Bekah's Bookshelf...

         I’ve read some more books and wanted to catch you up on what I’ve found! The next book I marked off my 2023 reading challenge was “A book you own but haven’t read,” and I chose Between Heaven & the Real World: My Story by Steven Curtis Chapman.

            I purchased this book when Gaither Family Resources went out of business (which I think was in 2016? Maybe 2017?) and never got around to reading it. No good reason (other than possible intimidation by its size) but I sure enjoyed it once I picked it up.

            For any of you who may not know, Steven Curtis Chapman is a Christian recording artist who started his career back in the 1980s. I have loved many of his songs over the years. Always thought I would use I Will Be Here in my wedding, but we ended up with more songs than we had time to use. (I still love that one.) Here are some other songs of his I’ve loved, though this is not an exhaustive list: MyRedeemer is Faithful and True, Cinderella, For the Sake of the Call, HisStrength is Perfect, Magnificent Obsession, Heaven is the Face…and many more, of course.

            I learned some things about his life I hadn’t known, like how he was far more successful as a songwriter than a singer at the beginning, and in fact, he said he is brother is a far more gifted singer than he is. He wrestled heavily with how (or if!) he fit into the music industry as contemporary Christian talent began to emerge and grow. I’m so glad the Lord made a place for him in the industry, though, because I think he’s made a powerful impact.

            Steven is a great book writer, just like he’s a great songwriter. The read was long (over 400 pages) but so easy – and there are pictures throughout, which is a bonus! I enjoyed reading his love story with his wife, Mary Beth. I already knew they met at Anderson University, right here in Indiana, and that they had the same last name when they met – which made the name changes in her life nonexistent when they got married!

            I enjoyed reading about his deep commitment to the Lor and appreciated his authenticity about that. He wrote about his desire for his concerts to be fully about the Lord and not about entertainment, and that really impressed my heart, because I feel that isn’t necessarily the case for some artists.

            If you know anything about Steven’s story, you probably know that he and his wife adopted three little girls from China (in addition to their three older, biological children) and that one day, their teenage son accidentally hit the youngest girl with the car, and she died. He was not speeding or distracted. He was pulling into the driveway, she ran in front of him, and he did not see her. It was just a horrible tragedy, and even though I knew the story, I cried reading it.

            My own faith was encouraged reading about how he wrestled with trusting the Lord following Maria’s loss. I appreciated his transparency and honesty about how he could still love and serve the Lord while grappling with the unfairness of such a loss.

            Even if you’ve never heard of Steven, I think you could enjoy and appreciate his story. But if you have listened to and been impacted by his music, I think you would really love this book. The story behind all the songs makes the lyrics of those songs so much richer and meaningful!

***

            My next read was a book Ryan found on a free table at work, so he brought it home for me to read, and then I passed it on! It was novel called The Unfinished Sonata by K.D. McCrite. It appears this book is part of a 30-book series written by a collection of authors. From what I gathered on the website, it looks like the characters in each book are consistent, but the authors take turns writing the books along the way. I think it would be interesting to read some of the other authors in the series to see if their depiction of the characters is different!

            Even though this was not the first book, I didn’t feel lost. The main character in the stories is Annie Dawson, who lives in a little storybook town called Stony Point, Maine. She’s a widow (guessing in her 50s?) who lives in a picturesque house called Grey Gables. Each of the books features a mystery born out of something in the attic of Grey Gables.

            The book was very much like a Hallmark movie in that it was all cozy and cute and somewhat predictable. Every character had freshly baked pastries and hot coffee ready for anyone who dropped by at any time. The ladies of the book are all part of a Hook and Needle club that meets every week to learn knitting and crocheting techniques. There are gardens and lemonade and iced tea on the front porch and fried chicken picnics abounding throughout.

            It may have been predictable and bordering on cheesy at times, but I enjoyed reading it. I had just come out of Steven’s book with it’s heartbreaking chapters, and I needed an easy read. This was it.

The book is about a music box that Annie finds – left from her grandmother’s collection. It has never worked, and when she tries to delve into fixing it, she finds the mystery surrounding it and goes about tracking down the story to solve the mystery.

I will say Annie wasn’t my favorite character in the book. Her personality grated on me now and then. She was a little too bold and forthright for my liking, but it didn’t ruin the story for me. (And this is why I say I’d be interested to see if she came across the same way in other books in the series written by other authors!)

But it was a fun read, and I enjoyed the chance to try something new in my 2023 book journey! (This did not complete a category in my reading challenge, but it still counts as a book read!)