I’m going to admit right up front that it’s possible that my friendship with C.J. may color my review. I also received my copy free of charge as part of this book tour. However, as a reviewer for TitleTrakk, a Christian book reviews site, I get most of my to-be-reviewed books for free. So, keep that in mind, but I think I can be pretty honest here about my Bound by Guilt review.

Bound by Guilt focuses on two characters and how their lives are inter-twined by the actions of one of them. One character is Abby Dawson, a police woman who’s past makes her, well, lets just say a little over aggressive in her police work. Roxi Gold is just a scared teenager. The unwanted child of a druggie mother and a foster home drop out. Her one shot at a home came with strings attached- be a part of the family “business” or suffer the displeasure of Irene, her new foster mom and cousin to Roxi’s birth mother. That doesn’t seem so bad at first, but when the family “business” is stealing rare books, her conscience begins to interfere with her work.

Now, I took copious notes for my review as I was reading Bound by Guilt. Unfortunately, when I read them over, I realized that they were pretty much all spoilers, and one typo. So, I’m just going to wing it.

Bound by Guilt is really, really good. I’m not just saying that for the aforementioned reasons. Seriously- it’s good. There are elements of mystery and suspense, but the genre is pretty much general or maybe contemporary fiction. It’s definitely not a romance novel- although at times you really can’t help but hope that Roxi and her foster brother Diego would hit it off. They think of each other as though they really were brother and sister, and yet the chemistry is so strong and their relationship is so good, that the more romantically inclined among us just can’t help but picture this as their possible future. I swear, if I ever take up fan fiction, my first target will be CJ’s characters. Jim (from Thicker Than Blood) needs to make some woman happy, and Roxi and Diego so need to at least date.

In Thicker Than Blood, C.J. had a tendency to repeat events that we “saw” in her characters’ heads, and a few characters missed a chance to be fully fleshed out. Those are total non-issues in Bound by Guilt. Every character is thoroughly and well drawn, there are no awkward remembering scenes, and even characters that I disliked in Thicker Than Blood are much more likeable and interesting in Bound By Guilt. Oh- I should mention that several characters from Thicker Than Blood are in Bound By Guilt. None of them are major players except for Christy, but they are there.

Both books revolve around rare books from Dawson’s Book Barn, so it’s a totally natural thing that so many characters are involved in both books but without being a sequel in the usual sense. For example, while we get to see the progression of Christy’s life since the end of Thicker Than Blood, Bound By Guilt is focused on Abby Dawson and Roxi Gold- not Christy.

And the villains! Man, C.J. is so good at writing the bad guys. Which is a little worrying, as she only lives 20 minutes away from me and knows where I live… erm… So, anyway… Vince from Thicker Than Blood was a really well fleshed out psycho abuser. I mean, he was a psycho, not that he abused psychos. Irene, from Bound by Guilt is extremely manipulative and devious. And yet she’s extremely human. Maybe a little on the crazy side, but not so much so that it interferes with her life. Other people’s, maybe, but not her own.

The story progressed naturally, but not predictably. She did make me mad at one scene near the beginning, but it also answered all of her evasive “Well, that’s not going to happen… well, it will, but not for long…” answers when I tried to quiz her on certain book 2 happenings. Which actually made it strangely satisfying even though I was still mad. (And I’m still mad, C.J.! You know what I mean!) But page turner? Most definitely. You can’t help but want to know what’s going to happen to Roxi next, or what decisions she’ll make. A foster child run-away at the age of 16? So close to independance, and yet still dependant? Guilty for a crime that she did commit, and also guilty for a crime that she was merely present at… You can see what’s whirring through her head and feel yourself putting yourself in her place and wondering just what you’d do in the same predicament.

And Roxi is so real. I loved Thicker Than Blood, but Christy did come off as rather cold (the main character in book one) which made it harder to get really into the book. But Roxi is so warm, with real emotions, capable of thinking on her feet but not always making the right choices. Just as in reality, there aren’t always right choices to make.

