Francine Rivers brings to life the biblical story of the ...
938762
Francine Rivers brings to life the biblical story of the prophet Amos.  He becomes a real person and his message very appropriate for modern times.
1255395
An excellent story as only Francine Rivers can tell. This book is a thought-provoking and difficult read
3936516
The Garden of Ruth enhances the biblical story of Ruth and her descendants. Eva Etzioni-Halevy's style is to embellish the biblical story by weaving a story arround the "missing links" and unanswered questions. Her success in blurring the lines is so effective that at times I found it hard to distinguish between what was biblical accuracy and what was indeed fictional. The story line, the mystery and intrigue, and the excellent character development all contributed to my enjoyment of the book.
809730
This fictional retelling of the biblical Hosea is captivating. I didn't want the story to end.

Rivers does a wonderful job of presenting the bride as undeserving and unable to earn the love of her groom, just the way Jesus loves His undeserving bride, the church.
2467714
Loved this book! Loved the contrast between generations that showed we still wrestle with the same issues! Francine Rivers did a great job of helping the characters find the only TRUE answer to their issues in their relationship with God.. Hard to put down!
1496244
I love Francine's story telling.  She has a way of bringing these people from the Bible alive with their journey with God,  that is so encouraging with my own walk.
3159028
The Book
Esther, the Jewish queen, is immortalized in the Bible book bearing her name. This historical story imagines how a Jewish orphan, adopted by her cousin Mordecai, successfully and in Gods wisdom helped Esther become queen, thus saving the Jewish people.

My Thoughts
This story is one of my favorites in the Bible and Brainard brought it to life. Now when I go back to the Bible I will see Esther in a three-dimensional way, in living color. She had fears, excitement, and troubles. But through it all, with the aid of Mordecai, she came to a place in history for such a time as this.

It showed how, if Gods people listen to the Eternal voice and are obedient, the Glory of God would be seen. I witnessed that within the book, Esthers Song. I loved how the author added in great detail the background for the story. When I finished the last words of the book, I wanted more. I look forward to heaven even greater, awaiting more of Esthers story.
4409681
Francine Rivers, in my opinion, is one of the best Christian writers today.  She fully researches each character and the times they lived in for her writing.  She must be walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit's presence can be felt in every single line.  I can't wait for her to publish more biblical material.
4290733
Land of Silence shares the story from the Bible of the woman who had a bleeding issue all her life.  Author Tessa Afshar has given her a name, Elianna, which means My God has Favored Me.  Eliannas life is anything but favored.  She struggles with guilt and grief and just when life becomes unbearable she finds the answer.  Will she ignore all rules and touch the hem of the man Jesus that shes heard can heal?  Elianna is fearful yet bold.  I enjoy Biblical fiction as it breathes life into stories in a new way.  Author Tessa Afshar has done her research and added only to the story to intensify what is written in Gods Word.  This is a new-to-me author, and I look forward to reading more of her books.
1132975
Jill has done a masterful job of taking a biblical character that we are given very little information about and developed a wonderfully believable version of her life and times. The early part of the story has Rahab struggling through many trials and situations that are not of her choosing. At many points during this portion of the story my heart broke for her and all that she had to endure. By the time that the Israelite spies appear on the scene I had an understanding of how she would be open to believe in and trust in a God that she had never known.

The scriptures that were given at the beginning of each part of the novel gave some direction as to where Jill had taken her guidance from the Word of God to craft this fantastic depiction of one possible scenario for the story of Rahab's life. I know that here in this life we won't know what exactly is the truth of Rahab's story. But I found nothing in this novel that left me feeling that it could not have taken place the way it is presented in this novel.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.
2563464
A richly detailed insight into life in Old Testament Israel...  the details of every day life, the food they ate, the clothes they wore, and family life grabs your attention and keeps it.  Kim does a masterful job of weaving these details into the Biblical story of Deborah, making the characters very believable, and leaving the reader with an appreciation of how significant this chapter of Biblical history was.  The stories of battle and insurgency were well written and set the stage for the story, but don't get in the way of its telling.

Highly recommend this book for anyone who has any curiosity about daily life in ancient Israel, or Deborah.
711850
In The Priest by Francine Rivers, she paints a great picture of the life of Aaron. The obvious background information for this comes from the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) and also from archeological research of Egypt. Aaron is often overlooked in the Bible because of Moses, but Rivers does a great job of filling in the gaps and showing his role in leading the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land.

Trying to write a novel about a Biblical character is difficult because the Bible only provides so much detail so Rivers had to fill in a lot of missing details with how things might have occurred and this is one part I had an issue with, she describes Aaron as jealous and envious of Moses, which might very well be true but I have never found indications of that from reading the Bible. This same flaw does also reveal some of the books major upside, and that is it makes you want to read the Biblical account closer and try to fill in the gaps yourself which was her ultimate goal.

