Wishing a belated Happy New Year to everyone here! I’m just recently back from vacationing with the family at Disney World (So much fun! Such lovely weather!), and just starting to get back into the swing of blogging and everyday life in general. So this post may be running a bit later than similar posts at other blogs. Nevertheless, may I share with you a few of my favorite reads from 2015?

GENERAL FICTION

The Art of Losing Yourself by Katie Ganshert

This is a contemporary story full of raw honesty, brokenness, grace, and hope. It’s about two half-sisters discovering what’s worth fighting for, and it’s told from their distinctive first person viewpoints.

Spy of Richmond by Jocelyn Green

I read this Civil War era historical for an ACFW Book Club discussion and was blown away by the vivid and sometimes surprising historical details, complex characters, and page-turning premise. Watch for my full review coming to the blog soon.

MYSTERIES

Trial by Twelve by Heather Gilbert

This second installment in Heather Day Gilbert’s A Murder in the Mountains series delivers a contemporary amateur sleuthing mystery set in West Virginia. First person narration by a spunky heroine, draws the reader into the story.

A Singular and Whimsical Problem by Rachel McMillan

This novella does a brilliant job evoking the tone and style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective series, while introducing the female detective duo starring in the new Herringford and Watts mystery series. My review coming soon.

ROMANCE

By Your Side by Candace Calvert

Here’s a romantic suspense novel with lots to love – witty banter, sigh-worthy romantic moments, great descriptions, and a suspenseful storyline to draw you in and keep you engaged.

Hearts Made Whole by Jody Hedlund

This historical romance is a tale of healing, redemption, mystery, suspense, and of course, love. The characters and their situations tugged on my heartstrings in a big way, making the resolution all the more beautiful.

Falling Like Snowflakes by Denise Hunter

This first book in the new Summer Harbor series is a sweet contemporary romance with substance. It also features some suspenseful plot twists later in the book, for those who like suspense with their romance.

How to Catch a Prince by Rachel Hauck

Here’s the third contemporary fairytale style romance in Rachel Hauck’s Royal Wedding Series. It’s a fun story, with an amazing audio edition read by Eleni Pappageorge. My review of the audiobook is coming soon.

SPECULATIVE

Found and Lost by Amanda G Stevens

This is book 2 in a series you kind of have to start with book 1. But it’s so fascinating! What if Christianity as we know it was illegal, replaced by a state religion?

The Sunken Realm by Serena Chase

This final installment in the Eyes of E’veria fantasy series is packed full of action, adventure, romance, witty banter, and a unique blend of clever piratey justice. I love this series! Great for YA or adult readers.

THRILLERS

AD 33 by Ted Dekker

A fascinating tale of epic adventure, romance and political intrigue that draws the reader in to the life and times of Jesus, primarily from the viewpoint of a Bedouin woman who follows His teachings.

Trial Run by Thomas Locke

This techno-thriller is written in the style of many New York Times bestsellers with short action-packed chapters and the kind of direct prose that cuts straight to the point. The premise caught my attention and the storytelling kept me turning the pages. Review to come.

Want to discover even more great reads of the year? Check out these lists of favorites from a few of my favorite book bloggers: Books and Beverages, Bookshelves and Windows, By the Book, Dreaming Under the Same Moon, Flowers of Quiet Happiness, The Green Mockingbird, Relz Reviewz, and Seasons of Humility.

What about you? What were your favorite reads of 2015?

I’ve got something special planned here on the blog this week! Rather than my typical once (usually Tuesday) and sometimes twice a week posting schedule, I’ll be blogging here daily, all this week (well, today through Saturday anyway), and I’m posting on a theme.

I’m unofficially calling it “E’veria Week” here in my little corner of the Web, after the Eyes of E’veria YA fantasy series written by my blogging buddy Serena Chase. I’ll be posting about this fabulous series all week, including reviews of the first three books, an interview with the author discussing (among other things) the origins of the series and some hints about what’s to come in the fourth book (scheduled to release late this summer – YAY!) Then on Saturday, we’ll wrap up the week with a look at the brand new, freshly redesigned (and simply gorgeous) cover for The Seahorse Legacy. Also on Saturday, there’ll be a chance to enter to win a lovely prize pack from Serena, so don’t forget to stop by! In fact, if you haven’t already, consider subscribing to my blog for the convenience of having posts sent directly to your inbox.

Here’s the schedule:

• Tuesday, 6/23 – Book Review: The Ryn by Serena Chase
• Wednesday, 6/24 – Book Review: The Remedy by Serena Chase
• Thursday, 6/25 – Book Review: The Seahorse Legacy by Serena Chase
• Friday, 6/26 – Author Interview with Serena Chase
• Saturday, 6/27 – (New) Cover Reveal for The Seahorse Legacy + Giveaway

Whether you’ve already read books 1 through 3 and want to reminisce while we await book 4, or this series is brand new to you, I hope you’ll take the time to stop by!

