Happy Good Friday, everyone! :)
Lately a few of you have asked me what I have been reading, especially since my secretive Book Swim post in January.� In that post I mentioned really enjoying a new book, but never disclosed the author or title because I didn’t want to make any recommendations until I was done.� Honestly, I also didn’t want to make any recommendations because it’s a Christian fiction title and, well, I was embarrassed, plain and simple.� Sometimes I feel that because I am an over-educated attorney (I have more than a law degree, if you can believe it) people expect me to spend my days reading David Foster Wallace.� Not so.� Not so at all.� I have done plenty of serious reading most of my life, but not now.� I’m just not getting the pleasure I used to from reading and breaking a sweat.
Anyway, I had been debating writing up the author I was reading when Amy’s comment in my Getting to Know All About You post struck a cord.
[…]I love God – but I don�t always come out and say it (I don�t want to be considered creepy; is that bad?)[…]
I feel the exact same way sometimes.
And that is when I decided it was stupid for me not to share a book just because of its religious content.
So, here we go.� Out of everything I have read since the beginning of the year, there are four books I have read that were worth staying up late to read.� But first, a disclaimer.� I am a sucker for a good love story.� A sucker.� Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back.� I don’t care if it’s predictable and formulaic.� I LOVE IT.� I don’t love romance novels, though, mainly because the sex scenes can be a bit ridiculous.� Let’s just say the last romance novel I ever read had a scene with a porch, a rosebud, and hurricane.� The books I have recently read and loved are all love stories, but they aren’t necessarily romance novels.� They are all Christian fiction titles, a genre I didn’t even know existed until I read Rachel’s book recommendation post in December.
Okay, first up is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.� I was going through the comments in Rachel’s post and this books came up more than once.� Actually, a few books from Francine Rivers were recommended.� I didn’t recognize the name so, of course, I googled her.� A quick stop over to Amazon showed me Redeeming Love had a whopping 5 stars with almost 700 reviews.� I thought that was impressive and was intrigued by the idea of faith-based literature.� I put it on my Christmas list.
Loved it!� The ending was a bit Lifetime Channel, but that is expected with any love story.� The premise is simple.� It’s a retelling of the story of Hosea in the Bible (God instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute, Gomer.) set in the California Gold Rush.� The main character, Angel, was sold into a life of prostitution as a child.� It’s not the happiest plot line I have ever read, but it’s done tastefully and without any unnecessary graphic scenes.� You wouldn’t think so if you read the negative reviews on Amazon, which I love to do because that’s when you can get a true pulse on CRAZY.� Here are two of my favorites for Redeeming Love.
The main, rehashed point made on these pages is that this story is based on the book of Hosea in the Bible. But from the get-go I found this to be a very UN-biblical take on that story. Although it is true that Hosea was asked by God to marry Gomer, a former prostitute, that story and this one differ in a SIGNIFICANT way. God did not ask Hosea to do anything outside of His Law. Jews were only allowed to marry other Jews, and Gomer was Jewish. And she was NOT actively prostituting herself at the time of their marriage. (She had been a prostitute, and became one again after their marriage, but was not when God called Hosea to marry her). In Redeeming Love, God tells Michael to do something that goes directly against His revealed will by telling him to marry a woman who is not a Christian, and who is actively practicing immorality. To me, this is a serious flaw in this “based on a book of the Bible” hook. When I have shared this with some Christian friends who said this was “the best book they ever read,” they admitted that they never thought of those things. Which seems sad to me, who could not miss them.
Sweetheart, put a sock in it.
Then there were a few like the one below:
This is what was called a “pot boiler” in earlier years. I don’t understand how or why a Christian publisher agreed to publish this book. This is pure and unadulterated porn. I see nothing redeeming about it.
I could tell you what I think about the above comment, but someone already did so nicely on Amazon.
Evidently you have never read or watched a real porn in your whole life.
Exactly.
So there you go, my first book.� You have been warned:� it may or may not be a literal (and pornographic!) interpretation of a story in the Bible.
This post turned out to be much longer than I anticipated, so I’m breaking it up to spare your eyes.� I’ll be back with the other books, which are actually a series.� These next books were my favorite of the bunch!
Redeeming Love was my first foray into Christian fiction and I thought it was excellent.
I’m looking forward to seeing which other books you recommend… my pile of unread books could use a few more. :D
how funny! three of my friends just recommended this book to me. one said she cried for 3 hours straight while/after reading it haha — sounds like my kind of book. i’m def going to pick up a copy now!
