Hey Gems!!!
Today I want to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart...books. I am a book-nerd. A major book-nerd. I've read all types of genres. From romance to fantasy to historical and non-fiction. Just about every genre you can think of. Whether eBook, physical or audio, I'll read it. Reading is something I've grown to love as a kid when I first started school. I 1000% encourage people to read because it's fun, educational and entertaining.
However, last year I came across a genre that I never really knew of or cared to read because of my lack of knowledge on the genre...
For me, as a girl in my early and mid-20's biblical fiction just seemed like something I wouldn't enjoy. Fiction based on the Bible -- oh please. That's what I thought. Keep in mind, at that time I was just living my truth and not the Truth of God. Also, I always heard about Christian fiction which included the Amish and the genre turned me off from ever trying biblical fiction.
I can tell you now in my late 20's I am THOROUGHLY enjoying the genre of biblical fiction a lot more than I ever thought I would. It has even opened the door for me to enjoy Christian fiction in many sub-genres to fantasy, contemporary and historical.
Today I'm going to focus mainly on biblical fiction. What it is, why I like it and my favorite ones!
Biblical fiction is also broken into two parts:
Biblical fiction is great to read because it's based on scripture, brings you to an awareness of yourself in Christ and God spiritually, helps new believers understand the Bible, makes it more interesting and opens your heart to God.
Now, don't get me wrong, I recommend you read and study your Bible daily. Nothing compares to the actual Word of God. However, biblical fiction just allows you to fall into the setting and feel a connection to the people of the time.
Here's a list of my favorite biblical fiction books that successfully offer a fictional take on biblical stories.
1) Isaiah's Daughter by Mesu Andrews.
This was my biblical fiction read and I loved it! I have this book a 5 star rating. Isaiah's Daughter is a book I came across several times from the publisher and different review programs, but I always opted out of reviewing it. I'm so glad I gave this book a try. It's centered around the Prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah from the OT (the Kings, Chronicles and Isaiah in the Bible). This book was absolutely flawless to me. The book read seamlessly, the writing was simply perfect -- it pulled me in to the scenes with the characters. The dialogue between characters were heartfelt. There was romance in the air and action to be read. I LOVED the scriptures and how much it flowed within the book. Mesu did her research and really knows how to use scripture correctly to create a profound fictional story. If you need a book with both romance and action, this is it!
2) Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar.
This is a biblical fiction based on Rahab during the time of the walls of Jericho falling (the book of Joshua). Rahab is the main character and there are scenes with Joshua and Salmon. I adored this novel! This is my one my top 3 biblical fiction reads because it really pulls at the heart and makes you think about your self-worth and value in the eyes of God. Rahab was broken and given a second chance among God's people. The fictional aspect comes with the backstory of Rahab as a child. The scriptures are beautiful and sound wisdom will make you cry!
3) In the Field of Grace by Tessa Afshar.
This is the story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz in such a beautiful novel. With this you get a touching backstory of Ruth before she became Naomi's daughter-in-law, a backstory for Boaz (as we know he is older in age compared to Ruth) and you get to "see" Naomi and Ruth's travel back to Bethlehem. This book captured both the romance and depths of Ruth's story while adding fictional bits to bring it to life. You will both laugh, cry and be at awe of God in this book. The creativity of this story expounds on the beautiful four chapters written in the Book of Ruth.
4) A Light on the Hill by Connilyn Cossette.
This is one of those biblical fiction's that doesn't focus on an actual person from the Bible, but rather a fictional one, but encounters the time. The main character, Moriyah, is a fictional character that experiences the fall of Jericho, the life of a manslayer and learns about the Cities of Refuge. This does feature moments with Joshua so you can guess that this takes place around the time the book of Joshua was written. The biblical aspects of this book were strong. The few that stood out were to extend grace and mercy to those who hurt you; look beyond the physical of a person to their heart and finally the topic of shame. Moriyah had dealt with a lot of shame concerning the mark of the Canaanite gods. She allowed her shame to lead her to fear, cause her to hide her true self, to distort her perception of God's love for her and to cause setbacks where blessings should have been. I loved each lesson this provided!
5) Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar.
This is a biblical fiction that is centered around a fictional character but includes the Prophet Nehemiah and King Ahasuerus (aka King Xerxes) and takes place after the time of Queen Esther (the book of Esther). This gave me so many feels. Tears, laughter, happiness, anger, sadness...just everything in between. The writing as usual is flawless. Tessa takes so much care into creating her characters be they fictional or actual people from the Bible. Her use of scripture pulls you in and the sound, biblical wisdom shared makes you personally reflect. Harvest of Rubies is without a doubt a PERFECT read and after going through the book, I understand the title even more. Not to mention Sarah is a funny character and the romance is so sweet. Great read.
Bonus: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.
This is not a biblical fiction, but rather an historical fiction based on the Bible. This takes the story of the Prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer and brings it to California's gold country in 1850. The detail and imagery Francine used to create this "retelling" is fantastic! This is such an inspiring historical fiction/Christian novel that truly brings the story of Hosea and Gomer to life. The lessons learned, the Word of God that is read and the love of God shown was so touching. If you're a Christian I would 100% recommend this book. I read this book in about 22 hours and I mean I cried, I laughed, and I got angry. This is book will melt the heart.
This post was long, but I pray it helped you learn more about biblical fiction and encouraged you to try some out for yourself. You won’t regret it!
