Jeff's Favorite Books Of 2014

by Jeff Reynolds

This is my last blog of the year, and I'll do as I did last year by giving the fifteen favorite novels I've read in 2014. I know this year's not over yet, and I'm planning on reading three more novels this year (all of which are sequels to books that are on the list), which will put my total at 26, by 21 different authors, a dozen of which I hadn't read previously. At first, I was going to give just the top ten, except it would exclude some good books I've read. They will be listed in alphabetic order by title.

Allow me to also throw down the guantlet. I'd love to see the lists for my other contributors, and also for the readers of this blog. It would be interesting to see how much overlap there is on the lists.
 
But first, let me start with the five non-fiction books that I most recommend for the year, in alphabetic order:

• Christian Theology of Public Policy by John M. Cobin. This book is challenging my thinking of the role of Christianity to the state -- I'm not sure I agree with all his points, but he did get the grey cells working.
• Creature Of The Word: The Jesus Centered Church by Matt Chandler, Josh Patterson, and Eric Geiger. Excellent on looking at the role of the church and how it can be cenetered on Christ.
• Getting To Know The Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction by Brian M. Litfin. A good look at ten people who had an impact on Christianity prior to 500 A.D., including my long-time favorites Tertullian and Athanasius, and a new hero, John Chrysostom.
• Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman. This edges out a similar book, Follow Me by David Platt. Both are good dealing with the cost of being a follower of Christ.
• Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul's Path To God by Gary Thomas. It develops the premise that there are nine spiritual temperments by which we worship, and gives tests on how to develop them.

I'll start my novel list with an honorable mention: Friend Me by John Faubion (interviewed Feb. 9, 2014). This was on my list from last year, but it wasn't released till this year.

So without further ado:

1. The Advocate by Randy Singer. When I interviewed him in February, 2013, his book Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales had yet to be released, but he was more excited about this story. Unlike his typical contemporary legal thrillers, this goes into history, giving a fictional look at the historic character of Theophilus (Luke 1, Acts 1). This book borders on being literary fiction.
   
2. Amberly by Mary Elizabeth Hall. Flirts between being a fantasy and a historical romance the setting is fictional but mirrors the time of the American Revolution. I love the politics involved in this story.
3. Amish Vampires In Space by Kerry Nietz (interviewed November 3, 2014). Sounds like camp, but this is a top notch, very creative science fiction story. 
4. Blown Away (re-released on e-book as Bumping Off Binky) by Nancy Mehl. I interviewed her June 3, 2014 about her latest book, Gathering Shadows. I loved this book because it's a great cozy mystery with a lead character who's both entertaining and smart (most cozy mysteries have a main character who's more one than the other).
5. Conspiracy by Suzanne Hartmann (most recently interviewed April 3, 2014). The second of the Fast-track thriller series. 
6. Dark Road Home by Elizabeth Ludwig (interviewed October 24, 2014). Second installment of the wonder Edge of Freedom trilogy.
   
7. Deadly Devotion by Sandra Orchard (interviewed July 3, 2013). Excellent suspense novel -- grabs you at the first sentence. Or is it a mystery? Actually, it's successful at being an excellent hybrid, fufilling both genres, a rare feat.
8. Death by the Book by Julianna Deering (interviewed most recently July 3, 2014). The second Drew Farthering mystery.
9. Heaven's Prey by Janet Sketchley (most recently interviewed two days before this one is posted). Another suspense story that plunges you into danger in the first chapter and never relents. 
10. The Merely Mortal by J. P. Leck (interviewed May 5, 2014). This horror story is very creative, with an intriguing writing voice, and characters that aren't ones you'd normally be associating with. 
11. Murder At The Mikado by Juliana Deering. Third of the excellent Drew Farthering mystery series, and my favorite of the three. If you like traditional mysteries, you'd love this.
12. A Newly Crimsoned Reliquery by Donna Fletcher Crow (most recently interviewed July 28, 2014). The latest in the Monastery Murders, featuring Father Anthony, one of my all time favorite fictional characters. A highlight is a debate between Father Anthony and an athiest. My favorite in the series was last year's An Unholy Communion, but this one isn't far behind.
13. No Safe Harbor by Elizabeth Ludwig. One of the best woven stories I've ever read.
14. Prophet by R. J. Larson. The start of a fantasy trilogy, looking at a 17 year old girl called to be a prophet, and her encounters with various heads of state.
15. Son of Truth by Morgan Busse. Another fantasy story, this one being the second part of a trilogy.

