December – An Open Book

Now that my latest book Seventy Times Seven has been published, I have finally had a little time to do some reading. For the December “An Open Book” posting, I am posting a review of a book I just finished. It is a historical fiction novel based on the life of Mary and Joseph entitled Road To Bethlehem by E.G. Lewis.

 

Road To Bethlehem
A Prelude to The Seeds of Christianity Series
By E.G. Lewis

The Road To Bethlehem is a fictionalized account of the life of Mary and Joseph starting shortly before they met, and ending just prior to the birth of Jesus. Since the overall story is well known, there really aren’t any surprises. That said, E.G. Lewis does a good job of providing a plausible fictional account that fills in the gaps left by the biblical record. The book is well written and well researched. And despite its overall predictability, it keeps the readers interest throughout. I also like the use of biblical passages that serve as introductions to the chapters. All of that said, I feel that there are two big opportunities that the author misses. The first is not giving a more detailed account of the annunciation from Mary’s perspective, and the second is not continuing the story through the actual birth of Jesus. These are arguably the two most important and most amazing events in history. And by leaving them out, the author misses a big opportunity to fill the story with emotion and add a true sense of awe and wonderment. The only other flaw I found is that, while on the whole the Road To Bethlehem does a good job of following the biblical account, it departs slightly from the biblical record regarding the birth of Jesus.

New Releases from Indie Catholic Authors

I’m once again behind on my blog posts. However, I would like to take the time to share a post from the Indie Catholic Authors blog highlighting some of their recently released books, including my new book Seventy Times Seven. I encourage you to check out these great books.

https://indiecatholicauthors.wordpress.com/2016/11/17/new-releases-from-indie-catholic-authors/

 

 

 

 

October – An Open Book

This month, after being absent from this blog for a while, I am again participating in the “An Open Book” posting. The reason I haven’t posted for a while is that I have been busy finishing up my latest book Seventy Times Seven. Thus, most of my “reading” time has been spent proofreading, revising and preparing the book for publishing. Seventy Times Seven was just released on Amazon last Friday. Below is a synopsis.

 After first playing a hero and rescuing Amy from imminent danger in the wilderness, Michael agrees to help her again. This time providing legal help to try to save the Life Center that Amy manages. However, it may be Michael who is the one most in need of help. And however daunting his rescue of Amy may have been, Amy now faces an even more challenging task. She soon finds that Michael is haunted by a troubled past. And that he has undertaken a mission that she knows can only lead to darkness. While Michael saved her life, Amy must now try to help save Michael’s soul. To do so she will have to get him to face his past, to find and accept the forgiveness that not even he is willing to give himself, and more importantly, to forgive those who are the objects of the hatred he holds deep within him.

With my latest book now published, I hope to have a little more actual reading time. And be a little more regular in my blog postings. I have accumulated quite a stack of books in my “to read” pile. I have at least, managed to start on a book. It is Road To Bethlehem by E.G. Lewis. It is a historical novel following the life of Mary and Joseph before the birth of Jesus. So far I am finding it very interesting and enjoyable. I hope to be able to give a full review in next months “An Open Book”.

 

An Open Book Posting for July

It’s time for July’s posting of “An Open Book”. For this month I am posting my review of Cast Me Not Away – A Saga of a Child’s Survival by Zara Heritage. This book carries a very strong pro-life message, a cause I have great interest in. As such, I hope it reaches those who might be persuaded away from abortion and the support of abortion. At the same time, I think it is important for those of us who are pro-life to support books and authors like this as much as possible and I urge you to do so. Purchasing and reading the book certainly helps, but what helps the most is posting reviews for the book on Amazon and Goodreads. This will help authors such as Zara Heritage to reach a wider audience, hopefully those who it might influence. So consider this not just a review, but a call to action. After all, if your reading this book and posting a review could end up saving just one life, wouldn’t that be more than worth it. And it very well could. We never know when our writing or actions will end up affecting someone else. I was reminded of this just a few days ago when, due to some of my postings, someone unexpectedly reached out to me wanting to learn more about Christianity.

 

 

Cast Me Not Away- A Saga of a Child’s Survival

By: Zara Heritage

            Cast Me Not Away is a story of a dystopian society where, in addition to abortion being legal, children up to four years of age can be taken to be disposed of in Facilities For the Useless (FFU). In a society where life, particularly that of the young, has little value Cast Me Not Away follows the story of young Robbie Wilson, who is rescued from a FFU by an underground movement.

            One would like to think that the society portrayed in Cast Me Not Away could never exist, yet many of the societal aspects portrayed in this story are already starting to occur. Cast Me Not Away is a well written book that holds the reader’s interest from beginning to end. But more than that, it will make you take a harder look at the direction our society is heading.

 

An Open Book Posting for May

Once again, I am participating in Carolyn Astfalk’s group blog “An Open Book”, where we post about the books we are currently reading, or have recently read.

For this month I will post my review of “From Grief To Grace, The Journey from Tragedy to Triumph” by Jeannie Ewing.

From Grief To Grace
The Journey from Tragedy to Triumph
By Jeannie Ewing

From Grief to Grace is a wonderful book that will bring you hope, and spiritually guide you through grief. Told through Jeannie’s life story and personal knowledge, it uses the bible as reference and quotes numerous saints. From Grief to Grace explains how life can be lived in the midst of loss and change. It tells us how we need to embrace our crosses and live a prayerful life. Jeannie Ewing explains how our grief can help others, and how through grief we can grow in our relationship with Jesus and our Blessed Mother. Even if you aren’t going through grief currently, this book will help prepare you for when you do. This book also helps you to understand what others are going through and how to help them. This would be a good book to share with others that are struggling in life.

 

An Open Book

Starting this month, I am participating in a blog linkup called “An Open Book“. This linkup consists of a group of authors posting on the first Wednesday of the month about a book that they are reading. To be honest, as indicated by my lack of posting the past couple of weeks, I have been extremely busy lately, and am currently in between books. So I will post about a book that I have recently read.

 

For this months post, I will write about “10 Steps To Girlfriend Status” by Cynthia T. Toney. This is a wonderful YA book about a fourteen-year-old girl named Wendy. Entering her first year in High School, Wendy faces the obvious challenges of any teenager, dealing with friends and social groups, and a new boyfriend. In addition to this however, Wendy’s parents are divorced, and her mom is getting remarried to one of her best friend’s dad. This creates some complex issues as Wendy learns to adapt to life with a blended family. As if this isn’t enough, Wendy has an elderly neighbor friend, Mrs. V, who is developing Alzheimer’s, and she is also introduced to Mrs. V’s deaf grandson.

 

Throughout the story, Wendy must learn to face her changing life, and to make some hard decisions. Adding further intrigue to the story, Wendy also must solve an old family mystery, one that will teach her some more valuable lessons as she learns about her family’s past.

 

This book is extremely well written, and deals with all of the issues of teenage life in a Christian way. However, beyond that, it is very entertaining. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has teenage girls. Not only for the moral perspectives that the book provides, but because I think they will find it to be a very enjoyable book to read.