Musings by Erin

My most recent read was Angela Hunt's "Jerusalem's Queen: A Novel of Salome Alexandra". If you're like me, you didn't even know that Jerusalem ever had a queen, let alone what her name was. Salome Alexandra ruled Judea just before the time of Christ. Her death preceded his birth by about a generation. This book is book 3 in Ms. Hunt's series "The Silent Years", which spans the 400 years between the old and new testaments. Having not read much of anything in this time-frame, I've found this series absolutely captivating. Book 1 was the story of Cleopatra. Book 2 was the story of Judah Maccabees. While those stories did not tie in together at all, this one referenced both of them, as Salome Alexandra was a descendant of the Maccabees and was likely able to come into power because of women in the surrounding nations like Cleopatra, already in power.  I loved this story, which was told from the viewpoint of both Salome Alexandra and her lady...

One of my go-to authors for "women's fiction" is Lynn Austin. She writes amazing character-driven novels with relateable and likeable characters, compelling story lines and usually an element of both mystery and romance. Her latest release, Legacy of Mercy, is no exception to this rule. Legacy of Mercy is a sequel to Waves of Mercy, which released 2 years prior (almost to the date). When penning Waves of Mercy, Ms. Austin intended for it to be a stand-alone, but fans clamored for a sequel. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to find out what happened next as well, and so the sequel was born. The first book follows young Anneke (Anna) who is smarting from a broken engagement. Her mother takes her on holiday to Michigan where she can nurse her wounds privately, away from the prying eyes and gossip of Chicago's upper echelon. While there, she meets some interesting people who change her life in the most remarkable way. We also follow Geesje, who was a d...

When it comes to historical romance fiction, Roseanna M. White is one of my go-to authors. The romances are never cheesy or too fast, the characters are loveable and the history is very well researched. You feel like you're transported back in time. Such was the case with this book/series. An Hour Unspent is book 3 in the Shadows Over England series, but the story holds its own. This series takes place during WWI, which is a time period I don't often see in historical fiction. It's interesting to think of a time when cars were uncommon, planes couldn't cross the English Channel, and wristwatches were a new design. In this book, we meet (or see at a deeper level if you've read the other books in the series) Barclay Pearce, one of London's best thieves. He's reforming his ways as he learns more about God as his Father. Having spent a majority of his years as an orphan, this is a foreign concept to him. It was interesting to see his growth in this area as the...

While a vast majority of what I read is Christian fiction, there are a few Christian non-fiction authors that I follow as well. Stasi Eldredge (and her husband John) are among those that I read everything that they put out. Stasi's latest release, Defiant Joy, is one of the best books I've read. In a time when the news is so readily available and we're therefore more aware of all of the suffering in the world (including our own), it is very poignant to have a book on being not only joyful, but defiantly so.  I went through this book with a highlighter in hand. There were so many wonderful statements that needed to not only be read, but re-read again and again. Here are a few of them in "meme form".  Stasi pours out her heart and bares the pain of losing loved ones, chronic physical pain, chemical depression, and the feeling of "not fitting in". She doesn't mince words or avoid the tough topics of loss and depression, but instead delves int...