Becoming Mrs. Lewis - Patti Callahan

Patti Callahan's new novel Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis  is newly released and would make a great gift for the reader on your list.

From Thomas Nelson Books:

"In a most improbable friendship, she found love. In a world where women were silenced, she found her voice.

From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.

In this masterful exploration of one of the greatest love stories of modern times, we meet a brilliant writer, a fiercely independent mother, and a passionate woman who changed the life of this respected author and inspired books that still enchant us and change us. Joy lived at a time when women weren’t meant to have a voice—and yet her love for Jack gave them both voices they didn’t know they had.

At once a fascinating historical novel and a glimpse into a writer’s life, Becoming Mrs. Lewis is above all a love story—a love of literature and ideas and a love between a husband and wife that, in the end, was not impossible at all." Read an excerpt of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

Patti was a finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction, has been an Indie Next Pick, twice an OKRA pick, and a multiple nominee for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Novel of the Year.The mother of three children, she lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina, with her husband. Visit her online at patticallahanhenry.com; Instagram: pattichenry; Facebook: AuthorPattiCallahanHenry; Twitter: @pcalhenry."

The Skin Map - Stephen R. Lawhead

Stephen Lawhead is an author whose name I was familiar with, but hadn't yet sampled. When I received an offer to listen to his book The Skin Map (A Bright Empires novel) it was the tag line that convinced me to say yes.

"It is the ultimate quest for the ultimate treasure. Chasing a map tattooed on human skin. Across an omniverse of intersecting realities. To unravel the future of the future."

Kit Livingstone is on his way to visit his girlfriend Wilhemina. Somewhere along the way, he takes a shortcut through an unfamiliar alley in London, England and ends up.... Well, he's not quite sure where he ends up. But the man who greets him by name says he is his great grandfather Cosimo and he's been hoping Kit would show up. Cosimo spins a fantastic tale of ley lines, time travel and alternate worlds. Kit listens, but decides to head back to his own time. He finally gets to Wilhemina's apartment. She's quite angry at Kit for turning up almost 8 hours late and doesn't believe his reason, so Kit decides to show her instead. He find the alley again and makes the leap into the other world. But....Wilhemina loses her grip on Kit and doesn't make the jump. She is lost...somewhere. Kit rejoins Cosimo and his peers. They are seeking to keep The Skin Map - a tattooed version of the ley lines and their entry points safe. Kit just wants to find Mina.

I thought this was a great premise. Although I don't read a lot of sci-fi, the concept of ley lines is indeed fact based and the cause of much speculation in history.

The reader, Simon Bubb, was fantastic. He conveyed many different characters, conjuring up separate personalities with his voice. His reading style is even and measured. Bubb is British, but I had no problem understanding his accent. A five for the reader.

Although Kit is the main character, I found myself more drawn to Mina. She lands in 17th century Prague. She seems to assimilate much easier than Kit and embraces her new life. I found myself really looking forward to 'her' chapters.Kit seems more unsure of himself and content to follow.

I found the book very slow in the beginning. While I appreciated the historic detail Lawhead has infused his story with, it dragged for me after awhile. While I didn't fast forward, I would have been flipping forward if I had a book in hand. Again, the concept is great and I was looking forward to what would be found in these alternate universes. I kept waiting for things to happen - some action. I did get my wish close to the end of the book, but it wasn't a satisfying finish for me.  I had the feeling that this first book was simply setting things up for future books in this planned five book series.

So, for me a solid listen. I'm curious as to what Lawhead has planned - the second book, The Bone House was released in September 2011, but it's not at the top of my must have list.

You can find Lawhead on Facebook

The Clouds Roll Away - Sibella Giorello

The Clouds Roll Away is the third novel in Sibella Giorello's Raleigh Harmon series. It was the first book by this author that I had read.

The setting is in the South, where racial tensions and undercurrents still simmer. When a burning cross is found on the yard of a black rapper who has moved into an old plantation, the heat is turned up and FBI Agent Harmon is called in to investigate the hate crime. Her unique specialty is forensic geology. The author draws on her own geology degree for background.

Harmon is an interesting character and the sub plot involving her personal life is just as appealing as the case itself. She's just moved back to Richmond, Virginia having survived a disciplinary move to another field office. Her mother is mentally living in the past, and Raleigh's past wants to catch up with her - in the form of an old boyfriend.

The main plot idea is a good one. However I thought it got a bit muddy in places, specifically in the procedurals. The law enforcement characters seemed to be caricatures. In the beginning Wally the lodger seemed like a character out of place. His involvement is not really clear until the end when he is used as a vehicle for a redemption theme.

The Clouds Roll Away is marketed as Christian suspense. Although the crime in heinous, there is no overt violence. The Christian message is there, but again is not 'in your face'. Giorello's writing flows easily and her descriptions of scenes were worth reading slowly and savouring. I did feel a little lost in the beginning as I had not read the previous two books. I did enjoy this book, but it was the character herself I really connected with. The crime was intriguing, but was secondary for me. Fans of this genre would definitely enjoy this series - the fourth book is in the works.

Read an excerpt of The Clouds Roll Away.

Fans of this genre would enjoy this series.