Dina's Favorite Fiction of 2015

I've made no secret of the fact that since becoming an author/editor, I have a hard time reading fiction for pleasure. But this year I read three books that not only held my interest, but also fed my soul. I love those stories that reach deep into your heart and change you, and all three of these met that very high standard.

So in no particular order, since they are each brilliant in such different ways...

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I Always Cry at Weddings

I fell in love with this debut book from the first moment it came across my editor's desk. In no time at all, I was sending excited email updates to the rest of my WhiteFire team. Not only is the book written with a lovely style, charming characters, and a winning setting, this witty, urbane fairy tale is truly unique and surprisingly heartwarming with powerful spiritual messages. 

Imagine (if you possibly can stretch your mind that far) the Christian version of Sex in the City with a missional theme, and you will begin to get a feel for this wonderful romantic comedy. You won't want the amazing ride to come to an end. I'll mention that this book might be too mature for some teen readers since the main character is not walking with Christ in the beginning of the book and she takes a long journey to get to that point. But I think adults will find it both real and delightful.

Read a full description here.

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A Soft Breath of Wind

This Biblical novel is my favorite book by my favorite author, Roseanna White, which I suppose puts it in a class of it's own. Set during the New Testament Era, this book simply has it all: adventure, romance, suspense, deep spiritual content, incredible history, and intelligent insights into the human condition. For this one you're going to need to imagine Frank Peretti meets Francine Rivers, and oh, what an idyllic meeting it is! You'll see the New Testament church brought to stunning light at a time when it was persecuted yet thriving and full of the Holy Spirit's power. The heroine is truly unique with her ability to see into the spiritual realm and the high price she pays for that gift. Meanwhile she deals with very normal human longings, and wonders if a man will ever accept her.

If you had the pleasure of reading A Stray Drop of Blood first, that will be an extra bonus, but as this book takes place nearly a generation later, anyone can enjoy it.

Read a full description here.

Spirit Bridge

Click here to order book 1

Last but most certainly not least is Spirit Bridge. This is the final book in the new Well Spring Series by James Rubart, and since it is a true series, you will need to read all three books in order to fully understand the plot, premise, and characters. This series takes a speculative journey into the spiritual realm. It examines spiritual matters quite literally, and imagines what it would be like to truly and completely walk in the spirit throughout this action-packed tale as good battles epic evil.

In book one the "Warriors Riding" go into the soul to do battle for inner healing, in book two they face devastating memories, and in book three, as the war intensifies, they must learn to fight on a new and challenging level.

This series is hard to explain with just a few words, but it is truly life changing. Particularly after reading book Spirit Bridge, I felt as if I had gone through some sort of intensive inner healing session. God definitely shifted something deep inside of me through this book, and set me free from religious bondage at level where I didn't even know I struggled with it. If you long for truth in the inward parts, do yourself a favor and read these books.

Read a full description of Spirit Bridge here.

What was the most life-changing novel you read in 2015, or for that matter, ever?

Books Make Great Christmas Gifts

 by Dina Sleiman

If you're a book lover like me, you probably realize that books make great Christmas presents. You can hand select books that you think your friends will enjoy, especially hardback and early editions. Giving Christian fiction as a gift can be a subtle way to reach out to those in your life who don't yet know the Lord or who are struggling in their faith. Or, you can buy a book that you loved in bulk and give it to most everyone on your Christmas list. For this purpose I generally choose inspirational nonfiction, since it can bless a broad variety of people.

The Inkies have written tons of great books that would make amazing presents, including many Christmas novellas, books, and collections. Check out our books in the feature in the right hand column or search our names on amazon. And here are a few Inky written Christmas favorites to get you started (any Inkies feel free to add more.) Take special note of Debra Marvin's debut release novella, Desert Duet!!!

Desert Duet
A Wild Goose Chase Christmas
Mistletoe Memories Novella Collection
Christmas Traditions Novella Collection
Gold, Frankincense, and Murder

Ebooks Make Great Gifts Too!
Several above are only available as ebooks. While books are fairly typical gifts, perhaps you've never considered giving ebooks. All you need is the recipient's email address to send an ebook as a gift from amazon or barnesandnoble, just be sure you know which type of ereader they use before ordering. You can order now and schedule for a Christmas delivery or catch a good sale between now and Christmas. Ebooks are also perfect for last minute shoppers. You can order an ebook on Christmas day for a friend across the country and still get it to them in time.