I hate to say it, but there’s not much more that I can say without getting into spoilers, so I’ll finish with the book trailer for Bound by Guilt. And an endorsement. I rarely read anything that isn’t chick-lit or fantasy, but I loved Bound by Guilt. If you are a book geek, you’ll love it too, because not only is it a great story that’s well told, but there are lots of geeky tidbits on the antiquarian book trade, and about specific rare titles. Given that C.J.’s day job is in the rare book trade, those tidbits aren’t just guesswork or gleaned from interviews. It’s the real thing.

For more information, click the Amazon link above, or visit C.J. Darlington’s official website.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free as part of C.J. Darlington’s Bound by Guilt book tour in exchange for a review.

I’m really not a memoir reader. I dislike most non-history non-fiction. For some reason, I keep choosing memoirs from Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze program, and I’m not sure why (perhaps because there isn’t much fiction in my preferred genres). However, I loved I Am Hutterite. It read like a novel, and had very little of the “but that was to change all too soon” in it.

While I’m pretty familiar with Amish and Mennonites (I grew up in and live in Amish Country in south-central Pennsylvania), I’d never even heard of Hutterites until a few weeks ago. I’d heard them all grouped together and was intrigued, but assumed that it was simply another sect like the Amish. Within days I noticed I Am Hutterite appear on Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze page and immediately grabbed it. I’m so glad I did. I read the whole thing through on my recent vacation to Walt Disney World (and those who know me know that I rarely have time for reading there), and have just passed it on to my mother for her vacation. I highly recommend it.

Links of interest:Thomas Nelson’s Product Page, Book Preview

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of I Am Hutterite by Mary Ann Kirkby from Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze program for the purpose of reviewing it.

Now, I’m not used to reviewing non-fiction books, and so this might be a little shorter, or scattered than usual (and that’s saying something), but when I was offered the chance to review The Search For God and Guinness by BookSneeze, ThomasNelson’s book review blogger program, I jumped at it. Despite the fact that I don’t like most beers, I’ve always been fascinated by them. In fact, when I get a house of my own, I intend to learn how to brew.

I’m also extremely touchy on the subject of Christianity and booze. Look people, drinking is not a sin. It never has been, it never will be. Getting drunk may be a different matter, but yes, you can be a Christian and drink. All the apostles did, most of the church fathers did, Jesus not only did, but said that he would again when we’re all reunited. Ok, I digress.

I’m not a fan of non-fiction in general, but surprisingly, this book is changing that. I enjoyed The Search For God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer That Changed the World so much that I’ve purchased 5 or 6 non-fiction titles since receiving it. The author, Stephen Mansfield, is the man that wrote The Faith of Barack Obama which was such a hot seller during the election. He’s written several other biographies, and if they’re as good as this one, I may pick up one or two later on.

Despite the title suggesting that the book is solely about the beer, it’s mostly about the Guinness family and how the beer company funded and their faith fueled their philanthropy. Much focus is put on Arthur Guinness (often referred to as “the first Arthur” throughout the book) and then subsequently the line of Guinnesses that ran the company after him. Mansfield does follow several of the Guinnesses who chose not to follow in their fathers’ footsteps, but these excursions are brief though interesting.

Towards the end is an entire section devoted to the Guinnesses For God- the many missionaries and preachers to come from the Guinness line. I found this section, and the section on Arthur Guinness (the first) to be the most interesting to me, possibly because they were the longest sections to have a single focus. Sadly, there was little discussion of the actual beer, but the author did include enough information that a reader who is totally unfamiliar with the process of brewing beer should be able to follow along without difficulty. These snippets were my favorite part, and I wish there had been more of the actual beer in the book.

In all honesty, I felt that there was not enough focus to be a biography of the Guinnesses, nor enough focus to be a biography of the beer. Not that the author wandered from his intent, but that the intent isn’t as clear to me as a reader as I would have liked. I found the story of the Guinnesses to be very interesting to read, but I chose the book because I thought the focus would be on the beer. Nonetheless, I found myself itching to pick it up, and missing it when I’d finished reading.

