by Jason Joyner | Jan 5, 2009 | Blog, fiction, reading, reviews
Yes! It is that self-indulgent time when we all get to post our “Best of the Year” awards. You may ask if I’m so cynical about it, then why do I participate. Well, I don’t want to be left out! Actually, I am interested in promoting books I have read this year.
I kept a running list of what I read in ’08, as I got tired of forgetting which books I had finished. I’m sure there are more prolific readers out there, but it was an impressive list for me (44 in all).
This is my best of for fiction. There was a non-fiction book that was my definite favorite of the year, but I’ll hit that one on its own. It really can’t be compared with fiction.
1. Less Than Dead by Tim Downs:
This was my first foray into Tim’s “Bug Man” novels and I found a unique protagonist, a humorous yet suspenseful plot that kept me guessing until the end, and high quality writing. Tim Downs should be one of the top authors in the CBA, in my opinion. Why isn’t he? Probably because he hasn’t written a prairie/Amish romance yet, though if he wrote one, I’d read it!
2. Try Darkness by James Scott Bell:
Bell got me into the genre of legal fiction last year with his very good Try Dying, but the second book in the series was a shifty, funny, poignant, and thrilling ride through Los Angeles. Bell is another author that should have a higher standing in CBA. If you’re missing his work, you’re plain missing out.
3. Boo by Rene Gutteridge:
Boo is one of her earlier novels, and it kicks off a whole series based on the residents of Skary, Indiana, where the world’s most beloved horror writer lives. The trouble is, he finds Jesus, and the man who made Skary scary no longer wants to write horror. What will the town do to survive? I’ve seen the novelist who can’t write his usual stuff written a few different ways, but Gutteridge is such a talented humorist that her quirky characters drive along a great story and bring home some touching themes as well.
4. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson:
This is classified as a young adult (YA) novel, but it was a delight for myself as well as my boys. Peterson is a singer/songwriter who’s foray into story-telling is a natural. He crafts a slightly off-beat world with danger, humor, and toothy cows. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it twice, once by myself and again out loud to my boys (which was probably even more enjoyable). Any book that has a Nameless Evil (named Gnag the Nameless) is a winner in my eyes.
5. The Begotten by Lisa T. Bergren:
The Begotten is the opening book for her trilogy of The Gifted. It is a historical speculative fiction set in Italy of the 1300’s. A long prophesied group are drawn together to use their spiritual gifts to help the people and draw the Church into renewal. Both politics in the Church and evil forces without threaten the ragtag Gifted. It paints a remarkable picture of historic Italy with a suspenseful plot and sympathetic characters. I enjoyed the whole series, but the first book was probably my favorite.
Other notables:
Adam by Ted Dekker
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Merciless by Robin Parrish
Busts:
The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley
Whispers by Dean Koontz (an older Koontz-I asked for a recommended book from him, and mistook this book for Watchers– Whispers is grotesque and profane)
by Jason Joyner | Oct 8, 2008 | Blog, blogging, CFBA, CSFF, fiction, reading
I’ve been a member of two blog tours, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and the Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy Tour, for over two years now. I’ve had the privilege to review many good books and enter into some great discussion with others out there in the blogosphere.
Even though this has benefited me, what about the authors? Do the writers who have offered up their work for review get a measurable boost from the coordinated focus of a blog tour.
So far I’d have to say there’s no direct benefit to a blog tour.
I come to this conclusion from from two sources. Brandilyn Collins has been involved with the CFBA tour since its inception, and I recall her blogging that she hasn’t seen specific movement of more books associated with a blog tour. However, with her marketing experience, she knows the value of getting her name and books out there with visibility.
Also, I was involved with a tour for Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture by Mary DeMuth, and Mark Goodyear tracked measurable stats regarding the tour. They tracked how many books were sold directly through Mary’s site. His conclusion was that there wasn’t a large increase in sales from the well-organized tour.
However, does this mean blog tours aren’t worthwhile?
I would say that there are benefits to blog tours that aren’t easily measurable, at least not directly. Maybe people don’t rush out and buy the book from Amazon right away, giving noticeable statistics.
My argument is that it is worthwhile for authors to do blog tours in order to get their book out there and find some people that could turn into influencers. I suggest this can be a big benefit for authors.
