Faith 'n' Fiction Saturday (on Sunday!)

Here's another question from the delightful Amy:~

Today's Topic

It doesn't take long hanging around people who read Christian fiction before the usual names come up. Janette Oke. Francine Rivers. Karen Kingsbury. Dee Henderson. Ted Dekker. Frank Peretti. These are the best-sellers...the authors everyone knows. But there are so many authors who get less coverage but have huge amounts of talent. Today, choose either an author you think deserves a wider readership or a book you wish more people had read and share about them on your blog! Because as you all know, we need to add to our TBR (to be read) lists!

My response:~

Well, I would love it introduce to many authors who write brilliantly but today I'll pick Nicole Baart, author of After the Leaves Fall, Summer Snow and the just released The Moment Between, endorsed by none other than Francine Rivers. Nicole's writes emotive, beautiful prose and delves deep into the mind and soul. My review of The Moment Between can be seen now at TitleTrakk.com and it will be posted here next week. It may very well be the best book I read in 2009. Nicole really is an author not to be missed!

Who would you highlight?

Relz Reviewz Extras

Reviews of After the Leaves Fall and Summer Snow

Character spotlight on Abigal & Hailey Bennett from The Moment Between

Faith and Fiction Saturday: Reviewing

The delightful Amy from My Friend Amy has begun asking a question on her blog every Saturday regarding books and such for anyone to answer. I can't promise I will answer every time but I thought this question deserved a response from me :)

The past couple of days there has been a big flare-up in the broader book blogging community regarding review policies and a blogger's obligation to an author once they've received a review copy. For those of you who belong to the blogging alliance FIRST, we've also discussed this issue a little bit.

I decided to make today's question about this, because I think this is an even tougher situation for Christian reviewers who review Christian books. So here goes...do you receive review copies of Christian books? If so, do you review them honestly? How do you handle it when you don't like a book but are obligated to provide a review? Who do you see your first commitment being to in book reviewing (besides God)? Yourself? The author? Your readers? Does your review change based on the spiritual content of the book or is it solely based on technical or artistic merit? Have you ever had a negative experience with an author after giving them a negative review? (please don't name names)

Here are my thoughts:~

As you all know I receive many books from publishers and/or authors to review. It is a privilege and in most cases a fabulous experience. My blog only reviews books written from a Biblical world view (Christian fiction, if you like!). I strive in my life (not always with success!) to honour God and in my reviewing likewise. That being said, I am committed to providing an honest review which will include the things I enjoyed about the novel and also anything I felt detracted from the story.

I recently responded to a question put to me about reviewing and this is part of my response which is relevant to the question -

"If I don't have anything positive to say about a book I will not review it as my aim in reviewing is to encourage rather than damage. There have been numerous books over the last couple of years that I haven't written a review for because the book was not good at all, even ones from very well known authors!

What I look for is something that engages me, touches my heart, entertains or challenges me. I review the story rather than the technique. I also review for the genre a bit. So if the book is a fun and lighthearted read, I rate it compared to other light hearted reads - I don't mark it down because it doesn't have deep substance, if it is not designed to."

I have not had a negative response from any authors - they have been gracious to a fault and a number have even actively sought my constructive criticism. My experience has been that authors wish to improve their craft and are often open to what their readers think.

I welcome any thoughts on this topic you might have!