Christian Fiction Devourers discussion

Ok, here it is! Some of us have been patiently waiting to see this list!

Contemporary Romance


by Becky Wade
by Liz Johnson
by Susan May Warren

First Novel

by Connilyn Cossette
by Kelli Stuart
by Ann Marie Stewart

General Fiction

by Charles Martin
by Chris Fabry
by Beth Moore

Historical

by Kelli Stuart
by Jocelyn Green
by Mesu Andrews

Historical Romance

by Tamera Alexander
by Elizabeth Camden
by Joanne Bischof

Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

by Terri Blackstock
by Carrie Stuart Parks
by Joel C. Rosenberg

Short Form

by Chris Fabry
by Laura Scott
by Cynthia Ruchti

Visionary

by Jolina Petersheim
by Jill Williamson
by James L. Rubart

Young Adult

by Brittany Goodwin
by Melanie Dickerson
by Sara Ella

And those are your 2017 Christy award finalists- please tell us your thoughts- do you agree with this list? How many of these nominees have you read? :) What are you surprised isn't there? What are you surprised is there? I can't wait to hear what you all think!

One thing I noticed right off the bat is that the book was nominated twice, which makes me wonder if that's the shoe-in for the the book of the year. I haven't read that one- have any of you read it and if so, what did you think?

I have read Terri Blackstock's If I Run. I am not reading the next two in the series until the third is published and available at my library, even though the second one is there.

Beth - ;)
in Calgary

I've read 6 of them-

and

I definitely enjoyed each of these books, some of my very favorite reads of this year for sure.

I've only read three I loved all three.

I think I might check out some of the suspense books, I've been trying to find some new authors in that genre.

I have read

I thought these nominees are for 2016 releases, but is released in 2017. So is the time frame different?

I have read 6 of these books -

I tried to listen to as an audiobook, but just could not get into it.

Definitely loved . One of my favorites of all time. Also really enjoyed and and

Oh the Christy award website says the publication date should be March 2016 - March 2017. That explains why is nominated since it was released in Jan 2017.

I am surprised to not see .

Caroline wrote: "Oh the Christy award website says the publication date should be March 2016 - March 2017. That explains why is nominated since it was released in Jan 2017.

I..."

Caroline, thank you for explaining the timeline as I wondered about that too. I agree Close to You and Land of Silence were both very good!

Thanks for posting Cheryl! Like you I noticed that Like A River From Its Course was nominated twice. I don't think that means it will be the Book of the Year, but certainly increases the odds if that book is the winner for both its categories.

Other main takeaways for me...
- The First Novel category is all historical (if you consider 1970 as historical. I forget exactly what year the break is for historical vs. contemporary).
- Chris Fabry has two nominations.
- The existence of a Short Form category. That is new.

As for me, I've read:

Contemporary Romance


First Novel


General Fiction


Historical


Historical Romance


Mystery/Suspense/Thriller


Visionary


I'd love to finish out the Contemporary Romance, First Novel, Historical and Visionary Categories before the awards are announced. Realistically, I will probably only complete two, but would be happy with that. :-)

Chantel wrote: "I've only read three I loved all three.

I think I might check out some..."

Chantel, I've found Carrie Stuart Parks writing to get stronger with each book in her series. I've read a couple of Joel Rosenberg novels, but not this particular series. He's a very good writer!

Staci wrote: "Chantel wrote: "I've only read three I loved all three.

I think I migh..."

Thank you Staci!

Caroline wrote: "Oh the Christy award website says the publication date should be March 2016 - March 2017. That explains why is nominated since it was released in Jan 2017.

I..."


Oh. My. Goodness!! What happend?!! I loved both Close to you and Land of Silence! Is it too late for a r write in vote?? :-)

I've only read one of them , but have most of the others on my TBR list.

Surprisingly, I've read 10 of them.

Contemporary Romance
- loved this one!
The Red Door Inn is one I'd love to read soon. I loved the second book of that series.

First Novel
- excellent books, both of them!
Like a River From It's Course sounds amazing. I've been eye-balling it for a while (I do have it on Kindle), and obviously I should hurry up and read it!

General

Jesse Woods is my pick of the two I've read.

Historical

Loved both of these books and again, Kelli Stuart's book is a must read, obviously ;)

Historical Romance
- loved this book and would be completely content if it won, however, I do want to read the other two.

I'm not a Suspense/Thriller gal, so I haven't read any of them and probably won't...?

Short Form
It was excellent, one of my favorite Christmas reads of last year.

Visionary
I've only read this one, and I loved it. Definitely thrilled for this author that she's on the list and hope it wins! (not to take away from the other two, just haven't read those)

YA - Haven't read any of them, although I do have Unblemished in my TBR.

So...I went on a Christy Reading spree and read the following since I last checked in...



Because I'm a tad OCD about series (ok...about other things too), I read The Pharaoh's Daughter as well because it precedes Miriam.

I also have King's Folly, but it's long and outside my regular genres so didn't get to it.

Anyone else read additional Christy nominees?

Here's my picks from the categories in which I read all three nominees:

Contemporary Romance


First Novel


General Fiction


Historical


Historical Romance


Short Form (tie)


The winners will be announced the evening of November 8.

I have all your picks on my TBR list Staci.

Nice Loraine! Hope you enjoy them!!

On behalf of Cheryl, I am posting the winners of the Christy Awards:

Contemporary Romance
Her One and Only by Becky Wade


First Novel
Stars in the Grass by Ann Marie Stewart


General Fiction
The Promise of Jesse Woods by Chris Fabry


Historical
The Mark of the King by Jocelyn Green


Historical Romance
A Note Yet Unsung by Tamera Alexander & The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof


Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
When Death Draws Near by Carrie Stuart Parks


Short Form
Looking Into You by Chris Fabry


Visionary
The Long Journey to Jake Palmer


Young Adult
The Silent Songbird by Melanie Dickerson


Book of the Year
Long Way Gone by Charles Martin


Are there any you are especially excited about? Any surprises?

Congratulations to all the winners! Some great books here (and some I haven't read yet).

Two surprises:

Two winners for historical romance. I haven't seen dual winners before.

The Book of the Year didn't win the category as well (I thought BOTY was usually chosen from the category winners). Maybe that was to keep people guessing :)

I'm glad I wasn't judging. There were some tough calls to make here!

Wow, Staci! Your predictions are so close to the ultimate winners.

I am excited that won.

Thank you Caroline! I was also delighted to see The Mark of the King win the Historical category. I watched the live stream and it was great that Jocelyn was there to accept the award.

Iola, I remember a tie, but perhaps I am getting confused with INSPYs. On the Book of the Year, I believe previously it was selected among the category winners. Now that there is new oversight of the Christy Awards, perhaps this is a new approach. It could be a different group of judges read all nominees and selected a winner. I am guessing though.

Cheryl wrote: "Ok, here it is! Some of us have been patiently waiting to see this list!

Contemporary Romance


by Becky Wade
[bookcover:The Red Door Inn|25..."

The Promise of Jesse Woods deserves to be on this list. I haven't read all of the others, but will see who wins. This is because many are romances and I'm not into romance in books (more in movies).