Chapter & Verse - A Christian Book Club for Women
This book club meets every month on the third Tuesday from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. in room 300 in the Edington Ministry Center. Everyone is welcome to attend and friends welcome as well! RSVP to Sofia Ruiz at sofia.cardenas-ruiz@orlandohealth.com.
Below is a list of selected books. Pick up a copy and plan to join them!
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| May read – In Search of Eden, by Linda Nichols
Nichols's latest novel follows the wanderings of Miranda DeSpain, a young woman who has been unable to recover from a painful adolescent experience. An upstanding drifter (she always finds gainful employment where ever she goes), Miranda finds herself in bucolic Abingdon, Virginia, where she meets an array of lovely Christian townsfolk, among them a spunky 11-year-old girl named Eden who helps Miranda find a job and a place to live. Nichols's writing style is often engaging, and while some of her characters are cliched (the ruggedly handsome, tough but tender leading man, for example), a few of her characters, most notably Eden, are quirky and real. Nichols blends the romance genre with a more problem-oriented women's novel here. While there are few surprises and the many coincidences make it difficult to suspend disbelief, the plot holds together well enough, with likable characters fighting nobly against adversity and unlikable characters trying their best to change. Spiritual themes such as forgiveness and redemption are well integrated into the novel, and the Christian characters are genuine, openhearted and giving. Readers looking for sentimental yet well-written women's fiction won't be disappointed.
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| June read – Sutter’s Cross, by Dale Cramer
When Harley, a homeless bearded bum, turns up at a church picnic in the little town of Sutter's Cross deep in the southern Appalachian Mountains, events are set in motion that will challenge the residents' status quo. Harley's countenance is eerily similar to the portrait of Jesus on the church's billboard at the entrance to town, painted by the unlikable Orde Wingo, an outspoken Sunday School teacher who perhaps overexemplifies the problems of fundamentalist Christianity (and is the only character who is overdrawn). Other finely developed characters, including the protagonist, Jake Mahaffey, are forced to confront the fears or pain of their pasts through the events of the present. More tension develops as ruthless visionary Web Holcombe is driven to turn Sutter's Cross into a glamorous resort destination. Cramer ambitiously weaves together multiple themes (father and son relationships, the battle over the area's development, the responsibility of the church to the disadvantaged, racial tension, adolescent angst, Harley's secret past), but his lovely writing keeps the carefully constructed plot moving at a moderate pace.
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