Happy E’veria Week!

Just yesterday, the Audio Publishers Association officially announced the finalists in the 2015 Audie Awards competition.  These awards are meant to recognize excellence among audiobooks in thirty categories, including two categories I find of particular interest – Inspirational / Faith-Based Fiction and Inspirational / Faith-Based Non-fiction.

Since I’m a big fan of Christian fiction audiobooks (and suspect some of you may be as well?) I thought I’d share this year’s finalists with you.  I’ll admit I was a little surprised that none of the amazing Christian fiction audiobook titles I’ve listened to and reviewed here on the blog this year made it on this list, but that just makes me more curious to listen to the ones that did and see what sets them apart.

Inspirational / Faith-Based Fiction

The Auschwitz Escape by Joel C Rosenberg
Narrated by Christopher Lane
Audio Publisher: Brilliance Publishing
Print Publisher: Tyndale House

Description (from Amazon.com):

A terrible darkness has fallen upon Jacob Weisz’s beloved Germany. The Nazi regime, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, has surged to power and now hold Germany by the throat. All non-Aryans – especially Jews like Jacob and his family – are treated like dogs.

When tragedy strikes during one terrible night of violence, Jacob flees and joins rebel forces working to undermine the regime. But after a raid goes horribly wrong, Jacob finds himself in a living nightmare – trapped in a crowded, stinking car on the train to the Auschwitz death camp.

As World War II rages and Hitler begins implementing his “final solution” to systematically and ruthlessly exterminate the Jewish people, Jacob must rely on his wits and a God he’s not sure he believes in to somehow escape from Auschwitz and alert the world to the Nazi’s atrocities before Fascism overtakes all of Europe. The fate of millions hangs in the balance.

Chasing the Lion by Nancy Kimball
Narrated by Joseph Narducci
Self-Published by Nancy Kimball

Description (from Amazon.com):

From the blood-soaked sand of the Roman arena, a divine destiny will rise.

For as long as Jonathan Tarquinius can remember, everyone has wanted something from him. His half-brother wants him dead. His master’s wife wants his innocence. The gladiator dealers want him to fight – and die – for their greed. Rome’s most famous prostitute wants his love. And the gentle slave girl who tends the wounds on his body and the hidden ones on his soul, longs for him to return to his faith.

What Jonathan wants is simple. Freedom. But God wants something from Jonathan too – something more than anyone would ever imagine. The young warrior’s journey will push him to the limits of human endurance and teach him that true freedom is found within.

The greatest battle Jonathan must ever fight will not come in the arena, but deep within himself as he is forced to choose between vengeance and mercy – with the fate of an empire and the life of the woman he loves hanging in the balance.

The Christmas Light by Donna VanLiere
Narrated by Donna VanLiere
Audio Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Print Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Description (from Amazon.com):

In the small town of Grandon, five very different people discover the true meaning of Christmas. Jennifer and Ryan are both single parents, struggling with their own losses and heartache. Sixteen-year-old Kaylee is faced with a life-changing situation that has affected her whole family. Stephen and Lily are happily married and ready to start a family. All of them are facing their own struggles, and all are finding their way through the dark. When they are brought together for a rather unconventional church Nativity, they will learn that with strength, courage, and love, there is always hope.

The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom
Narrated by Mitch Albom
Audio Publisher: HarperAudio
Print Publisher: Harper

Description (from Amazon.com):

The First Phone Call from Heaven tells the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide attention when its citizens start receiving phone calls from the afterlife. Is it the greatest miracle ever or a massive hoax? Sully Harding, a grief-stricken single father, is determined to find out. An allegory about the power of belief – and a page-turner that will touch your soul – Albom’s masterful storytelling has never been so moving and unexpected.

Readers of The Five People You Meet in Heaven will recognize the warmth and emotion so redolent of Albom’s writing, and those who haven’t yet enjoyed the power of his storytelling will thrill at the discovery of one of the best-loved writers of our time.

Grounded by Angela Correll
Narrated by Lyssa Browne
Audio Publisher: Cedar House Audio Productions
Print Publisher: Koehler Books

Description (from Amazon.com):

New York City flight attendant Annie Taylor is grounded, putting a halt to weekends in Rome and her jet-setting lifestyle. Soon her noncommittal boyfriend’s true nature is revealed, and to top it all off, she loses her apartment. With nowhere else to go, Annie leaves the city for the family farm in Kentucky, a place she’s avoided for years. She finds a shotgun-wielding grandmother, a farm in disrepair, and a suspicious stranger renting the old stone house. The country quiet haunts Annie with reminders of a past that can’t be changed. She tries persuading her grandmother to sell the farm, but is met with stubborn refusal? Yet in the midst of her crashing life, Annie sees a glimmer of hope for a second chance.

