July books

Ugh I am so behind on these. Anyway:

I picked up The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen (pickle heiress?) from my library's used book sale. It's a historical fiction, Christian Regency romance mystery. I was on the fence about it, since I don't really like Christian romance novels (they tend to be cheesy), but I do like Regency-era historical fiction and mysteries, so. You can read the book summary here. I actually enjoyed this book to the point of staying up late to finish it. I'm always rooting for a spinster heroine (solidarity), plus I love a good Gothic mystery. The mystery in this book is very solid (although not as Gothic as it initially seems), and it kept me guessing. The historical accuracy (as far as I can tell) was decent, with the situations/actions only being a little too modern or improper. The heroine loves Jane Austen novels and reads or thinks about them throughout the book. Come to think of it, this novel is a bit Persuasion-ish, what with the ignored plain oldest daughter being left to take care of an estate by herself by her vain, neglectful family. The romance was fine. I don't think a rector/curate/whatever would be that flirty back then; he was practically rake-ish. There is a Mr. Darcy-esque scene where the heroine comes across him swimming shirtless, ooh-la-la. Christian romance novels are so funny to me because they have the same sort of sexual tension/almost kissing/noticing their hot physique scenes, but immediately after they happen, the protagonist(s) is like "help me, God!" because you're not supposed to lust. It's hilarious. I'd recommend this book, but only if you're ok with Christian morals or themes. 3.5/5 stars, giving away. 

Trigger warnings for this book: murder with firearms, a character is burned via arson, mentions of a large aggressive dog(s), suspense, slight Gothic horror (that turns out to be something else)

I was so excited to get my hands on Unclobbered: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality by Colby Martin (summary), as it deals with the "clobber verses" in the Bible that seem to condemn homosexuality and are the reason so many Christians are homophobic today. Each clobber verse is addressed in a chapter, while alternating chapters detail Colby's growth as a Christian and what happened after he started believing that it isn't a sin to be gay. The clobber verse chapters are well-researched, with Colby discussing the historical and religious context of the verses and digging into ancient Hebrew & Greek terms. The citations are in endnotes; I would have preferred footnotes, but I'll take it. However, there were a couple of verses where the end result of all that research wasn't clear. This is probably because the verses aren't that clear themselves, but it was still kind of disappointing to me since I wanted to hear "this verse is not about/does not condemn gay s3x". The other chapters were interesting, but Colby spends more than half the book talking about himself (and the gay and affirming Christians he talked to along the journey). I'm glad he's on the correct side, and I get why it was such a blow to be fired from his pastoral job when he had a big family to support, but that pales in comparison to all the queer and trans people that have been shunned or murdered or killed themselves because of what Christians believed those clobber verses said. People have been hurt by these misunderstood, mistranslated, misapplied verses, and Colby's out here whining about getting fired from a homophobic church? I found the whole "coming out of the theological closet" thing eyeroll-worthy. Christian allies' pro-gay books need to stop making it about themselves and their journeys and how great they are for being accepting. Just like with My Son, Beloved Stranger, this is a book for straight people. 3.5/5 stars, keeping for now. 

Trigger warnings for this book: homophobia, probably transphobia as well, rape and gang rape mentions (from Bible stories), cishet centering, religious abuse, gay s3x mentions (from Bible passages), Christianity