I'd love to know what my fellow contributors consider the best books they read, as well as the readers here.

Interview and Book Giveaway with Elizabeth Ludwig.

Do you all ever pay attention to the books advertised at the end of a novel you're reading? I do, and I noticed an intriguing book titled No Safe Harbor by Elizabeth Ludwig, the first of her Edge of Freedom series: one of the best crafted novels I've ever read. Since then, I've devoured the equally good follow-up, Dark Road Home.

It's my privilege to interview Elizabeth Ludwig. She'll be giving away a copy of the final installment of the series, Tide and Tempest. Rules are below.

RENEE ANN? YOU'VE BEEN SELECTED AS A WINNER! 

PLEASE SEE BELOW COMMENT, AND LET US KNOW HOW TO CONTACT YOU.

Jeff Reynolds:  Welcome to Sleuths and Suspects, Elizabeth. I'd like to hear a little about you, such as how you became interested in writing.

Elizabeth Ludwig:  Hi, Jeff! Thank you so much for having me on your blog. Believe it or not, I started writing in elementary school. I had a fifth grade teacher who really got into the creative writing stuff, and encouraged us to love it, too. I also LOVED to read, so I guess she thought it was a natural progression for me to also write. So when she learned of a contest for young authors, she pushed me to enter.

I told myself I was going to hate it, but as I got into the story, I found I really liked coming up with my own characters. I did spend most of my time daydreaming about books, after all. I guess that was the spark I needed, because I never forget what it was like to write and began seeking publication in 2001.

Well, I wish I could say success came immediately, right after I submitted my first manuscript. The truth is, I wrote for five years before I sold my first book, and I completed six full manuscripts, none of which will probably ever see the light of day.

JR:  Would you like to tell us about your Edge of Freedom series, and especially your latest release?

EL:  I’d love to! I am so excited for the release of Tide and Tempest, although to be honest, if everything had gone as I planned, this book would never have been written. You see, when I first proposed my idea to my publisher, I was only planning for a two book series. Later, I was asked if I could expand my idea. Of course I said yes, though at the time, I really wasn’t sure what the third book would be about. It wasn’t until I finished the first book, No Safe Harbor, that inspiration struck and I realized that everyone I’ve ever met has carried some kind of wound—either pain from a broken relationship, or grief, sometimes even loss.

When I sat down to write Tide and Tempest, I wanted to reach out to those who were hurting and offer some kind of hope. To do that, I had to reach into my own past, and touch on the pain and guilt I carried after the loss of my son. The grace I experienced through that traumatic time, the healing and restoration that God fulfilled in my life—that was the inspiration behind Tide and Tempest, and why I think the main character, Tillie McGrath, resonated so deeply with me.

JR:  I found the setting interesting -- while it takes place in New York a hundred years ago, it seems as concerned with Ireland as it does here. What was your inspiration for writing about this era, and how did you do the research?

EL:  You hit on a really crucial point of this series. It definitely required more research than anything I’ve published so far. Set in and around New York City with key scenes taking place on Ellis Island, I knew early on that I would need to conduct careful study on the more than twelve million immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island from 1892 to 1954. It wasn’t enough to know how they came, however. I wanted to figure out why, so beginning at the Ellis Island Foundation’s website, I began looking for letters, pictures, anything I could find that would give insight into the motivation behind so many peoples’ journey. This in turn led me to other sites, like Ancestory.com and the National Park Service website, which were full of information regarding not only the history of the island, but of the people who passed through on their way to a new life in America.

