2023 is the seventh year that I’ve kept a file on my top Christian reads for the year. You can follow my reviews on Goodreads or BookBub.

I continued to read quite a few Biblical-era fiction authors because this is the genre of the series I am currently writing (and will be for some years).

These books aren’t listed in any particular order.

1. In the Shadow of the Queen by Kim Stokely

This was my only 5-star review for the year. A story imagining the background of the prophetess Anna who was so excited to see the baby Jesus.

My review – Well-written story set prior to Jesus’ birth and showing the machinations of the political context well. Loved Caleb and loved that Anna, the main character, did not marry a physically perfect or gorgeous man. Hoping for a sequel that reaches the Biblical material found in Luke.

BLURB:

Jerusalem, 76 B.C. For the first time in history, a woman rightfully reigns over Israel. The queen’s rule gives Anna, a gifted young seamstress, opportunities for work and education she never thought possible. But to achieve her dreams, Anna must enter a world festering with intrigue and deceit. Those living within the queen’s shadow already plot to seize the throne when she is dead. Even Lev, Anna’s first love, is drawn into this underlying world of power, pleasure, and political maneuvering. Torn between her own desires and the traditions of her people, Anna’s story is one of enduring courage and her inspired belief in God’s love and faithfulness in all circumstances.

2. Daughter of Cana by Angela Elwell Hunt

4-star review – “Carefully Biblical. I loved the ordinariness of the main characters’ lives and yet there was Jesus. They watched him and showed much skepticism – very realistic.”

BLURB:

Thomas and Tasmin, twin siblings hired to oversee a wedding feast in Cana, worry when the host runs out of wine . . . until a guest tells Tasmin to have the servants fill the pitchers by the gate with water from the cistern. Reluctantly, she obeys and is amazed when rainwater turns into the finest wine ever tasted in Cana.

When Thomas impulsively decides to follow the teacher from Nazareth, he and Tasmin argue–since the twins have been together since the womb, Tasmin can’t accept losing her brother to some magician-prophet. Aided by Jude, younger brother to Jesus of Nazareth, she decides to follow the Nazarene’s group and do whatever she must to mend the fractured relationship and bring her brother home.

3. Always By My Side by Iola Goulton

If you know me, you’d know that romances are not my favourite but I wanted to read this one. It is part of a multi-author series and the covers are spectacular.

4-star – I enjoyed the spiritual side to the story and the normal, everyday issues that the characters had to deal with.
This series is a clever concept and I might even be induced to read more of the stories.

BLURB:

A hardworking introvert meets a handsome adventurer longing to settle down.

Tabitha Thomas longs to leave Trinity Lakes and travel the world in honor of the beloved grandmother who raised her and her siblings. But she’s needed at home—she’s the responsible triplet, the one who stayed home to run the family inn while her brother and sister left to live their dreams.

Kiwi Logan Wylde doesn’t call any place home. When an injury frustrates his travel plans, he accepts an invitation to return to Trinity Lakes and recuperate at the Lakeview Inn, where he hopes to rediscover his purpose in life.

When Tabby and Logan find a property deed while cleaning out Gran’s rooms, Tabby embraces a new challenge—to solve the mystery of the floodplain and renovate the old boatshed. Working with Logan reignites long-suppressed feelings, but will their differences drive them apart?

An opposites-attract, friends-to-more, small-town contemporary Christian romance.

Welcome to Trinity Lakes, a warm and welcoming small town in east Washington, filled with charm, family, and friends, where fresh starts, second chances, and romance abound. You’ll meet swoony bachelors, cowboys, and adventurers, sweet and sassy ladies, and your new best friends. This series of standalone Christian romances will warm your heart, inspire your faith, and bring a smile to your soul.

4. A Heart of Winter by Ayako Muira

Something very different. I like to read novels by non-Westerners and Ayako Muira was a Christian novelist in a country where there are few Christians. I read her most famous novel years ago (Shiokari Pass) and a biography (The Wind is Howling) many years ago.

