The Atonement

The Atonement is a beautiful story about love, forgiveness, and redemption. It reads, in my opinion, like it's a sequel. As you read through the novel, the back story slowly unfolds.

I found myself greatly sympathizing with Lucy as she reveals her past and struggles with her present and future. On certain issues, I've been in her shoes and how she can function while keeping it all bottled up is beyond me. Perhaps her packed schedule is evidence that bottling up your past isn't healthy.

One thing that really stuck out to me is the notion that what we've done is to bad for God to forgive, either by will or ability. I guess when fretting over our problems we forget that the God who put the earth just close enough to the sun for us to be warm and just far enough away to not burn us to a crisp, can surely forgive us our past.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves Amish fiction or if you've ever dealt with loss.

*This novel was given to me by NetGalley for an honest review.

The Love Letters

The Love Letters by Beverly Lewis, shows how families cope with a handicap child; some parents don't handle it well. It also dives into death, grief, acceptance of different denominations, guardianship, dementia, and a whole lot of emotions. Yes, it's a packed book. Let's face it, life is a roller coaster. Beverly did a wonderful job capturing many different trails in life that we all face. What happens when the man you plan to marry disagrees with your current situation? Do you still associate with people who worship God, but in a different denomination? What if your first child arrives with difficulties you didn't expect? How do you handle waking up one day not knowing your name, address, or if you're still married? What happens when a family member gets hurt or dies? Who watches the deceased's children or takes care of their spouse? Beverly shows her families all walking some hard paths and through it all they're unknowingly helping each other heal from their crippling mindsets. Through the crazy roller coaster of life, true love reigns.

Tricia Goyer

Have you heard of the author Tricia Goyer?  I didn't know she existed until LifeWay sent me a calender last year that was all Amish with a coupon at the end for Tricia's new and first Amish book, Beside Still Waters.  I put off buying it for a while.  I'm always afraid to buy a book then find it's lousy.  Well, I'm pleased to say I LOVED the book.  I loved it so much I found myself watching the calender for the next two books in her Big Sky Amish Series to come out.  When I find myself in a lull I want to read some of her other books.  I'm sure their good too.

Here's what I loved about her books...  There are certain Amish authors who quickly do a "boy meets girl" and you know from the first chapter they will eventually get married.  Ugh!  Give me some mystery.  Keep me guessing.  Well, Tricia Goyer does that.  Her writing reminds me a lot of Beverly Lewis who is my FAVORITE Amish author.  I seriously read a lot of Amish books; perhaps to much????  I believe Tricia is my second favorite Amish author.  She only gets second place because I've read Beverly's books longer and she has more of them out.  Something else I loved was how I could forget the main character was Amish.  She just lived life.

I'm currently reading The Memory Jar by Tricia Goyer and published by Zondervan Publishing which is due to be released on October 23rd. My thoughts so far?  Love it!

I'm reviewing this book for Net Galley.