Category: Bookish Question

Book Chat 41

Bookish Question #41 | What Books are You Hoping to Read Over The Summer Holidays?

It’s halfway through January and while my children still have several weeks left of their summer holidays, my husband is back at work. We did get away for a short summer holiday, and we’ve also spent several Saturdays at the beach (perfect for reading!). And I’ve read a few books …

The Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano

Missing Isaac by Valerie Fraser Luesse

Oath of Honor by Lynette Eason

Lady Jayne Disappears by Joanna Davidson Politano

Death at Thornburn Hall by Julianna Deering

If I Live by Terri Blackstock

Of course, there are still a few more on my to-read pile that I’d like to finish before the end of summer …

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

A Season to Dance by Patricia Beal

The Esther Paradigm by Sarah Monzon

Second Chances for Trampled Hearts by Shoshanna Gabriel

So which books have you read (or are hoping to read) over the summer holidays?

Book Chat

Bookish Question #40 | Are you doing a reading challenge in 2018?

I have participated in the Goodreads Reading Challenge for the last six years. I’ve committed to read between 150 and 200 books each year, and have succeeded … although some years it was down to the last couple of days and relied on a fair few novellas or short non-fiction books. I kind-of cheated last year and included books I started and gave up on, because if I start a book three times and still can’t finish it, I’m never going to finish it. So I count it as read.

I’ve tried other reading challenges over the last few years, with less success. I tried a Mt TBR Challenge a couple of times. Mt TBR is Goodreads shorthand for the mountain of unread books many of us own (To Be Read). The first year I attempted to climb Mt TBR, I met my low goal of two books a month, a win made less impressive by the number of books I added to Mt TBR during the year.

I tried again the following year, with a more ambitious goal, and fell by the wayside by around March. My excuse was there were too many good new books to read.

Another year I tried a challenge where we had to read books that fit various categories. This was fun for the first nine months, but then I got towards the end of the year and realised that while I’d chosen books that fit all the remaining criteria, I didn’t have any interest in reading them. So I quit because spending time reading books I didn’t want to read when there were other books I did want to read seemed silly.

I’ve signed up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge again for 2018. I’m aiming for 180 books, the same as in 2017 (which I did achieve, although I cheated a little by including those books I didn’t finish). No conditions. No specific genres to read (although I will be reviewing a contemporary Christian romance novel here each week, and guest reviewing historical or non-romance novels at Australian Christian Writers and International Christian Fiction Writers).

I’m also doing a read the Bible in a year challenge with an online group. I’ve completed this twice before, but fell away in the middle of 2017 because of a lack of accountability. I’m looking forward to reading the Bible with a group of new friends. (Although it would be a lot easier for my Goodreads challenge if the Bible counted as 66 books, not one!)

What about you? Are you doing a reading challenge in 2018? Which one, and how many books are you aiming for?

Did you receive any books for Christmas?

Bookish Question #39 | Did you receive any books for Christmas?

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and are ready to jump into 2018. I am!

I’m making a couple of minor changes here on the blog. The main one you’ll notice is that I’m publishing a book review on Monday instead of my Bookish Question. And the Bookish Question has now become a Tuesday Book Chat, in association with Australasian Christian Writers. We’re hoping to get more people involved, and we’ll share a little more about that later.

Anyway, here’s our first question for 2018:

Did you receive any books for Christmas?

I gave some books. My mother asked for the latest historical novel from Alison Weir, which was easy. My children asked for the new edition of the Official Scrabble dictionary which includes words like “twerk”, “emoji” and “emoticon”. Sigh. And I bought my husband Artemis, the new novel from Andy Weir, author of The Martian. He isn’t a big reader but he enjoyed The Martian, so I hope he’ll like Artemis as well.

And I will admit to treating myself to a few Kindle books over the Christmas holidays. Weird story. I signed up for a free service called Down Notifier, which sends you an email if your website goes down—something that’s handy to know (says me, the victim of a hacker attack which destroyed my site a couple of years ago).