Thicker Than Blood by C.J. Darlington is a story about a pair of estranged sisters. Their parents died in a car accident when they were just teens. One went to live with an elderly relative, and then grew up to become a rancher, starting off as a field hand and working (and investing) her way into full partnership. The other ran away from her pain, ended up making some hard decisions, some bad decisions, and more or less mucking up her life.

The twist comes when Christy (the messed up sister) tries to rectify one of those old bad decisions and it puts her life in danger. She ends up escaping into the loving arms of her sister, though the reunion is anything but hugs and kisses.

Thicker Than Blood by CJ Darlington is a book about relationships. Relationships between sisters, between close family friends, between those of us who are totally messed up and God.

Now, it’s a common misperception that is founded in truth  that Christian books are nothing but sermons in thin polyester disguise. This is very true of many older Christian fiction books, and even currently of some particular genres and publishing companies. This is certainly not true of all of them, and most of the Christian fiction I read certainly doesn’t fit that category.  It’s also a hard line for truly talented Christian writers to walk. Many feel that it would be a betrayal of their faith to NOT put in a sermon or two, and others fear that allowing any shred of their personal beliefs to shine through might spoil the story or limit their market. For many others it’s simply a part of the story since it’s a part of them.  I bring this up, because there is a bit of overt Christianity in Thicker Than Blood. I can’t call it preaching, because it’s not. It’s something that’s kind of hard to explain, but in my opinion it was handled very well- not detracting from the story but adding to it. Your opinion may differ.

A common complaint that I heard about Thicker Than Blood by CJ Darlington is that there wasn’t enough romance. And this is true, in my opinion, but since I actually know CJ, I was personally surprised to find as much in it as I did!  Of course, I know who the main character ends up with in the next book, but honestly, I couldn’t help pulling for a certain different character. *sigh*

There are a few sensitive spots for a some people. If you’re vehemently Pro Choice, this book will probably irk you. There is also a physically abusive man in the book (the one that the main character-Christy- is running away from). This might be a little sensitive for some, although if you can handle it, CJ wrote that character really well. I mean really, really well. I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or not, but I actually think the abusive ex-boyfriend (Vince) was the best fleshed out character in the whole book. I’ve told her before that she should be a suspense writer (Thicker Than Blood is simply labeled as “Contemporary”), and his character just proves it. Although, maybe that would be more suited to a thriller. Not sure.  What I do know is that if you struggle with writing genuine, realistic baddies, you’ll want to pick up a copy of this book as a study guide. If you’re anti-Christian, just ignore the parts that irritate you and study his character.

I echo the sentiments of the many other reviews and comments that I’ve seen on my friend’s book- it’s really, really good. Maybe I’m biased, but with so many others saying the same thing, I think it probably doesn’t matter.  I noticed a missed opportunity to add a little more suspense to a section of the novel- a rare first edition Ernest Hemmingway plays a large part in the plot- if a part of the reveal had been left out till later, the suspense would have been raised for the next chapter or two. It’s not a big deal, but it could have made a big difference in the pacing of the book.

Also, I noticed, as did another reviewer, that most of the internal thought scenes were basically digesting the action that had happened in the previous scenes. No new information seemed to come out of those, and as a result, I felt as though the space was being wasted. I didn’t get to know the characters any better than I had through watching them act. I would have enjoyed a little more time spent learning about the secondary characters instead in the same space.

As far as I’m concerned, CJ’s debut novel is really strong, with a great story, no cardboard characters, and some really great insider info on the rare book trade (it’s her day job). Even though it’s not in the genres that I normally read (chick lit and fantasy), I did find it rather hard to put down at night. My mother said the same, and even told me that at one point she had to put it down over night before continuing because she found a Vince scene too intense to read before trying to sleep. She also told me that she’s planning to buy a copy for a friend of hers because she’s afraid that if she lends it, she won’t get it back.  She also found it amusing that Christy’s drug of choice was sherry.  Very amusing. I think she spent about 10 minutes giggling about Christy drinking sherry to me.  Yeah, mom’s cute.

