Christian Bookworm Podcast is delighted to present to you Christian fiction and nonfiction authors this summer. The participating authors will read selected excerpts from their latest book releases. We hope you enjoy the readings and will add the books to your summer reading list.

Angela Benson’s numerous novels include the Christy Award-nominated Awakening Mercy, the Essence-bestselling The Amen Sisters, and Up Pops The Devil. Currently an associate professor at the University of Alabama, she lives in Northport, AL.

Angela Benson joins us today to read from her August 2009 book release, Sins of the Father.

Related Posts

1. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Mark Steele
2. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Tina Ann Forkner
3. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Cara Putman

Related Posts

1. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Mark Steele
2. Mark of the Cross
3. BOOK Trailer | Fearless

Christian Bookworm Podcast is delighted to present to you Christian fiction and nonfiction authors this summer. The participating authors will read selected excerpts from their latest book releases. We hope you enjoy the readings and will add the books to your summer reading list.

Ann Kroeker is a speaker and author of Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families (August 2009, David C. Cook) and The Contemplative Mom (2000, Shaw Books), Ann Kroeker’s articles have appeared in a variety of publications including The Indianapolis Star newspaper, and magazines such as Decision, The Student, Christian Home and School, and Indianapolis Woman. She contributed to several books including the award-winning Experiencing the Passion of Jesus, by Lee Strobel and Garry Poole. Married for 18 years and mother of four children, Ann is committed to encouraging and inspiring families as they face the demands of daily living.

Listen to Ann read an excerpt from Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families

Related Posts

1. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Andrew Wilson
2. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Deborah Vogts
3. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Mark Steele

Christian Bookworm Podcast is delighted to present to you Christian fiction and nonfiction authors this summer. The participating authors will read selected excerpts from their latest book releases. We hope you enjoy the readings and will add the books to your summer reading list.

Andrew Wilson holds degrees in theology from Cambridge University and London School of Theology. His passion is to communicate the extraordinary truths of God. Andrew teaches internationally and is an elder at Kings Church Eastbourne in the UK, where he leads training and development. Andrew is also the author of Incomparable: Explorations in the Character of God, and lives with his wife Rachel and their newborn baby Ezekiel in the UK.

Andrew Wilson reads a selection from his book, GodStories: Explorations in the Gospel of God

Related Posts

1. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Cara Putman
2. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Mark Steele
3. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Tina Ann Forkner

Christian Bookworm Podcast is delighted to present to you Christian fiction and nonfiction authors this summer. The participating authors will read selected excerpts from their latest book releases. We hope you enjoy the readings and will add the books to your summer reading list.

Mark Steele is the president and executive creative of Steelehouse Productions, a group that creates art for business and ministry through the mediums of film, stage, and animation. He is also the author of Flashbang: How I Got Over Myself and Half-Life/Die Already. Mark and his wife, Kaysie, reside in Oklahoma with their three greatest productions Morgan, Jackson, and Charlie.

Mark Steele reads from his latest book, Christianish: What If We’re Not Really Following Jesus at All?

Related Posts

1. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Tina Ann Forkner
2. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Melanie Dobson
3. Christian Bookworm Podcast Summer Reading with Cara Putman

Surrender the Wind
by Rita Gerlach

A quick~match tale of unexpected love . . .
A fuse that burned rapidly …

After a harrowing escape from the British, patriot Seth Braxton finds his father dead at Yorktown. Now battle scarred and grieving, he endeavors to settle down for a peaceful life along the shores of the Potomac by restoring the land his father loved.

Thinking he will forever stay in the secluded wilderness, he receives a message that he has inherited his grandfather’s estate in faraway England. Seth is torn between the land he’s fought for and the prospect of reuniting with his sister, Caroline, who was a motherless child at the onset of the Revolution, taken to England in order to spare her the horrors of war.

With no intention of making his stay at Ten Width permanent, he journeys to England to do his duty. When he arrives, he finds his sister in the throes of grief after being told her young son has died of a fever. In the midst of so much tragedy, he meets Juleah, the daughter of an eccentric landed gentleman. Her independent spirit and gentle soul steal his heart, and she becomes his wife and lady of the manor, enraging the man who once sought her hand and hoped Ten Width would be his own.