I can think of several authors whose books I would not have read if not for getting their book for review: Rene Gutteridge, Lisa Bergren, John Aubrey Anderson, and Tom Morrisey to name a few. All of these authors have won me over with the quality of their writing and their interesting stories. What has happened is I have become their advocate. I continue to think of them as I refer people to good authors.
Not only that, but I support them more than I would have earlier. Even though through the blog tours I generally receive the books from the publisher to review, I have purchased books from the writers above. Either I’ve purchased other books in their catalog, or I buy the books I’ve already read to give away to others. I also lend out books so others can given them a try and hopefully get interested enough to purchase other books in the future.
Of course this can happen randomly. Maybe I would have picked up one of these books in Barnes and Noble (I have no local Christian bookstore). I do recall looking at Anderson’s first book, Abiding Darkness, at B&N. But I never bought it. I don’t think I would’ve walked out with any books from the others I listed there. But I’ve purchased all of Anderson’s work since to give away. I just bought an older book of Gutteridge’s, outside of the series I’ve been enjoying so much. I reviewed Bergren’s first book for a tour, and made sure I bought the others so I could finish the series. Early this year I purchased Robin Parrish’s Merciless because I couldn’t wait an extra month for the blog tour to get it.
Just last week I read a new book from Tim Downs, Less Than Dead. I had read his book Plague Maker on my own and really enjoyed it, but had forgotten about Downs until reading his latest for the tour. I was so delighted to “rediscover” him that I fully plan on completing my collection of his books.
Maybe I’m strange (no comments Mark…), but I can’t help but think this type of situation happens with others for blog tours. My conclusion is that an author won’t know what type of people they will reach with a blog tour. If they get the right person, they will have an influencer who will carry on promotion that goes beyond the investment the author made by sending some books out for a blog tour.
If anyone reading this has been influenced by any of my posts, I’d love to hear from you on this topic. If you have any thoughts on blog tours, I’d also encourage you to speak up. Coolness.
by Jason Joyner | Oct 8, 2008 | Blog, blogging, CFBA, CSFF, fiction, reading
I’ve been a member of two blog tours, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and the Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy Tour, for over two years now. I’ve had the privilege to review many good books and enter into some great discussion with others out there in the blogosphere.
Even though this has benefited me, what about the authors? Do the writers who have offered up their work for review get a measurable boost from the coordinated focus of a blog tour.
So far I’d have to say there’s no direct benefit to a blog tour.
I come to this conclusion from from two sources. Brandilyn Collins has been involved with the CFBA tour since its inception, and I recall her blogging that she hasn’t seen specific movement of more books associated with a blog tour. However, with her marketing experience, she knows the value of getting her name and books out there with visibility.
Also, I was involved with a tour for Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture by Mary DeMuth, and Mark Goodyear tracked measurable stats regarding the tour. They tracked how many books were sold directly through Mary’s site. His conclusion was that there wasn’t a large increase in sales from the well-organized tour.
However, does this mean blog tours aren’t worthwhile?
I would say that there are benefits to blog tours that aren’t easily measurable, at least not directly. Maybe people don’t rush out and buy the book from Amazon right away, giving noticeable statistics.
My argument is that it is worthwhile for authors to do blog tours in order to get their book out there and find some people that could turn into influencers. I suggest this can be a big benefit for authors.
I can think of several authors whose books I would not have read if not for getting their book for review: Rene Gutteridge, Lisa Bergren, John Aubrey Anderson, and Tom Morrisey to name a few. All of these authors have won me over with the quality of their writing and their interesting stories. What has happened is I have become their advocate. I continue to think of them as I refer people to good authors.
Not only that, but I support them more than I would have earlier. Even though through the blog tours I generally receive the books from the publisher to review, I have purchased books from the writers above. Either I’ve purchased other books in their catalog, or I buy the books I’ve already read to give away to others. I also lend out books so others can given them a try and hopefully get interested enough to purchase other books in the future.
