Rembrandt, his father, and uncle are trying to undo a deal with the devil made by their loved ones. As they seek a champion, they must cope with a tricky requirement that they not stay in any place longer than 12 days.
Considerations of faith are handled both honestly and delicately in this book. The insights and observations throughout the book underlie the main story in a way that lends itself to considerations of gratitude, mercy, selfishness, sacrifice, and much more — all without being heavy handed.
My full review is here. It is is marketed to teens but I'm not the first reviewer to mention that label is too limiting because it is also a great read for adults.
I've been jaded by the plethora of recent apocalyptic novels but this one is different. Perhaps the highest tribute I can give this novel is that when I finished I didn't want to read another book. To do so would sully what I'd just read before I'd finished thinking about it, as well as be unfair to anything that followed because it wouldn't be able to compare.Only the mockingbird sings at the edge of the woods.
My full review is here. We also discussed this book in Episode 110 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. And also on SFFaudio where a lot of interesting fruitful topics came up.
Or, since Lent is only 40 days, at least the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring. I was was blown away by how much the audio experience added to my understanding of the richness and depth of the story. Admittedly, it was also greatly helped by The Tolkien Professor's class sessions on this book. You will be hard put to find a better primer on sacrifice, redemption, and many other key lessons for Christian life. I think this may be the best book ever written. And you could do worse than to read The Hobbit for starters.
Joseph R's review is the best I've read if you'd like a more complete look at the novel.
Scott and I were joined by Seth Wilson in a two-part discussion of this novel at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast: part 1, part 2.
I read this several times when I was in high school and college but hadn't encountered it for decades. It came to mind again when talking with my mother about books set in hardscrabble backgrounds.
I remembered it being really interesting about people in the Smoky Mountains in 1912 cut off from any outside civilization except for a few people who came in to try to help their poverty stricken situation. Including the 19-year-old young woman, Christy, who comes to teach the children. She is naive and from a well-to-do background so she's completely unprepared for what she finds.
I didn't recall it being so inspirational throughout. I wound up loving it so much that I could hardly bear to put it down.
The "Others" live among us, an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. Night Watch is three stories, each is told by former file clerk Anton, a Light Other who is now getting field experience in keeping the treaty between the Light and the Dark.
The way the three stories all look at Light and Dark, treaties and compromises, and even what it means to be unyielding on one side or the other ... is all not only a good story but food for thought about our own lives. My full review is here. A Good Story discussion is at episode 57.
A bedraggled, galley ship survivor, despite his best efforts to the contrary, finds himself in the middle of royal intrigue. If that weren't enough, he is also pulled into the the affairs of the divine as a result and this complicates his life as one might imagine. This is a land of various gods and strong, dark magic. It is, however, also a land where free will matters in the outcome of events.
Will Duquette calls this "theological science fiction" and I agree. The way that free will is intertwined with what the gods desire, as well as what is "right," is fascinating and a good way to examine our own motives the next time we turn away from what God may be asking of us. My full review is here. A Good Story discussion is at Episode 198.
Harry is an incredible Christ-figure as I discovered when I reread the series recently. Of course, this only works for those who have read the series before.
For more depth and as accompanying materials, readers may want to listen to Episode 26 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast where Scott Danielson and I discuss the book and the entire series from a Catholic point of view.
This extraordinarily sensitive and insightful portrait of religious life centers on Philippa Talbot, a highly successful professional woman who leaves her life among the London elite to join a cloistered Benedictine community. That's the official description but it doesn't begin to cover the richly woven tapestry Godden weaves with nuanced personalities, mysteries to solve so that the order may continue, Philippa's internal struggles, and much more.
Again, Joseph R. has a wonderful review of the book. We also discussed episode 97 at A Good Story is Hard to Find.
Another Godden book about a completely different order of nuns. This is an inspiring tale of conversion and redemption told in flashback sequence. We meet Lise when she is being released from prison where she has served her term for murder. She is going to join an order that ministers to those on the fringes of society.
Through Lise's thoughts, we watch her go from being a young WWII staffer in Paris, become seduced by a man who has a brothel and eventually turns her into a prostitute where later on she becomes the manager. The reasons behind the murder become clear as the threads come together again in the people around Lise in current time. My full review is here.
This beautifully written historical fiction tells of Andrea Orsini, who is one of Cesare Borgia's most trusted political manipulators during the Italian Renaissance. This is a swashbuckler that simultaneously shows Andrea's transition of a human heart from greed to love, selfishness to sacrifice, and power grubbing to nobility.
Discussed in episode 13 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.
A real page-turner which many think they know because the cultural references are so embedded in our society. However, if you haven't read this book then you don't know it at all. First and foremost, Uncle Tom actually is a Christ-figure, a living saint. No wonder he is misunderstood by so many.
Stowe does a good job showing many different attitudes toward slavery and how people excused themselves under the flimsiest of excuses. What is unexpected is how well she examines the varying levels of Christianity proclaimed and threaded solidly throughout the story.
I read this aloud on my Forgotten Classics podcast with commentary. Yes, that's how much I love it.
Discussed in episode 168 of A Good Story is Hard to Find. Mythgard Institute (founded by Corey Olsen, The Tolkien Professor) has a superb series of classes on Dracula.
The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
These books seem an interesting blend of fiction and nonfiction to me. Lewis's imagination is vivid and fascinating. His tendency to have characters speechify leans to the nonfiction side. Taken as a meditative read, they would be very good for Lent, I'd think.
Out of the Silent Planet: Dr. Ransom is kidnapped by two men who take him to Mars as a sacrifice to the natives. Lewis was fantastically inventive about what the planet and living beings were like. I didn't know he had it in him.
Perelandra: Very different from Out of the Silent Planet while still showing C.S. Lewis's vivid and inspiring imagination. I am simply blown away by his vision of creation on Venus. Amazing insights as to battling evil, the dance of God's creation and plan, and our part in it.
That Hideous Strength: It is a testament to Lewis's imagination and writing skill as to how different all three of the books are in this trilogy, while simultaneously all carrying out the same basic theme. No wonder J.R.R. Tolkien loved them. This book left me striving to be a better person, to be truer to myself, as did the other two. Not many other books really leave one feeling that way.
Discussed in episodes 202, 204, and 206 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.
by St. Therese of Lisieux
... Friendships are broken, marriages are stressed, and budding romances are tested as the moderate-extreme, male-female lines are drawn in this battle over something very dear to the hearts of all: how to practice their faith. However, it is all handled lightly and with good-natured humor. [Good Story 
