The book's cover description is followed by my review (first published in Faith Today earlier this year).
The much-anticipated sequel to Hot Apple Cider: Words to Stir the Heart and Warm the Soul.
Features:
• A unique collection of inspirational stories, poems and articles
• Real stories, real people, real faith
• Great writing
• Honesty and vulnerability combined with hope
• Well-known, experienced writers and passionate, new writers
• Gentle humor, warm encouragement, and stimulating challenges
• Attractive, gift book layout
My review:
Some books surprise you with their ability to take your breath away. A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider is such a book. This anthology of 51 short pieces (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and even a play) was written by 37 members of The Word Guild (a Canadian organization of writers, editors, publishers, and speakers who are Christian).
I was impressed with the honesty, transparency, and raw life
portrayed, especially in the true stories. We meet a host of fellow
Canadians—our neighbors—whose lives are as unpredictable as our own. A mother of young children gets a
diagnosis of cancer. A 36-year-old magazine editor has a stroke. A man who is
forced to take early retirement asks, what’s next? A woman prays for patience
and a few days later breaks her back. A man tries to surprise his wife with a
five-day bathroom renovation. What binds all the pieces together is a cord of
faith as we see how God is involved in the very real circumstances of life.
The book is wonderfully Canadian with its representation of
writers from across the country. It reflects Canada’s mosaic-like population
with its pieces from the First Nations perspective to the home-born Canadian to
the immigrant, the young to the old, the urban to the rural. Though the writing
styles are varied, the book was skillfully edited to preserve the individual
voices while providing a smooth read with few technical or stylistic distractions.
The short selections makes this a perfect book for even
indifferent readers. It would be a fabulous addition to an office waiting room,
your beside table, briefcase, backpack, or purse. But be sure to buy more than one, for you will probably have
the urge to share this gem of a collection with others.
Find about more about this series on the Hot Apple Cider books website.
Editors: N. J. Lindquist and Wendy Elaine Nelles
That’s Life! Communications, 2011
336 pages
$19.99 (paper)
This book is submitted to Semicolon Blog Saturday Review of Books, June 30, 2012 where links to many more book reviews are available.
2 comments:
It sounds like a good one to carry with you, Violet, as you said, for those short times for short readings. I'm glad to know about it! Thanks.
Thank you Linda! It's a 'chicken soup' sort of read, but written by my friends who are part of a Canadian writer's group I'm a member of. As you can tell, I really enjoyed it.
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