I suspect that the fact that her book has just gone into its third printing (remember, it was only released at the end of December), and the fact that Amazon has actually raised its listed price by almost $1 means that other people quite like it too! Check out some more reviews of Thicker than Blood, then buy a copy, or come back here and leave a comment. If you’d like to win an autographed copy, put in your comment that you’d like to win a copy (Travis can’t enter because he already won a copy when I posted about TTB before- though it hasn’t been sent because I haven’t had a chance to get CJ to autograph it yet- but I should have that on Saturday- sorry it took so long Travis!). To win, you must leave a comment stating that you want it, have a blog or website where you will mention the book (you don’t have to review it, but you do have to at least say “Hey, I won this book over at Vixen’s blog!” though a review would be appreciated. You also have to live in the continental USA cuz I’m cheap, and leave a valid email address (the one you use to leave a comment is fine) so that I can contact you and get your mailing address if you win. Entries end some time around 11:59pm Thursday, March 11, 2010, give or take a few minutes either way. I’ll try to announce the winner that Friday, but I tend to be lazy and sometimes things happen to prevent me from actually doing anything that I should be doing. But, I’ll still notify the winner so I can get their mailing addy.

Aaaaaaand, I think that’s it! I really wish I could write a better review than that, but my writing brain just hasn’t been functioning lately.

(click here for my actual review of Thicker Than Blood by CJ Darlington)

Remember I talked about my friend who won the Operation First Novel contest way back when? Well, the book was officially released in mid-December, and I ordered an additional copy just so that I could give it away here.

I haven’t started reading it yet- there’s the whole nervous-about-reading-my-friend’s-published-novel thing combined with the fact that I wanted to do my review at a later date, and the fact that I’ve been so tired lately that I just crash in bed instead of reading at all. However, my mother is over 1/3 of the way through and loves it.

Since I seriously suck at describing story lines, and since I have a paranoia of sounding overly biased, I’m just going to copy/paste the description the publisher gives on the back:

Christy Williams finally has her life on track. She’s putting her past behind her and working hard to build a career as an antiquarian book buyer. But things begin to unravel when a stolen Hemingway first edition is found in her possession, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. With no one to turn to, she yearns for her estranged younger sister, May, whom she abandoned after their parents’ untimely deaths. Soon, Christy’s fleeing from her shattered dreams, her ex-boyfriend, and God. Could May’s Triple Cross Ranch be the safe haven she’s searching for? Will the sisters realize that each possesses what the other desperately needs before it’s too late? A stunning debut from the latest Christian Writers Guild winner.

After I read it, I’ll give my full review here, but in the meantime, I’m giving one copy to the first person to comment (stating that they want it) who promises to at least talk about the book and link to some place that it can be purchased (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com, Berean, etc). You don’t have to review it, though that would be appreciated, but at least post about the book and link out to some place that sells it. I’ll send it to you once I get it autographed.

For more info on CJ’s Christian fiction Thicker Than Blood, see her website or her blog.

Remember, first come, first served!

Update: We already have a winner. You can buy a copy through the link above, or wait until my review. I might offer another copy at that time.

Now, to start you off, here’s a post that I wrote about my review of Auralia’s Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet.  The link to the actual review is in that post, but the post contains a bit of overspill that I couldn’t put directly into the actual review. This is one of the most creative and well written fantasy novels that I’ve ever read. Period.

Anyway, so, the interview that I heard is with my favorite irreverent Reverend (former reverend, actually) Steve Brown. He interviewed Jeffrey Overstreet for his (J.O.’s) first book, Through A Screen Darkly- which is a non-fic about movies. See, his day job is being a movie critic. Fiction is what he does in his off hours.

