New Inspirations

Pipestone County Star 10-09-2014

What is Inspirational Fiction?  Most commonly in the United States, the term refers to fiction that concentrates on the characters’ relationships with the Christian God and has become synonymous with Christian Fiction, though this is not always the case.

The definition of Christian Fiction is very simple - it has at its core biblically-based attitudes.  The books typically have a strong Christian theme with very little profanity, sexual content, or violence.  Christian fiction is often written in series to show that faith can grow over time and they have faith-based conflicts, a concentration on morality, and/or they post religious questions – with or without answers.

We usually try to order one or two new series every few months to keep our readers’ interest.  Over the past month or so, we have gotten the following series into the library:

The Dakota series, Lauraine Snelling

The titles in this series include Dakota Dawn, Dakota Dream, and Dakota Dusk.  There are two more (Dakota December and Dakota Destiny) in the series which will be ordered at a later date.  While this is not a new series, it is one that the library did not own and we felt it would add to the collection.  These books follow the lives of immigrant women moving to North Dakota, and centers around the lives people lead in the small community of Soldahl.  The stories are short, but full of life and the characters who people them will touch your heart.

Chronicles of the Kings, Lynn Austin

This series contains five titles: Gods and Kings, Song of Redemption, The Strength of His Hand, Faith of My Fathers, and Among the Gods.  The story begins with Hezekiah, the second son of King Ahaz, who encounters Yahweh as he struggles with his father’s obsession with the idol Molech.  The saga continues with Hezekiah growing into kingship, struggling with a barren wife (who makes an unforgivable pact with a foreign goddess), and then follows his descendants in their journey of faith.  And it is not an easy journey – there are many pitfalls along the way.  The story is involved and enjoyable, with historical detail that will intrigue the reader. 

Because the shelving section for inspirational fiction is not as large as some bigger libraries (we’re not the only ones with this problem), Meinders has started a rotation with a few other Plum Creek libraries.  We trade about twenty books at a time, including a few complete series, to ensure that our readers get a varied selection.  So far we have done one trade and it worked very well – there are only two books in the rotation left on the shelf!  Soon we will be trading again and will bring more books from different places in – hopefully ones that will open eyes to new authors and new series.

So in this time of gloominess, as summer slowly turns to fall, pick up an inspirational book and transport yourself somewhere more thoughtful and uplifting.

Upcoming Events: October 25^th is a FREE Bus trip to New Ulm, with the bus leaving at 7:15 AM from the overflow parking lot at the high school.  We will be visiting the Wanda Gag House, Schell’s Brewery, the Brown County Historical Society, and perhaps seeing the Glockenspiel before returning back to Pipestone around 5:30.  You must have a library card and you must be over 21.  Call – there may still be space!

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Call us for the date of the next meeting!

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.