Three Reviews in One!

Reviews by Jen Nofziger

I did not read one book for this month's Coffee and a Book.  I read three. Well, at least parts of three. Lucky for me I got an early start this month! In case you may think this early start is typical I should tell you that what I really wanted to read was the rest of the “Hunger Games” series, but I knew if I started book two, I'd want to move on to book three, and I just wouldn't have the time to get those AND a book review done by the deadline (though I did wonder how interested WoW Connect! readers would be in hearing about what I think about “Hunger Games”).

So I started with the book at the top of my “Books that Look Interesting for Coffee and a Book” list:  A Wedding Invitation by Alice Wisler.

Here's the thing: I don't see the point of telling you about a book I didn't like. There are a gazillion books out there, and how can it be helpful for me to tell you to avoid a book that you would probably not come across if I hadn't mentioned it? I will tell you this much: I read this book through to the end, but did not really enjoy it. A Wedding Invitation is a light read, a modern day love story. That it took place in a city I had lived in years ago (Washington, DC) and the city I currently live in (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) was strangely coincidental, but sometimes the story is hard to follow, and the characters weren't all that interesting to me. I couldn't find a lot of nice things to say about this book,so I decided to try again.

The next book on “The List” (that was also available at the library) was Journey to Riverbend by Henry McLaughlin. I picked this one up: 1) Because it was available; 2) Because it was interesting that it was a historical fiction romance written by a male; and 3) It had a “Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild” award, so it had to be well written, right? 

Here's something you should know: when it comes to sharing my opinions on books, I really have no idea what I am doing. I noticed this particularly this month because as I read A Wedding Invitation, I knew from the start that I did not like this book. When I picked up Journey to Riverbend, I knew right away it was better, but I don't know why. It seems if I am going to impersonate a reviewer of books, I should know these things, but I don't. Journey to Riverbend was well written, from what I read of it. After getting about 70 pages into it, I decided to put it down and try something else. Like I said, it was well written, it seemed to have the makings of a good story, but it was a historical fiction romance, and I just felt we had already gone there and didn't need to do it again. On to book number three.

My third, and final, attempt at a book this month is Kingdom's Dawn, the first book in Chuck Black's “Kingdom” series. Kingdom's Dawn is a short book, which is lucky for me, since time was running short! It is also very well written and engaging, which also made for a quick read. It is actually geared toward teen readers (the back cover says it's “Pilgrim's Progress for the X Box generation”) and pre-teens and teens might especially enjoy this book and series. Black has written this series of allegories, albeit sometimes thinly veiled allegories, as Bible stories written as medieval fantasy stories with knights and castles and lots of action. I was sucked in right away and would recommend Kingdom's Dawn.

So there you have it. Three books and my humble opinion. Happy reading!