In Black and White
Have you ever read a novel that stabbed you in the heart? Convicted you for something you had no idea was an issue in your life? Left you sobbing (no, really, sobbing) at the last words?
Well. That happened to me the other day.
I was reading “Zora & Nicky” by the gorgeous and fabulous Claudia Mair Burney.
Claudia is a Michigan native…so you KNOW I love her.
Claudia has tattoos (which is how I met her)…so you KNOW we can get along.
Claudia is a a painter….so you KNOW I want to be her when I grow up.
But, really and truly, Claudia really got to me with this novel.
She showed me beauty, hatred, racism (yes, even in the North, even in these modern times), characters using hands and feet to be Jesus to others…mercy. Claudia showed me so much grace and mercy and love in this book.
I cried for the beauty. Because it was so much bigger than I am. And I cried for the shame of all the ways that humans hate and marginalize one another. When, all the time, we are each the very image of the Creator who loves us so very much.
Please, do me a personal favor. Go over to Amazon and order this book. I’ll make it easy for you. Click HERE.
This book is going on my shelf next to some of my all time favorites. Yes. I have favorites. And this is one of them.
Tell me, what book have you read that tore you up in a good way? How did it change you?
susiefinkbeiner.com 
This isn’t a new read, but I’ve always been deeply stirred by The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth Goudge. She is that rare kind of writer who can interweave the spiritual with ordinary life in such a way that her words nearly read as poetry.
Every time I read this novel I find things in it I’d either forgotten, or didn’t notice the first time. The way in which she portrays spiritual realities is never heavyhanded; in fact, it is at times so subtle that only “he who has ears to hear” will pick up on it.
As a writer I yearn to write something like this, in my own style, natch!
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Thanks, Deb! I love finding new titles to add to my list. I’ve never read this book. I’m looking forward to checking it out!
Thank you for stopping by!
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You got me…. I ordered it…. funny how much of my b-day money has gone to buy books this year. 🙂 Between you and this Amazon Prime membership I’m a goner! 🙂 Thanks for posting this. Guess I’m going to be busy this vacation if I want to get through all these books. 🙂
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Alright! Whoo hoo! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it. I guarantee that you will cry.
We are like a little two person book club!
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oohhh, I like that… now we need to come up with a name for our club!
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I think we should combine our names…
The Kazoosie Book Club.
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Love it! And to add some flare, we could play kazoos to begin meetings.
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The kazoos would scare off the rat!
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Yes!! And if we stand outside a play for a few minutes to scare him off, we might get tips. Remember a top hat.
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Oh my goodness. You crack me up.
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“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” caught me by surprise. I never realized what an evangelistic book it was. It has been years since I read it (suggested to me by my wonderful sister and favorite author) but I will always remember how it struck me in a powerful way.
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Yeah. That’s quite the book. Wow. True Freedom…
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Reblogged this on Megan Sayer and commented:
I agree 100% with everything Susie says here…well…except for the Michigan bit. This book is truly amazing. Well worth checking out.
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