Of course this can happen randomly. Maybe I would have picked up one of these books in Barnes and Noble (I have no local Christian bookstore). I do recall looking at Anderson’s first book, Abiding Darkness, at B&N. But I never bought it. I don’t think I would’ve walked out with any books from the others I listed there. But I’ve purchased all of Anderson’s work since to give away. I just bought an older book of Gutteridge’s, outside of the series I’ve been enjoying so much. I reviewed Bergren’s first book for a tour, and made sure I bought the others so I could finish the series. Early this year I purchased Robin Parrish’s Merciless because I couldn’t wait an extra month for the blog tour to get it.
Just last week I read a new book from Tim Downs, Less Than Dead. I had read his book Plague Maker on my own and really enjoyed it, but had forgotten about Downs until reading his latest for the tour. I was so delighted to “rediscover” him that I fully plan on completing my collection of his books.
Maybe I’m strange (no comments Mark…), but I can’t help but think this type of situation happens with others for blog tours. My conclusion is that an author won’t know what type of people they will reach with a blog tour. If they get the right person, they will have an influencer who will carry on promotion that goes beyond the investment the author made by sending some books out for a blog tour.
If anyone reading this has been influenced by any of my posts, I’d love to hear from you on this topic. If you have any thoughts on blog tours, I’d also encourage you to speak up. Coolness.
by Jason Joyner | Aug 15, 2008 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reading
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
That’s (Not Exactly) Amore
FaithWords (August 14, 2008)
by
Tracey Bateman
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tracey Bateman published her first novel in 2000 and has been busy ever since. There are two other books in the Drama Queen Series, Catch A Rising Star (#1) and You Had Me At Goodbye (#2)
She learned to write by writing, and improved by listening to critique partners and editors. She has sold over 30 books in six years.
She became a member of American Christian Fiction Writers in the early months of its inception in 2000 and served as president for a year.
She has been married to her husband Rusty for 18 years, has four kids, and lives in Lebanon, Missouri.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Laini Sullivan lands a job designing Nick Pantalone’s coffee shop, there are two problems: one, Nick’s nephew Joe hates all of her ideas and two, Laini has to admit he’s right–she’s a disaster at design. Still, she can’t risk losing the job. To compromise, Joe brings in help on the project, while Laini continues to bake the goodies that keep his customers lining up.
Their relationship is moving along, so when new guy Officer Mark Hall implies that Joe’s family is tied to the mob, Laini doesn’t want to believe it. But things spin out of control when she meets the family, including “the uncles,” who seem to confirm Mark’s suspicions. To make things worse, Nana Pantalone makes it clear Laini isn’t the kind of girl she has in mind for her grandson. Laini’s not sure if she should give Joe the benefit of the doubt or just set her sights on Mark and fuhgetaboutit.
Jason says: My wife did read this one. She could tell it was in a series, but it was a refreshing, enjoyable read. She can sit and read all day if she gets into a book, and I didn’t really see her the day she dove into this one!
by Jason Joyner | Aug 15, 2008 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reading
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
That’s (Not Exactly) Amore
FaithWords (August 14, 2008)
by
Tracey Bateman
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tracey Bateman published her first novel in 2000 and has been busy ever since. There are two other books in the Drama Queen Series, Catch A Rising Star (#1) and You Had Me At Goodbye (#2)
She learned to write by writing, and improved by listening to critique partners and editors. She has sold over 30 books in six years.
She became a member of American Christian Fiction Writers in the early months of its inception in 2000 and served as president for a year.
She has been married to her husband Rusty for 18 years, has four kids, and lives in Lebanon, Missouri.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Laini Sullivan lands a job designing Nick Pantalone’s coffee shop, there are two problems: one, Nick’s nephew Joe hates all of her ideas and two, Laini has to admit he’s right–she’s a disaster at design. Still, she can’t risk losing the job. To compromise, Joe brings in help on the project, while Laini continues to bake the goodies that keep his customers lining up.
Their relationship is moving along, so when new guy Officer Mark Hall implies that Joe’s family is tied to the mob, Laini doesn’t want to believe it. But things spin out of control when she meets the family, including “the uncles,” who seem to confirm Mark’s suspicions. To make things worse, Nana Pantalone makes it clear Laini isn’t the kind of girl she has in mind for her grandson. Laini’s not sure if she should give Joe the benefit of the doubt or just set her sights on Mark and fuhgetaboutit.