This is a great book for seeing through the eyes of a Japanese woman and looking at such issues as resentment/forgiveness …

5. Pam by Sharon Srock

Sharon Srock writes contemporary women’s fiction and the stories are very relateable. This is one of my favourites by her as it delves deeply into the dangers of resentment and why forgiving others is essential.

4.5 stars
This might be my favourite book by this author. An issue so many struggle with (bitterness/resentment/unforgiveness) and how knowing Jesus can make all the difference in the world – if we let him work.

BLURB:

She was blindsided once…
Four years ago, Pam’s divorce devastated her. The cruelty of her ex-husband crushed her spirit. After battling personal demons, she’s finally made a life for herself. Now remarried, raising her kids, working at a job she loves, the scars of her ex-husband’s emotional abuse are beginning to fade. But her newfound happiness turns to bitterness when Alan returns to Garfield.
He doesn’t have much time left…
Alan Archer has returned to Garfield with a new wife, a fresh commitment to God, and a terminal heart condition. His mission? To leave a Christian legacy for his children and to gain Pam’s forgiveness for the sins of his past.
Two hearts hang in the balance waiting for the delicate touch of God’s healing hands.

6. Hope Beyond the Waves by Heidi Chiavaroli

Excellent story of a more modern leper colony in the US. Learned lots and found it hard to put down.

BLURB:

From award-winning author Heidi Chiavaroli comes a sweeping dual timeline story that explores hope and enduring love in the midst of the impossible.
 
Massachusetts, 1993
 
After making a grievous mistake that will change her life forever, Emily Robertson is sent away to live with her grandmother on Cape Cod. When Emily finds a timeworn photograph buried in a drawer, she realizes her grandmother has concealed a secret even bigger than her own. Will convincing Gram to reveal their family history help Emily make the most important decision of her life or will it prove her parents right—that family scandal is better off buried and forgotten?
 
Massachusetts, 1916
 
Atta Schaeffer plans to marry the man of her dreams and whisk her little sister away from their abusive father. But when she is diagnosed with a dreaded malady, Atta is forced into a life of exile, leaving her sister in harm’s way.

On Penikese Island, Atta’s best hope lies with Harry Mayhew, a doctor who seeks a cure for his patients at any cost. But when experiments fail, Atta runs from Harry—and from God. Can she return to her sister before it’s too late? Or will her illness consume both her body and soul?
 
A testament to faith and love, Hope Beyond the Waves is the raw account of the journey of two generations of women running from desperate situations toward irresistible hope.

7. The Priority Unit by Susan Page Davis

Thoroughly enjoyed this story. Excellent writing, good pacing, and I loved the spiritual journey the characters went on. Well done.

BLURB:

A missing man.
A mysterious computer program –
Even the people constructing it don’t know what it will do.
On the worst night of Harvey Larson’s life, his partner is killed and his wife, Carrie, walks out on him. Ten years later, the Portland, Maine police detective has learned to cope with his grief and depression. When he and the Priority Unit investigate the disappearance of software designer Nick Dunham, he meets a young woman who will change his life. Jennifer Wainthrop was the last person to admit seeing Dunham alive.
Harvey and his partner, Eddie Thibodeau, stay a step ahead of a bomber and put together the clues that tell the truth: Dunham’s kidnapping and the bombings are one case, and Jennifer is caught in the middle. News that Carrie has committed suicide may plunge Harvey back into despair. Harvey turns to God for help untangling his complicated life. He finds strength in his faith as he attempts to save Jennifer from the same grim fate that claimed Nick. But Jennifer must depend on her own wits and God alone when the killer gets too close.

8. Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin

4.5 stars
This story got better and better as it went. Powerful message and a story that pulled me along.

BLURB:

An internationally famous photographer, Tucker Mason has traveled the world, capturing things other people don’t see. But what Tucker himself can’t see is how to let go of the past and forgive his father.

