Best Christian Fiction Book Reviews, Free Christian Books, and Book Deals
Review - Chasing Manhattan by John Gray
Chasing Manhattan:
Following the runaway success of her first novel, Chase Harrington is hiding in Manhattan. Assuming the visions from her past are behind her, Chase takes an assignment that lands her in the center of a new mystery surrounding a mansion known as Briarcliff Manor and deceased millionaire Sebastian Winthrop.
A letter, left by Sebastian, reveals three secrets surrounding the mansion where Chase is now living. Silent messages begin to appear, urging her to help those closest to her who are now in peril, including a deaf child shut away from the world and a war veteran still haunted by his past.
With her handsome boyfriend Gavin and faithful dog Scooter at her side, Chase must unlock the secrets of Briarcliff, help those she has come to love and face the surprise ending not even she saw coming.
This latest Chase Harrington adventure is so full of romance, kindness, mystery, and astounding twists and turns, it will leave you wanting to grab a flashlight and best friend, to go searching for clues in the dark.
Read Patti’s review of Chasing Manhattan here.
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 11/8/21
New Christmas fiction for November and Christian Book Finds news.
Review: Christmas in Idaho by Ray Downing
“A delightfully detailed Christmas story to treasure year after year.”
This book and audio CD were given to me by the author, Ray Downing, and I’m really glad he did. It’s rare these days to find someone who is willing to go as far as he did to create something so fine.
You all know by now how strange my reading habits can be. Over the years I’ve tried to find some thread that ties my favorite books together and the only thing I can come up with is that I love books that are useful (non-fiction I can read over and over again and get something new each time I do) and lavishly detailed beautiful books (meant for children or adults.)
This book is one of those beautiful and lavish treasures and it’s not aimed specifically at young children. I’d say this is more of a family discussion book. Or a family treasure book. A Christmas tradition book you can discuss with your family and enjoy year after year.
Christmas in Idaho was designed to be a keepsake, not just some picture book you throw on the shelf in your child’s bedroom. I’m not sure if all copies will be made so lavishly because of the production cost, but mine has a ribbon bookmark and color on every page. It has gilded edged pages thicker than any book you’ve ever laid your hands on. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a new book with illustrations as nice as these. Positively stunning illustrations. The snowflakes looked so real that…
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 11/1/21
2021 Christy Award Winning Books, new releases, and in this post we’re discussing the Christian mystery and suspense genre. Leave a comment below.
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 10/25/21
New releases, book news, and the discussion topic of the week. Leave a comment below.
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 10/18/21
Discussion Topic of the Week
Running this site over the years has allowed me to meet many interesting people and learn so many new things. I enjoy the authors’ backstories as much as their books sometimes. Because I’m finding a lot of interesting tidbits about the authors of these new release books I may decide to change Monday Musings into individual new release posts. (Opinions on this are welcome.)
I’ve been chatting with some of the newsletter subscribers lately about how to screen books for posting. It takes time to learn things about an author and when a book may only stay on sale for 24 hours it doesn’t leave much time to find out.
My question this week is: What information do you need about a new author before you decide to try their book? (And as a bonus: What questions would you want an author to answer in an interview style post?)
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 10/11/21
Faith Talk: Christian Women and the Gospel, The Pinkerton’s Pursuit of Justice by Clari Dees, and discussion topic of the week, What Makes You Close A Book And Never Return?
Review - We’ll Laugh About This (Someday) by Anna Lind Thomas
How I came to read this book:
This is a book I found while looking for new Christian releases of the nonfiction variety. It’s published by Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher. While I do offer affiliate links to the book, I wasn’t given the book for free and I haven’t had any contact with the author or publisher.
Looking back at the description page I remember why I chose it. It had a reviewer that was surprised it had religious content in some of the essays. I’m the type who always looks at negative reviews first and when I find a book being persecuted for being Christian I know I’ve found the book for me.
