Thursday, October 11, 2018

The Sound of Distant Thunder

GIVEAWAY

DREXLER, JAN
THE SOUND OF DISTANT THUNDER

For two hopeless romantics, the Civil War will be the ultimate test.

Seventeen-year-old Katie Stuckey is starry-eyed, in love with the idea of being in love, and does not want to wait until she is eighteen to marry Jonas Weaver as her parents insists. Twenty-year-old Jonas knows war is at odds with the teachings of the church, yet he can't help being taken in by the romance of the soldiering life, especially for the abolitionist cause.

When his married brother's name comes up in the draft list, Jonas volunteers to take his brother's place. But can the commitment Katie and Jonas have made to each other survive the separation?

My Review:

"Jonas never worked around a problem, he worked through it." (p 55 ) -- a father's interesting observation which plays out in unexpected ways throughout the course of this first book in Drexler's The Amish of Weaver Creek series.

And what a stunning work of historical fiction! This author does her research and then brings history to life with her stories. The Sound of Distant Thunder is more than a Civil War novel. Yes it includes battles and politics and violence but  Drexler has created a very intimate look at these events through the eyes of her characters -- the kind that feel like living, breathing people it's easy for a reader to bond with.

And by doing that she has brought that time in history to a truly personal level. It made a real impact on me and I found myself mulling over parallels I see in this upside down 21st century world and the decisions and conflicts each of us is faced with daily. In some ways we are very much like Jonas -- but are we looking for ways around our problems or are we courageous enough to work through them?

For all his youth, Jonas is amazing hero material. Torn between his Amish faith and his desire to see slavery abolished -- and it seems like there is no way to honour both. I love the way the story unfolds. There's plenty of day-to-day Amish living in 1862 -- and historical Amish fiction is so fascinating! There's the sweet romance between Katie and Jonas -- the impetuous impatience of young love! But this is also a very interesting time in Amish church history as different districts battle over what being Amish really means. Conflicting opinions threaten their Old Order way of doing things. Intriguing parallels here between a nation fighting for change and a church struggling to keep change out.

Jan Drexler provides exquisite storytelling with the promise of more goodness to come as future books in the Amish of Weaver's Creek series release (hopefully in the very near future!)

Book provided courtesy of Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Sound of Distant Thunder, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday October 14 2018. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!;lishis

34 comments:

  1. Looks really good 😁
    Thank you so much for sharing it with us and for the chance to win.
    😍🍯🐝😍
    iamabho AT gmail DOT com

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  2. Without spoiling it, I was so frustrated with how this ended :-( It doesn't conclude to a satisfactory end and left to many open-ended questions for me. And there are some important elements that need answers!

    Nothing against Jan, her writing is really good and I did enjoy this story very much. It certainly makes me to read the next book.

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    1. Ohhh...that's interesting. I just felt that there was as much resolution as could be possible during wartime...and I have a feeling some of those elements will carry over into the next book since the whole series is about how the Civil War affects the Amish...at least, that's my understanding. I'm interested to see what book two and three hold! :-)

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    2. Yep, I'm fairly certain it will carry out in the next book, of that I have no doubt :-) War time is so unpredictable!

      I've read many different reviews on this one and it's interesting to see how other readers felt about it. I will definitely need to read the following books, just have no idea how long that will be. :-)

      Sorry if my comment came out negative, it was not my intention at all! We all come to our own conclusions about books and that certainly doesn't make us right or wrong! :-)

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    3. Not negative at all -- I think this book fits into the category of not really a cliff hanger ending but not quite completely resolved either...at least, not in the typical way. Intrigued to see what's in store for us next.

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    4. I'm anticipating this one even more now after reading these comments. I'm one of those reader's who's okay with atypical endings. In fact, it's because they don't mold to reader's expectations that I end up liking them even more. I definitely want some resolution, but it doesn't have to perfect. Just like real life. :)

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    5. Terrill, I'm certain you will love this! My only complaint was the ending, everything else was great! I just wished the next book would come out tomorrow...lol! ;-)

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    6. Yay! How can I not like it after both of your recommendations. :)

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  3. Hello! I commented on one of your previous posts, but I can't seem to find it to see your response! Ah! What would be the best way to contact you? I intern at Worthy Publishing and we are looking for blogs to review one of our new releases! We will send you a copy or even 2 if you want to do a giveaway. Just let me know! Thanks.

    My email is : Intern2 at worthy publishing dot com

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    1. Didn't notice another post from you, Abby. I'll send you off an email.

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    2. Oh intriguing! What an opportunity Kav! 😊

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  4. Yes, been wanting to read this. teshawATsbcglobalDOTnet

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  5. This one sounds like a goodie. I love all the details in historical fiction. turtle6422(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. I so appreciate authors who do great research. Good luck, Jana Leah!

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  6. The Civil War is always of interest to me and I'd love to read about the Amish during that time period.
    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

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    1. A totally different angle! So interesting! Good luck, rubynreba.

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  7. My favorite era to read about. Thank you so much for sharing.leliamae54(at)aol(dot)com

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  8. I guess I don't really need to comment further. I said it all above. Lol.
    tlhcoupon(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  9. Ohhhh, love this cover! Thank you for the chance to win a copy of this book.

    wfnren at aol dot com

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  10. This really started a flurry of comments on the blog! Her books are consistently quite good, and this is a little different from the typical Amish novel, with the war background and the choices in relation to that. Thanks!

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    1. I love book chatting! Talk away! Good luck, CC!

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  11. This sounds really interesting. I was never a fan of historical novels until a few years ago. I love Amish fiction so I'm looking forward to reading this book. Thank you for the review.
    kmgervais54@gmail.com

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    1. I'm finding myself drawn to Amish historicals -- there aren't very many but I think it's a growing genre. Good luck, Karen!

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  12. I would love to read this book! Thank you for the chance to win a copy!

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  13. This sounds like a wonderful book and I would love to read it. mauback55 at gmail dot com

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