Jake Wilder is contemplating jumping off the corporate ladder to follow his passion for sustainable farming. He’s almost ready to propose to Camille, a girl who wants more, not less. Annie believes Jake is about to make a terrible mistake, but does she have the right to tell him?

As the summer heats up, so do Annie’s unexpected feelings for Jake and her interest in the land. When a sudden phone call comes from New York, Annie is forced to choose between coming to terms with her past or leaving it all behind.

A Sensible Arrangement (Lone Star Brides, Book 1) by Tracie Peterson
Narrated by Barbara McCulloh
Audio Publisher: Recorded Books
Print Publisher: Bethany House

Description (from Amazon.com):

Marty Dandridge Olson is a widow looking for a way out of Texas. Widower Jake Wythe has secured a job as a bank manager in Denver, only to discover that the bank board wants him to be a married man. With Texas in his roots, he advertises for a Lone Star bride, and Marty answers the call. They both agree they are done with romance and love and will make this nothing more than a marriage of convenience. Marty works to carve out a new life in high-society Denver as Jake works to guide the bank through a collapsing economy.

But when money goes missing at the bank and accounting discrepancies point to Jake, he must find a way to prove his innocence. Yet all he wants to do is go back to Texas and own his own ranch. Marty, on the other hand, owns a ranch – one she’s never told her husband about. She hates Texas because it represents the losses in her life. But as the couple grows closer and love begins to bloom, Marty realizes she needs to tell Jake the truth. Can she come to terms with the past and her anger toward God in order to make room for love?

Inspirational / Faith-Based Non-fiction

Since the focus of my blog is on Christian fiction, I’ll not devote quite as much space to the Non-fiction finalists. But, for those who may be interested, here’s a list of the Inspirational / Faith-Based Non-fiction Audie Award finalists for 2015 (with links where you can learn more).

Before Amen by Max Lucado, Narrated by Ben Holland (Thomas Nelson)

Living a Life that Matters: From Nazi Nightmare to American Dream by Ben Lesser, Narrated by Ben Lesser and Jonathan Silverman (Remembrance Publishing, LLC)

Prepared for a Purpose by Antoinette Tuff, Narrated by Robin Miles (eChristian)

The Singer and the Song by Miriam Therese Winter, Narrated by Janis Ian (Audible, Inc)

Steel Will by Shilo Harris, Narrated by Johnny Heller (eChristian)

And now, let’s wrap up with a question for my readers.  Have you read or listened to any of these titles? If so, what did you think? If not, would you be interested in seeing some or all of these titles reviewed here? Or more interested in reviews of upcoming titles?

Happy New Year!  With everyone thinking about resolutions and new beginnings, I thought this would be a great time to tell you about some brand new features I hope to share on this blog in the coming year.

I’ve been blogging weekly about Christian fiction here at karencollier.com for a little over a year now.  Yay!  Actually, my first blogoversary fell on November 3, but who’s counting?  Apparently not me, or I would have posted about it at the time.  😉

Up to now, my blog has focused primarily on reviews of Christian fiction books and audiobooks, along with the occasional post about my writing journey.  Don’t worry!  That’s not going away.  I love doing those reviews and other posts.  But I do want to add some more fun and interactive features into the mix for my readers.

So, with the New Year approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about what other kinds of posts I might like to share on a regular basis.  Here are a few ideas that have stuck with me, that I’m planning on trying out in the next few months.

As you read about these new features and continue following my blog, I have a request for you.  If there are any posts or types of features that you particularly love, please let me know and tell your friends about them, so I can be sure to keep producing the kinds of posts you like best!

Featured Reads

As Public Services Librarian for a small rural library, one of my responsibilities (among many) was “Reader’s Advisory” which can include suggesting (not to be confused with recommending) books to patrons.  (Q:  There’s a difference?  A:  Yeah, you recommend books based on your own personal experience having read those books, but you suggest books based on other factors, like their popularity, subject matter, awards, other people’s reviews, etc.)

My plan with “Featured Reads” posts on the blog is to feature three suggested Christian fiction books in each monthly post.  One title that’s “Hot Off the Presses” (newly released), one that’s “Topping the Charts” (on the current best seller lists), and one that has garnered awards and recognition (still working on a clever heading for that one).  Occasionally, I might add a fourth title “Just Because.”

Bookish Interviews

I’ve seen some great author interviews featured on other blogs, and I want to get in on the fun too!  I’m hard at work brainstorming what I hope will be original, thought provoking, and entertaining questions, as well as plotting and planning who to approach when (and how).  On my interviewee wish list: authors of Christian fiction, book bloggers, and publishing industry professionals like agents, editors, cover designers, publicists, etc.  I’m thinking big and we’ll see where it goes….