I decided to rest my eyes a bit and listen to the audiobook version because it was narrated by the author herself and because I’ve always had these unrealistic images of myself doing all kinds of house work while listening to a book at the same time. (Sorry to say, no extra work got done over the few days I listened to this book.) It was 4 hours 39 minutes or if you’d rather the print version, 240 pages.
The book’s description:
A hilarious argument in favor of taking life a smidge less seriously
Popular humor writer Anna Lind Thomas had an epiphany after her essay about a humiliating fart went mega-viral: Everything’s funny . . .eventually. You’ll cry-laugh your way through the many grave offenses she’s endured, like
not getting credit for Lady Gaga’s career,
an epic financial crisis,
and exercising while her children dole out biting critiques about her dimpled thighs.
Anna’s wit, charm, and painful relatability will encourage you to remember that your most humiliating moment may be the best thing to ever happen to you—or at the very least, it’ll make for a really good story.
About the Author:
Anna Lind Thomas is a humor writer and popular online personality who founded …
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 10/4/21
New releases for October, Christy Awards 2021, Sweet Like Jasmine by Bonnie Gray, Monday Musings, and the discussion topic of the week.
Monday Musings
The new book year is in full swing now. Children are going back to school, people are putting their gardens to rest and moving indoors to catch up on their reading. I’ve been reading more lately, despite all my reading hang-ups. I’ve recently decided to embrace my tendency to read nonfiction and check out some new Christian books on the market.
I admit, I haven’t read a lot of Christian nonfiction. My reading obsessions over the years have been in waves of mainly relationship and other self-help books, nutrition books aimed at getting you to eat less meat in the name of good health, cookbooks (with the same goal,) and the odd assortment of biographies, how-to books, and other interesting non-fiction stories. Most have been secular in nature.
So imagine my surprise when I went in search of Christian nonfiction and found a lot of secular books being published by Christian publishers. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. On one hand, if a book is “clean” or “inspirational” I can see why a Christian publisher would want to publish it.
But while I’m not publishing the books found on this blog myself, I feel a bit responsible for the content. I try to only publish Christian books, which, up until recently, included all books from Christian publishers and indie books that were well checked out.
Indies have always been a wild card. You never know what you’re going to get but if you do your homework you can find some gems. Often I’ll find an indie author who was traditionally published before and has decided to self-publish for bigger royalties, or someone with a famous Christian podcast, or someone who has been a missionary in six different countries.
I would never discard these authors just because they didn’t have a fancy publisher label behind them. But some people are still hesitant to take a chance with indies and I get that. We’ve come to trust big publisher names, that they’d never do us wrong.
Or would they?
Last month I decided not to post a book from a top publisher because the reviews had complaints about the material being too “raunchy, degrading,” and “disappointing from a Christian publisher.” (Those words were taken from three different reviewers.)
I decided that sale or not, if other bloggers wanted to post this book it could be on their conscience, not mine.
The other day I found a new book in audiobook format to read. It’s a…
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 9/27/21
Tales of the Bargain Hunter
I know I’ve been slacking on my articles for this site lately but I’ve been working hard exploring the world of Christian books, following rabbit trails and chasing new authors. I’m sure you all have noticed that the site now includes links from Amazon, Christianbook.com, and Google Play. It’s been a lot of work getting used to that but I’ve gained some great insights about bargain hunting from the experience.
For instance, new releases are usually cheaper at Christianbook.com. Take The Mystery of Israel and the Middle East, a new release book listed above. At the time of this post it’s $12.99 on Amazon, $17.99 on Google Play, and $9.99 at Christianbook.com. This is a common occurrence I’m finding for brand new books. The sales also have trends. When a book is $3.99 on Amazon it may be $3.89 on Christianbook. A $1.99 book on Amazon might be $1.59 on Christianbook and it may be full price Google Play. Sometimes it’s the same price on all three retailers but it’s not common.
As an author/publisher myself, I thought there were rules about pricing. I think the small price differences are when the retailer cuts it themselves as a loss leader technique to bring in business, but I’m finding a lot of publishers don’t even bother to put their books on sale at all on Google Play and sometimes a book may be on sale just at Amazon or just at Christianbook.com.