Along with filling the story with facts about our nation’s history, the Edge of Freedom Series is about an Irish family and a man with dangerous political affiliations, so on top of all of the historical facts I could dig up about New York in 1897, I had to research Ireland and everything that was occurring during the same time period there. That meant learning what I could about the conflict in Ireland—its origins and history. Once again, I tackled the Internet, beginning with a simple Google search on “why Ireland is divided”. This led me to a number of sites, including ibiblio.org and encyclopedia.com. Remember those research papers your English teacher made you do in high school and college? Researching my book was a lot like that!

JR:  One question I regularly ask -- and I'm asking now -- is whether an author tends to be an outliner or a blank pager. Having read the first two books, however, I'm going to do something I've never done before and take a guess that you're an outliner, because of how well woven the stories are. Related -- was the outlining for the full series, or was it more one book at a time?

EL:  LOL! Thank you, Jeff! Normally, I would say yes, I am very much an outliner. I always chart out a detailed timeline from start to finish. I also search for photos, locate maps, make drawings of certain settings, and collect samples of historical details that I can incorporate. Only when all of that is finished do feel equipped enough to begin writing. It makes for a lengthier process, but I’m always satisfied when I finish that I did my best to make the story accurate and exciting.

BUT…since I had originally planned for this to be a two book series, I really had to adjust my thinking, and my storyline! Strangely enough, that wasn’t difficult once I had a grasp on what Tillie’s story would be about. From there, I was very careful to plot all the storylines to make sure that everything stayed consistent. Also, it doesn’t hurt that I have fantastic editors and a patient critique group who helped me keep everything straight. My editor even gave me suggestions for deepening my storyline!

JR:  I would consider your books Historical Romantic Suspense. When you enter contests or promote your books, how do you market them? Historical Romance? Romantic Suspense? Or, since I haven't seen a Historical Suspense category, would you consider it more straight historical?

EL: I guess it depends on the contest. If it’s a secular contest with an inspirational category, I usually enter there. Otherwise, I enter in the Historical Romance category, because most readers do not equate historicals with suspense. It’s not a perfect fit, because my stories always have a splash of mystery or a splattering of suspense, but I’d rather the reader felt like they got a little something extra than be put off by the fact that my books are historicals. I’m always afraid they’ll mark down if they think it’s in the wrong category.

On another note…I tried to write a straight historical romance once, and a third of the way through, I killed off one of the main characters. It’s like I have to put action on every page or it feels like there’s just not enough happening. Which, when I think about it, makes sense given that I live my life at 100mph and only slow down when I’m forced to go to sleep (see answer above). LOL!

But yes, I would so love to see a Historical Suspense category!!!

JR:  Since you've finished your series, what's next on the horizon? More historical, or maybe some contemporary? (Or perhaps Sci-Fi?)

EL:  The Edge of Freedom series has been such a labor of love, I actually kinda hated seeing it end. As for the horizon, well…I’d love to do another Historical Suspense series. I’ve never considered Sci-Fi, but I’m honored that you think I could! LOL!

JR:  What else do you do besides writing? Any interesting hobbies? What do you do for fun?

EL:  Well, let’s see…aside from reading and writing, I love to ski and I have a ridiculous number of dogs. Someday, I’ll write a book about my life and call it Downhill Dachshunds: Keeping up with the Pack.

JR:  I love that title. Thank you for your time, and I can't wait to read Tide and Tempest. How can we keep up with your writing?

EL: I have a website at www.elizabethludwig.com and a blog at www.theborrowedbook.blogspot.com, but my favorite place to connect is still on Facebook. I hope you’ll stop by!

Jeff to the reader: It's time for the book giveaway! To enter the contest for a copy of Tide and Tempest, there are three easy steps:

1. Leave a comment.
2. Share your e-mail address -- it can be spelled out like AuntDotKahm(at)Ant(dot)com.
3. If you were to write about a group of imigrants or refugees, which group would you write about, and what time era (including the present) would it be set in?