Anyway, Down Notifier emailed me and offered me a $20 Amazon US gift voucher for reviewing their service. It’s a good service, so posting a review was no problem. Sure enough, a week or so later, I got an email offering me the choice of a $20 Amazon gift voucher, or $20 via PayPal. I chose the voucher, and bought:

I also pre-ordered Surgeon’s Choice by Richard Mabry, which releases this week. But that only uses up half my voucher (thanks to pre-Christmas sales!).

So did you receive any books for Christmas? (And yes, buying yourself books totally counts!) Share in the comments!

Don’t forget to pop over to Australasian Christian Writers as well!

What's your favourite Christmas novel?

Bookish Question #38 | What’s your favourite Christmas novel?

I’m not going to ask your favourite Christmas story.

It’s probably the same as mine: the gospel story of how God sent his only son to earth, and how he was born in a manger in Bethlehem. Although I suppose you might have a preference for Matthew over Luke. Or vice versa.

I don’t know that Jesus was actually born on 25 December. Odds are, he wasn’t (and if he was, we should celebrate Christmas Day on 6 January, like the Eastern Orthodox Christians have since the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar back in the 1700’s).

It’s not important what day Jesus was born. What is important, as far as I’m concerned, is that we celebrate His birth with our families, with our friends, and with our church fellowships.

That we remember the birth of Jesus as a physical sign of the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

As we discussed last week, a lot of novels and novellas are set around Christmas. Some are Christian novels, so are able to emphasise the spiritual importance of the occasion. Some are general market novels—isn’t it great that non-believers still chose to celebrate our Christian holy days? Even several of the Harry Potter novels, often maligned by Christians, still have Christmas right at the centre of the novel.

What’s your favourite Christmas novel (or novella)? Why?

Next Monday is Christmas Day, so I won’t be posting. Instead, I’ll be enjoying the day with my family, and remembering our Saviour. May God bless you and your family over this Christmas season.

Do you enjoy reading Christmas stories?

Bookish Question #37 | Do you enjoy reading Christmas stories?

I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas stories.

That’s mostly because I live in the Southern Hemisphere, which means our Christmas celebration marks the beginning of our summer holidays. Christmas is different Down Under.

I know a lot of people enjoy reading Christmas novels, perhaps because it gets them into the spirit of the Christmas season.

We don’t have snow. We have sand. At the beach.

We don’t have roaring log fires. Instead, we have the air con going full blast.

We don’t drink mulled wine (whether the alcoholic or non-alcoholic version). Who wants hot spiced wine in the middle of summer? Instead, we drink iced soft drinks—although it’s more likely to be Coca-cola or L&P than iced tea.

We might have the traditional Christmas dinner: roast turkey, ham, potatoes, kumera (the Maori name for sweet potatoes). And fresh asparagus—it’s in season. But we might also have a barbecue at home or on the beach. After all, it’s summer. Who wants to spend the day in a hot, steamy kitchen?

So I hope you can see why the traditional Christmas story doesn’t really appeal to me.

The one Christmas collection I did enjoy was the Aussie Summer Christmas novella collection. It’s no longer available as a collection, but the individual novellas are for sale on Kindle. They are:

Seaside Christmas by Narelle Atkins
A Christmas Resolution by Rose Dee
All is Bright by Andrea Grigg
Falling for Maddie Grace by Meredith Resce (I’m not a sports fan, but this was one of my favourites)
Melbourne Memories by Marion Ueckermann
Santa Next Door by Lacy Williams

What about you? Do you enjoy reading Christmas stories?

Which Bible translation do you prefer?

Bookish Question #36 | Which Bible translation do you prefer?

Bibles.

Isn’t it ironic that something that’s so central to our faith can divide us?

The first Bible I ever read belonged to my great grandmother—a King James Version. I was about eight years old, and although I could read the words (and I was the best reader in my Sunday School class), I was never chosen to read the Bible story of the week out loud to the class. I soon worked out it was because while I could read all the words in the King James Bible, my classmates didn’t understand them.

I’ve had similar experiences as a Sunday School teacher in the years since, meeting children who could quote the King James chapter and verse, but didn’t actually know what the words meant. (One thought King James had written it himself.)

