The Damascus Way by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke. Published by Bethany House, 2011

The Damascus Way

By Davis Bunn & Janette Oke

2011 Bethany House Publishers

Third Book in Acts of Faith Series

The Centurions’s Wife, The Hidden Flame, and The Damascus Way all tell the story of the first century church beginning shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The stories are excellent because they take the short narratives about the responses of even the disciples of Jesus Christ and the years following that unimaginable event and flesh them out with both characters and the environments of that time period. 

I hope that you will take the time to read the complete series, although it is very possible to pick up the relationship of the characters that are tied throughout the series.  The difficult part for me to keep track was all of the geography, although through Bible studies mainly, I am familiar with Israel and some of the surrounding countries, but I am not as familiar with the smaller communities nor the trade routes which are so important in these stories. 

The Damascus Way is really the telling of the disbursement of the members of The Way (followers of Jesus Christ) that was growing so rapidly in Jerusalem.  The Sanhedrin started a program of persecution including jailing and killing whole families in order to try to stamp out this “cult” from the community of Jewish faithful believers.  GOD used this move to send His message through these faithful souls to more communities, not only those under Roman rule, but also with those with whom the Romans traded via the great merchant caravans. 

At the time of this story, Damascus had become Hellenized and was used as a Roman stronghold as well as one of the homes of a Herodian king, although he was not there very frequently.  Damascus was far enough away from Jerusalem, that the population was not dominated by the methods of the Sanhedrin and was more open to various religious philosophies.  Many of them accepted the teachings of The Way and overcame their skepticism of the exiles by the way they walked their talk. 

In this episode, we see the daughter of a merchant, Julia, become acquainted with people of The Way through her father’s business.  Unbeknownst to her, her mother is not the wife of the merchant, but a purchased concubine, although both of them are treated as royalty within the confines of their home because of his love for them.  His wife by contractual marriage and two sons live in Jerusalem.  Julia and her old servant become believers of The Way and she falls in love with Jacob, a young man that works for her father and proves himself not only a strong, smart, protective and useful employee, but was raised as a follower of The Way. 

This book is full of surprises, drama and dangers as were the times and places.  I would highly recommend it.

According to the Pattern by Grace Livingstone Hill, originally published in 1903

According to the Pattern

By Grace Livingstone Hill

Griffith and Rowland Press, 1903

Republished: J.B. Lippincott Co., Inc.  1977

 

This is an oldie, but a goodie.   The plot of the book revolves around Miriam Winthrop discovering that her husband, Claude,  is “spending time” with a woman of wealth and power.  She thinks that she is losing him because she has spent more time being a mother and homemaker, than trying to be part of society which he finds so important.  While her husband takes a two-month business trip to Paris, she sews stylish clothes for her children and herself, gets suggestions from a fashion magazine about making her way into society, and basically works herself to a frazzle attempting to join a world outside anything she has ever known and eventually collapses from the strain and is on the verge of death.   In the meantime, her husband goes through emotions ranging from pride to self-condemnation.  But in the end, through the help of her doctor’s brother, a seminary student, they both come to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and make changes in their lives to follow “the pattern.”  God blesses and provides for them in many ways after they come to faith.

 

 This is one of Ms. Hill’s early works, and it is written in early 20^th century style. It seems to have a type of fairy-tale ending, but that can also be attributed to the goodness of GOD. Although the style is old-fashioned, the concepts of sin, forgiveness and repentance, salvation, and the need for Godly living are truths that never change.  I liked the book for showing that trying to gain prestige and respect through worldly methods takes a toll on people.  A person may change on the outside, but the heart must be changed through the workings of GOD to actually see a transformation and know the true meaning of love and life’s priorities.

Death of a Dreamer by M.C. Beaton, A Hamish MacBeth Mystery, Published by Mysterious Press Warner House in 2006

Death of a Dreamer                             

M.C. Beaton

A Hamish MacBeth Mystery

 

 

I’ve been a sucker for English village mysteries since I read my first Agatha Christie.  I think that I somewhat relate to them because I was raised in a small town in Montana where it seemed that everyone knew everybody’s business.  In the small-town mysteries, it is that knowing of the residence, their emotional and psychological idiosyncrasies, and of course the local gossip, and curiosity that generally lead to the discovery of the culprits and the motivation for the crime.  I also appreciate that they are generally relatively free of all the gory details that you find in watching shows like “Criminal Minds” or “CSI” and its various spin-offs.

