|
jgirl6281 -> RE: Any authors like Janette Oke? (7/4/2008 3:50:16 PM)
|
Saw this forum and thought I would put in a few words for my family's favorite authors. My parents and I all read a lot and Jeannette Oke's children's books were staples for the long car rides in the summer. A few of our other favorite authors include The Thoene's, Lori Wick, and Karen Kingsbury. But all three write very different books.
I can not say enough good things about Lori Wick, her writing is very similar to Oke in that she writes shorter books that can be read over a weekend/week and she interrelates her characters, don't know if you noticed in reading Oke but a few characters have crossed over series, though I can't think of which ones right of the top of my head. Though our family has noticed that Wick does kill some one off with in the first few pages of every book to get her stories going. But it is never part of main plot, so no murder mysteries and doesn't take away from the story, more of just a plot point to show flaws or strengths of characters. She writes the majority of her historical books in a series of 4 books that are linked usually by either the setting or the family the books are about. The books are pretty light for the most part, my favorites being the Californians and the Place Called Home series and for her stand alones The Princess and Pretense, though that one is somewhat heavy and takes a while to get to your happy ending.
Brock and Bodie Thoene have been a part of my life and my family's library just as long as Jeannette Oke. Their stories are rich with action, adventure and romance, though it is never the main part of the story. Their story telling is their selling point. They take you into the Ghettos during the rise of Nazi Germany and into Old Jerusalem as Israel becomes a nation. Like Oke they have characters that you identify with and wait breathlessly for the conclusion of each book. A fun fact is to note that their characters, at least in their defining series Zion Covenant, Chronicles and Legacy are based on real people. And they even keep you up to date on the characters in the prologues to the A.D. Chronicles, which is a series of books on the life of Christ. They also have a series or two that is set in Ireland and Broke Thoene has also written a series based in the old west. I am going to assume, since I have not read them, that they read a bit like a John Wanye movie since they were both writers for Wanye before his death.
As for Kingsbury, she is very good but if you are looking for more historical fiction that is fairly light she is not for you. Her books are well written and pull you in, but you need to have tissues near by because she makes you cry at least once. And in contrast to Oke she allows her characters to have real flaws and struggles. To me Oke always made her characters a little too perfect. Her books are also a bit longer than your typical Oke book. She does deal with more true to modern life problems in her books such as trial separations, divorce, infidelity, infertility, adoption, death and remarriage. But she never portrays the choices that are bad as being good, for example in Ocean's Apart the story line is based off of the main male protagonist has been unfaithful and a child has resulted from the affair. Kingsbury never tries to reason away the unfaithfulness of her character but instead takes the character and his entire family on a journey through his growth as a father, husband and Christian. She stretches and grows her characters in ways that I can see as actually happening in my family and in my church. She doesn't pull any punches, there is no miracle healing of her injuried or dying characters. I think the reason I love her books so much is that fact alone, her Baxter stories deal with the dying process of one of the main characters which was occurring as my family was going through a very similar circumstance as my grandmother was dying of cancer. I'll be honest I probably cried harder because of it, but I could relate and it made the books that much better.
Another author that hasn't written a lot of fiction and whose books are a quite bit longer than your typical Oke book is Liz Curtis Higgs. You may have heard of the Bad Girls of the Bible, Bible Study Series, and she is also a Christian Comedian. She has written a series of books that is a retelling of the story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel set in the Scottish Highlands. It is very good series that is 4 books long, but they are long books.
My mom also really likes Beverly Lewis, most of her books are based in and around Amish communities and are pretty good.
If you can't tell I come from a family of bookworms, as our family library can attest to. Hope I've given you at least an idea of what some of the books out there are like. And I apologize for the long winded post.
|
|
|
|