That, to me, isn’t enough. Sure, we need to able to read accurately. But we also need to be able to comprehend what we are reading. Otherwise, what is the point? We’re parroting, not learning.

That’s not to say we can’t learn anything from the King James Version. We’ve recently got a new pastor in church, and he preaches from the King James. We asked why. Simple: it’s the one he is most comfortable reading,because it’s the closest to his native language of Icelandic.

Our retired pastor reads from the Amplifed Version (I guess he likes the extra information). My Jewish Christian friend reads the Complete Jewish Bible. I prefer the New International Version (UK edition, because it uses “proper” spelling). I like the NIV because the vocabulary and meanings are contemporary—I don’t feel I have to translate them.

To see what I mean, read 1 Corinthians 13 in the King James and the NIV. I can see the link between love and charity. But charity in 2018 usually means a financial donation to a cause. The meaning of the word has changed.

But I do find there are passages which feel more lyrical in the King James (or New King James). Especially in the Psalms.

What about you? What Bible translation do you prefer? Why?

What read the Bible in a year plan do you recommend?

Bookish Question #35 | What Read the Bible in a year plan do you recommend?

So we’re coming up to the end of another year, which means it’s time for me to consider what Bible reading programme I’ll follow next year (if any).

In 2014 and 2015, I read A Woman’s Guide to Reading the Bible in a Year by Diane Stortz. The first year, I did it with a virtual group on Facebook. We tried that in 2015 as well, but our weekly meetings fell apart for a range of reasons (my flaky internet connection being one of them).

In 2016 I used a different programme, one that went through the Bible in time order. This was good, but it did mean skipping around a lot. Like, some days would have six different readings (e.g. skipping between the Old Testament history books, or between Psalms and prophets.

So in 2017 I went back to A Woman’s Guide to Reading the Bible … and failed miserably. I’m not sure if it was the lack of accountability, or the familiarity. I’d like to get back into the habit of getting through the Bible in a year, but would like some kind of organised reading plan.

Do you use a read-the-Bible-in-a-year reading plan?

Which plan do you recommend?

Bookish Question #34 | How do you find new authors to read?

Bookish Question #34 | How do you find new authors to read?

Last week I asked if you read new (or new-to-you) authors.

This week I’m looking at the obvious follow-up question: how do you find out about new authors?

I’ve been reviewing books for a little over six years now, and it’s amazing to think how my answer to this question has changed in the last five to ten years. Once upon a time, I discovered new authors and new books in only one way: by visiting my local Christian bookshop (or bookshops, as they often carried different stock).

Then I discovered mail order—Koorong at first, then Amazon and Book Depository (back in the old days, before they were bought by Amazon). Then I moved to a smaller city where the public library system carried a lot of Christian fiction (helpfully identified by the cross sticker on the spine).

Later, I discovered Amazon reviews, Amazon Top 100 genre lists, and Amazon discussion forums (which have recently been deleted). Through Amazon, I discovered Goodreads and book blogs. And NetGalley, Edelweiss, and book blogger programmes. So I became book blogger …

I now find the books I read and review from three main sources, and a bundle of others:

NetGalley

I get most of the ebooks I review from NetGalley (click here to read my blog post Introducing NetGalley). I can search for books classified as Christian, or I can search through the publishers I’ve marked as favourites.

FirstLineFriday

First Line Fridays hosted by Hoarding Books

There are thousands of book bloggers, and probably hundreds of blogging groups with various themes. Some groups have what they call a “meme”, where they all post a linked post at the same time each week. I particiate in FirstLineFriday, which is a group of (mostly) Christian fiction bloggers.

I add at least one book to my to-read pile every Saturday after reading the #FirstLineFriday posts! This may or may not be a good thing ..

Authors

As a book reviewer, I’m also approached directly by authors looking for reviews for the books they’ve published. Many of these requests are clearly outside my preferred genre (like being offered general market memoir when I say I review Christian fiction). Others are within my genre, but I can only accept the offers which excite me—reviewers aren’t paid, and I can’t read every book I’m offered.