 

The Hamish MacBeth mysteries are set in the remote village of Lochdubh in the Highlands of Scotland.  This is one of the later novels (copyright 2006, Mystery Press, Warner Books) with the earliest novels beginning publication in 1985 with a new novel on almost an annual schedule.  I’ve reserved some of the older works to become better acquainted with the Hamish MacBeth.  Wikipedia gives a good general description of the character at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamish_Macbeth.

 

In this novel, “outsiders” that aren’t the typical tourists start showing up in the small village.  Hamish visits with each of them and actually has good first impressions of each of them except for the snobby, rich American; but then as the plot unfolds he finds that the seemingly nice landscape artist is anything but an innocent man, but rather the motivation for murders by someone he least suspects.

 

I liked this mystery novel, because I didn’t figure it out before the conclusion and M.C. Beaton does a good job of developing the characters and using the local speech provincialisms to distinguish the characters’ origins and emotional attitude at various times during conversations with the law enforcement.

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith Published by Pantheon Books Random House in 2009

Corduroy Mansions

By Alexander McCall Smith

2009, Pantheon Books/Random House

 

This is NOT a Christian novel, nor does it even come close
to expressing a Christian Worldview. 

 

Corduroy Mansions
contains a myriad of colorful characters centered around the lives of those
that inhabit an old mansion that has been converted to flats in the Pimlico
neighborhood of London.  This book is
overflowing with characters, plots, and subplots about everyday life in modern
times.  Like life, the ending leaves you
totally up in the air regarding the various characters and what happens to them
– no happy ending here, just a nice dinner party for all of the residents at
the primary character’s, William’s flat.

 

This book is very busy and not for those that can’t keep
track of multiple characters and their activities.  It also has a very modern point of view in
regard to worldview. Although I did find some interesting comments and liked
William and some of the other characters, I missed the wholesomeness of Smith’s
#1 Ladies Detective Agency Series.  This
novel seemed to be more on the order of his series, The Sunday Philosophy Club,
which, by the way, I gave myself permission to quit reading because I didn’t
like the message that it was giving.

Winter Birds by Jamie Langston Turner Published by Bethany House Publishers in 2006

Winter Birds

By Jamie Langston Turner

2006 Bethany House Publishers

 

I had a hard time getting into this book.  Publisher’s Weekly (starred review) said, ”Genuine humor and well-crafted characters make this a memorable and inspiring novel.”

But I had a hard time finding the humor although I do agree that the characters are well crafted,  but maybe that is because I am in the sandwich generation and see the pain that Sophia Hess is still struggling with at 80 years of age.  This is a woman that has not experienced much joy in those years and bears many scars. Most of the humor is in the form of Aunt Sophia’s personal snide thoughts about the people who are her chosen care-takers and their friends.  She is extremely intelligent, but not very easy to like.

 

This is not your typical Christian novel with lots of Bible quotations or a coming to faith although her nephew, Patrick and his wife, Rachel, display a Christian walk that grows as the book develops and even brings out the better side of cantankerous, Aunt Sophia.

 

I liked the book more as the story developed and community surrounding Sophia, Patrick and Rachel was developed.  This book is definitely not sappy and reflects life for what it is, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Introduction

Welcome to Musings of an Avid Reader.  I hope that you enjoy reading as much as I do, and will find some new or even some older reads that hold your interest enough to delve into the book(s).  I enjoy various genres, but lean more toward Christian historical fiction.  I find that the little golden nuggets, especially when accompanied with Biblical scriptural references, help me in dealing with the troubles of this world and the realization that sin and struggle have been part of this life since the fall of man.

 

I accept the fact that not all people are Christian and so many books and their authors, and the people that read them are not going to adhere to a Christ-like worldview and lifestyle.  So I try not to be too biased against those books and take them at face value, knowing that God made all mankind, loves them, that Jesus died for the sins of the world, and wants no man to perish but to accept  gift of grace and mercy through belief in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

 

The opinions of the books are my own.  I am not paid to endorse any authors and even if I was, you will get my honest opinion about the book.

 

Happy reading!