the tops of the wooden bookcases, causing you to grab the nearest stepstools to read the titles. I couldn’t get every book I wanted, so I had to choose carefully. Finally, after several hours of perusing the place, I choose to get a nicely illustrated and annotated version of “The Wind in the Willows,” by Kenneth Graehme, a book I’ve waited years to get.
Other books I acquired in OH: “The Incredible Patience of God,” by Lane Adams; “The Inheritance,” by Louisa May Alcott.
My grandpa gave back a book he had borrowed from me called, “Hood,” by Stephen Lawhead. He said he just couldn’t get into it. He was reading his way through Chris Fabry’s “Almost Heaven,” until he found “At Home in Mitford,” by Jan Karon in one of the thrift stores we haunted. He laughed so much through the first chapter and couldn’t put it down. “No, I WILL finish my other book first!” I heard him mutter. But 20 min. later he was back with Mitford.
My vacation was also a time for discovering new titles to add to my To Read Notebook (TRN). Even if I couldn’t buy them, I at least have new books to dream of ordering through my local library system (magic!). I spent 4 hours at the Wooster Public Library in downtown Wooster, OH. What a library! I love all of the nice things they have to offer, including a large magazine section, a winding staircase, red plush carpet, an extensive genealogy reference room, and many many aisles of books! I was only able to browse the fiction section alphabetically from A through M in that amount of time. I suppose a second trip will have to finish M-Z!
Here are some of my exciting title discoveries from the trip, although I can’t personally recommend them because I haven’t read them yet:
The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene, by Terry Kay
Mirror Mirror, by Gregory Maguire
The Ballad of Tom Dooley, by Sharyn McCrumb
The Songcatcher, by Sharyn McCrumb
The Trophy Wives Club, by Kristin Billerbeck
Back to Life, by Kristin Billerbeck
The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor Series, by Angela Elwell Hunt
The Kingdom of Ohio, by Matthew Flaming
The Man Behind the Iron Mask, by John Noone (non-f)
The Peveral Papers, by Flora Thompson
Legion of Honor, by David Horton
The Sign of the Cross, by David Horton
Daniel Knox Series, by Will Adams
Lost Loves of the Bible Series, by Ginger Garrett
Time’s Tapestry Series, by Stephen Baxter
Fitzwilliam Darcy, by Gentleman Trilogy, by Pamela Aidan
The Locket, by Richard Paul Evans
Promise Me, by Richard Paul Evans
From a House to a Home, by Jemima Mills (non-f)
The Awakening, by Angela Elwell Hunt
Romancing Miss Bronte, by Juliet Gael
I guess just browsing a library is vacation to me!
Care to share your vacation with books?
Yesterday I was listening to a thought-provoking program from the Chris Fabry Live! show about stories in our lives. It really spoke to me, so I wanted to pass it along to you… (Click here.)
The story of our lives… the story that you are writing everyday with the choices that you make. Do you see your life that way? Do you see God as the Author of the novel of your life, and each day is a new page? Do you wonder what the plot is to your story? Chris interviews guest Scott McClellan on his book, “Tell Me a Story: Finding God (And Ourselves) Through Narrative”.
I recently have gone through a very hard situation. One of those situations where you think you finally have a wonderful ending, only to find out there was yet another plot twist you didn’t expect. But the thing that keeps me going is having the uncanny feeling that I’m in the middle of a good story that will eventually turn out. I liked how Scott McClellan shared that there is never a good story without conflict. If you’ve got conflict… you must have a great story in your life! And story can help us make sense of the conflict in our lives.
That’s one of the reasons why I believe reading is so important. From reading so many different kinds of stories (they could be anything varying from refugees in war-torn Poland after WWII to a kidnapped woman sent on a bridal ship to the Americas), we connect with characters who go on journeys, experience hard things, but that in the end have some sort of resolution. We start to view our lives as a story that is part of a Greater Story. And Jesus is the Best Author there is! If things don’t turn out well on this side of Heaven, we know there is always the rest of life on the other side, if we know Him as our personal Lord and Savior. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
I hope this program blesses you as it did me!
Original air date: Apr. 25, 2013
MidDay Connection (hosts Melinda Scmidt, Anita Lustrea, along with Moody Bible Institute’s Professor of Literature Rosalie de Rosset) will be having it’s next book club discussion on May 30, 2013 at 12:00 CT. Look for a station nearest you here, or listen to the past programs here for free here for up to a year after airdate.
Next Thursday’s discussion will be on the book, “Almost Heaven,” by Chris Fabry (host of Chris Fabry Live!). Downloadable study questions are available.
Looks like it’ll be a good one! Hope you can listen!
Captivated? This is the book trailer to author Tessa Afshar’s latest historical novel, “Harvest of Rubies.”
I recently listened to an interview Chris Fabry had with her on the Chris Fabry Live show on Moody Radio. You can listen to it here.
Author Tessa Afshar
In it, Afshar (a native-born Iranian) speaks of her testimony, her vibrant love for Jesus Christ, her personal struggles, and the people who have been touched by her novels.
A sequel to “Harvest of Rubies,” comes out this summer, entitled: “Harvest of Gold.” Her first novel, “Pearl in the Sand,” has been on my reading list for a while, and I hope to get to it later this year. All three books are biblical historical fiction.
A topic also dealt with in this radio broadcast (originally aired April 12, 2013) is people-pleasing, over-achieving, and accomplishing goals in order to have worth. Do you feel like you’re the ultimate failure? Know that you are unconditionally loved by Someone… please listen to find out more!
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