Right now my Love in Three-Quarter Time, a Zondervan ebook original, is on sale for $1.99, and many of the Inky novellas are available for as low as $.99. Why fight the crowds at the mall when books make such great gifts?

What books have you received as gifts?

Book Reviews: What's Helpful, What's Not

by Susanne Dietze

Ah, book reviews. Love 'em and hate 'em at the same time? You're not alone.

This has been a big topic of conversation lately among some of my friends, women who are readers and women who are readers/authors.

Among the things I've heard from readers (and perhaps even thought to myself while I'm perusing book reviews for potential reads on Amazon):

"I really want to know what people think of a book, but some of these reviews sound like they were written by the author's friends. That means their reviews aren't honest."

"Why did this reader give it a 2-star rating and then say they liked it?"

Or, from an author's perspective:

"Someone gave my book a 1-star rating based on the packaging, not the story!"

"Someone gave my book a 1-star rating! It's fine they didn't like it, but why did they have to be so mean about it?"

Earlier, I posted on my blog on ways to help an author. Writing book reviews is one of the things I mentioned specifically as something that can help authors gain new readers--by letting readers know if the book is of a genre they like or worth their time, especially considering the price of purchase.

Reviews are also sometimes viewed by others in the industry, like editors. I'm not saying editors read every review (they're busy people) but some editors pay attention to authors' social media stats and reviews, along with sales and awards.

I'm not saying reviews make or break an author's career. But they can prove influential to prospective readers, and they often let authors know what's working in their writing...and what's not.

(Full disclosure: I only have one book out, and it's an anthology. Others are waaay more qualified to speak on this point, but here goes anyway.)

So what's helpful (according to the people I talked with) when writing a book review?

• Know that readers, authors, and editors appreciate the time you're taking to write a review. Your gift of service is a blessing!
• Some sites, like Amazon, require a review to accompany a rating, but others, like Goodreads, don't. Try to write a few words to explain your rating, anyway. I recently contemplated purchasing a sequel to a book I enjoyed. The reviews let me know that several readers finished the book feeling frustrated about their perceived regression in the characters' developments. That told me so much more than a 3-star review without an explanation.
• State the facts about the story and why you enjoyed it/didn't enjoy it. Was the story engaging? Was there a specific reason you didn't like it? Is the issue you have with a book a major stumbling block... or personal preference? I've liked a few movies that critics graded an F, and disliked a few well-regarded movies, but I'd read reviews in advance and determined the critic and I judged on different merits. Same with books. One reviewer's three-star rating might be my perfect cozy afternoon read. Saying something's just not your cup of tea is perfectly ok.
• Consider the book's audience. It's not fair to criticize a book for being what it's supposed to be, ie, by disparaging the spiritual elements in a Christian book, finding the hero too young when the book is a YA, or for bemoaning the lack of blood and gore in a cozy mystery.
• Mention if you received the book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This is the law.

What's not helpful when writing a book review?

• It's not an unhelpful thing, but don't stress about recapping the book. Some reviews summarize the plot or back-cover copy, which can be helpful to readers, but it isn't necessary.
• Don't rate the packaging, shipping speed, book cover, or other things an author has no control over. Sometimes this extends to the title, too.
• Refrain from spilling the author's private info. You may be the author's Facebook friend. Or their relative. You may know where she went to high school or where she gets her hair cut. This information, spread on the world wide web, is an invasion of her privacy, and to many readers, it negates anything positive that was mentioned in the review because it makes a review sound inauthentic or biased.
• Just like sharing personal info about the author makes it sound as if a positive review is done by a positively-biased crony, cruelty or foul words can make a negative review sound equally biased, but to the other extreme. Harsh language isn't polite.
• Avoid spoiling the plot. Announce if you're divulging anything twisty or pertaining to the end with an all-caps SPOILER ALERT.

Some other facts about book reviews?