Thanks for this review, Jules. I saw this book a little while back and loved the cover, but I didn’t buy it. I just finished the Time Traveler’s Wife, so this will be my next. :)
As a young girl I read plenty of Christian fiction, (my Grandma owned a Christian bookstore) but as a teen, thought it was cheesy and quit reading it (discovered James Mitchner, whom I still love). But in college I read “The Mark of the Lion” trilogy by Francine Rivers and LOVED it. Haven’t really read any of her other stuff, but I think you’d like that series. My parents were a bit more liberal about our reading – I definitely read Sweet Valley High in middle school and liked it then. Got a bit of a shock later (again in college) when I realized I was older than Jessica and Elizabeth! Ha!
I stumbled onto your blog a short time ago and have been following since. Today I had to break my silence to tell you that I ADORE this book. Really any book that makes me cry one second and laugh the next is fantastic. Probably the reason I’m such a Nicholas Sparks and Jane Austen fan.
I, like the other people up there, LOVE this book. I just thought it was a beautiful representation of so many instances in life where those who love us (including God) have to come retrieve us from whatever little rabbit trail we’ve decided to follow. I’m also a hopeless romantic, which makes it a must read.
My mom is a big fan of Christian romance novels because in her words “they aren’t crass and filled with trash” like so many other books out there. She often gives them to me as well, and while I’ll read them (she always likes to ask me about them) I often find them too sappy and completely ridiculous because everything and everyone just end up so perfect. I prefer my characters to live lives that can’t be wrapped up into a pretty box by the end of the book. I will admit though that I did enjoy this book, especially after my mom explained the premise so I wouldn’t be shocked when I started reading it(haha!). While it does have a fairytale quality to it I enjoy Francine’s writing and her willingness to get a little grittier than so many of the other Christian authors out there.
oh Jules you’re a girl after my own heart! I was given my first Francine Rivers book , Atonement Child, 4 Christmases ago by my sister-in-law. She actually gave my sister and my mom each a different FR book. I fell in love and have since read the whole Mark of the Lion series (Voice in the Wind, Echo In the Darkness, and Sure as the Dawn). I have also read Redeeming Love and have it in paperback. I truly enjoyed all of them. If you haven’t read it yet, the Mark of the Lion series is amazing. Can’t wait to see what’s next on the list!
Jacqueline–I hear you. I used to be the same way until I became an attorney and did family/criminal law. I saw enough real life grittiness to last me a life time. Give me sappy and completely ridiculous any day over the tragedy that often happens in the real world. :)
“…which I love to do because that�s when you can get a true pulse on CRAZY. ” Oh dear, you are so very quotable:)
Hey Jules, I finally feel good enough to read again, and picked up a new book (to me at least, millions of others have read it) “Belong to Me” by Marisa de los Santos.
Something about her voice reminds me of you. And I wondered, ever thought about writing a novel yourself?
Meredith–Of course! It’s all I have ever thought about since I was seven years old. :)
Sorry I’m a little slow, but I too was SO excited when I saw this post!!! Thanks for sharing what you were reading! I’ve read Redeeming Love three times and bawled every time. Yes, it may be a bit cheesey, and definitely more scandalous than regular middle of the road Christian fiction, but it had a definite impact in my life. For me, the story powerfully communicated the covenant love of God and how deeply committed He is to pursuing and never giving up on peoples’ hearts. Though we may not be able to relate to the concept of prostitution, like Angel I think we’ve all sold ourselves in other ways: used our looks or clothes to get attention, used our talents selfishly to get praise from others, used our flattering words to get whatever we want. Also, I agree with above commenters, the Mark of the Lion series is absolutely incredible. The characters have stuck with me for a long, long time. Now I want to go read all of these books!
I do love me a good love story. I’ll have to put this on my list. I just finished reading Evelina, by Frances Burney. A friend said she thought of me when she read it … which concerns me a bit, since the girl had a few issues in society. :) And I was totally going to recommend a book to you that I LOVED. It was an old book I just happened to grab at a yard sale one time … but now I can’t think of the title. It’s about a girl who dresses as a boy to surive … and then ends up falling in love with the guy who helps her out. But, again, no title … no author … no help whatsoever. Sigh.
Fabulous book! Such a great picture of God’s redeeming love for His people. I recommend almost anything (I say almost because I haven’t read everything) Francine Rivers. I’d also highly recommend all of the Chronicles of Narnia if you haven’t read those yet. They’re Biblically inspired as well (my favorite is The Magician’s Nephew – retelling of the creation story.)
Apparently the negative reviewers on Amazon are unaware of the definition of the word fiction.
P.S. I LOVE that you have an edit feature!
I love this book! I have reread it several times over the years, and it always makes me cry. Such a beautiful story. One way of measuring this, for me, was the fact that I could not put it down (I read it during finals week in college)…I was going to read a couple chapters and then study…but ended up reading it all in one sitting!
Other great books by Francine Rivers are “And the Shofar Blew” and “The Atonement Child.” :)