Christy Awards

I read. A lot. When I can. I was a voracious reader as a child, even into high school. I remember in the 6th grade being allowed to go into the junior high/high school library because I had pretty much read everything in the elementary side of the library. Somewhere along the way, I stopped. I guess life got in the way, and I didn't make time for reading. Even though I was an English literature major in college, reading for pleasure was an unavailable luxury. I'm still a very busy person, but instead of watching TV with my husband, I'll grab a book and head off to a different time and place. It's much better than watching the 40,000th rerun of MASH or yet another battle on the History channel.

I'm a fiction reader. I've never much cared for biographies or self help books. I pick up what looks interesting. If I like it, I like it. If not, I give it 100 pages before I allow myself to put it down. By then, I feel obligated to finish the book, so I have been known to finish some that probably weren't worth reading.

Selecting books for the Faith & Fiction Book Club has been daunting. While I enjoyed the books, who's to say that my preference in reading material is worthy? I could have some strange, warped sense of literary style? Luckily, others who have read the novels have enjoyed them too (or so they claimed. . .).

While surfing the 'net, I decided to Google the Christy Awards, since I didn't really know much about them. The Christy is an award given to Christian novelists . . . sort of like the Emmys or Oscars of Christian fiction.

Whew! It appears my worries about my literary proclivities were for nothing . . . I was so surprised to see Levi's Will on there, since we read it, as a 2006 Christy Award Winner. Also, Whence Came a Prince was a 2006 Christy winner and Fair is the Rose is a 2007 nominee (both are part of the Thorn in My Heart cycle by Liz Curtis Higgs, which we read this spring).

If you are looking for some good books to read this summer, you need look no further than the Christy website! I'll keep reading, and hopefully, those of you in my group won't think me too "weird" . . .