• Yes, authors do review their friends' work sometimes. Authors are big readers, too.
• Mean-spirited reviews do hurt authors' feelings sometimes. Other times, not so much. But I think it's fair to say authors don't expect everyone to love their books, but nobody likes to be called names.
• Book reviews last forever. Or until the internet explodes. Just as in real life, our words stick around.

What do you think when you read book reviews? Do you often review products you buy?

Susanne Dietze writes historical romance. You can find her on her website, www.susannedietze.com.

Broken Umbrellas - Awesome Nonfiction!

By Dina Sleiman

Perhaps the best part of being an editor is getting to read books that change your life as a part of your job. Broken Umbrellas is one of those books. As I was editing this book for WhiteFire, it blessed me so much and I was talking about it with such passion and excitement, that my book club decided to read it the moment it released. This beautifully written nonfiction book will minister hope and healing to anyone who has areas of brokenness in their live, which--let's face it--is pretty much all of us. But why don't you take a peek for yourself:

It snowed the day of my grandson's funeral. Pure grace blanketing dirty mounds of earth. Through my tears, my gaze fell on a sagging blue umbrella suspended over the head of a woman grieving our tiny loss with us. New tears sprang from within me, from depths I didn t know existed. Not from the loss of my precious one, but from this old umbrella, broken and twisted, yet hovering and flapping above this woman. It offered no protection at all from the wetness dropping from the sky, yet she clung to it. Broken and unsheltered. Could anything symbolize my heart and all humanity better than this crippled umbrella? And then she did something that tore me apart. 
She moved her brokenness in an attempt to protect the man beside her. 

~*~ 

We are all surrounded by brokenness, around us and inside us from divorce, from abuse, from loss. We try to relate and serve, to love and protect...but how can we, when we ourselves are broken? We still end up exposed to life s storms. We still end up covered in snow. And we wonder why. 
In this transparent and honest look into humanity's deepest hurts, hope for our relationships comes through the ultimate Relationship with the Lord. Join author Emma Broch Stuart as she travels that snowy road of pain toward the ultimate healing only God can offer.

Click here to order on Amazon

A Heart Exploration

 by Dina Sleiman

These past few months have been a season of heart exploration for me. I’ve been inspired to really probe my heart and understand its deepest desires.  It all started when I had the pleasure of taking a continuing class with Allen Arnold called “The Heart of a Storyteller.” The class was all about putting your heart first and creating hand and hand with God. I loved it so much that I decided to continue my study of the heart throughout the summer, which was especially apropos as my upcoming series is called Valiant Hearts. Since Allen Arnold works with John Eldredge and referenced many of his books during the class, I decided to soak myself in Eldredge’s writing.

First I read, Desire: The Journey We Must Take to Find the Life God Offers. Usually when I read a book, I see portions I want to absorb into myself and make my own, and other parts that I don’t quite agree with. But I have to say, I drank in every bit of this book. So often in church we are given the impression that we must deny our hearts and our desires. That these are somehow “fleshly.” But Eldredge challenges readers to do the opposite: to awaken their hearts, seek healing form their wounds, and align their hearts fully with God. When we truly know God and understand the deepest desires He has placed in our hearts, we will be set free to live out our divine destinies.

 

Next I read Captivating. In book 2 of my Valiant Hearts series, my heroine is struggling with gender roles, and I wanted to have a clear picture of Godly femininity versus traditional expectations placed on women. The book really helped me to see this clearly, and a surprise bonus was that it helped me to understand more deeply my own heart as a woman. So I went on to read Wild at Heart to better understand the man’s role in this whole journey, and I continued to learn and grow. I’m not certain that I bought every word in these books the way I did in Desire. As much as the Eldredges strove not to stereotype and box in the genders, that tendency still crept in at times, but overall I really enjoyed the books and gleaned a lot of valuable information. They challenged me to look at myself and those around me in a new light and continued the theme of awakening the heart.

 

Meanwhile, never fear, my obsession with all things YA dystopian continued. Next on the list was the Delirium trilogy. This series is about a future society that seeks to eliminate love and passion, seeing them as a sickness called the deliria, with horrible symptoms like loss of focus, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, increased heart rate, sweating, etc… I imagine most of us have joyfully suffered all those symptoms and more. LOL. 