Jason says: My wife did read this one. She could tell it was in a series, but it was a refreshing, enjoyable read. She can sit and read all day if she gets into a book, and I didn’t really see her the day she dove into this one!
by Jason Joyner | Aug 13, 2008 | Blog, CBA, christian fiction, fantasy, reading, speculative fiction, Stephenie Meyer, vampires
If you missed the first post, there were very good comments related to vampires and such in Christian fiction. One of the commenters was Sue Dent, who wrote the mentioned Never Ceese novel.
Evangeline noted my objective take on it – thanks. I was trying to present it evenly to see what people came up with before I threw in my own 2 cents. There are a few different facets to this discussion, so I don’t think it is a simple “yes it is eviiiiiil” or “no, there’s no problem”.
Sue brought out the importance of defining what is meant by Christian fiction. I was referring to the notion of the CBA/ECPA. As Sue noted, this is an umbrella group that is responsible for a certain type of “Christian fiction”, a type that usually gets ownership of that moniker. It is evangelical and conservative in outlook, and there are certain unwritten rules with these type of rules: no cussing, no sex (unless in marriage, and not on page), and as Sue mentioned, certain literary images like vampires, werewolves, etc., would not be generally welcome. (Oddly enough, you can have mass murderers, super assassins, and a high body count, but that’s another post…) “CBA” is almost a brand, but religious or Christian books are not limited to it. Very prominent examples of non-CBA Christian books would be the award-winning Gilead and Peace Like a River, and Sue’s novels. So you likely wouldn’t find a vampire novel in a Christian bookstore due to the CBA, as Sue mentions.
Evangeline talked about vampires as good objects for symbolism, metaphors, or allegory. This could potentially be a worthy use of the undead in CBA fiction. It would take a compelling author with a bold statement of faith to pull it off, likely.
Carole had interesting, thoughtful insights about the possibility of salvation for vampires, based on whether they were “fallen” men or demons. She also notes that vampires often act as a “bad boy” for the good girl to redeem, which might be a little prejudiced toward the “hot male vampires” LOL.
What are my thoughts? Jumbled as usual. I’ll list some out.
1. Regarding the Twilight series specifically, I have finished Twilight and am almost done with New Moon. I share Evangline’s concern about the sensualness of the series – even though Meyers keeps the clothes on and the physical touching limited to arms and faces, she still has a gift for romance and sexual tension. I wouldn’t want a young daughter of mine to read them. I also don’t like that Bella’s desire for immortality comes from wanting to become a vampire like Edward, over God’s ways.
2. We discussed the Twilight series in a home group/Bible study. A few people automatically didn’t like the idea of some many kids reading about vampires and werewolves, considering them evil and demonic, and wondering if Christians should be opening themselves up to such influences. I remember reading Dracula for high school, and my pastor’s wife cautioned me to be prayed up for it, as she read it and felt darkness from it. Considering the Twilight series, I told the group I couldn’t judge it without reading it for myself.
3. I have experienced evil influence from entertainment before. I used to play Dungeons and Dragons with friends around 9th-10th grade. We didn’t go for real heavy use of demons (mostly orcs and the like, Lord of the Ring-ish) and we always made our characters religion “Christian” on the player sheet. Still, it got to us. We had a sleep over one night where we got pretty freaked out with some weird stuff going on. I was the first to leave the group, feeling it was a bad situation. After this these good friends turned on me and I had some bad experiences with them. I wouldn’t be against any role-playing game, but I would not want my kids to play D&D specifically.
4. I have argued before for freedom for a Christian artist to produce the art they feel they should make. I wouldn’t condemn a Christian for using elements that I felt uncomfortable with, but I would use discernment whether it would be something for me to partake in or not.
5. Vampires and other mythological, typically evil creatures should be used carefully, but I think there is room for them to be used in a conscientious manner. I can’t help thinking of C.S. Lewis using witches, giants, the Greek god Bacchus, and other pagan-type supernatural events in his stories. A modern master of using the supernatural for a truly Godly end is Stephen Lawhead in many of his books.
6. Are vampires in essence a perversion of the gospel with their life coming from stealing the blood of people, as opposed to the life-giving power of the blood of Christ? This just came to me while writing this post – don’t know if I have the answer.
I think that’s more than enough to chew on for now. I’ll let y’all sink your teeth into it (grooooan).
