A while back, several fans responded to a query on my Facebook author page about what I should write about at my blog. One response was: What do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Narrowing down the list is very difficult, because I frankly love to read so much (from suspense fiction to history to devotional books to young adult novels). But in my estimation a few novels/authors stand above the rest. Keep in mind that I’m starting with childhood and that I had a very active imagination then (still do). Today I want to talk about the highly underrated five-book series, The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (published in the 1960s). The five books are The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron (Newberry Award Honor Book), The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King (Newberry Award Winner). Before there was The Hobbit. Before there was The Lord of…
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Several years ago, I discovered Erik Larson’s engrossing book Eric’s Storm about the 1900 hurricane in Galveston, Texas. When I read his The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (which weds the 1893 World’s Fair and serial killer H.H. Holmes), I was hooked. So it was with great expectations that I recently read his latest book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin. Once again, Larson didn’t disappoint. Since college, where I minored in history, I’ve always loved books that wed history with suspense. Perhaps that’s why history has always played a major role in the suspense novels I like to write. If you think history is boring, you’ve never read Larson, who is a master at writing engrossing historical suspense. What adds to the intrigue is that his novels are true. Every line of dialogue in his…
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A while back, several fans responded to a query on my Facebook author page about what I should write about at my blog. One response was: What do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Narrowing down the list is very difficult, because I frankly love to read so much (from suspense fiction to history to devotional books to young adult). But in my estimation a few novels/authors stand above the rest. Keep in mind that I’m starting with childhood and that I had a very active imagination then (still do). The one novel that probably made the biggest impression on me when I was a kid was A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle, which I’ve read at least twice. Up to that point, it was simply the most enthralling novel I had ever read. While reading this novel, I officially fell in love with books, and the love has…
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For my birthday, I asked for a book several friends had recommended—and I’m so glad I did. Lately, I’ve become rather impressed with this little book (187 pages). Because each chapter is topical, focusing on a specific sin, I’ve been first going to the chapters that address areas I know are a struggle for me. The book is Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend you go get a copy. Now and then you may find me referring to it here because that’s how impressed I am with it—and how much it has stirred my thinking about several key areas of my life. And how I love passing on its truths to others. Yesterday, I was reading the chapter about anxiety and frustration and came across this wonderful quotation from John Newton, author of “Amazing Grace.” “[One of the…
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