Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Crossing

Serita Jakes' new book, THE CROSSING, is a page-turner, for sure. There are many subplots and the book held my interest well.

It centered around a ten-year-old murder of a beloved high school English teacher, and some of the people involved. It was easy to relate to each person as the dialogue moved from one to another.

My only problem with the book was that, while touted as a Christian book, it dealt mostly with issues that were not Christian. There was a large amount of drinking involved, and some illicit sex.

There were not many references to the Christian life. Instead, the main character got drunk a couple of times, and a lot of action took place in a bar.

The main part of the book centered on a police investigation of the murder. It was a little disjointed, and I was confused a time or two when things came together.

Every once in a while, the author would inject a Christian comment,but I would not recommend this book for a church library. There was no vile language, but the situations were clearly secular.

I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah for my honest review.

Friday, October 7, 2011

The Women at Holly Oak

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner is a story of generations of women who lived in an old house in the South. The old house had walls of pictures of women who had lived there, women who were said to still haunt the house.

When Marielle marries Carson, who had been married to one of the women who died very young, she came to live at the house, and began to believe the stories about the ghost.

The ghost was thought to be Susannah, who lived there generations before. But when Caroline returns, she shows Marielle some letters written by Susannah during the Civil War and begins to dispel her fears.

This is a story of people trying to find peace and love, trying to rid themselves of old fears and memories. One of the goals of Marielle and Caroline is to sort out who these women were. Another is to make a happy home for Carson's two children, and for the future children of Marielle and Carson.

This book was a little hard to read at first, because it was filled with lots of people that had to be sorted out in my mind. After I got into reading the old letters written during the Civil War, and came to understand the people, it was an enjoyable read.

This book was sent to me free from Waterbrook Multnomah for my honest review.