Other Sources

I also find some books through other sources, such as Amazon, BookBub (and other mailing lists), Facebook (e.g. the Avid Readers of Christian Fiction group), Goodreads (what my friends are reading and reviewing), and through author email lists (perhaps that’s a topic for another week).

What about you? How do you find new authors to read?

Do you read books by new authors?

Bookish Question #33 | Do you read books by new-to-you authors?

We all have favourite authors—authors where we’ve read every novel they’ve written.

Where we stalk their websites and social media for cover reveals and announcements about their next release. Where we click the Amazon Kindle pre-order button as soon as it appears, or where we have a standing order with our friendly local Christian bookstore? (That is normal, right?)

[If you want to know my favourite authors, sign up for my email list and I’ll send you a list. Actually, several lists. One for each of my favourite genres. But they are all in one document. Although I need to update it.]

Then there are the good authors, the ones we’ll read if we find a book in the library, if it’s on sale on Kindle, and if we don’t already have eleventy-billion books in our to-read pile (I know some of you can count the number of books on your to-read pile on the fingers of one hand. Just don’t judge the rest of us. Please).

But what about new authors? Do you read books by new authors?

Of course, “new authors” can have different meanings. It could be debut author, where you’re reading their first ever book (like The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck by Bethany Turner). It could be debut fiction author—someone with one or more non-fiction books who has now made the jump to fiction (like Grace in Strange Disguise by Christine Dillon).

Or it could be a new-to-you author—one who has published other novels, but none that you’ve read. I had that recently. I read Deadly Proof by Rachel Dylan, thinking it was her first novel. It wasn’t, but her other novels were Love Inspired Suspense.

Being a book reviewer means I read a lot of debut authors, and new-to-me authors. In fact, I often seek out books from debut or newer authors, because I want to see what’s trending in Christian fiction. Who are the new authors? What genres are they writing? What is changing in terms of writing styles.

I want to know this as a reader, because I don’t want to miss out on good books from new authors. I want to know as a reviewer, so I can recommend books to people who will enjoy them. And I want to know as a freelance editor, because I want to know I’m giving my clients up-to-date advice.

And I don’t want to miss out on good books.

What about you? Do you read books by new-to-you authors?

Do you prefer books by male or female authors?

Bookish Question #32 | Do you prefer books by male or female authors?

If you’ve followed my reviews for any length of time, you may have noticed (consciously or subconsciously) that I mostly review books by female authors.

This isn’t altogether surprising.

I mostly read Christian fiction, and Christian fiction authors tend to be women—perhaps because the genre is dominated by romance authors, and romance authors tend to be female. Look at photographs from a romance writer’s conference, or a Christian writer’s conference. Both are dominated by women.

Yet many of the original trendsetters and stalwarts of the Christian fiction genre were men: James Scott Bell, Jack Cavanaugh, Frank Peretti, Gilbert Morris, and Michael Phillips.

There are some male authors I consistently read and enjoy. These include James L Rubart (speculative fiction), Charles Martin (women’s fiction), and Richard Mabry (medical thrillers). I’ve read and enjoyed science fiction from Randy Ingermanson and Adam David Collings.

But I’ve recently picked up books by some new-to-me male authors, and been less than impressed. They were in a genre I usually enjoy, but I couldn’t get into these books. I didn’t make an emotional connection with any of the characters, and I ended up leaving them unread. Twice. Yes, I tried each book twice, but never made it more than a third of the way in before I gave up and went to do something more fun, like clean the bathroom.

That’s not to say I enjoy all books by female authors.

I’ve had a handful of did-not-finish titles from new-to-me female authors in the last few months as well. I’ve also read a few books I won’t be reviewing, simply because I didn’t connect emotionally with the characters. But I have noticed this is less likely to happen in a book by a female author—it’s as though women are more likely to focus on character and emotion.

So I guess I prefer books by female authors.

What about you? Do you prefer books by male authors? Do you prefer female authors?

Or does it not matter, as long as there is great writing and a great story?