This week in the ACFW Bookclub we’ve been discussing the “Pastor’s
Wife Wears Biker Boots” by Karla Akins.
This novel falls under the “mom-lit” genre, which I hadn’t really
been exposed to before. I was attracted
to the fun title, but wasn’t sure if I would be able to relate to a main
character so different from me in age & lifestyle. Still, I gave it a go and was pleasantly
surprised!
The heroine, Kirstie is a 47 year old Pastor’s wife living
in a small Indiana town, raising 3 teenage boys, one with autism. She has more than a full plate as she tries
to balance her time among her sons, take care of an enormous dog, run the
household, make sure her husband is never late, and keep peace among all the
very opinionated parishioners! She
struggles with feelings of guilt about not getting to spend enough time with
her loved ones and feels overwhelmed by all the demands of being a Pastor’s
wife. For a release, she turns to the
world of biking (with the blessing of her very kind, supportive husband) and
takes to the open road forming an unlikely motor club of both non-church going
and church going ladies.
Karla balanced humor with heart in Kirstie’s story, and
spent a lot of time developing her characters so I really felt like I knew
them. The pacing of events felt a bit episodic;
I could often picture a chapter being a single episode in a TV series. Each chapter had a little something different
to offer ranging from comedy, to drama, and even mystery. The plot that tied it all together was
centered on Kirstie’s internal struggle to cope with the way her life had
become and continue trusting in God.
As I mentioned, I wasn’t sure if I would relate to Kirstie (I’m
in my 30s, still single with no kids), but Karla did such a good job of showing
Kirstie’s feelings through the events that happened to her and her reactions
to the characters around her, that by the end of the story I had no trouble
relating to her. It was fun to follow
along with her as she learned about the biking culture, and God showed her new
things about what it means to follow Him.
Here's Karla's Website:
http://karlaakins.com
And, another blogger's post about the book; I love the picture of Karla riding that's featured! http://livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com/
http://karlaakins.com
And, another blogger's post about the book; I love the picture of Karla riding that's featured! http://livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com/
-Monica
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this! Thanks so much for making my day!
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