 

While fairly sensual, full of profanity, and too mature for all but the oldest teens in my opinion, this series was a great compliment to my study on the heart. The author made some wonderful observations about the nature of love and all of its many facets, not to mention the enormous risk and cost involved in loving. I felt that her theme was very much in line with Christian beliefs. The dystopian society in Delirium had twisted scripture to their purposes and created their own religion, but the series seemed to subtly honor true Biblical beliefs and pointed out that the “old” religions had been based upon love and sacrifice. In fact, the heroine’s epiphany involved learning a true Biblical story which helped her understand the sacrificial nature of love.

My summer of heart exploration culminated on August 30^th, when I laid on the swing in the backyard determined to finish up my reading so I could focus on writing come September. On that afternoon I was struck with brilliant line after brilliant line. I clipped them and saved them together on my kindle, and when I went back to look at them, I was beyond amazed at how beautifully the wrap up of the Delirium series lined up with the wrap up of Wild at Heart. Allow me to share the brief version with you. 

Requiem by Lauren Oliver. 

“But it’s not about knowing. It is simply about going forward. The cureds [those cured of love] want to know; we have chosen faith instead…We will have to trust too—that the world won’t end, that tomorrow will come, and that the truth will come too.”

“Take down the walls. That is, after all, the whole point. You do not know what will happen if you take down the walls; you cannot see through to the other side, don't know whether it will bring freedom or ruin, resolution or chaos. It might be paradise or destruction. Take down the walls. Otherwise you must live closely, in fear, building barricades against the unknown, saying prayers against the darkness, speaking verse of terror and tightness. Otherwise you may never know hell; but you will not find heaven, either. You will not know fresh air and flying.”

Wild at Heart by John Eldredge (with quote from My Utmost for His Highest)

“The greatest obstacle to realizing our dreams is the false self’s hatred of mystery…mystery is the heart of the universe and the God who made it. The most important aspects of any man’s world—his relationship with his God and with the people in his life, his calling, the spiritual battles he’ll face—every one of them is fraught with mystery… it is a joyful rich part of reality and essential to our soul’s thirst for adventure. As Oswald Chambers says, ‘Naturally we are inclined to be mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing…Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life; gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.’”

And so that is how I conclude my summer of heart exploration. Love is hard. Following your heart is hard. They involve risk and much sacrifice. They are fraught with mystery and uncertainty. But the risks are well worthwhile, and the alternative is a life not worth living at all.

What has God been speaking to you lately? And on the lighter side, have you ever experienced the symptoms of "armor deliria nervosa" in the picture above?

Dina Sleiman writes lyrical stories that dance with light. Most of the time you will find this Virginia Beach resident reading, biking, dancing, or hanging out with her husband and three children, preferably at the oceanfront. Check out her novels Dance from Deep Within, Dance of the Dandelion, and Love in Three-Quarter time. And please join her as she discovers the unforced rhythms of grace. For more info visit her at http://dinasleiman.com/

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You Can't Hide by Wendy Davy

Cara Dalton lives a normal, routine life until her first daring adventure lands her in imminent danger. Mistaken as a witness to a brutal crime, she becomes the target of a ruthless drug smuggler who is willing to stop at nothing to silence her. Now, she must place her safety in the hands of a wounded stranger.

Undercover agent Gage McKenna knows all too well the dangers Cara is up against. Recovering from a life altering injury—inflicted by the same man who now hunts Cara—Gage faces an uncertain future of his own.

As Gage and Cara team up to fight this highly motivated killer, they must learn to rely on each other or risk losing it all.

What the Reviewers are saying:

"You Can't Hide is another nail biter from Wendy Davy, and in several key spots, my palms were sweating and my tummy clenching... It's the perfect size to finish in an afternoon, but really a fantastic read for anytime!" ~ Dora Hiers (Inspirational Romance Author)

And a little bit from the author:

You Can't Hide is an inspirational suspense set in the beautiful Eastern Shore of Virginia. When visiting Cedar Island with my family one spring day, we came upon an older, white two story home, the only house in sight of miles of beach and marshland. It had so much character with various outbuildings and a watchtower, I wanted to write a book about it at first sight. 

