The Christy Award is a "Christian fiction award to recognize novelists and novels of excellence in several genres of Christian fiction." The nominees for this year were announced recently and the winners will be announced July 12. Every year I make it my goal to read all the books that are nominated for the Christy Award. I also give them away!
I will giveaway the books by category while I am reading the books nominated in that category.
To enter to win any/all of these books, please do the following:
1. Post a comment indicating which book/books you would like to be entered for in the featured category.
2. Enter by the date indicated. For this category, please enter by JULY 18, winners announced on July 20.
3. Respond within 10 days should you receive an email indicating you won a particular book.
4. To win even more books, share the links to the giveaway...tweet them, status them, email them, whatever! If I get 250 retweets and/or new Facebook likes over the next 6 weeks, I'll give away an extra copy of my top 5 favorites from the list.
5. Come back soon for the next category giveaway!
Today's category is: "Visionary" and the books are:
The Chair by Jim Rubart
If someone gave you a chair and said it was made by Jesus Christ, would you believe them?
When an elderly lady shows up in Corin Roscoe's antiques store and gives him a chair she claims was crafted by Jesus, he scoffs. But when a young boy is miraculously healed two days after sitting in the chair, he stops laughing and starts wondering . . . could this chair heal the person whose life Corin destroyed twelve years ago?
As word spreads of the boy's healing, a mega-church pastor is determined to manipulate Corin into turning over the chair. And that mysterious woman who gave him the piece flits in and out of his life like a shadow, insinuating it's Corin's destiny to guard the chair above everything else. But why?
My Thoughts:
This was very good! There's a lot of suspense to it too, which I love, so it was a good read for me. I was immediately grabbed by the storyline and very captivated by it as it developed. Definately want to read more by this author.
Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee
Many years have passed since civilization's brush with apocalypse. The world's greatest threats have all been silenced. There is no anger, no hatred, no war. There is only perfect peace... and fear. But a terrible secret has been closely guarded for centuries: Every single soul walking the earth, though in appearance totally normal, is actually dead, long ago genetically stripped of true humanity.
Fleeing pursuit, with only moments to live, a young man named Rom stumbles into possession of a vial of blood and a piece of cryptic writing. When consumed, the blood will bring him back to life. When decoded, the message will lead him on a perilous journey that will require him to abandon everything he has ever known and awaken humanity to the transforming power of true life and love.
But the blood will also resurrect hatred, ambition, and greed.
Set in a terrifying, medieval future, where grim pageantry masks death, this tale of dark desires and staggering stakes peels back the layers of the heart for all who dare to take the ride.
My Thoughts:
I read this one quite a while ago, so forgive me for not remembering all the details; but I definately remember loving it! Of course, how I could I not love it with two of my all-time favorite authors working together! A most terrifying thought, to think of a future like this, but a book that you won't be able to put down!
Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Rose Red trusts no one with her secret. She hides in the forest, her face veiled in rags, shunning the company of all save her old father and her nanny goat. Her life is bleak and lonely.
Until she meets a privileged young man sent to spend his summer in the mountains. Leo, a lonely lad, befriends Rose Red, and together they begin hunting for the Mountain Monster which, rumor says, stalks these lands.But the hunt which began as a game holds greater risk than Leo supposes.
My Thoughts:
This is book is part fairy tale, part dragon tale. For those who love dragons vs. princesses and their heroes, there is all kinds of action and adventure to be had.
MY PICK: This was a close race for me, but my favorite was Forbidden.