On a sprawling Southern estate, Tucker and his younger brother, Mutt, were raised by their housekeeper, Miss Ella Rain, who loved the motherless boys like her own. Hiring her to take care of Waverly Hall and the boys was the only good thing their father ever did.

When his brother escapes from a mental hospital and an old girlfriend appears with her son and a black eye, Tucker is forced to return home and face the agony of his own tragic past.

Though Miss Ella has been gone for many years, Tuck can still hear her voice—and her prayers. But finding peace and starting anew will take a measure of grace that Tucker scarcely believes in.

9. Crushed Hopes and Hopeful Beginnings by Carol Ashby

Carol’s books are for lovers of Roman-era fiction and travel all over the empire looking at the cost to follow Jesus. I read all of these as they release.

Excellent Roman-era fiction. This one gives us a glimpse into the profession of architecture. I love that each book has different things to learn but most of all I love experiencing what it cost to follow Jesus in those times. He was worth it!

BLURB:

Can God work all things for good if you don’t even think he’s real?

Lusario was content in Cyrene as part of the Philandros household. After he returns from serving the youngest son, Diokles, while he studies in Alexandria, Lusario expects to become a paid tutor for his master, earning the money to buy his freedom. But when Diokles uses him to pay a gambling debt, he must go to Carthago as the slave of a man who hates him. His once-bright future is gone forever. So why does his Christian friend Timon insist things will turn out so much better than he expects?

But Carthago brings new people, like Caelus Martinus, and new possibilities into Lusario’s hopeless world. Could Timon be right? When Lusario sees a chance to escape his fate, will going for it give him a future again, or only hasten his death?

Crushed Hopes and Hopeful Beginning s is a short novel about the turbulent lives of Lusario and his friends three years before Carol Ashby’s next full-length novel, River of Life , when two of them embark on a journey up the Nile that changes everything.

10. Frida: Chosen to Die, Destined to Live by Frida Gashambe

I do read non-fiction and especially biography. This book is not an easy read but it is essential that we read historical accounts of hatred and see what humans are capable of when we follow our hearts instead of Jesus.

A difficult book to read. How much worse to live.
How can the unforgiveable be forgiven? What happens if the power of forgiveness isn’t present?

Difficult questions – how can such things happen? Could it happen where we live? (the answer is yes because the human heart is capable of terrible things in certain circumstances).
Is there a possibility of healing from trauma? Of reconciliation?

May we read and learn.

BLURB:

Frida witnessed her family being massacred by Hutu men with machetes and was then asked how she wanted to die. She could not afford a bullet, which they offered to sell her, so instead received what should have been a fatal blow to the head. She was put in a mass grave with her slaughtered family only to find herself still alive and conscious. Frida’s traumas would never be undone, but today this young woman has an important message for the world. This book tells the true, dramatic story of life amid the horror of genocide, but more importantly how Frida’s life was utterly transformed by the power to forgive and love her enemies. Amazingly, in the midst of the traumas she found Christ. Her story is for all those who have gone through life-shattering experiences and are unable to forgive, imprisoned by bitterness and distress. The message is one of immense hope and personal deliverance pointing towards the transforming power of forgiveness. She was chosen to die, yet destined to live – the fruit of her transformation is expressed in Frida’s present-day work with the orphans of Rwanda.

My own writing in 2023

In 2023, I launched a new genre (historical, Biblical-era) and two books were released in February (Wells and Wanderers – Amorites) and June (Plagues and Papyrus – Egyptians). I also wrote the third book in the series and expect it to be released in February 2024 (Trust and Trickery – Hivites). The research for Book 4 is complete and will be about the Midianites.

The series is called Light of Nations and looks at how outsiders of God’s covenant with Israel came to know and follow Him. Initially, this series was six books, and then nine, but now I have ideas for twelve or even fifteen. The reason for multiples of three in my series is that it makes it easier to do collections of three books each.

The series is based on the verse from Isaiah 49: 6b (ESV):

I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

I do not plan to keep up the pace of three novels in just over 12 months as I have increasing responsibilities supporting elderly parents.

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