Monday, June 8, 2009

Book Tour : Sister Chicks in Wooden Shoes by Robin Jones Gunn


Summary: When a mammogram result comes back abnormal, midlife mama Summer Finley makes a snap decision to relegate fear to the back burner and fulfill a lifelong dream. Summer heads for Holland where she meets up with tulips, wooden shoes, and her best friend, Noelle.

Pen pals since fourth grade, Summer and Noelle have never met face-to-face. Through decades of heart-level correspondence, they have sustained a deep friendship. A week of adventure helps both women trade anxiety for a renewed and deeper trust in God. When Summer confides in Noelle about the abnormal medical report, Noelle finds the freedom to share a long-held heartache, and both women discover they needed each other more than they realized.

Women ages 35 and up, readers of Christian Boomer Lit, and fans of books such as The Yada Yada Prayer Group will enjoy Robin Jones Gunn’s humorous and uplifting style. True-to-life characters and moments of poignancy bring a deeper understanding of the value of life and the gift of true friends. Readers guide and bonus material included.

My Thoughts:

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but I have to say honestly this book was a bit of a disappointment. The characters felt flat to me and the dialogue came across as stilted. Also, I think the absence of other minor plot lines is one of the reasons I found the book lacking. The Christian themed element in this story felt overly "preachy" to me. I would have liked to have seen more character depth.

I had hoped for more descriptive passages about the country as this was a first visit to Holland for Summer. But, alas, that too was sparse. Although when the two friends visited the Rijksmuseum, the art descriptions really made me want to visit. This was the first real emotion I felt from Summer as the art work truly touched her. Unfortunately, this was close to the end of the book. I am not rating the book because I don't think that would be fair to the author for this one. I feel this is probably more of just a matter of personal taste as the book and I were not a perfect fit but it might just be the book for someone looking for a simple Christian themed light read.


Be sure to visit the Random House website for more info on the Sisterchicks books.


Author Bio: Robin Jones Gunn is the best-selling and award-winning author of over seventy books, including the Glenbrooke, Christy Miller, Sierra Jensen, Katie Weldon, and Christy and Todd: The College Years teen series. The Sisterchicks® series has sold more than 300,000 units, bringing her total sales to more than 3.5 million books worldwide. A Christy Award winner, Robin is a popular speaker, both at home and abroad, and is frequently interviewed on radio and on television.

http://www.robingunn.com/ is the author's website
http://www.sisterchicks.com/

7 comments:

  1. I always appreciate your honest comments. I too would have thought I would have liked this book from the looks and description. Glad you gave me your thoughts as I trust them and will save time as there are so many other books I can read. Thanks,K!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the penguins playing video! Thank you for your kind words.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ditto on Bingo's comment. I always like reading your reviews even though I don't often comment. They are concise and to the point.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry this didn't meet your expectations.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I actually thought that it didn't sound that good, so after this, nope, if it shows up yes, but I will not hunt it down

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's too bad you didn't really like the book Kaye but everyone has different things that appeal to them when reading. I think the book sounds really good though. I do like Christian themed novels once in a while. Hope you get a good one next!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Christian fiction in general has gotten a lot of criticism along the same lines that our blogger has just written. I'm speaking as a christian fiction author too.

    I don't know what it is that is doing it, but (and I haven't read a lot of christian fiction myself outside of what I write) for some reason these sames criticisms get levelled all the time at christian fiction, for being too flat in its fictional substance and for making it seem more like a tract than a novel. Preachy fiction can be good for different reasons... especially if it is able to tie its message to something true to life... although if it fails to develop beyond the message, then it is more difficult to get readers interested... and thus we have the present situation with regard to much christian fiction.

    God Bless,

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.