Anyway, they get into some pretty interesting discussions, and, to Steve Brown Etc‘s producer’s incredible joy, brought up Empire Strikes Back. Seriously, the producer guy is a little disturbing in his devotion to Star Wars. Anyway, for those of you who enjoy talk radio, you might find the interview interesting, though my favorite parts are probably the “movie trailers” they interrupt the interview with. Such as “Nuns. With Guns.” and the touching story of a cross dressing lesbian trapped in a man’s body, and his struggle to understand why he prefers to wear men’s clothes and is attracted to women.

Now, I love that because of the interview with one of my favorite authors (it’s about 40 minutes long and about 30-35 minutes is the interview). However, Steve Brown had Jeffrey Overstreet back to discuss The Golden Compass back when the movie was still out and people actually gave a crap. Whether you care about the G.C. or not, if you’re into fantasy, it’s still pretty interesting to hear his take on it- being a fantasy novelist AND a movie critic. Really interesting combo for this type of topic. To be honest, this might have been the interview where they discussed Empire Strikes Back. It was yesterday that I listened to them, so it’s all getting a little jumbled now.

And, just because it’s easier to drop links here than to actually try to find mom’s email address and then convince her to actually read the email, I wanted mom to hear this interview with the author of What’s a Christian To Do With Harry Potter? and The Gospel According to Harry Potter. Since I’m an HP geek from way back and used to listen to MuggleNet’s weekly podcasts ALL THE TIME, I was totally into this interview and got shivers several times when Connie Neal made points that I’d totally missed in my own reading. I’d always focused on Harry as the savior figure rather than as the saved. Some of her insight totally blew me away, and made me just want to hook her up with the MuggleNet peeps just so I could hear it!

In book one of the Wingfeather Saga, we find out that the three Igiby children are what is known as The Jewels of Anniera, being the king, the throne warden, and the song maiden. Since the dreaded and evil Fangs of Dang (vicious lizard men who are servants of Gnag the Nameless) have now found out who the Igiby children are, they (the children) along with their mother, grandfather, and an old friend are on the run to the north, where they believe the frigid temperatures will keep them safe from the heat loving Fangs.

Where the first book was mostly set up and back story, book two is all action. North! Or Be Eaten keeps up a proper pace for an adventure-fantasy, and is fraught with hidden dangers, jealousy, anger, remorse, and deadly secrets (which are not the same as hidden dangers).

The pace keeps the story hopping, and the unusual world keeps you guessing at what’s going to come next.  The focus is less on the twisted humor (“a nameless evil, called Gnag the Nameless”), and more on story, and while I missed having so much of my kind of humor wrapped up in the story, I actually enjoyed this book more than the first. I will say, though, that reading book one is absolutely necessary before starting book two. There is very little info dropping, and while it’s possible to enjoy book two without book one, that would be like eating the bologna without the bread. Fine for a snack, but not much of a meal.

I would have enjoyed North! Or Be Eaten more if I’d been able to wait until the series is finished. I don’t like having questions dangling about in my head, which is one of the reasons I rarely choose to pick up any books in a series until the whole series is available. Right now, I want to know why Gnag the Nameless chooses to use children for all of his labor. For experimenting, that makes sense- children are easier to mold and control. But for labor? That just doesn’t make sense, yet I can tell that it will. And that drives me up a wall.

I personally think this is a great YA fantasy. I’d place Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga somewhere between Donita K Paul’s Dragon Keeper Chronicles and Jeffrey Overstreet’s The Auralia Thread series. If you like either one, you’ll surely enjoy this. Just be prepared for some gross-out humor. You can tell this was written with young boys in mind.

To purchase this book, you can visit Random House and search, or go straight to the North! Or Be Eaten’s page. Available August 18, 2009.

In Andrew Peterson’s On The Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness, Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby live under the oppression of the horrible Fangs of Dang- lizard-like creatures who delight in torturing humans, and in eating maggotloaf and other such culinary treats. These bad boys work for Gnag the Nameless, who (whom?) the book refers to as a nameless evil… Yeah, you can see why I liked it from the start.

Unfortunately, the Igiby children manage to draw an undue amount of attention to themselves, and in order to avoid death or enslavement, they, along with their one legged ex-pirate grandfather, and sensible mother, have to escape.