Overall, I thought the book was very good and really makes you think about the Biblical story as well as the emotions Aaron and the other individuals would have been going through and the amount of faith it took to persevere. Definitely worth a read, especially if you are studying the first 5 books of the Bible.
2359116
After attending several Bible studies and having a basic undertanding of the Bible, author Mary Burns took me to a totally new place of thought in her book, The Woman Who Wrote the Bible.  After a bit of initial difficulty navigating the names of the characters, I hit page 80 or so and never looked back as the story totally wrapped me up in Janaia's world.  What is not to love about the story of a strong, gifted woman who navigates her way through life at a time when women had little influence and power.  The novel allowed me to see things from a perspective  I would never have imagined. It connects biblical stories with characters that come to life and made me ponder how things really may have happened. Her character displays loyalty, love, honor and confidence.  The book reinforces the need to look at life not by what you have, but by who you are surrounded by.  Janaia is a character you will think about long after you have finished reading this wondefully written novel.
3300096
First, a warning: this book, though based on Biblical characters, bears almost no resemblance to the Biblical story of Dinah, daughter of the patriarch Jacob.  If you will be upset by depictions of the men of the Bible as foolish, the women as idol-worshipers, and Dinah's rape re-written as a love affair, then you should probably skip this book.  If, however, you are interested in an account of the daily lives of the women of the Bible, told from a woman's perspective, you may find "The Red Tent" an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.  Dinah tells the story of her four mothers - the wives of Jacob - and continues on to tell of her own coming of age and experiences as a midwife and mother.  The "Red Tent" of the title is where the Israelite women would rest during their menstrual periods; and indeed, as other reviewers have noted, this can be a very "bloody" story.  The author depicts Biblical women's lives as being very closely bound up in the giving and maintaining of life, and reminds us how little separated the blood of childbirth from that of death.  I found this to be a life-affirming, woman-affirming tale, but was left wondering to what extent it was based in any historical understanding of women's lives in the ancient Near East.
3895159
To be clear, I read this book years ago, but just picked it up again in its new format and cover. As I went to re-read it, I mistakenly thought perhaps it would be less powerful since I knew the ending before I started. Boy, was I wrong!
In "The Atonement Child," Francine Rivers writes a heart-wrenching tale of a young woman who is raped and soon finds her perfect little life changed forever. In her talented, moving way, Ms. Rivers turns this into a multi-generational story, showing the responses and experiences of "those gone before."
In the story, she handles the issue of unplanned pregnancy and the sometimes hypocritical way the world responds to it, especially those in "Christian" circles. I would definitely recommend this book (and have) to anyone I know. Especially those who claim to be "pro-life, but...", as this book will challenge your thinking and make you answer, "What does it really and truly mean to value life as God commands?"
Francine Rivers has a God-given talent to write life-changing stories, and I think its quite telling that this book is just as applicable to today's issues as it was when she originally published it 15 years ago.
1769640
I enjoyed this book very much.  Francine Rivers is a very good Christian writer.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
3790958
*With thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for this un-biased review*

Long before the birth of Jesus, the Jews were persecuted and punished. The Old Testament shows us in the book of Esther how Queen Esther saved the Persian Jews from complete annihilation which resulted in the celebration called Purim. While the biblical story in Keepers of the Covenant begins with this well-known story of Haman and Mordecai of Esther 3-8, the author gives us a wonderfully fictionalized retelling of the prophet Ezra's family during this period of war and hardship. In the bible, the Book of Ezra tells us how God shows his forgiveness and restores the faith of his wayward people.

As with the first book in the series which gives us Zechariah's story, book two in the Restoration Chronicles focuses on characters who pull us into their re-imagined lives with absorbing and exciting storytelling. Ezra and his brothers were hard-working members of the Levite tribe exiled to Babylon when the king of Persia sends out a decree allowing all Jewish people to be slaughtered on a specific day. Ezra forces himself to become a leader of his Jewish peers and fight back. Meanwhile, we are also introduced to characters such as Amina and Sayfah, young daughters of the pagan Babylonian Gentiles who are eager to destroy the Jews; and Reuben, the young boy whose faith is tested when he loses almost everything during the violent thirteenth day of Adar.

Some favorite lines from characters in Keepers of the Covenant:

"As the psalmist wrote, our hope is in the Almighty One's unfailing love."

"If people follow God's laws at all, it's out of habit or legalism, not love. Some of us are no better than the Gentiles, ignoring God and His laws and then creating our own image of what God is like and what He wants from us."

"If we deny god, our lives aren't worth living."

Keepers of the Covenant is a captivating story of hardship, love and faith which depicts a historically important period for those of the Jewish community. I loved the first book, and I knew I would love this next installment. I was not disappointed at all, but I was reminded to continue to pick up the rest of Lynn Austin's work. I know I can't go wrong with any of her skillfully retold biblical novels. I highly recommend Lynn Austin and the Restoration Chronicles to any reader of biblical fiction. I especially love the larger size of these novels as well - nearing 500 pages, Keepers of the Covenant is a wonderfully engrossing and satisfying epic bible story.