To Review: "Hag-Seed" by Margaret Atwood

Next up to review is Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood. It's a retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest, published by Hogarth Shakespeare.

I've read another novel from the same publisher that was the retelling of The Winter's Tale, which was called The Gap of Time, by Jeanette Winterson. Though I wasn't a huge fan of that retelling, I do like Shakespeare and Margaret Atwood, so perhaps this one will be a better fit!

I've read Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake (with The Blind Assassin sitting in my to-be-read pile!). Looking forward to getting into Hag-Seed and letting you know how it is!

To Review: "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom

I was pretty surprised when I saw that Blogging for Books was looking for reviewers for Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.

Since Tuesdays with Morrie originally was published in 1997, this year there is a 20th anniversary edition.

I'd read Tuesdays with Morrie when I was in high school and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of Mitch Albom's books, I've also read The Five People You Meet in Heaven and For One More Day.

I'm really looking forward to reading it again now. Look for my review coming soon!

To Review: "The Ebb Tide" by Beverly Lewis

After reading and reviewing Beverly Lewis' The Atonement last April, I'm excited to announce that I've just received a copy of her new book, The Ebb Tide, to review!

Oh to see the ocean, Sallie thought. And to spend the summer as a nanny. She shook her head in amazement. This seemed to good to be true, but she really must talk it over with Dat and Mamm, especially since she'd be gone so long.

And after I promised Mamm I'd take baptism classes this summer... 

--From the back cover 

Look for that post coming soon!

To Review: "When God Made You" by Matthew Paul Turner illustrated by David Catrow

I just got another children's book to review: When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner illustrated by David Catrow. Just flipping through, I can already tell I'm going to be captivated by these colorful illustrations. I can't wait to read it with my niece (4 years old) and nephew (2 years old).

To Review: "Life After" by Katie Ganshert

I'm excited and a little nervous to being reading Life After by Katie Ganshert. I lived in Chicago for a while, so I am interested in reading about familiar locations. However, given that the premise of the book is a Chicago train being bombed, I think it will be a very difficult read. It's a Christian book, though, so I know at least it'll be God-centered and have a message of hope and peace.

To Review: "In the Shadow of Denali" by Tracie Peterson & Kimberley Woodhouse

I love Alaska and wilderness books...so I'm happy to say I'll soon be reading and reviewing In the Shadow of Denali by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse! It's book one of The Heart of Alaska series. I can't wait to share my review with you!

Can't Wait to Read: "This Is Not the End" by Jesse Jordan

"There's nothing I hate like arguments in the face of overwhelming logic. There are two reasons I know more than is possible about you. The first is simply that more is possible than you comprehend. The second is that we've been keeping track of you for a very long time, because you are a very special boy. I'm sorry--young man. A very special young man. You must excuse a certain amount of unintentional condescension from those of us who are very old. In any case, what I was beginning to say is that I've been watching you. And I've been waiting for this day, when I could finally meet you and begin." (44)

The biggest congratulations to Jesse Jordan on the release of his second novel:

This Is Not the End.

To Review: "I Take You" by Eliza Kennedy

Next up to review is I Take You. 

It's the first novel by author Eliza Kennedy, and I can't wait to read it!

To Review: "What You Left Behind" by Samantha Hayes

Next up to review is a novel by Samantha Hayes, What You Left Behind. 

It is a detective story about a collection of suicides that happened in a small town. At first it's just an unusual new story, a mystery, but then things get a little too close to home for the detective and her family...

Look for my review coming soon!

To Review: "Deception on Sable Hill" by Shelley Gray

I received Deception on Sable Hill by Shelley Gray to review from BookLook. It's part of the Chicago World Fair mystery series.

I love the cover on this one, and as a resident of Chicago, I'm very excited to read a book that takes place here.

I can't wait to get started reading it!

To Review: "Double Cross" by DiAnn Mills

Next up to for me to review is Double Cross, an FBI: Houston Novel, which came in the mail today courtesy of Tyndale Fiction!



The FBI and Houston Police Department team up to investigate a scam targeting the elderly.


Should be exciting!

