A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance
by Fred Zaspel
This post was first planned as an Author Interview, which was in fact scheduled, but I was so sad that Faith Cook was not able to do the interview after all because of increasing health problems. Her work has been so well-loved by so very many – especially my wife, Kim! – that I was eager for the interview to happen.
Faith Cook is the much-loved author of many books – it seems that once you read one of her books you just have to read them all. I should know – I don’t think we’ve missed any of her books here at the Zaspel home! I’m sure it was decades ago now that I first noticed one of her books on the bookstore shelf and thought it looked good, so I bought it for Kim. She devoured it, and now we have them all. Any I haven’t read she has – and she gives me the blow by blow as she does. When my wife finishes one of Faith’s books, she’ll say, “Now that’s why I read!” And she will tell you that Faith Cook is, “hands down” her very favorite author (I try not to take offense at that!). Each Christmastime for years Kim has searched the internet to see if Faith has another new title that Kim can add to her wish list! And I get the impression that Faith Cook has many such devoted followers.
All this to say … I was very disappointed that that interview could not happen. But instead, we want to highlight her many works here.
In 2004 Faith Cook published her autobiography – Troubled Journey: A Missionary Childhood in War-Torn China – a captivating account of her life growing up as a missionary’s daughter. All Faith Cook fans want to read this book that tells her story.
Her 2016 And So I Began to Read: Books That Have Influenced Me continues in an autobiographical vein, as the title states. This is another that all her followers have enjoyed, not least by way of “getting to know” the author.
Many of her works are from British church history – two on Lady Jane Grey (Caught in the Web and The Nine-Day Queen), two on John Bunyan (Fearless Pilgrim and A Pilgrim’s Path), Anne Bradstreet (we’ll call her a Brit, but Americans can claim her too), and Zachary Macauley, all with gripping stories and important lessons.
Mrs. Cook has several collections of biographical sketches. Surprised By God: Lives Turned Upside Down, Stars in God’s Sky, Out of the Shadows, Seeing the Invisible, and Fine Gold from Yorkshire. Among these, she even tells the fascinating story of someone whose name she didn’t even know!
She has three books of historical fiction – Caught in the Web, Stronger than the Sword, and Under the Scaffold, combining her historical/biographical studies with story-telling.
And she has two books about hymns – Our Hymn Writers and Their Hymns and Let God be God: Songs of Hope and Consolation.
I can promise you that once you get started reading Faith Cook you’ll want to read more! And they make great Christmas / birthday gifts for any readers on your list.