As soon as I returned home, I set aside the project I was working on and began writing You Can't Hide, soon discovering the house was a retired Coast Guard Station. The ideas came so fast and vivid, I believe God has a special plan for this novella. 

I hope You Can't Hide not only entertains its readers, but gives them a reminder of God's desire to heal, and reminds them He always has a plan, no matter what circumstances look like.

As for the main characters, Gage and Cara, I fell in love with them as quickly as I did the house. I hope you will too!

You can check out more information at www.wendydavy.com.

You can purchase You Can't Hide as a download directly from the publisher by clicking here.

Wendy Davy is an award winning, inspirational romance author with several titles available. She uses her active imagination and love of adventure to create faith based stories of the heart. When not writing or chasing around her young children, she spends time reading, enjoying her real-life hero and watching movies.

French Twist

by Suzie Johnson

Sandra Byrd's French Twist series, one of my all time favorites, features an adorable heroine named Lexi Stuart. Since the books are newly available on the Kindle at the great price of $0.99, and the paper version is on sale at Barnes and Noble's website for $1.99, I thought I'd share my 2009 mini-review of each book.

Book One: Let Them Eat Cake
Lexi Stuart is fresh out of college and unable to find a job. Her love life isn’t going very well, either, but the course of her life changes when she accepts a job at her favorite French bakery. The inner-workings of the bakery are enough to keep the reader engaged, but author Sandra Byrd mixes romance with an inspirational journey amidst a bustling Seattle setting and a visit to Whidbey Island.

Book Two: Bon Appétit

This book follows Lexi to a small village in France where she will apprentice in a family owned bakery. Your mouth will water over more than the cover since the author has included several recipes. I found this to be my favorite of the books because I could so easily imagine myself in Lexi’s place as she struggles to please everyone around her. Things get difficult for Lexi as she finds herself torn between the man she left behind in Seattle and the French single father who is also her new boss.

Book Three: Pièce de Résistance

That brings us to the Pièce de Résistance and Lexi’s return to Seattle, (notice the Space Needle on the background of the cover?) where she’s put in charge of a new high-end French bakery. Lexi only has a few months to prove herself and make the business a success, but it won’t be easy. Romance proves to be a challenge as well, since both men are still in her life, but Lexi is relying on God to show her the way.

Pièce de Résistance had me thoroughly hooked and I couldn't wait to see how Lexi’s romantic dilemma untangled. Believe me, I wasn't disappointed.

The French Twist series is the perfect recipe for a satisfying read: Seattle, France, pastries and romance - with a dash of Whidbey Island, too. (wink, wink)

True North is Suzie Johnson’s second novel. Her first novel, No Substitute, a contemporary inspirational novel, is out now from White Rose Press of The Pelican Book Group. She is a regular contributor to the Inkwell Inspirations blog, a member of ACFW, RWA, and is the cancer registrar at her local hospital. Suzie and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest with their naughty little cat on an island that is definitely not tropical. Together, they are the parents of a wonderful grown son who makes them proud every day – even though he lives way too far away. You can visit Suzie at the following places:

http://www.susandianejohnson.com

http://inkwellinspirations.com

http://www.facebook.com/suziejohnsonauthor

http://www.pinterest.com/suziejohnson1

The Good Girl by Christy Barritt

 

 by Dina Sleiman

Christy, Dina, and Roger

A little over a year ago, I took a road trip to Charlottesville with my good friend, author Christy Barritt. We went up for the Virginia Festival of the Book, and for me to check out the setting of my last novel, but had lots of time to talk about everything under the sun. Christy has actually been one of my writing mentors over the years, and as usual, she had lots of wise counsel for me. We also discussed one of her books and the possibility of her publishing it with WhiteFire, which I represent as an acquisitions editor.

It seemed like a perfect fit, an edgy chick-lit mystery novel with romance, but I barely dared to dream. This was Christy Barritt, after all. Award-winning, multi-published author. So when she came back to me later in the spring to officially pitch the idea to WhiteFire, I was ecstatic. And Roseanna White was equally ecstatic. Since we’d both read and loved Christy’s similar Squeaky Clean Series, it was a no-brainer. We accepted the book on proposal only, and in record time.

