Today I’m so happy to join in on the “Road to the Christys” blog tour…celebrating and promoting the 2012 nominees for the 13th Annual Christy Awards for excellence in Christian fiction. You’ll see bloggers all over the web participating in the coming week!
For my contribution, I decided to have a little vlogging fun. Since there are 27 nominees, I thought it’d be fun to do 27 reviews…in 2 minutes and 70 seconds. As I note in the video, I realize that’s actually three minutes and ten seconds. But dude, 27 reviews in 2mins70secs sounds way better. (I valiantly attempted to do it in 2 minutes and 7 seconds but failed royally.)
Note One: I did not include categories when I did the reviews ’cause my motor mouth efforts needed all the help they could get. Excluding the categories gave me room for a few more “ums” and various flub-ups. 🙂
Note Two: I made one glaring error in the video. I mentioned that Liz Curtis Higgs’ Mine is the Night is the Biblical story of Ruth in a modern setting. Um, no! It’s not a modern setting, but an updated setting–it’s historical fiction, not contemporary. (I met Liz Curtis Higgs last year in the bookstore at ACFW, where I bought this book. She signed it and wrote the sweetest note. So I feel like a dork for making an error on hers. I should’ve refilmed, but by the time I realized I’d made a verbal typo, I was losing my voice!)
This year’s Christy Award winners will be announced on Monday, July 16, at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando.
You’ll find the full list of nominees, sorted by category, below the video. These books can all be purchased at ChristianBook.com, Amazon.com, Christian bookstores and wherever books are sold.
Contemporary Romance
Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig (Barbour Publishing)
Contemporary Series, Sequels, and Novellas
The Touch by Randall Wallace (Tyndale House Publishers)
Contemporary Standalone
Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Words by Ginny Yttrup (B&H Publishing Group)
First Novel
Words by Ginny Yttrup (B&H Publishing Group)
Historical
Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Historical Romance
To Die For by Sandra Byrd (Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster)
Suspense
Pattern of Wounds by Mark Bertrand (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
The Queen by Steven James (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Visionary
The Chair by James L. Rubart (B&H Publishing Group)
Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee (Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group USA)
Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren (David C Cook)
Readers, have you read any of this year’s Christy nominees? Any favorites? Care to give us a one-line review of your own?
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Comments 25
I’ve read My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren (and absolutely loved it!), Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson (loved it as well.) Although the Merchant’s Daughter is billed as YA, it is a very entertaining adult book. I have the Queen, but haven’t had time to read it. Love Steven James!
My Foolish Heart was one of my favorite reads of 2011…and ever. 🙂 I know I’m slightly biased, but even if I’d never heard of Susan May Warren, it’d still be a fave!
Melissa, you amaze me. My husband walked into the room just in time for the elephants! What a way to start the day!
Haha, was Rob confused about the elephant noises? Sometimes, if I’m really stuck on a scene in a book, I’ll read or even take a bubble bath for a little while…and I also set a timer so I can make sure to get back to work. I usually use the elephant sound and it NEVER ceases to scare me half to death when it goes off!
LOL. I love this idea. Your creativity amazes me 🙂
As for the books, I’ve read:
I loved My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren and am pretty sure I cried as well 🙂
Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig–I recommend everything Ronie writes, and this is probably my favorite of hers, even though “Cowboy” is my favorite team member.
A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander–I had never read anything by Tamera before, but the historical mansion idea drew me in. I loved it so much I actually plan to write her a physical thank you (and not just rave about her online 🙂
Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson–Melanie is the sweetest author, and she’s crazy good at researching her time periods and creating characters I care about. Definitely worth the read!!
Thanks, Charity! I’m kicking myself that I haven’t read Wolfsbane yet. The title alone is enough to grab my attention!
You are adorable! And that was awesome! I’m kicking myself for not having read Words yet too!
I have a feeling one of your books will be on this list in the future, Katie!!
I was cheering you on, hoping you’d make the time deadline and beat those elephants! 😛 Yay for you!
I’ve read Words. It’s really powerful. I love how Yttrup isn’t afraid to delve into hard topics, but she does it with a grace and dignity that was really amazing.
I need to read Words?!?!
Have I told you a hundred times yet that I’m happy you’re no longer incommunicado in the Caribbean? 🙂
Yes! Read WORDS. Really good book and I loved how Ginny wrote the story. I have Lost and Found on my TBR stack and just need to read it. 😉 FUN VLOG! You always have me smiling (and entertained 😉
I’m glad you were smiling. Confession: By the time I actually got that video done in 2 minutes and 70 seconds, I was not only halfway hoarse but also sweaty. Hehehe… 🙂
I tend to think vlogs take more energy than just writing the post!
Ok that was just awesome! LOVED it! I haven’t read all those titles, but I was surprised how many I had! 🙂
Haha, glad you loved it. So many good books!
WOW! You did great!
So many books! So many great authors!
I know, it’s awesome how many great books and authors there are out there!!
Brava, Melissa!! I’m so behind on reading right now – the only book I’ve read in this whole list is Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen (which I loved!).
I know the feeling–there are so many good books, I never quite feel caught up. 🙂
We read The Chair in our Faithreaders club. I LOVED it! Now I need to get busy reading the rest of these!
I know–Jim Rubart’s storytelling skills rock!
Great job, Melissa. Perfectly timed. I see I have a lot of books to add to my list.
Also, not sure if you’re interested in this kind of thing, but I nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger award. Feel free to check it out (or not) at http://volunteerfringe.com/2012/07/11/who-inspires-you/
Thanks so much, Marney!! How fun. I’m touched that you’d include me. 🙂
This was AWESOME! Terrific idea. And you didn’t stumble NEARLY as much as I would have. I laughed that I could tell that all the one’s I HAVE read are the one you hadn’t. We should have collaborated. Words = AMAZING. Ronie Kendig is my FAVORITE (as a writer and a BFF), and Wolfsbane is by FAR her best. I’m so in love with Canyon. Steven James is the best story teller in the world, I’m pretty sure. I don’t know how he does it. The Queen was fantastic.
I have My Foolish Heart on my Nook. As well as The Merchant’s Daughter, two books by two of my favorite authors that I haven’t had time read yet. And I can’t WAIT to read everything by Jim Rubart. He’s awesome. Fie upon my TBR pile. I’m just glad it’s in ebook form so it doesn’t collapse on top of me like a bad (or great?) episode of Hoarders.
Haha, we totally should’ve partnered for the video. And, though I may not have stumbled tons in this version, believe me, in the bazillion takes before the final version I stuttered all over the place and didn’t make the time cut-out.
And I so echo you–yay for Kindles!!