DUM Dummm DUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
When Erynn suggested a week of featuring our favorite novels, I gulped, nodded bravely, and thought, surely I can narrow it down. And I have!
From 1,000 to 100.
Unfortunately, because I have other pressing needs (like book deadlines - yikes!) that don't apply to blogging, I can't list them all. Plus, you'd probably grow bored and start surfing. (web surfing, that is. Though if you're in Cali or somewhere else on the coast, then hey, go for the real thing. I'll interview you later if I ever write a surfing novel!)
So, I'll stick to two, and seriously, these are off the top of my head, as books that made an impression on me in some form.
First of all, is THE SHAPE OF MERCY by Susan Meissner. I agree with what Erynn said about her books and I hate to repeat an author this week, but maybe that just goes to show you how amazing a writer she truly is. I also enjoyed BLUE HEART BLESSED but this novel is different. This novel resonates for literally a year after you read it. It's been that long and I can't forget. I can't move on. That novel inspired me on so many levels, and I can't stop the ache inside that cries out for release to write my own story that is stuck inside. It's brewing, and it'll come out one day.
Be prepared =) And when it does, I'll probably have to thank Susan in the acknowledgments, even though I've never met her, for just doing what she does.
From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review: Meissner's newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth—a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials—whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers—Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young—become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy's words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars together face life's hardest struggles about where true meaning is found, which dreams are worth chasing and which only lead to emptiness, and why faith and hope are essential on life's difficult path. Meissner's prose is exquisite and she is a stunning storyteller. This is a novel to be shared with friends. (Sept. 16) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Secondly in a totally different way, is LEAPER by Geoffrey Woods. It's unique. It's hilarious - seriously, I don't know when I've giggled more over a novel. If you don't laugh out loud, truly out loud, every ten pages or so, something is just wrong with your eyes =) This novel is just GOOD.
From Publishers Weekly: It's a bird...it's a plane...no, it's.... Leaper-man? In this quirky, kooky debut novel, Wood (himself a barista at Starbucks) imagines what it might be like if a 30-year-old, divorced, over-caffeinated coffeehouse barista were suddenly endowed with a superpower that allows him to leap through space. ("Like a butterfly in a bad breeze, I'm all over the place.") Narrated by "James" in first person, the story is littered with oddball behavior, hyper-anxiety ("you can never worry too soon"), and random musings, including a funny back-and-forth with a 911 operator. So, what's a superhero supposed to do? Does he need a costume? What about good deeds? A relationship with a fellow barista, Monica Oates, throws James into her family life, which resembles a sitcom. But even the sweet, longsuffering barista Monica finds a relationship with him difficult. Soon, James's bizarre power has cost him his job, his apartment, a potential love interest, and earned him some jail time. As James grapples with his God-given superpower, he decides he wants out. Wood is a funny, talented writer with a welcome, albeit unusual, voice in faith fiction. Readers will hope to hear more from him in the future. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
It didn't change my life or speak to me deeply or anything else dramatic like Susan's novel did, but when people ask me for book recommedations, I immediately suggest LEAPER. It's right there in the front of my head and ready on my lips as a book I think everyone would like, especially male readers. (and my new neighbor down the street agreed after I lent him my copy!)
So what are your favorites and why? I know we've been discussing that through comments on the other Chick's posts, but is there anything else you forgot to say? For me, discussing favorite books is like revealing a part of your soul. You're recommending someone else's work for evaluation and discussion, yet, a part of yourself is included in that because for you to recommend it is for you to say it meant something to you. That could be interpreted on many different levels. It's a pretty deep thing.
Now off to eat more candy corn and celebrate Fall and the early mail-in of my line edits. Take that, deadlines! haha. =)
When Erynn suggested a week of featuring our favorite novels, I gulped, nodded bravely, and thought, surely I can narrow it down. And I have!
From 1,000 to 100.
Unfortunately, because I have other pressing needs (like book deadlines - yikes!) that don't apply to blogging, I can't list them all. Plus, you'd probably grow bored and start surfing. (web surfing, that is. Though if you're in Cali or somewhere else on the coast, then hey, go for the real thing. I'll interview you later if I ever write a surfing novel!)
So, I'll stick to two, and seriously, these are off the top of my head, as books that made an impression on me in some form.
First of all, is THE SHAPE OF MERCY by Susan Meissner. I agree with what Erynn said about her books and I hate to repeat an author this week, but maybe that just goes to show you how amazing a writer she truly is. I also enjoyed BLUE HEART BLESSED but this novel is different. This novel resonates for literally a year after you read it. It's been that long and I can't forget. I can't move on. That novel inspired me on so many levels, and I can't stop the ache inside that cries out for release to write my own story that is stuck inside. It's brewing, and it'll come out one day.
Be prepared =) And when it does, I'll probably have to thank Susan in the acknowledgments, even though I've never met her, for just doing what she does.
From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review: Meissner's newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth—a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials—whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers—Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young—become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy's words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars together face life's hardest struggles about where true meaning is found, which dreams are worth chasing and which only lead to emptiness, and why faith and hope are essential on life's difficult path. Meissner's prose is exquisite and she is a stunning storyteller. This is a novel to be shared with friends. (Sept. 16) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Secondly in a totally different way, is LEAPER by Geoffrey Woods. It's unique. It's hilarious - seriously, I don't know when I've giggled more over a novel. If you don't laugh out loud, truly out loud, every ten pages or so, something is just wrong with your eyes =) This novel is just GOOD.
From Publishers Weekly: It's a bird...it's a plane...no, it's.... Leaper-man? In this quirky, kooky debut novel, Wood (himself a barista at Starbucks) imagines what it might be like if a 30-year-old, divorced, over-caffeinated coffeehouse barista were suddenly endowed with a superpower that allows him to leap through space. ("Like a butterfly in a bad breeze, I'm all over the place.") Narrated by "James" in first person, the story is littered with oddball behavior, hyper-anxiety ("you can never worry too soon"), and random musings, including a funny back-and-forth with a 911 operator. So, what's a superhero supposed to do? Does he need a costume? What about good deeds? A relationship with a fellow barista, Monica Oates, throws James into her family life, which resembles a sitcom. But even the sweet, longsuffering barista Monica finds a relationship with him difficult. Soon, James's bizarre power has cost him his job, his apartment, a potential love interest, and earned him some jail time. As James grapples with his God-given superpower, he decides he wants out. Wood is a funny, talented writer with a welcome, albeit unusual, voice in faith fiction. Readers will hope to hear more from him in the future. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
It didn't change my life or speak to me deeply or anything else dramatic like Susan's novel did, but when people ask me for book recommedations, I immediately suggest LEAPER. It's right there in the front of my head and ready on my lips as a book I think everyone would like, especially male readers. (and my new neighbor down the street agreed after I lent him my copy!)
So what are your favorites and why? I know we've been discussing that through comments on the other Chick's posts, but is there anything else you forgot to say? For me, discussing favorite books is like revealing a part of your soul. You're recommending someone else's work for evaluation and discussion, yet, a part of yourself is included in that because for you to recommend it is for you to say it meant something to you. That could be interpreted on many different levels. It's a pretty deep thing.
Now off to eat more candy corn and celebrate Fall and the early mail-in of my line edits. Take that, deadlines! haha. =)
YAY! can't wait to read Shape of mercy. It's poking me right now and once CurlyQ goes down for a nap...a big bubble bath awaits me w/ Susan's book in hand! woo-hoo!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Shape of Mercy too. How have I never heard of Leaper? I'll have to look for it.
ReplyDelete