Book Club Connection

I’ve been sharing links about upcoming online “Book Discussions in Christian Fiction” on a monthly basis for a while now.  Since July, in fact.  But I want to take that a step further, and take a more active role in promoting and encouraging Christian fiction book clubs.

I’m envisioning a monthly post called “Book Club Connection” with one or more parts in each post.  These might include a featured book that I think would be well suited for discussion, links to upcoming discussions, tips and thoughts for book groups, and discussion prompts of interest to current and future book group participants about topics like what makes a book group work well, etc.

Why the interest in book clubs?  That could be a whole post for another day.  But here’s the short answer.  I enjoyed my time leading and participating in a book club.  And I think book discussion groups are a great opportunity to share a love of favorite books and authors with other readers, while discovering additional books you might not have otherwise picked up.  Win-win!

Musical Inspiration

This one is kind of tangential to Christian fiction, but I think it’ll be fun.  In each “Musical Inspiration” post, I plan to feature one of my favorite contemporary Christian songs, with a few words about what I like best about it, along with links for those wanting to listen for themselves.  My theory is that many of the same people who enjoy reading Christian fiction would also tend to be fans of Christian music.  Yes?  Anyway, I find music to be incredibly inspiring both in my life and in my writing.  I can’t wait to share some of my favorites with you, and hopefully hear about some of your favorites too.

Blogside Chat

Want to chat about books, blogging, reading formats, genres, plot & character elements, or really anything related to Christian fiction?  I’m hoping to host some discussions here on the blog in 2015.  To that end I’ll be creating occasional blog posts intended as conversation starters, each featuring a discussion question of some sort, inviting you to weigh in with your opinion.  So… a preliminary question as I begin planning questions… are there any topics you’re especially keen to talk about?

Thanks for reading!  If any of my shiny new post ideas have caught your attention (or you just plain love book and audiobook reviews), I hope you’ll plan on following my blog in the coming year.  I’d love to chat with you!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and I’m participating today for the first time! This week’s topic is: “Top Ten Books I’d Give to Readers Who Have Never Read x.”

I chose to go with a Christian fiction theme.  That is kind of the focus of my whole blog….

The librarian in me rebels at the idea of a single one-size-fits-all list for those who haven’t yet tried Christian fiction.  I want to sit down with one reader and find out what makes him or her tick — favorite authors, genres, and themes; reason(s) for branching out into Christian fiction; etc — and THEN point to a personalized list of books.  Since that’s not possible here, I’m going to do the next best thing, and go for a broad sampling with (hopefully) something that’ll appeal to (most) everyone.

First, a few recent favorites of mine, with links to my reviews.

• A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert
• All My Belongings by Cynthia Ruchti (Note: My review goes live at Edgy Inspirational Romance today. Please stop by the blog and say hi!)
• Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay
• Not in the Heart by Chris Fabry

Next, I’ll round out the list with a smattering of titles by a few of the best known authors in Christian fiction.

• C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia would be an obvious first choice, but The Screwtape Letters is a fun and entertaining read too.
• Karen Kingsbury. This author has such a huge selection of wonderful books, it’s impossible to recommend just one.  Among her most recent is Fifteen Minutes, which sounds great, though I haven’t had the chance to read it myself yet.  Or… one that I did read and really enjoyed was Unlocked.
• Frank Peretti.  Probably best known for This Present Darkness, my introduction to this author was through the audiobook version of Prophet.  Think action, intrigue, and spiritual warfare.
• Ted Dekker. If you’re into action/suspense/thrillers with unexpected twists… start here.  Outlaw recently won a Christy Award and sounds like it’d make a great jumping off point for those new to this author’s work (though I still need to read this one).  Then again, I have read Eyes Wide Open and loved it, so maybe that’s the one I should  include in this list?
• Francine Rivers.  Redeeming Love is a must read.  A classic historical romance and a personal favorite.  And if you like that one, there are plenty more by this talented author to choose from.
• Dee Henderson.  Okay, I confess, I haven’t read anything by this author yet myself.  (Hangs head in shame.)  Thing is, I really need to because I love Inspirational Romantic Suspense, and that’s totally her thing.  I know her O’Malley series has been hugely popular, and since there’s a prequel, Danger in the Shadows, that won the prestigious RITA award, that’s where I’m tempted to start reading her books.

So, what do you think?  A good sampling?  Any other authors/titles you would’ve liked to see on this list of recommendations for someone new to Christian fiction?  Please comment.  I know I found it hard to stop at ten!

Update: Can’t get enough?  I found a few more top ten lists on this theme from Kate at Too Read or Not Too Read, Abbi at Christian Novels, and Rissi at Dreaming Under the Same Moon.  Check them out too for more great reads in Christian fiction!