To Review: "Two Renegade Realms" by Donita K. Paul

Ready to Review: Two Renegade Realms by Donita K. Paul, the highly anticipated follow up to One Realm Beyond of the Realm Walker series. 

What have the loveable realm walkers Cantor and Bixby been up to over the past three years since the first book left off?

See my review on the first book One Realm Beyond. And look for my new review coming soon!

Seeing double?

Two great new children's books in and ready for blog tour reviews in the next two weeks!

First up, The Christmas Promise by Allison Mitchell and Catalina Echeveri followed by Alby's Amazing Book, illustrated by Catalina Echeveri!

Both are published by The Good Book for Children and are a part of Cross Focused Reviews.

Find out whether these books will make the cut and be passed along to my year and a half old niece!

To Review: "Tell Me a Story" by Scott McClellan

It's been a while since my last book review, so here's the next one that'll be on the blog soon. It's Tell Me a Story by Scott McClellan, and it just arrived in my mailbox this week from Moody Publishers!

To give you a taste, here's a line from the back of the book:

All the best stories have a few things in common; sometimes we just have to step back from our daily routine to see them....When we recognize the elements of a great story, we begin to see our lives as a part of God's story. ...We are right in the middle of a page-turner - and God is in it with us.

Look for my review coming soon!

To Review: "The Story Keeper" by Lisa Wingate

This week I received The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate in the mail from Tyndale.

As I'm about to start a job at a publishing company, the synopsis of this book immediately caught my attention. A successful editor starts a new job and finds a dangerous story in the slush pile. The editor follows the trail of the book to discover the "book's hidden origins and its unknown author."

Sounds exciting! I can't wait to get in to it. Look for my review on the blog soon!

To Review: "Just My Typo" by Drummond Moir

This week in the mail I received Drummond Moir's Just My Typo, a "charming collection of
typographical errors, slips of the pen, and embarrassing misprints."

• "Illegally parked cars will be fine." -Anonymous sign
• "Thou shalt commit adultery." -1631 edition of the Bible
• "Sinning with the choir"
• "The Untied States"

Should be a lot of fun! Look for a (hopefully typo free) review coming soon!

To Review: "MindWar" by Andrew Klavan

"Government agents have uncovered a potentially devestating cyberthreat: a Russian genius has created a digital reality called the Realm, from which he can enter, control, and disrupt American computer systems...from transportation to defense."

Next on my list to review is MindWar by Andrew Klavan, from BookLook. 

To Review: "The Panopticon" by Jenni Fagan

Next on my list to read and review is The Panoptican, the first novel by Jenni Fagan, which arrived earlier this week from Blogging for Books.

I'm an experiment. I always have been. It's a given, a liberty, a fact. They watch me. Not just in school or social-work reviews, court or police cells-they watch everywhere.
                                      - Preface

Intrigued? Look for my review in the coming weeks!

To Review: "101 Secrets for Your Twenties" by Paul Angone

101 Secrets for Your Twenties by Paul Angone arrived in the mail last week from Moody Publishers!

As a sneak peek, I'll let you in on a few of the secrets:

#11: Lousy Jobs are The Twentysomething Rite of Passage.

#48: The biggest surprise about becoming an adult that no one ever talks about...Adulthood. Never. Stops. 

#70: Making and keeping friends in your 20s take intentionality.

#72: The most dangerous phrase you can say in your 20s is "if only..." 

Look for my review of this book coming soon!

To Review: "On the Shoulders of Hobbits" by Louis Markos and "Memorial: The Mystery of Mary of Bethany" by Dolores Kimball

Two new books have been added to my "to review" stack this week! In the foreward to On the Shoulders of Hobbits the Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis, Peter Kreeft explains why you should read:

reading great literature, next to meeting people, is the single most effective way to learn not to flunk life.  Life is a story, and therefore moral education happens first and most powerfully through stories, e.g., through books. (8)

In Memorial: The Mystery of Mary of Bethany, "we will look closely at the mysterious Mary of Bethany, a most unique and remarkable woman whose incredible faith, quiet spirit, and uncanny understanding of spiritual matters are a testimony to the power of God in the life of a woman totally committed to her Lord" (back of the book).

Look for reviews of both of these books coming soon to In Media Res!