Happy New Year! Just when I got used to writing 2021, it is 2022! 😉 It has been a challenging couple of years, but I have had so many blessings in my life. I am looking forward to a new normal. I know, I hate that phrase too. What I mean by a new normal is looking beyond immediate circumstances, seeking joy in small things, putting fear and doubt behind me. When you think of it, this is not a new normal for Christians, but an eternal normal. 🙂
I have a reading resolution for 2022 too. Read what I want to read. Sounds normal too, doesn’t it? But so often I bite off more than I can chew with review books that my reading life is less than satisfying. I am hoping to turn that around this year. To that end, my book club is reading The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox this month. This novel was the 2021 Christy Award winner for both debut novel and book of the year. I really want to read this book! If you have read it, I would love to know what you thought of this book.
When Ivy Rose returns to her hometown to oversee an estate sale, she soon discovers that her grandmother left behind more than trinkets and photo frames–she provided a path to the truth behind Ivy’s adoption. Shocked, Ivy seeks clues to her past, but a key piece to the mystery is missing.
Twenty-four years earlier, Harvey James finds an abandoned newborn who gives him a sense of human connection for the first time in his life. His desire to care for the baby runs up against the stark fact that he is homeless. When he becomes entwined with two people seeking to help him find his way, Harvey knows he must keep the baby a secret or risk losing the only person he’s ever loved.
In this dual-time story from debut novelist Amanda Cox, the truth–both the search for it and the desire to keep it from others–takes center stage as Ivy and Harvey grapple with love, loss, and letting go.
This is one I hope to get to this year as well. I also am cutting WAY back on review books this year (although I will still review everything I read, but I will be reading more from my moods than deadlines!). Here’s to a wonderful New Year, to God be the glory!!
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My book club read The Edge of Belonging last year. Amanda Cox joined us via Zoom to discuss it. We all really enjoyed it. Harvey is such an endearing character.
That’s great!