I'm Back
Yay, home at last. I had a great time in the Keys but had to leave my laptop behind, which stunk. So I brought two books and they lasted for three days. That left me with four days of tv watching, which, after awhile, gets really boring.
But the books I read were wonderful.
Deception, by Randy Alcorn, has lovely prose. I think that's what I fell in love with in the story. The voice of it. Kudos to Alcorn. In my opinion, this is his best book yet. And the mystery tied up so nicely.
The other book I read was Sushi For One by Camy Tang. This is her debut novel and let me tell you, it was great! Very easy to get into, but the best thing was how Tang handled her character's issues. I don't cry easily, but I did with this story. Two things really struck me.
One, the heroine's wounds. Tang didn't blare everything out or get wishy-washy. She made the trauma deeper not by what she wrote, but by what she didn't. It was painful to read and I think Tang did an awesome job showing how her character's past affected every day of her present.
Two, the hero's discovery of Jesus. Let me say that one thing I don't usually enjoy reading in novels is a character's conversion. Usually it seems stale to me. Religious and just not real. Not in this story. When the hero sees a picture of the crucifixion I totally felt his fascination and pain. That scene was so powerful, so beautifully written, that it reminded me of what I felt when I first believed. So awesome.
Now I'm chomping at the bit to get to her next novel, Only Uni. You can check out Tang's blog here.
But the books I read were wonderful.
Deception, by Randy Alcorn, has lovely prose. I think that's what I fell in love with in the story. The voice of it. Kudos to Alcorn. In my opinion, this is his best book yet. And the mystery tied up so nicely.
The other book I read was Sushi For One by Camy Tang. This is her debut novel and let me tell you, it was great! Very easy to get into, but the best thing was how Tang handled her character's issues. I don't cry easily, but I did with this story. Two things really struck me.
One, the heroine's wounds. Tang didn't blare everything out or get wishy-washy. She made the trauma deeper not by what she wrote, but by what she didn't. It was painful to read and I think Tang did an awesome job showing how her character's past affected every day of her present.
Two, the hero's discovery of Jesus. Let me say that one thing I don't usually enjoy reading in novels is a character's conversion. Usually it seems stale to me. Religious and just not real. Not in this story. When the hero sees a picture of the crucifixion I totally felt his fascination and pain. That scene was so powerful, so beautifully written, that it reminded me of what I felt when I first believed. So awesome.
Now I'm chomping at the bit to get to her next novel, Only Uni. You can check out Tang's blog here.
Comments
The picture of the crucifixion is actually based on a story I heard in college about a statue of Christ that a church commissioned. They were so offended by the brutality of what the artist made that they didn't want it, but the artist had been trying to convey the depth of Christ's sufferings rather than allowing us to gloss over it. That story really touched me and when I was thinking about Aiden's spiritual desert, I instantly knew that a statue like that (I had to change it to a painting since a statue wouldn't fit in the pastor's office) would impact him in a way nothing else would.
Camy
I'm with you about tv watching. Now that I write, it just doesn't satisfy me like it used to. I always feel like I'm wasting my time and my mentality when I watch too much.
Those books sound great. And after hearing the author herself explain why she wrote that scene, I want to read it all the more. So kuddos to you for helping publicize her. That's good writer's karma, girl. :-)
As to Alcorn's book, if you like beautiful prose, you might enjoy "The Thirteenth Tale". I've just started it and the writing is breathtaking.