Lois Kennis

After I eagerly skimmed the preview available online, I wrote on my calendar that as soon as my budget allows me to buy yet another book, I want to order - Isaiah: God Saves Sinners by Raymond Ortlund. It's a heavy but life-giving read, from what I see on the preview. I stumbled upon this gem while reading the "Insight" blurb from Our Daily Bread, 7/20/20. Arthur Jackson referred to this book when he wrote, "One Bible scholar describes 'wait' as living 'in confident, eager suspense....'" That phrase resonates, reminding me of the days when I wake up in "eager suspense," excited to talk with God. Lately, it's been harder to hear Him, in the midst of media chatter and COVID19. But I know He's there. So I wake. And I wait, knowing He's ever-present, and I pray for clarity. I believe this book about the beautiful book of Isaiah will bring new insight and awareness into my life. I'm willing to wait.

"Maranatha Road" is the best novel I've read so far this year, (year's half over) and I've always got 3 or 4 I'm reading at the same time. But "Maranatha Road" refused to let me open the pages of any other novel--until I'd finished, devoured, savored, and studied every sentence until the very last word. Maranatha Road is the debut novel of Heather Bell Adams, who's won recognition for her short fiction. Published by Vandalia Press, an imprint of West Virginia University Press, it's the kind of down-to-earth, unforgettable page-turner that will be loved by book clubs, studied in classrooms, and cherished by anybody who loves to read about real people with hearts and souls, people who make mistakes, change their minds, work hard, care about others, bumble along, and experience all the little details of life, both good and bad, that make each day unforgettable. And if you love "Maranatha Road," you'll also love "The Lemonade Year" by Amy Willoughby Burle, one of my other favorite authors.