Blessings,Today I want to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart...books. I am a book-nerd. A major book-nerd. I've read all types of genres. From romance to fantasy to historical and non-fiction. Just about every genre you can think of. Whether eBook, physical or audio, I'll read it. Reading is something I've grown to love as a kid when I first started school. I 1000% encourage people to read because it's fun, educational and entertaining.
However, last year I came across a genre that I never really knew of or cared to read because of my lack of knowledge on the genre...
BIBLICAL FICTION
I can tell you now in my late 20's I am THOROUGHLY enjoying the genre of biblical fiction a lot more than I ever thought I would. It has even opened the door for me to enjoy Christian fiction in many sub-genres to fantasy, contemporary and historical.
Today I'm going to focus mainly on biblical fiction. What it is, why I like it and my favorite ones!
What is biblical fiction?
Biblical fiction, for those who don't know, is a sub-genre of both historical and Christian fiction. It is a work of fiction set in biblical time, based on a biblical story and featuring people from the biblical era. In layman terms -- it's when you take people and stories from the Bible and craft a phenomenal story after MAJOR research on it.Biblical fiction is also broken into two parts:
- main characters are actual people from the Bible
- main characters are fictional, but the setting, time and secondary characters feature actual people from the Bible.
Why I love biblical fiction?
It helps bring the beloved stories of the Bible to life and make the harder stories of the Bible easier to connect with. There are several stories that many more that many can connect with instantly, but majority of the time people don't. Biblical fiction gives you a way to really dive into the time, read scripture with a new outlook and help you connect to the lessons and Word of God in an un-traditional way.Biblical fiction is great to read because it's based on scripture, brings you to an awareness of yourself in Christ and God spiritually, helps new believers understand the Bible, makes it more interesting and opens your heart to God.
Now, don't get me wrong, I recommend you read and study your Bible daily. Nothing compares to the actual Word of God. However, biblical fiction just allows you to fall into the setting and feel a connection to the people of the time.
Here's a list of my favorite biblical fiction books that successfully offer a fictional take on biblical stories.
This was my biblical fiction read and I loved it! I have this book a 5 star rating. Isaiah's Daughter is a book I came across several times from the publisher and different review programs, but I always opted out of reviewing it. I'm so glad I gave this book a try. It's centered around the Prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah from the OT (the Kings, Chronicles and Isaiah in the Bible). This book was absolutely flawless to me. The book read seamlessly, the writing was simply perfect -- it pulled me in to the scenes with the characters. The dialogue between characters were heartfelt. There was romance in the air and action to be read. I LOVED the scriptures and how much it flowed within the book. Mesu did her research and really knows how to use scripture correctly to create a profound fictional story. If you need a book with both romance and action, this is it!
2) Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar.
This is a biblical fiction based on Rahab during the time of the walls of Jericho falling (the book of Joshua). Rahab is the main character and there are scenes with Joshua and Salmon. I adored this novel! This is my one my top 3 biblical fiction reads because it really pulls at the heart and makes you think about your self-worth and value in the eyes of God. Rahab was broken and given a second chance among God's people. The fictional aspect comes with the backstory of Rahab as a child. The scriptures are beautiful and sound wisdom will make you cry!
This is the story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz in such a beautiful novel. With this you get a touching backstory of Ruth before she became Naomi's daughter-in-law, a backstory for Boaz (as we know he is older in age compared to Ruth) and you get to "see" Naomi and Ruth's travel back to Bethlehem. This book captured both the romance and depths of Ruth's story while adding fictional bits to bring it to life. You will both laugh, cry and be at awe of God in this book. The creativity of this story expounds on the beautiful four chapters written in the Book of Ruth.
4) A Light on the Hill by Connilyn Cossette.
This is one of those biblical fiction's that doesn't focus on an actual person from the Bible, but rather a fictional one, but encounters the time. The main character, Moriyah, is a fictional character that experiences the fall of Jericho, the life of a manslayer and learns about the Cities of Refuge. This does feature moments with Joshua so you can guess that this takes place around the time the book of Joshua was written. The biblical aspects of this book were strong. The few that stood out were to extend grace and mercy to those who hurt you; look beyond the physical of a person to their heart and finally the topic of shame. Moriyah had dealt with a lot of shame concerning the mark of the Canaanite gods. She allowed her shame to lead her to fear, cause her to hide her true self, to distort her perception of God's love for her and to cause setbacks where blessings should have been. I loved each lesson this provided!
This is a biblical fiction that is centered around a fictional character but includes the Prophet Nehemiah and King Ahasuerus (aka King Xerxes) and takes place after the time of Queen Esther (the book of Esther). This gave me so many feels. Tears, laughter, happiness, anger, sadness...just everything in between. The writing as usual is flawless. Tessa takes so much care into creating her characters be they fictional or actual people from the Bible. Her use of scripture pulls you in and the sound, biblical wisdom shared makes you personally reflect. Harvest of Rubies is without a doubt a PERFECT read and after going through the book, I understand the title even more. Not to mention Sarah is a funny character and the romance is so sweet. Great read.
This is not a biblical fiction, but rather an historical fiction based on the Bible. This takes the story of the Prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer and brings it to California's gold country in 1850. The detail and imagery Francine used to create this "retelling" is fantastic! This is such an inspiring historical fiction/Christian novel that truly brings the story of Hosea and Gomer to life. The lessons learned, the Word of God that is read and the love of God shown was so touching. If you're a Christian I would 100% recommend this book. I read this book in about 22 hours and I mean I cried, I laughed, and I got angry. This is book will melt the heart.
This post was long, but I pray it helped you learn more about biblical fiction and encouraged you to try some out for yourself. You won’t regret it!
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