Hi

[Laura]

Hi and welcome! I love the photo on your blog. Hope you like it here, it is a friendly group of people. Where do you go to school (if you don't mind the question)? I have a niece who's away at bible school.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner)]

Welcome to the group! I too attend a Bible college currently..I think my school might detest the books I read. I once had an Speech/Literature professor not know who Jack Kerouac was. I was appalled! :)

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner)]

one thing I thought of when you said that you are a broke college student(like me!) and can't buy books..is have you ever checked out paperbackswap.com.. i just started using it..it's nice because you can swap your books and get credit to get one that you want. It's nice because i have a bunch of books that i'll probably never read again so i'd rather get other books that i want until i can afford to buy books. just a thought :)

[Lori, Super Mod]

Hey Saved By Grave...
Im not going to delete your posts, silly. You are in good company here, we all have different life experiences and loves.... so Welcome! And dont worry!

Have you read the Left Behind series? I would assume those are appropriate for you, right? I loved them, read them as they came out and couldnt wait for each new one to be released. I only read the orignal series tho, when they started the prequel line, I just said 'enough is enough!"

[Laura]

Okay, SBG ( do you mind if I abbreviate your name? I like it, but it's long ), you're making me want to sneak books to you. I understand what you're faced with, but I would have to rebel (at least a little). You seem very bright, don't let someone put you in a box.

Having said that - I really enjoyed the Father Tim series by Jan Karon. At Home in Mitford is the first one. I actually read these twice. Although I do agree with you (at least, in my experience so far) that most Christian fiction tends to be boring. It's a shame. It has the potential to be quite exciting, actually.

[Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner)]

nah i doubt that people would care if your name was in it..you could always message them to make sure. i just received a book with a name in it..doesn't really bother me.

i think it is a very trustworthy site. my experience so far has been great. basically you go on there and add your books that you are willing to swap..if someone accepts then you have to mail it by a certain date to them. once they receive it, they mark that they received it and you get credit for sending it. With that credit you are able to get a book that you want. I have a wish list with about 100 books on there and sometimes there is a waiting list for some of the books..but when one is available then they will ask you if you still want it and then the person will send it to you. you should take a look at it..see if it would work for you.

[Lori, Super Mod]

SBG, Ive read the adult ones. Not a big YA fan.....

[Laura]

Publish away! The world could use more books like that (and I know teens could, speaking for my own)! On one of my other book groups here at GR, Chicks on Lit, we had a chat yesterday with the author of a book we just read called The Wednesday Sisters. I told the author, Meg Waite Clayton, that I've always wanted to be a writer, since I was little. She really encouraged me to just write and posted some helpful links you might enjoy:

http://megwaiteclayton.com/1stbooks/

http://megwaiteclayton.com/writers.shtml

And here's the link to our transcript from our chat with her. It was so interesting!

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...

Hope this inspires you to "just write"!

[Laura]

...and if I may say, Ken is one of our most fun members. He tells the best stories.

[Laura]

Well feel free to add me as a friend. Then you can send me messages without having to type anything in first.

[Laura]

Ken, you are a trip!

[Laura]

Ken is a trip, because he is so...well...Ken! I like him, because he is who he is and doesn't mind saying so. So that's why I said he's a trip.

I was raised by an open-minded mom and a pretty open-minded dad. My mom always said you don't have to agree with everyone, but you always have to respect their right to be different. I think here on TNBBC, people are really good at doing that. I think that's why this place "works" so well. And Lori is a great facilitator of all that as well.

[Laura]

That's so funny Ken - she reminds me of me too!

[[deleted user]]

Welcome to the Group Saved by Grace.

Laura is right. Ken is great/trip! This is a good group with lots of open-minded brilliant individuals! Just love this group.

[Laura]

Well, that's part of your college / young adult experience, Saved. It's learning about who you are and exploring who you are and the world around you.

Exciting times! And I think you've found a great group of people here to help you along. Just stick your hand up and say what you need & someone's sure to come along and give it to you.

:)

[Kellie]

Saved By Grace
I too have an incredible desire to ship a bunch of books to you.
Someone above recommended the Mitford series which is really good (I've read a few myself)
They are Christian with a sense of humor.

Ken, and a lot of others on this site, are great fun and wonderful people. You will probably find yourself, like I do, coming back here frequently to check your favorite threads and chit chat.