And Christy did not disappoint. I had the privilege of being the first to read The Good Girl, and it was about as perfect as you could imagine. Here’s the official blurb:

What's a good girl to do when life goes bad?

Tara Lancaster can sing Amazing Grace in three harmonies, two languages, and interpret it for the hearing impaired. She can list the Bible canon backward, forward, and alphabetized. And the only time she ever missed church was at seventeen because she had pneumonia and her mom made her stay home.

But when her life shatters around her and her reputation is left in ruins, Tara decides escape is the only option. She flees halfway across the country to dog-sit, but the quiet anonymity she needs isn't waiting in her sister's house. Instead she finds a knife with a threatening message, a fame-hungry friend, a too-hunky neighbor, and evidence of...a ghost?

Following all the rules has gotten her nowhere. And nothing she learned in Sunday School can tell her where to go from there.

I love everything about this story. For starters, my favorite style of mystery is the sassy, humorous, chick-lit variety, and it doesn’t get any better than this. Tara's blue-haired friend is hysterical, and there's a super fun reality TV element. Yet the story is full of suspense, according to one reviewer, almost turning a thriller at the darkest point. You won’t be bored for a second. And the romance is great too.

But by far my favorite aspect of this book is the spiritual thread. I love this story of a girl who has done everything right, yet her life still goes wrong. Surrounded by a cast of colorful characters, Tara begins her search for a very real and relevant faith, taking the reader along her journey. I’m sure this book will touch many lives, and I’m so thankful that I got to be a part of bringing it to the reading public.

Have you ever done everything right, only to have life turn wrong anyway? How did you handle the situation? What do you think of a possible ghost in a Christian novel? 

Captured by Moonlight

by Dina Sleiman

Today I am pleased to recommend an amazing book, Captured by Moonlight by Christine Lindsay. If you haven’t read book one of the Twilight of the British Raj series, Shadowed in Silk, you need to check out this award-winning novel as well. Since I know many of you have already experienced this breathtaking adventure, let me just say, I think Captured by Moonlight (unbelievably enough) might be even better.

Here’s the official blurb.

Prisoners to their own broken dreams…

After a daring rescue goes awry, Laine Harkness and her friend Eshana flee to the tropical south of India…and headlong into their respective pasts.

Laine takes a nursing position at a plantation in the jungle, only to discover that her former fiancé is the owner…but fun-loving Laine refuses to let Adam crush her heart like he had years ago.

Eshana, captured by her traditional uncle and forced once more into the harsh Hindu customs of mourning, doubts freedom will ever be hers again, much less the forbidden love that had begun to flower.

Amid cyclones, epidemics, and clashing faiths, will the love of the True Master give hope to these searching hearts?

First let me mention the facets of both books in this series that I love. The settings and history are amazing!!! I love these peeks at Gandhi’s India rich with spices and colorful silks. They are full of adventure and a realistic depiction of the difficult lives the characters faced. The spiritual elements are beautifully and organically woven into the stories, and truly inspire me. Christine is a topnotch writer in every sense of the word.

Now for a few of the things that I liked even better in book 2. Laine Harkness is a spunky heroine full of courage and conviction. I love that about her. She’s not afraid to take risks and fight for what is right. I also love the even richer setting of the jungle full of exotic plants, animals, and characters. Finally, my favorite character in book one is Eshana, and she moves into a more pivotal role in book two, launching on her own adventure and exploring her own first hints at romance. Eshana faces many trials in this book which push her to the very edge, yet her deep, personal, and even supernatural faith see her through.

Did I help edit this book? Guilty as charged. But I was given a true gem to start with. The story completely engulfed and delighted me, even in the early draft. I have no doubt you will love it as well.

Life Impacting Fiction - Soul's Gate

By Dina Sleiman

Today I had planned to talk about editing. I've officially launched a little novel content editing business called "Step Up to Excellence." You can read more about it here.

But I decided to pre-empt that regulary scheduled (somewhat commercial) broadcast to share with you a truly life-transforming book I just read. If you're a part of Christian writers circles, you already know that there's been a lot of discussion lately on whether we're writing fiction that merely entertains or that actually impacts lives. I know I personally have been struggling with my purpose as an author. But last week I read a book that truly affected me. My hope and prayer is that someday I will write a novel that will be a fraction as powerful as this one. It is far and away my new favorite.

