The Widow of Saunder's Creek by Tracey Bateman

The Widow of Saunders Creek by Tracey Bateman is the story of Corrie Saunders, a woman recently widowed when her husband, Jarrod, died a hero’s death in Iraq. When Corrie moves to her late husband’s ancestral home, she thinks she can sense his spirit in the house. Jarrod’s cousin, Eli, who is helping Corrie fix up the house, has strong beliefs against ghosts and spirits and he believes that it is not Jarrod who is returning to the house, but a dark spirit that has lived there for years. As Corrie tries to make sense of what is happening in the house and her life, she leans on Eli, who, in turn, is trying to get her to rely more on the God he serves.

I found this book quite surprising. It was much deeper than I thought it would be. It brought up a lot of questions about spirituality and if ghosts and spirits exist. It delved deep into showing how someone dealing with grief would try almost anything to connect with the person they lost.  Corrie is grieving so much and is so lost that she goes against a part of her upbringing just to see if there was a chance that Jarrod had returned to her. At first, you don’t know what the author’s viewpoint on ghosts is, but towards the end, the author’s opinions become clear.  She allows the reader to come up with their own opinions before she makes hers known. The book can be slightly unsettling since it does have scenes of a spirit moving around the house and causing doors to slam shut, and objects to fall over. Overall, the author does a great job with creating a romance story while adding a little bit of intrigue.

To read a free preview of this book please follow this link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/93984589/The-Widow-of-Saunders-Creek-A-Novel

I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for my review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Garden of Madness by Tracy Higley

Garden of Madness, by Tracy Higley, is a historical fiction novel set in Babylon during the days of King Nebuchadnezzar. It takes place during the king’s seven years of madness and tells the story of his daughter Tiamat. It begins when Tiamat is about to be married to Shealtiel, the son of the captured king of Judea and then skips ahead seven years to when Shealtiel died and Tia is caught in the middle of her plans, her mother’s plans for her, and the plans of an evil man to take over the kingdom. Tia must learn to trust in God and surrender her control in order to save her father and his kingdom.

I found this to be a very interesting book. I haven’t read that much about King Nebuchadnezzar and this was a different point of view than I had previously read. I had known that King Nebuchadnezzar went mad for seven years, but I had never thought about how his kingdom fared during that time. This book offered an interesting, albeit, fictional, look at what might have transpired during those seven years. I was fascinated by the politics and undercurrents of the court. Tia started out being a very naïve princess who thought that she had power and control, to finding out that she was just a pawn and was expected to surrender to her fate like a good princess. She was trying desperately to control her own life and control everything around her, thinking only she was able to change her fate.  As she grew in maturity, and in her understanding and faith in God, she started to realize that she wasn’t in control and that she never could be. She needed to trust in God and surrender all her plans for the plans that He had for her. I would definitely recommend this book. It was an excellent read.

I received this book from Booksneeze for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review.