2011 Christy Award Nominees Announced

For those of you who love to read exceptional fiction, the 2011 Christy Awards Nominees were announced this morning. This is one awards list I anticipate seeing as I do believe the Christy Award honors the best in Christian fiction.

It's always interesting to note which books I've already read (11 of them), which ones need to go on my gotta read list, which nominees I agree with (or disagree), and which books did they miss?

I'm thrilled to see A SEASON OF MIRACLES, one of my favorite books for 2010, on the list twice: once for Contemporary Standalone and once for First Novel. ALMOST HEAVEN by Chris Fabry and THE BISHOP by Steven James are two other titles I'm rooting for.

I'm disappointed that Lisa Samson's RESURRECTION IN MAY and River's Jordan's THE MIRACLE OF MERCY LAND failed to make the list. In historical romance, I would have loved to see Laura Frantz's COURTING MORROW LITTLE nominated. All exceptional novels.

The one category I wish they'd change or, rather, diversify, is Contemporary--and I say this for book awards across the board as most are guilty of the miscategorization (in my opinion). I'll never understand how Amish fits into Contemporary. That's like comparing apples to cucumbers. Right now there are enough Amish books and authors to create its very own category. If Amish had its own category, perhaps there would have been room for true contemporaries such as Resurrection in May and Mercy Land.

I'd love to know your thoughts. How many of the Christy Awards nominees have you read? What are your favorites? Which do you still want to read? Did they miss any of your favorite novels?

The Best of 2010 - Books That Sing

Drum roll please ...

It's time for the Pièce de résistance ...

... for those novels that leap above others in not only plot and character, but in conveying a deeper message using prose that has a distinct rhythm and melody. I love authors who use symbolism, both obvious and covert. I love flowing narrative descriptions that paint scenes so vivid you can imagine you're living inside the setting.

If you love to read beauty in fiction, then you'll love these stories. When I grow up, these are the kind of books I want to write.

Resurrection in May by Lisa Samson - a spirited college graduate takes a mission trip to Rwanda where she learns to serve others ... until she witnesses the genocide of the people she grew to love. She returns back to Kentucky, her innocence gone, but a sweet elderly farmer takes her under his wings and tries to resurrect her faith. Lisa Samson is well known in Christian circles for providing a unique vision of life and faith and she always makes the reader think beyond their own little world. If you want to be challenged, pick up a Lisa Samson novel.

A Season of Miracles by Rusty Whitener - A little league team asks an autistic phenom to join their team and so begins their season of miracles. I fell in love with this book from the first line and that love never relinquished. Rusty Whitener realistically captures the essence of a group of preteens. One minute I was laughing, and the next I wanted to cry. If you want to read a book that speaks to the heart, read A Season of Miracles.

The Miracle of Mercy Land by River Jordan - A strange book mysteriously appears in a newspaper office, a book that gifts the reader with insights into townspeople's lives, past, present, and future. Reading this book was like reading a work of art. River Jordan has a poetic way with words as she weaves a plot line that digs into our hearts and teaches each of us a little something of ourselves.

Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz - Morrow Little's life is torn apart when a Shawnee raid kills her mother and baby sister, and her brother is presumably kidnapped by the Shawnee. Years later, as a young woman of marrying age, Morrow's father wishes her to marry a young man from the nearby settlement, but Morrow only has eyes for the Shawnee warrior. Is she betraying her family by falling for him? Laura Frantz's stories are more like journeys that whisk the reader along a meandering path. I love that her stories are unpredictable and non-formulaic. She's an artist with the pen, composing symphonic prose that carries the story along, while painting scenes in vivid color.

The Miracle of Mercy Land

by River Jordan

Waterbrook Press
352 pages

Like Reading a Work of Art

Mercy Land was “born in bolt of lightning on the banks of Bittersweet Creek.” So begins Mercy’s life. A down-to-earth, traveling preacher’s daughter in the 1930s, raised in an Alabama town that was barely a town. Mercy leaves home for the bright lights of Bay City and eventually lands a job at the newspaper with newspaper veteran, Doc Philips. For years she trains under the wing of the steadfast owner/editor.

Then the strange book appears at the newspaper office. Not just any book, but one that gifts the reader with insights into the lives, past and present, of Bay City residents, and may give the reader the ability to right the past’s wrongs. But is that a blessing or a curse?

Upon the mysterious arrival of the book, Doc decides to retire and he hires a stranger, John Quincy, a man with Hollywood looks, to take his place. A man Mercy is dangerously drawn to.

The lives of Mercy, Doc, and John weave together and apart until the purpose of the book is revealed, in the process exposing the reader as well.

Have you ever read a book that, when you reach the end, you hold that story in your hand and believe you’re holding a masterpiece? That’s how I felt when I completed The Miracle of Mercy Land. It’s an amazing work of art. I love River Jordan’s Southern prose. The story flows quickly with dancing eloquence, and your heart bleeds right along with the characters’. All throughout, Jordan gives readers peeks inside our own soul. In the end we discover maybe the story isn’t so much about Mercy Land, but ourselves.



Credit: Chris Blanz

 Meet River Jordan

River Jordan is a critically acclaimed novelist and playwright. Her fourth novel, The Miracle of Mercy Land, a southern mystical work set in 1938 features a protagonist full of moxie and a ‘backbone of worthy’ in this suspenseful story about love, mystery, and the choices we make. Jordan’s first non-fiction narrative, Praying for Strangers, An Adventure of the Human Spirit arrives from Penguin/Berkley in Hardcover April 5, 2011. She speaks around the country on the “Power of Story,” and produces and hosts the radio program, Clearstory on 107.1 FM from Nashville, TN where she makes her home.

http://www.riverjordan.us/