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Your favorite Christian fiction authors/books?


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The Bronze Bow was mentioned in the LA curriculum I was using with my daughter, so I decided to pre-read it and see if she might like it. I know it's aimed at middle-school ages, but I loved it! DD is reading it now, and she is really enjoying it too. I think this is the first and only work of "Christian fiction" that I have ever read. Can anyone point me to more good books with a Christian theme, but a totally fictional storyline?

 

(I've got plenty of Christian non-fiction lined up to read, enough to last a decade! I love this spiritual food, and partake of it every morning. But sometimes I also enjoy something "lighter" and with a plot and a happy ending and all that. :) )

 

Thanks!

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I like Francine Rivers. Redeeming Love was the first book I read of hers and it's one of my all time favorite books. I also read her books Atonement Child (loved) and Her Mother's Hope and Her Daughter's Dream (this was my favorite fiction read of 2010).

 

we posted about the same time. :D

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i just read Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers. I enjoyed it very much, though the ending leaves you hanging. I've not read her before. The Last Sin Eater was written by her. The movie was awesome, so i'm looking forward to reading more by her.

 

You need to go get Her Daughter's Dream which is the 2nd (and final) book in that story. I loved Her Mother's Hope, but the 2nd book is even better!

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I'm totally not biased when I recommend two of my friends, Betsy St. Amant and Erica Vetsch. LOVE their stories (romance and historical.)

 

It really depends on what genres you like to read. Brandilyn Collins and Colleen Coble for suspense, Jenny B. Jones and Stephanie Morrill for young adult, and I also love Patti Lacy, Mary Connealy, Rachel Hauck (definitely!), Susan Meissner, Camy Tang....the list goes on. Christian fiction is my passion:001_smile:

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The Bronze Bow is my dd's favorite book. I'm not very familiar with current Christians authors, but a few of my favorites are The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas, Ben Hur by Lew Wallace, and Rumer Godden's books that center around the religious life: In This House of Brede, Black Narcissus, and Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy.

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I used to work in Christian publishing. I grew fairly jaded about the business, but can wholeheartedly recommend a few authors as both good writers AND nice people with integrity:

 

Francine Rivers is definitely one of the finest. I would advise you to save Redeeming Love for an older teen though--it's for a more mature reader, definitely. LOVE everything I've read by her.

 

Jan Karon--the Mitford series.

 

Brock and Bodie Thoene--These authors exhaustively research their historical fiction and work hard to keep the story accurate to history.

 

Michael Phillips

 

Angela Hunt

 

Travis Thrasher--not well known, but a good writer and a great guy. (We used to work together.) I was delighted when he was published, and even more delighted to find him a good writer.

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Thanks! Looks like my library has quite a few of her books.

 

A word of caution:

 

I truly love Francine Rivers' Christian fiction and think it's some of the finest available to the Christian subculture. However, she had an entire career as a romance writer prior to rededicating her life to Christ. She has been a church goer all her life, but her faith was on the back burner for many years. She had a crisis of faith as an adult and rededicated her life to God. At that point she gave up writing for several years, thinking she would never write again and feeling ashamed of the type of books she had written. However, after several years she picked up her pen again, and has written specifically for God ever since.

 

She has worked hard, at financial cost to herself, to have her former romance books removed from circulation, but there are still some floating around out there. Just make sure you get the ones that are not those earlier romance novels from your library.

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Christine Lynxwiler

Robin Lee Hatcher

Jillian Hart

Mary Connealy

Tracie Peterson

Kathy Hake

Kelly Hake

Catherine Palmer

Janet Tronstad

Deeanne Gist

 

Debbie Macomber --though her books are not explicitly Christian, they are good. (Except for a few of her earlier books which are not too clean)

 

I like Francine Rivers. Redeeming Love was the first book I read of hers and it's one of my all time favorite books.

:iagree: Redeeming Love is one of the few books that I have read multiple times. Also love "The Last Sin Eater."

 

I'm totally not biased when I recommend two of my friends, Betsy St. Amant and Erica Vetsch. LOVE their stories (romance and historical.)