From the Virginia wilderness, to the dark halls of an isolated English estate, Seth inherits more than a crumbling ancestral home. He uncovers a sinister plot that leads to murder, abduction, and betrayal — an ominous mix that threatens to destroy his new life and new love.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The language and imagery in this book is enough to have me craving for more from author Rita Gerlach. The one downfall to this book was that I felt that things went so fast and there was not always enough depth as I would like, but with a 400 page book and so many things happening, one can only fit in so many words. Bringing forth the best of an English native land as well as a post-Revolutionary America hosts an exciting setting for this story of romance, betrayal, heart break, and adventure. The interweaving of the characters past, present, and future is beautiful and believable. I loved the main character and it was so good to have a book that followed a man’s point of view for once instead of a woman.

I am really excited about the new publishing house of Abingdon Press and this cover is absolutely to die for!

Related Posts

1. BOOK REVIEW | Surrender the Wind
2. BOOK REVIEW | Surrender Bay
3. BOOK REVIEW | Wind of the Spirit

A Dream to Call My Own
by Tracie Peterson

Lacy Gallatin, the youngest of the Gallatin sisters, is a woman with a mission: to find her father’s killer. Haunted by the belief that she’s failed him, Lacy is also battling a desire to have something more than just revenge, something she can’t quite figure out. Enter Dave Shepard, deputy sheriff for the area. Dave has been fervently trying to find the man who killed George Gallatin, but he always feels inadequate when it comes to the beautiful Lacy. When they are together, the tension crackles between them–both when they argue and when they kiss. Lacy finds him frustratingly irresistible…but is it truly love?

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a great ending to the trilogy of The Brides of Gallatin County. Once again the characters from the previous books are brought to a deeper level. Tracie really knows how to make you despise a bad guy, and in this book she even eloquently finds a way for a reader to find sympathy for the antagonist. I would say that this book is deeper and a little bit heavier than the other two, but it is good and could be read alone. This is one of those books that can make you look back on yourself and question if you are where you need to be in your faith. Lacy, the youngest of the Gallatin sisters has tried so long to be a strong person that she just ignores her pain and tries to go it all alone. It is once she realizes she needs another’s strength that she can really prosper.

* Paperback: 365 pages
* Publisher: Bethany House (June 1, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0764201506
* ISBN-13: 978-0764201509
* Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches

Related Posts

1. BOOK REVIEW | A Promise to Believe In
2. BOOK REVIEW | An Uncertain Dream
3. The Dream

Honor in the Dust
A Novel by Gilbert Morris

In the moral confusion of the court of King Henry VIII, young Stuart Winslow has many choices to make — and lives depend on what he will choose.

Born in poverty when his father was forced to choose between the woman he loved and the wealth of his aristocratic family, the determined Stuart Winslow will go to any lengths to improve his social position. When his skills in weapons design and falconry secure a place for him in the court of King Henry VIII, he quickly learns that the court is really a wicked cauldron of vices, power plays, and temptations — some of them very much to his liking.

When William Tyndale, an acquaintance of Stuart’s, makes it known that his ambition is to translate the Bible into the language of the common man, the king opposes Tyndale’s efforts and sentences him to death. If Stuart opposes the king in this, he will share the same fate. Is he willing to risk death at the stake for the sake of Christ? And how will he choose between the innocent Heather, who has long loved him, and the courtwise Nell?
In Honor in the Dust, bestselling author Gilbert Morris beautifully captures the tone of the Tudor period, chronicling the period’s excesses with skill and prudence. But like Morris’s other novels, this book also contrasts those excesses with the godly behavior of characters such as William Tyndale. In this captivating historical drama, Stuart Winslow is caught between two worlds: one that promises material and worldly success and one that promises salvation. Is his faith strong enough to withstand such a challenge?