When I set out to include links from other retailers I was simply interested in giving people more choices about where to shop. I had no idea they were allowed to compete against each other for the best price. It’s been very interesting to watch and it’s taught me that (as a book hunter) I need to be open to all retailers to get the best deals. (As an author, I still wouldn’t price my book differently on various retailers as I personally think it’s just disrespectful to customers.)
One of the Bravest Things I’ve Ever Done
So, I decided to …
Monday Musings: New Releases, 2021 Carol Award Winners and More 9/20/21
New Christian book releases for September and all the Carol Award winning books for 2021. Leave a comment on our discussion topic of the week where we’re talking about reader’s guilt.
Monday Musings: New Christian Book Releases, News, and More 9/13/21
September 2021 Christian book releases, book news from Wanda Brunstetter, Liz Curtis Higgs, and an interview with Jane Kirkpatrick about her new book, The Healing of Natalie Curtis. Discussion topic of the week: Do you read books on your cell phone?
WHY?
Seriously, I’d like to know.
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 9/6/21
Today we’re discussing what we like (and don’t) about Amazon books + Christian book news from Francine Rivers, Kim Vogel Sawyer, and more!
Review - Take The Day Off: Receiving God’s Gift of Rest by Robert Morris
Which day is the Sabbath, Sunday or Saturday? What are the Jewish Sabbath rules? What's a Jewish sabbatical year? Is the Sabbath mentioned in the new testament?
I didn’t have time to read this book but I MADE myself do it anyway, and I’m so glad I did. Here’s the backstory on that. (Clears throat nervously.) My name’s Tattie and I’m a workaholic. I’ve been a workaholic for many years now, sometimes working sixteen to eighteen hours a day when I’m jazzed up about a big project, and I often wake up and go to sleep thinking about work.
I also have times when I find myself thinking about work related problems when I’m supposed to be engaging in conversation with others or watching movies during family movie night.
Despite this, I consider myself lazy and I’m afraid for anyone to know about my less than stellar productivity days. I get out of the bed before anyone else in the family and I still feel guilty when someone does more housework than me. My favorite saying I used to give my writing partner on an almost daily basis was “Be Productive!” Meaning, get things done, don’t just be busy.
I’ve read LOTS of books on how to get more done in less time and I’m a master at scheduling, planning, and to-do lists.
I knew I had a problem when I tried to slow down and realized I didn’t know HOW to rest. I just couldn’t. Sit. Still.
Now, before you run away thinking this book review isn’t for you because you’re not a neurotic workaholic like I am, let me tell you a little bit about the book.
Take the Day Off by Robert Morris is about so much more than just giving ourselves some “me time.” It’s a Biblical approach to rest and Sabbath. At one time I got hung up on which day the Sabbath should be, Saturday or Sunday. Should it start in the evening or the morning, or does it begin at 12:00am?
What should I do, and more importantly, not do on the Sabbath? What is a Jewish Sabbath like? Wasn’t the command to rest on the Sabbath an Old Testament …
Monday Musings: New Releases, News, and More 8/30/21
Where Has The News Gone?
As my newsletter followers already know, I spent the weekend resting. Now that Monday’s here I’m ready to get back into things only Monday Musings hasn’t even been started yet. (I usually at least get it started before the weekend.) So, I promised you all book news and where do most people go for news? Facebook, of course.
So I open up the Facebook newsfeed (which is impossible to find these days) and what do I see? Every author we follow regularly posts pictures and reports on their dog or cat. Not exactly book news.
What else did I find? Authors like to tell their fans about other authors’ new releases. Check.
What else? The only other thing I see is name dropping awards. “USA Today Bestseller” or “Christy Award Winner” or “Award Winning Author” or “Wall Street Journal bestseller!”
No one yells, “Amazon bestseller” anymore. (We used to. Back when that was a difficult thing to do. The next to go will surely be USA Today bestseller because it seems everyone now is one.)
So my question is, where is the book news? Where can I find stories of authors touching lives with their books? Writers uncovering …