 

Haven't heard of Erica, but I really enjoy Betsy's work. I've read all the books that my library has of hers.

 

A word of caution:

 

I truly love Francine Rivers' Christian fiction and think it's some of the finest available to the Christian subculture. However, she had an entire career as a romance writer prior to rededicating her life to Christ. Just make sure you get the ones that are not those earlier romance novels from your library.

 

I made that mistake and was shocked by her older writing.:lol:

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This category of books is a lot bigger than I realized! Thank you all so much for educating me. It will take me awhile to check out every author that has been mentioned, but I've subscribed to the thread, and intend to do just that over the course of the next few days (weeks? months? YEARS??). I'm so excited - a whole new genre to explore!

 

Thanks also to Strider for the caveat. The list of her books that my library had was so long it was overwhelming. So I went to the author's website to read the synopses there. The list of books there should be "safe", I would assume? I was particularly drawn to the series that takes place in ancient Rome, and since my library didn't have the first book (from their website, looks like they had two copies which have never been returned - guess the readers REALLY liked them) I ordered it. My patron saint lived in Rome during that time period, so it seemed like a very appropriate place to start. :)

 

Thanks again to EVERYONE who replied. I appreciate your help and direction so very much!

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This category of books is a lot bigger than I realized! Thank you all so much for educating me. It will take me awhile to check out every author that has been mentioned, but I've subscribed to the thread, and intend to do just that over the course of the next few days (weeks? months? YEARS??). I'm so excited - a whole new genre to explore!

 

Thanks also to Strider for the caveat. The list of her books that my library had was so long it was overwhelming. So I went to the author's website to read the synopses there. The list of books there should be "safe", I would assume? I was particularly drawn to the series that takes place in ancient Rome, and since my library didn't have the first book (from their website, looks like they had two copies which have never been returned - guess the readers REALLY liked them) I ordered it. My patron saint lived in Rome during that time period, so it seemed like a very appropriate place to start. :)

 

Thanks again to EVERYONE who replied. I appreciate your help and direction so very much!

 

The Mark of the Lion series (set in Rome) is my favorite. I will warn you--you will have a deep, burning, intense need to start book 2 the INSTANT you finish book 1. Trust me on this, and make sure you are prepared. ;)

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The Mark of the Lion series (set in Rome) is my favorite. I will warn you--you will have a deep, burning, intense need to start book 2 the INSTANT you finish book 1. Trust me on this, and make sure you are prepared. ;)

 

Ooops. Sounds like I should have ordered the second book along with the first! But my library does have the second one, so I will make sure I have it on hand. Thanks for warning! :001_smile:

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Here are some books along the same lines as the Bronze Bow ..... meant for children but good reads for adults as well:

 

Flames of Rome - Paul L. Maier

Pontius Pilate - Paul L. Maier

Twice Freed - Patricia St. John

Fountain of Life - Rebecca Martin

Joel, a Boy of Galilee - Annie Fellows Johnston

Hittite Warrior - Joanne Williamson

God King - Joanne Williamson

Victory on the Walls - Frieda Clark Hyman

Within the Palace Gates - Anna P. Siviter

Glaucia the Greek Slave - Emma Leslie

Martyr of the Catacombs - Anonymous

Quintus - R. Weerstand

City of the Golden House - Madeleine Polland

Pearl Maiden - H. Rider Haggard

Vinegar Boy - Alberta Hawse

 

Another vote for Stephen Lawhead and C.S. Lewis as well! I've enjoyed books by Alfred J. Church too...... we was a minister in the late 1800s who wrote historical novels.

 

Check also this link ........ http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html

I'm not sure if all the authors are Christian but the values these books explore certainly are. I haven't been disappointed with one book yet that I've read from this list!

 

Merry Christmas everyone! :001_smile:

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The Mark of the Lion series (set in Rome) is my favorite. I will warn you--you will have a deep, burning, intense need to start book 2 the INSTANT you finish book 1. Trust me on this, and make sure you are prepared. ;)

 

:iagree:Loved this series.

I also enjoy Ted Dekker.

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