The book is interesting from the start, but mainly because of the humor, which is a cross between middle school boy humor (aka: booger jokes), and Terry Pratchett. It’s an odd mix, but I love it. The majority of the book is almost like back story, however, and doesn’t really pick up the pace until the final third of the book. It’s well worth the read, but is absolutely essential if you plan to read the much more active book 2. At the very least, the secondary characters and the humorous footnotes should keep you entertained until you reach the exciting bits.

This is a middle grade fantasy, so if you’re expecting Robert Jordan, give this a miss. If you like both Narnia and Terry Pratchett, this may be worth your while.

The Vanishing Sculptor is a story about Tipper, a young emerlindian girl (an interesting take on elves) who is forced to sell her father’s masterful works of art in order to pay the house bills for years after her father disappeared. Unfortunately for her, and the world, it turns out that 3 of the sculptures she’s sold were carved out of one of the foundation stones of the earth! She must now set out on a quest (those pesky things, awfully uncomfortable these quests are- according to Wizard Fenworth) to retrieve these statues to prevent the total disolution of the world… and her father.

Even though I really miss Sir Dar, who, in this book, has not even been born yet, I love that Wizard Fenworth is back. Yes! There is nothing better than a wizard who drops off to sleep in mid sentence and who grows bark and leaves during his snoozes, not to mention the bizarre logic he follows that would make a sidewinder jealous with all the zigs and zags it takes.

Donita K Paul writes YA fantasy, and does it very well. The quality of her writing has improved with each book, and, surprisingly, each plot is remarkably fresh. Not all stories are particularly gripping, some are naturally better than others. But they’re all unique.

Happily, she’s gotten over her habit of over-naming things. In the first book of the DragonKeeper Chronicles, EVERYTHING had a weird name. It made it extremely difficult to follow the story, or even a train of thought. Particularly when the things being named didn’t actually have anything to do with the story at all.

This began to taper off until the last few books in the series were a good standard of fantasy naming. No more than is necessary.

In The Vanishing Sculptor, Paul continues to only name what’s necessary. There are only two things that I can really find fault with (aside from the lack of Sir Dar, which was necessary), and that’s that sometimes the quest seems a little too normal. As in, they go here, and then this happens, and then they go here.  So, in my opinion, a couple of scenes could have been removed with a mention of “they continued on to such and such, obtained such and such, and then proceeded to reach the such and such”. That would have left more room for what I consider to be the good stuff to be fleshed out a bit more.

The other thing that I take issue with is that they eat daggarts in Chiril. Which, as we know, is a common treat in Amara a few centuries later. I’m willing to forgive this point by telling myself that Wizard Fenworth and Librettowit brought daggarts back to Amara from Chiril and that’s how they became popular in Amara. Remember, Chiril and Amara are across the world from each other, and so travel is prohibitive. The odds of the same cookie-type treat being popular across the world when people didn’t travel across the world is pretty slim. It’s a minor point, I know, but it irritated me while I was reading.

If you’re interested in ordering The Vanishing Sculptor, it can be ordered directly from Random House, or from your favorite large bookstore.

Addendum: Donita K Paul answered the question “If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?” on Christian author C.J. Darlington‘s blog.

Also, I forgot to mention my other The Vanishing Sculptor review at TitleTrakk.com

What I believe they’re doing is, someone picks a book, reviews it, and sends it out to a fellow blogger. That person reviews it, links to the person who sent it, and then sends it out to another blogger, and on and on it goes (and when the reviews go up, so do the links to the person they sent the book to).

That sounds like fun to me! I don’t actually have a book in mind, but I’m thinking a debut author of some sort. Someone who could use the publicity.

So, is anyone interested? And if so, anyone have suggestions?  I’m thinking of a historical romance novella that I’m reviewing for Christian book reviews site.  It’s a pretty good historical romance, non-offensive without being preachy (wide appeal, perhaps?), and is only around 150 pages- so it won’t take up much time as it makes the rounds.  Only problem is that it’s not a debut author.