The Great Good Thing by Andrew Klavan

    Andrew Klavan is a name known in the literary world in the realm of crime fiction. He is prolific and best known for True Crime among many other works. His work uses at least one character who is a Christian in a major role.

    He did not start out life with that viewpoint. In fact he was not even interested in that area.

His childhood was far from what we would see as religious. His parents were only Jewish in name and agnostic even atheist in practice.

    His early childhood was spent in his mind in stories he made up. No one really knew. Education wise he was able to bluff his way through school. He never read the required books assigned but was able to bluff his way to good grades.

    He had Christian influences as he grew from childhood to adolescence. He knew about the Bible but it was just a book to him that contained great plot ideas.

    But he was intellectual and had to read through the book for himself.  

    This is a memoir that starts at age sixty when he is being baptized than backtracks to carry the story forward from birth to the baptism. It has great fiction technique. You can see he has great command of language. It is an easy read.

    This book was sent to me free from booklookbloggers.com for the purpose of review. I recommend this as a book to be shared with seekers. It is a good evangelistic tool.

True Faith and Allegiance by Alberto R. Gonzales

Every once in a while a memoir is written that informs people about a time in history that needs to be remembered and understood correctly.

Such is a time Gonzales spent as the first Hispanic US Attorney General and counsel to President George W. Bush. This memoir covers the years 2000 to 2007.

The story, being autobiographical as well as apologetic forms a good piece of source material for a future author who will research the period of 9/11 and after.

It took a strong man to guide the President through the things history threw at him; such things as terrorism, Al Qaeda, government surveillance, and Supreme Court nominations.

All the players are here. All the senators, the officials, the bit players-they are brought on stage and play their part in the struggle Gonzales faced as a friend of Bush.

It may have been different if there wasn’t these struggles brought on by life, but Gonzales was victorious in the end. It was his faith in God and his loyalty to authority that helped him.

 I found this book to be truthful sharing successes and failures without apology. I would recommend this for all history classes.

I received this book gratis from Booklookbloggers.com for the purpose of review. At no time was I required to like it.

Story Genius by Lisa Cron

Writing Help

  Do you have an idea for a book but are stuck, on how to best tackle the story? By this I mean, do you know where you are going and how to get there?

   If it is true we all have a story to tell and the obstacle keeping us from starting the journey of putting the story on paper to completion is not knowing how to get from the beginning to the end, than this is the manual for you.

  We have to get past the feeling that we need either to pants it (or wing it) or have a complex outline worked out before hand. There is an easier way.

  We can use a method utilizing our inner sense of story code to craft the material. 

  You start with the story you have in your mind. You write a character study in the first person of every player in your book that will be featured in the plot. You are asking why they do what they do. You will be using cards that can be arranged and rearranged as you write. The end must be charted out before you begin.

  Writing is not for the fainthearted. But if done right you will have a blueprint set up.

   This book is not for everyone. Only for those who wish to be published. There are no shortcuts to being a writer who has readers. Cron presents her method in an easily understandable fashion.

   This book was sent to me gratis from bloggingforbooks.com for the purpose of reviewing. I was at no time required to present a favorable review in order to stay a reviewer. The options are my own and do not reflect the publisher, Ten Speed Press. The book costs $15.99 and can be found in your local bookseller.

Chase The Lion by Mark Batterson

   How big is your dream? Or another question is: how large is your courage?

   Books cross my desk from time to time that expand the region of concepts. This is one of them.

   The point is we need to consider our approach to life. Will we play it safe or venture out and stretch? Will we stop fearing failure and dream big dreams which may scare us?

   Our dreams should push our faith and provide an opportunity for God to show up and show His power.   Most of the time we just act as though all the Christian life is about if getting up each morning and on Sunday we go to service and sit and listen to the sermon.

   Batterson suggests it is best lived as a life of dreams.

   This is not a text book. Rather it is a dream casting. In the 218 pages plus notes we are urged to think big. A change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. The outcome isn’t the issue. It is the obeying that is important.

    This is the book for those who need the encouragement to try new things. It will give you the fuel for your tank and the assurance you need that someone has your back.

   This book was sent to me free from blogging for books.com(http://www.bloggingforbooks.com) for the purpose of a review. There was no requirement that I like it. But I do. You will like it also.

Two Cozies I Enjoyed

   Every once in a while a person needs to just read for the joy of reading--not having to read for a blog post
   You notice the different name on this posting? That is because I am going to step back from the web postings for Blogging for Books and the Book Look blogger for this one time-- there may be more in the future-- but for now it is not a web blog posting for either of the above two.
   This is rather a look at two cozies I have read that I feel you might enjoy.
    I check out books from my library also so I am always able to find a book to read.
    The first cozy I want to look at is by Sally Goldenbaum titled Murder at Lambswool Farm. It is part of the Seaside Knitters Mystery series. It has a large cast of characters since we are drawn into the village and the area of Sea Harbor, Massachusetts. The story is carried in the third person point of view.
      The murder doesn't happen until the second third of the book, but there is action to carry you up to and past the murder. It has been said by the people who lecture on the genre that the murder is the high point and everything else is downhill.
        Goldenbaum keeps the story moving.
         We have the suspects. And the corpse. Also the sleuth. Of course the law.
         It is a peaceful town we are introduced to. A stranger comes into town. His car is being repaired. But that is just a reason  for his staying even after the car is fixed.
         There is the doctor who is cares for the town folks. He is the one killed. Poisoned. Was it the meal he ate that night?  Who would want to poison him?
          Very little is mentioned about the knitters.
        The other cozy I wish to introduce to you is somewhat different. It is by Teresa LaRue and is called A Talent for Murder. . 
     It is a new series and therefore the first book in that series that will be known as A Flower Patch Mystery.

     It is unique in having a group of sleuths-- a threesome of daughter, mother, and niece. It is told in first person. The niece is the one who is the point of view. The detective is the love interest. It moves well. It will be a good series.
      The title comes from something the murderer says.
      I would recommend these for those readers out there who wish to read something that will exercise the mind, since reading is a form of exercise and mysteries are a type of game played between the reader and the writer.
    

We the People by Juan Williams

Social History

   We all leave footprints on time. Some are known. Most are not. Important things sometimes overshadow the individual.

   When American was founded the people who formulated documents had a vision. They left to future generation the job of modifying and fleshing out the implications envisioned in said documents.

It wasn’t perfect. Nothing ever is. As time went by there had to be other brave trail blazers.

   The rights of men had to be enlarged to include women and the blacks.  Immigration had to be clarified. Human rights needed to be codified. And so on.

   Which leaves us the question; would the writers of our constitution if they were to return today recognize what we have done with it?

   So much had been left for future generations to flesh out.

   Facts. Just the facts. This is what Williams has carefully written. Foundation stories covering birth, education, contribution to American lifestyle of individuals is found here.

   For example, Eleanor Roosevelt is mentioned for her fight for clarity of universal human right. General Westmoreland is mentioned for the rebirth of the Military after the Viet Nam war years; Earl Warren’s flight for civil rights along with Martin Luther King and LBJ-- Betty Friedman and her feminism. Just to name a few.

   Williams writes of the time after the Second World War as a framework for those handled here who reshaped and affirmed the vision of America set down by the founding fathers.

   I would highly recommend this for those who need a good social history grounding. America’s greatness is progressive.

   I have received this book free from Blogging For Books.com for the purpose of a review. All views are those of the reviewer.