LONG WAY GONE by CHARLES MARTIN

LONG WAY GONE by CHARLES MARTIN is an amazing book which follows the parable of the Prodigal Son in such a way that one is left with a feeling of hope that truly "no gone is too far gone" for Father God! He never stops loving us, never stops hoping we will turn from our selfishness and sin and hear His voice calling us back into His Presence!
Coop or "Peg", the nickname he was given by his father, has a real gift for music, and from an early age he played and sang at his father's tent revival meetings. His father taught him that the songs he is given are a gift for others, and that they need to be given away in order to heal the broken - hearted. He needs to "let out" the songs that are within him in order to set the captives, himself included, free.
In spite of Coop's teenage rebelliousness and all he goes through as a result, we see throughout, not only the father's love and forgiveness, but also the son's repentance and love for his father.
I like the way he finds Daley, who has fallen on hard times after their climb to fame together, reminding us that there are no coincidences with the Lord and He is indeed able to restore the locust eaten years.
This is truly an inspiring novel and I cannot recommend it highly enough, both for the story and the strong Christian message. Good news - CUM has copies in case you are not an ebook reader like me!



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LOOKING INTO YOU by CHRIS FABRY

LOOKING INTO YOU by CHRIS FABRY is the beautifully written story of a mother and child searching for each other, and then not being sure how to react to one another when circumstances find them at the same college.
Paige, the only child of missionary parents, is covered with guilt when she falls pregnant at seventeen, and is practically forced by her mother to give up her baby for adoption, so as to not bring shame on her parents' life work. It breaks her heart to do this, but she imagines that her child will be brought up by loving parents who will give her the life she, as a teenage single mother, will never be able to give her.
This does not happen and Treha is pushed from one foster home to another. She is often treated like a freak because the drugs her mother was given during pregnancy caused her to look a bit different. She is suspicious by nature and afraid of being hurt, especially when she suspects she is being lied to.
The story is involved, the characters are very true to life, and the Author has an amazing way with words that describe how they are feeling. This flows into the theme of the love of reading and writing that Treha has inherited from her mother.
It isn't until Paige finds her daughter, that the blockage that was stopping her from writing her doctorate on mothers and daughters in literature, disappears. In fact the main theme of the novel is the relationship between mothers and daughters, the redemptive power of a mother's love and that the love of Father God does indeed cast out all fear. It is an encouraging story of second chances. It is a book I have read through twice and will definitely read again.


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