Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, July 17, 2020
Book Candy
World Travel--Without Leaving Your Living Room
"Travel around the world without leaving your living room, with these five parent-kid book pairs!"
MEDIUM MAGAZINE: Travel to England and English-inspired fantasy worlds with…
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
“Becoming Mrs. Lewis”
When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis — known as Jack — she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy. A Library Journal starred review describes Callahan’s writing as “riveting” and says “her characters spring to life to create a magical and literary experience that won’t soon be forgotten.”
Authors at Home: 5 Questions with Patti Callahan, Becoming Mrs. Lewis
This week’s spotlight Q&A features Patti Callahan, author of the USA Today Bestseller, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, a historical fiction novel based on the real love story of C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman. Bookpage called Becoming Mrs. Lewis a “breathtaking story is so real that it almost has a heartbeat.” We had the chance to check in with Patti recently, and here’s what she’s been up to since the book published in March.
What five words would you use to describe BECOMING MRS. LEWIS?
Improbable. Courageous. Fascinating. Love. Serendipitous.
2. What music are you listening to? What are you currently reading?
A lot of the blues — right now Nina Simone is on. I am reading JT Ellison’s Good Girls Lie.
3. How are you spending your day in quarantine? Cooking, exercising, reading?
I am trying to keep up with work while my college age sons and husband are also home. It’s interesting to say the very least. I am also really sad about the virus and how it is keeping us from each other, but I do know stories help us all connect.
4. What do you want readers to take away from your book?
Whatever touches their hearts the most!
5. Hardcover or paperback? E-book or physical book?
All the things! Including audio book.
6. What is inspiring you right now?
Poetry! Anything that will calm this restless heart and these hard times.
July 29, 2020 Medium Magazine Reading List By Brianna Robinson
A New York Times Bestselling Author Podcast Host and Co-creator of Friends & Fiction
Photo Credit: Bud Johnson Photography
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of fifteen novels, including the (Historical Fiction), BECOMING MRS. LEWIS—The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis (writing as Patti Callahan). In addition, she is the recipient of The Christy Award—A 2019 Winner "Book of the Year.” ; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020 and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for 2019. The author is also the host of the popular seven-part original "Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis Podcast Series" launched, October 2019. The podcast audiobook collection including bonus material was released in January 2020. The new expanded Becoming Mrs. Lewis paperback edition was released in March 2020. On March 9, 2021, SURVIVING SAVANNAH —a new historical fiction novel based on the true story of the Steamship Pulaski wreck will be released and available for pre-order now. THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER (writing as Patti Callahan Henry—Southern Contemporary Fiction) was launched in 2019, and THE PERFECT LOVE SONG—A Christmas Holiday novella. Patti Callahan is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly Friends and Fiction Facebook Live Show and podcast, featuring the five bestselling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Kristin Harmel, and Mary Alice Monroe with endless stories, special guests, and a way to connect readers and writers. A full-time author and mother of three children, she now resides in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband. View Website.