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Reading List III  1. The Heart Reader
, by an *Anonymous author (It is the story of a man, Sam Bennett, who wakes up one morning, and after having a strange dream based on the story of the
lost coin and the lost sheep in Luke 15, is able to hear the voices of people all around him. He can look at them and hear their deepest spiritual needs, only their lips aren't moving and
they dont' seem to know they've said anything at all. Working with his pastor John, his own life begins to change.) *The author of this novel is donating all the royalties from the sale of
this book to a nonprofit Christian mission organization, Samaritan's Purse.
 2.
Till We Have Faces
, by C. S. Lewis (This is the story of two princesses, one beautiful, and one ugly, and of the struggles between sacred and profane love. Reworking the
classical myth of Psyche, a mortal woman with whom the god Cupid fell in love, and who was finally made immortal by Zeus, Lewis is not only able to paint a picture of the mystic
union between the Church and Christ, but is able to illustrate what a jealous and self-centered love can do to one's heart without Christ.)
 3. Bookends
, by Liz Curtis Higgs (This is a light-hearted story about two people of Moravian background, Emilie and Jonas, who meet each other in a small Pennsylvania
town. While she has come there to help her career by finding and preserving an orginal church structure--she has a Ph.D. in history--he is developing a golf course on that very
spot of land. Of course the whole affair becomes a battle of wits which involves several other individuals, as well as a variety of pets and plants before it is over!)
 4. Ezekiel's Shadow, by David Ryan Long (After having spent time in Utah with a
friend, best-selling author of horror novels, Ian Merchant, has a conversion experience which ends up in his suffering an identity crisis. Although everyone around him can see
that he has changed, he questions himself as to whether he will ever be able to build a new life of faith when the sins of his past are lining the bookshelves of America. It
seems that somebody is out to give him a lesson on what true horror is all about.)
 5. Seaside, by Terri Blackstock (When two adult sisters, who both envy each other for the success and happiness they thin the other one's got, are called by their mother to
join her for a seaside vacation on the Gulf of Mexico, neither sister thinks she can take the time out of her busy schedule. Feeling a burdensome sense of duty, and a little guilt,
the three of them spend what ends up being a very memorable week together. Little do the two sisters know what surprise and lessons await them.)
 6. Winter Passing, by Cindy McCormick Martinusen (In 1941, a young woman hears
her cell door open, and realizes that her time has come to die at the hands of the Nazis. She will face execution so that her best friend, along with her friend's unborn child,
might live. She will die in Celia's place, but she is not sorry. Now, sixty years later, Darby Evans must unravel the mysterious secrets which envelop her dying grandmother's final
wish. As Darby travels back to her grandmother's homeland of Austria, she comes to know the horrors of the Holocaust in a very personal way, and discovers a faith which transcends even the worst evil.)
 7. Velma Stills Cooks in Leeway by Vinita Hampton Wright (Velma Brendle is the
chief cook at Velma's diner in Leeway, Kansas, as well as the janitor at Jerusalem Baptist Church. However, like the townspeople whose burdens she carries on her
shoulders, Velma also seeks to find purpose and healing in not only the events of her past, but in her everyday existence. This novel offers the hope that God is not only
concerned about our lives, but that He uses whatever we are, and wherever we are to teach us so that we can grow in Him.)
 8. The Immortal, by Angela Elwell Hunt (Asher has been wandering the earth for over 2,000 years, unable to die, suffering for and serving mankind, tortured by his belief that
his sin against Jesus had been such that he could do no less than the one thing that would speed up Christ's return. This suspenseful, yet moving novel teaches us that we
should not be so preocuupied with looking for Jesus to come back that we forget what his death and resurrection were about.)
 9. One Shenandoah Winter, by T. Davis Bunn (In the late fall of 1961, Dr. Nathan
Reynolds, a skilled specialist and an angry man, arrives at the small rural town of Hillsboro from Baltimore, MD. From the start he clashes with just about everyone,
including the assistant Mayor, Connie Wilkes, who has troubles of her own. Not certain as to whether Nathan will stay in the town that so desperately needs him, Connie
wishes she didn't care. However, before the first winter snowfall, a chain of events is set in motion that will transform Connie, the doctor, and the town forever, and by Christmas day, the greatest sorrow and the greatest miracle will bring about redemption to everyone.)
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