Archive | June 2016

Operation Fireworks By Elizabeth Maddrey

Jun18

God At Work

OpOperation Fireworks by Elizabeth Maddrey is a wonderful Christian novella and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s the third story in the Operation Romance series but can be read as a stand-alone.

God is at the heart of the novella. Characters pray to God and turn to Him when the going gets tough. Faith and trust in God is pivotal. When life presents hard decisions, one needs to trust God to make a way when there seems no way.

Linked in to faith and trust is the theme of how big is your God? “Don’t try to make God smaller than He is.” Sometimes we limit God’s size and our expectations. God is bigger than we think, so dream big and see God in action.

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The Museum Of You By Carys Bray

Jun18

Of Love And Loss

MuseumThe Museum Of You by Carys Bray is a contemporary novel and wow… what a read! It is realistic. It is open and honest. It is a very raw study of grief and loss and love. It was an amazingly powerful read.

Clover is twelve years old. It is the summer holidays. She has a love of museums and decides to rearrange a bedroom into a museum of you. Clover never knew her Mum but spends her time trying to know her through her things. Clover is grieving for someone she never knew. The reader feels her loss and emptiness and her desire to fill the space in her life.

Clover’s Dad Darren is grieving and has been for twelve years. He says “people aren’t speed bumps, you don’t get over them.” Darren has never had any sort of closure on his grief. He is still feeling just as hurt as ever. Carys Bray shows how grief is linked to love through the character of Darren. “Grief never goes away…it’s only the other side of love.” Great love equals great pain when death steps in. The reader empathises with Darren’s love and grief.

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Close To Home by Deborah Raney

Jun16

Moving On

ChicoryClose To Home by Deborah Raney is the fourth book in the Chicory Inn series but can be read as a stand-alone. It is a contemporary Christian novel with a wonderful inclusive family feel to it. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with the Whitman family once more.

There are many themes within the novel including that of moving on. Life never stands still but for widowed Bree she finds herself torn – her love for husband marine Tim keeps her held in limbo versus her desire for marriage and a family. Bree is still young but to move on feels like a betrayal to Tim.

Likewise time is moving on for grandmother CeCe. She is not as young as she was but still fiercely independent. Her family see changes in her and want to help but CeCe fights to maintain her independence.

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God’s Not Dead 2 by Travis Thrasher

Jun15

A Vow To Carry You Home

God@s NotGod’s Not Dead 2 by Travis Thrasher is a contemporary Christian novel filled with faith that will speak straight to the reader’s soul. I had seen the film and read the book God’s Not Dead, so it was great to be able to catch up with old characters and to meet new ones. It can also be read as a stand-alone.

There are many themes within the novel but a major one is that of being a survivor. Amy is a survivor of breast cancer. “Remission means you can start thinking of yourself as a survivor.” Every day she is grateful to be alive. There are also survivors of faith attacks. These are people who no matter what the world throws at them, they will not renounce God. “I’d rather stand with God and be judged by the world than stand with the world and be judged by God.”

This links in to the theme of faith in God. There are both old and new Christians within the novel. They are all rooted in God, it’s just the size of their roots. They are all still growing in their faith in Him. They know God and their faith gets them through life. This does not mean that they do not have doubts. Sometimes life is hard and they cannot hear God and they wonder if He’s still there but “The teacher is always quiet during the test.” God’s silence does not mean His absence.

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