Regency Thimble Poll

ChristianRegency.com hosts the Thimble poll to rate all Inspirational Regency Romance Fiction Titles. The purpose is to give all readers of Regency a flavor of the book. Clicking on the Vote Button near each title launches a ballot form which ranks the following dimensions:

Austen Style -Dry wit, slightly distanced, more intellectual than emotional. She conveys a great deal of insight into characters without much fuss or exposition. Her sentences are elegant and well-constructed, with the “punch” often saved for the end. She delights in the slight wrench at the end of the sentence which makes this funny and “true”. Her omniscient point of view allows her to comment more on the characters than is common today (except in Regencies

. But that slightly distanced POV creates greater humor. I personally think Austen was quite cynical about human beings, but basically benevolent, and her cynicism is manifested in those long sentences with the ending twist– she’s always lulling us and then stabbing us. -quote by Rita Award Winning Alicia Rasley

Heyer Style -Great witty dialogue, more social comedy in the Shakespearian sense (funny situations that put the main character into new and odd relationships), intense immersion into her own particular Regency universe, intelligent protagonists for the most part but plenty of (again, Shakespearian) amusing “lower” characters–often a little brother!. Some cynicism, but not as much as Austen. More ironic than cynical. As a stylist, Heyer is an utter master of the adverb. I don’t mean that as damning with faint praise, as she does almost everything about sentences right, but she’s just terrific at sliding in the perfect modifier to make everything clear. She is by far to me FUNNIER than Austen, in the LOL sense. -quote by Rita Award Winning Alicia Rasley

Veryan Style -This is the only one of the three I think that generally and successfully aims to create high emotion. (The end of Dedicated Villain remains my all-time absolute tear jerker.) She is truly more a “romance writer” than the other two, in that she seems to believe more fully in love and romance. She is NOT a cynic. So her style is more sincere, earnest and emotional both. She uses more intense emotion words, and isn’t afraid to risk sentimentality. Her prose is much more direct and active, especially in her action scenes (and she far more than Austen and more than Heyer writes many Georgian and Regency type action scenes, especially sword play and duelling). Her descriptions are a lot more precise and sensual too. Everything she does– the sentence lengths, the diction– is in service to the more modern goal of giving the reader a visceral and emotional experience of the story. Her POV is pretty tight– we ARE her characters. -quote by Rita Award Winning Alicia Rasley

Raleigh Style -The book spends equal time in the Hero’s POV as the Heroine’s? Debra Raleigh masterly showed the transformation of the hero in a way that was ground breaking for me in her Vicar Humbly Series.

Other -Is there a style, that this book fits, not included here? If so what? Give us an explanation, it might be included in future polls.

Period Accuracy -Did you feel carried away to the 1800′s? Did you feel the author’s knowledge of the times transcend the pages? Did they spell Regency correctly?

Beauty of the Romance -Did you fall in love with the H or H? Were you swept away in the power of the romance?

Cohesion and Freshness of the Plot -Does the plot seem forced, contrived, or stale? Did the author make the circumstances appealing and keep you guessing and entertained until the end?

Visibility of the Inspirational Message -Does the book convey a strong Christian message? Is the message cleverly woven into the fabric of the story or is it too subtle or non-existent.

Note: You can vote as many times as you want for any title, but our poll will reflect thimbles cast for a particular title from any single IP address in a 24 hour period. So cast more thimbles for other titles and keep coming back to vote for your favorites.

Cast Your Votes Now. Press the Vote Button to Review the Titles:

I recently finished reading The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. In truth, I was given this book many, many years ago (but who’s counting?) by a dear sister in Christ, and it took me this long to read it. Maybe because it is an older work (published in 1961), so the language was just a little off-putting.

But perhaps, there is a time and a season for the devotionals we read. I’ve found that to be so in my life. I’ll have a book on a shelf for a long time, and suddenly will read it, and it will really minister to me at that point in time.

Such was this book. It’s all about the “attributes of God.” Tozer lived and worked at a time (mid-20th century) when he felt the church was in apostasy because it had lost the sense of awe in God. It had brought God down to its own petty, human level.

For today’s post, I just wanted to share a paragraph of Tozer’s in his chapter on the Wisdom of God, one of God’s attributes. Here he is discussing faith (I have emphasized certain parts with boldface):

It is vitally important that we hold the truth of God’s infinite widsom as a tenet of our creed; but this is not enough. We must by the exercise of faith and by prayer bring it into the practical world of our day-by-day experience.

To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.

There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him. Here is His promise: “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)

I hope these words touch you as much as they did me on this beautiful Friday morning.

In Christ,

Ruth

Regency Reflections

The Blog for Inspirational Regency Fiction

Recent Posts

Faith