Welcome to the club!!
I think you will become addicted just like the rest of us :)

[Lisa Julianna]

Hi Saved By Grace,
Glad you are here. I hope we give you some good things to read and not just the forbidden stuff...lol

[Laura]

Do you mind reporting back? I'm curious if they do. This is a hugely popular series, and I think it's definitely a crossover (meaning they appeal to religious and non-religious people). I think there are nine books in the series, so they should keep you busy for awhile.

Here is the link to Jan Karon's webpage about the books, if you're curious:

http://www.mitfordbooks.com/

[Laura]

Isn't Death supposed to be the narrator of that book, Ken? I haven't read that one yet either, though I think it should be on my TBR.

[Laura]

Sounds like a good book for me to try then!

It also sounds like it might be right up your alley, Saved.

[Krista]

Warmest greetings, Saved By Grace!

I'm a book addict and actually started the bulk of my reading in contemporary Christian authors. I'll see if I can dig up some recommendations for you.

Off the top of my head...

Frank Peretti - whom you've already mentioned

Ted Dekker - Similar writing style to Frank. They actually co-authored House. My favorite book by Ted is Three. Suspensful with great plot twists.

Colleen Colbe - Abomination is a crime-mystery book. I simply could not put it down. I haven't read any of her other books, but I'm guessing they're also suspensful.

Dee Henderson - Danger in the Shadows is the first book in the O'Malley series which is about a family of orphans who adopt each other and take on the last name O'Malley. It's about each sibling's finding the Lord with some mystery and romance thrown in. She also wrote another series, but I haven't read it.

Robert Liparulo (sp?) - Comes a Horseman is a decent thriller. Not my favorite, but worth the read if you can get a copy from the library. He's put out two other books which I have yet to read.

John B. Olson - Shade - I actually just picked up this book at the store this evening because it looked so good. I think it's going to be a fantastic thriller!

Here are a few other books I recently found out about. There on my list to eventually purchase and read...

Isolation: A Novel by Travis Thrasher - Suspense Fiction

Unpretty: A Novel of Suspense by Sharon Carter Rogers - Suspense Fiction

The Other Side of Darkness by Melody Carlson - Contemporary Fiction

Stepping Into Sunlight by Sharon Hinck - Contemporary Fiction

Demon by Tosca Lee - Contemporary Fiction

Field of Blood by Eric Wilson - Suspense Fiction

That's all I can think of for now. I'll try to post others as I think of them.

[Catamorandi]

Hi,

My name is Randi. I am so glad I found this place. I've been very obsessed with GR, which is both good and bad. Bad because I love it. I am totally addicted to GR. Good because it gives me some fantastic new books to read.

Randi

[Catamorandi]

I'm sorry, but I think I just introduced myself on Newbie's Corner. I am definitely not a newcomer, and probably am in the old Introduce Yourselves thread

[Laura]

What's going on with your story, Saved? The one your English professor said should be published?

[Petra in 4 days may have a bf fingers crossed]

Hi there SBGrace
Help me out a bit please. I am just starting a Christian section in my bookshop. Its mainly for Black girls - I live in the Caribbean. So far I have bought books from the Urban Christian series and a couple of other authors. I thought that Christian books had to have little sex or violence and some kind of spiritually-orientated base or story and not have any kind of magic in them. But reading you, it seems more that the subject matter is less important than it is actually written by a Christian. I would appreciate some help please.

[Ashe]

Hi Saved By Grace! Haven't been on here in a bit due to travels, but I wanted to say you aren't the only Christian like girl in here who LOVEs science fiction and fantasy. At home I border on going overboard sometimes with book choices or just reading in general, like now i'm in bad need of some studying for a test so I have been grounded from all books and story writing till its got an A+ on it :) But oh well.
Your mentions of Frank Peretti reminded me of another book that's really good and similarish the not so scary/iffy ones that he's written- Have you ever read the Veritas Conflict?

[Petra in 4 days may have a bf fingers crossed]

SBG - Thanks very much. I have a list of science fiction writers categorised by religion (all religions). There are even some pastors on it. You probably know all the authors already but if not, you might find it interesting.
http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_other...

[Laura]

Hi Saved - One of my Christian nephews is hooked on a fantasy series called Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. I believe the first one is called The Eye of the World.

There are lots of books in the series. Not sure if you might like it, but I thought I would suggest it.

[Laura]

Wow you are a fast reader! Glad you enjoyed my recs. Hopefully you can get a hold of the rest of the books in the series.