Fiction Reviews, The Middle Shelf: YA or Adult

{Book Review} The Christy Miller Collection Vol. 1

M. Canada

“I also learned that,” Christy added, “no matter what happens to me, the Lord always goes before me and He’s always with me.” She felt a little bolder than usual, and a little surer that her summer promise to Jesus was real and lasting.

A Whisper and a Wish by Robin Jones Gunn

About the book…

The Christy Miller Series has been a beloved series among Christian girls since the first one released in 1988. The series spans from Christy’s high school years to marriage and motherhood. This first volume in the collector’s edition contains the first three books: A Summer Promise, A Whisper and a Wish, and Yours Forever. These first three books of The Christy Miller Series chronicle Christy’s first high school years, her salvation, and developing relationship with fellow Christian, Todd.

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The Corner Shelf Book Club

The Pilgrim’s Progress: Week Three

M. Canada

Week Three Recap

This week we read chapters three and four, The Slough of Despond and Evangelist Findeth Christian Under Mount Sinai, and Looketh Severely Upon Him. The content was deep, and I’m still mulling over it! What are some of the things that have especially stood out or sparked questions for you? I encourage you to discuss them with your book club!

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Interviews & Guest Posts

Authors with Swords: An Interview with S.D. Smith

M. Canada

Hello Sam! It is such a pleasure to have you join me for an interview. Thank you, so much! My family started reading The Green Ember books aloud after I graduated high school and all the commotion and excitement peaked my interest, and so I read them myself. Wow is all I have to say.

What made you start writing?

From the first time I was read to as a child, I was captivated. When I discovered there were real people behind the stories, I wanted to do that. There were lots of twists and turns after that, but I was always haunted by the vocation of storyteller. It finally caught up to me in a big way as a dad. I told my kids stories and one serial we shared over the years became intensely exciting for us. The Green Ember was born out of that series, and it was the catalyst for sharing my work with the world.

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Encouragement

Are You Glad to Be a Christian?

M. Canada

I suppose Mrs. Allan is too old to dance and sing and of course it wouldn’t be dignified for a minister’s wife. But I can just feel she’s glad to be a Christian and that she’d be one even if she could get to heaven without it.

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables has been my favorite novel, second only to Stepping Heavenward, since I was a little girl. I’ve read it countless times. This spring, I downloaded it on Audible and have been listening to it over the last few weeks. I was standing at the sink one afternoon, scrubbing some dishes after lunch, when Anne met Mrs. Allan, the new minister’s wife. Then Anne described her to Marilla in a way that really captivated me.

But I can just feel she’s glad to be a Christian and that she’d be one even if she could get to heaven without it.

She was glad. Not because of what she got out of being a Christian, just because she was one. She was His. The thought prompted the question that would logically follow.

Am I glad to be a Christian?

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Updates & Announcements

{Spring 2019} An Update & A Few Announcements

M. Canada

Hello there friends!

WINTER IS OVER. (Mostly…) Spring has finally sprung and with it busy schedules have returned, winter blues are fading, closets are being cleaned out, new goals getting set, and lots of dreaming about flowers beginning. You may have noticed things around here have been a little slow the last few weeks, and in short, the reason is simply because of the things I listed above… Spring has sprung, and I have not been able to keep up with all the happenings as much as I would’ve liked….

The good news is that spring means new beginnings, and that sounds simply marvelous. So after a week or so of scheduling, planning, eating chocolate, and prep work, I feel ready(ish) for this new season.

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Middle Shelf, Non-Fiction Reviews

{Book Review} Devotedly

M. Canada

“Your letter of a month ago has sat on my desk, amid stacks of papers that need grading, and yearbook material, and declamations. Finally, a moment (which is likely to be broken) has come when I could try to answer.”

A Letter from Elisabeth Howard to Jim Elliot in “Devotedly”

About the book…

Many are familiar with Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, the young missionary couple in Ecuador who ended up paying the ultimate price when Jim was killed by natives in 1956, leaving Elisabeth as the widowed mother to their daughter, Valerie. After Jim’s death, Elisabeth went on to do what he charged her with just before he died, “Teach the believers, darling, teach the believers.” Her teaching and writing has influenced many lives, including my own. Now, their daughter, Valerie, gives us a very personal and honest account of their love story. Various journal entries and letters are woven together with Valerie explaining and commenting on in a delightful way. For the first time, we get to become better acquainted with Jim and Betty as they were in the days before he was a martyr, and she a renowned Bible teacher and author.

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Non-Fiction Reviews, Top Shelf

{Book Review} All That’s Good

M. Canada

“Discernment does not change the challenges we face; it changes our ability to face them.” *

Hannah Anderson “All That’s Good”

About the book…

All That’s Good is a look at the lost art of discernment and how learning to develop and use this gift from God will enable us to glorify and enjoy Him better, despite the broken world we live in. In our current day, so often the word “discernment” is one people associate with a negative connotation. But what is discernment really? Is it pointing out all that is wrong with the world? Or perhaps, is it finding all that’s good?

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Middle Shelf, Non-Fiction Reviews

{Book Review} Elizabeth Prentiss: More Love to Thee

M. Canada

To love Christ more – this is the deepest need, the constant cry of my soul. Down in the bowling alley, and out in the woods, and on my bed, and out driving, when I am happy and busy, and when I am sad and idle, the whisper keeps going up for more love, more love, more love!

-Elizabeth Prentiss

About the book…

Elizabeth Prentiss was the author of many classic Christian stories, the most popular being Stepping Heavenward. She also penned the beloved hymn, More Love to Thee. Her story is one not commonly known, and Sharon James delivers it in this beautiful biography from Banner of Truth. Factual, short, and personal, this little book gives the readers of Prentiss’ own books, a glimpse into the mind and heart of their writer.

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