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Honor in the Dust" is my first experience reading a book by Gilbert Morris if you can believe that with my loving Christian Historical Fiction, but you can believe that it will not be my last. This being a prequel for a previous Winslow Series, I am excited that there are already some books for me to jump back to as well as being excited for the rest of the Winslow Breed series to come in 2010 and 2011. Set in England in the time period of King Henry VIII makes an interesting background as the story goes through two generations and really brings a reader to care about the families and individual characters involved, one can really see the young men grow and blossom in their relationships.

There are many themes in this book. Besides from being a good read overall, there are lessons available to learn. From similarities in life to Biblical lessons to trying to hold strong in ones "honor" in a temptation arena, the challenges are realistic and hard. With historical characters such as Queen Catherine, King Henry VIII, and William Tyndale make it very interesting. There is sword play and adventure, betrayal and romance, espionage and disguise and a dozen other features that make this an all around enjoyable read.

* Paperback: 320 pages
* Publisher: Howard Books (August 25, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1416587462
* ISBN-13: 978-1416587460
* Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches

Related Posts

1. BOOK REVIEW | Ransome’s Honor
2. BOOK REVIEW | Like Dandelion Dust
3. Made of Honor

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY
by Virginia Smith

Allie Harrod is nearing the end of her maternity leave and is dreading leaving her baby in the care of a babysitter, possibly missing her baby’s first smile and more. Still, she isn’t ready to be a full-time mom, she wants to contribute to the family income and keep up the level of living they’ve become accustomed to.

When Allie’s sister invites Allie to party to sell some home based products, Allie goes, but she laughs it off. At least until she learns that the saleslady makes lots of money doing only a little bit of work. After that, Allie begins to think that maybe this is the career choice she’s been waiting for. Sure, she dropped out of Girl Scouts because she couldn’t see cookies, but selling makeup would be easier, right?

But the challenges facing Allie seem to raise as fast as her credit card balance. None of her pre-pregnancy clothes fit, her mother-in-law seems to have permanently moved in, and her husband only leaves the couch to help his beautiful—and single—coworker.

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY is the second book in Ms. Smith’s Sister-to-Sister series.  I enjoyed getting to know Allie and could identify with her reluctance to leave her baby with anyone other than herself. Returning to a full-time job after a baby is such a tough thing to do. Still, Allie was convinced that as a stay-at-home mom she’d be bored out of her mind. What do they do all day? She is convinced she doesn’t want to find out.

Any woman who has had children, whether they returned to work afterwards, went to work part-time, or quit completely will be able to identify with this completely realistic character. And the tension is only increased with the presence of an over-bearing mother-in-law, and a woman trying to steal her husband. Don’t miss AGE BEFORE BEAUTY. $13.99. 310 pages.

Related Posts

1. Promise Me Always
2. BOOK REVIEW | Stuck in the Middle
3. BOOK REVIEW | Seeing Through the Lies

Wounded: A Love Story
by Claudia Mair Burney

Gina Merritt struggles with being a single mother and her mental illness. She seeks relief by attending the Ash Wednesday service at her beloved church home. To her shock, the comfort she seeks comes in the form of a vivid vision, followed by blood flowing from her palms.

Anthony Priest is a journalist and a junkie. At rock bottom, he also seeks solace in church. He witnesses as Gina cries out in pain. Instinctly, Anthony reaches over to to touch Gina. As soon as he touches her, he instantly feels healed from his addiction. Gina takes off, clearly frightened and confused.  Wanting to find out what happened, Anthony pursues her.  Together,  they seek to understand how a Protestant African-American woman could experience the stigmata. An extraordinary love story develops between two very different people.

I’m a huge fan of Claudia Mair Burney’s novels. Wounded is probably her most literary work. While full of passion, it’s not a typical romance novel, which I really liked. It’s well researched and digs deep into Catholicism. The storyline also has several characters sharing their points of view. Claudia touches upon interracial love in this novel, which is something she does in many of her novels.

This is not a novel you would speed read through. The novel’s ending was shrouded in a bit of mystery, but I enjoyed having a reading experience that stretched my imagination.

Reviewed by Tyora Moody

Related Posts

1. ChristianBookwormPodcast.com Interviews Claudia Mair Burney
2. INTERVIEW | Claudia Mair Burney
3. Murder, Mayhem and A Fine Man