That novel is Soul's Gate by Jim Rubart. I would like to examine what makes it truly great. First, so that all you will want to read it. But also to inspire the authors among us to strive to write this type of fiction that truly advances God's kingdom here on earth.


In deciding if I was ready to make the bold declaration that this was now my favorite novel, I started mentally scrolling through some of my past favorite novels. Then of my favorites, I narrowed that list down to the truly life-changing ones that I bought multiple copies of and forced my friends and relatives to read: The Passion of Mary-Margaret, Arena, Embrace Me, Rooms, A Stray Drop of Blood, and Havah. Every one of these books was beautifully written and spiritually powerful. I highly recommend all of them. But as I considered Soul's Gate, I realized that it combined the best elements of each of these.

Like The Passion of Mary-Margaret, it illustrated an intimate relationship with God and characters willing to give everything for Christ. Like Arena, it offered an insightful glimpse into the spiritual realm and spiritual warfare. Like Embrace Me it cut through all the b.s. of religion and pierced straight to the true heart of Christianity. Like Rooms, it demonstrated the beauty of inner healing. Like A Stray Drop of Blood, it portrayed the amazing, overwhelming power available in the blood of Christ. And like Havah, it spoke to me right where I was at that moment and transformed my life. Oh sure, there are novels I love because they're beautiful or funny or touching, but these are the ones that have affected me the most. And I can't ignore books like the old Frank Peritti novels or The Shack that impacted me as well, but I feel like Soul's Gate went to a new place for a new time.

As I mentioned, this book was exactly what I needed exactly when I needed it. While I loved Jim's novel Rooms, it mostly dealt with inner healing issues I'd already tackled and revelations I'd already received. Book of Days had more impact on me, but this novel went far beyond. I so needed this infusion of faith and power in my life right now. This reminder that the spirit world is more real than the illusory one all around me that presses on my senses day in and day out. And I needed to have my fighting spirit revived. Another wonderful aspect of this book, which I've never found in a novel before, was the direct link between quantum physics, faith, and the spiritual realm. I'm a closet physics geek, so this delighted me to no end.

The novel challenges you to believe what the Bible really says and to tap into the supernatural power available in the Holy Spirit. The author says in the back that his main purpose for the book was to demonstrate freedom in Christ, but there was no way to get there without looking at spiritual warfare as well. From healing, to prophecy and vision, to being transported in the spirit and invisibilty cloaks, this book takes a look at a sort of Christianity few truly believe in. A sort of Christianity that I remember longing for once upon a time with childlike faith. For the sake of the story, it also examines the possibility of going into the souls of others to fight for their freedom. While the author admits that this is not precisely true, it does seem to be in a very accurate portrayal of a spiritual reality.

My husband just finished the book, and he's already shared with me practical testimonies of how it has changed his way of living and thinking. I've sent a gift copy to my mom as well. No doubt, I'll soon be buying lots of extra copies and wrangling all my loved ones into reading it. I not only highly recommend this book, I'd say it's a must read for every Christian. I'm sure I will read this one again and again. No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, I think you'll find something in this book to minister to you. And even for non-Christians, I can't help but think you'd enjoy this peek at what Christianity was truly meant to be.

I can't finish this post without mentioning that James Rubart also ranks among my favorite people that I've ever met. It would be hard to imagine anyone else writing this amazing book. He is one of the truest believers and most inspiring people I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with. Everything about him radiates the love of Christ. And may I add, I'm so excited that he has now quit his day job to write for us all full time :)

I sincerely hope this life impacting book will be a huge hit and a best-seller! Honestly, I'd much rather you read this novel than one of mine. Soul's Gate is the first in a series, and I'll be sure pre-order the sequels just as soon as possible.

What is your favorite novel ever? What novel impacted your life the most?
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Dina Sleiman writes lyrical stories that dance with light. Most of the time you will find this Virginia Beach resident reading, biking, dancing, or hanging out with her husband and three children, preferably at the oceanfront. Since finishing her Professional Writing MA in 1994, she has enjoyed many opportunities to teach literature, writing, and the arts. Join her as she discovers the unforced rhythms of grace. http://dinasleiman.com