I stopped by our local Christian bookstore to see if they had some particular items; alas, they did not. But I still wandered around the store and looked at the bookcase featuring local authors.
A series of books by Jay Diedreck about a coastal Maine community caught my eye. The fact that he had written several books in the series seemed promising. Wanting to support a local business and a local author, I bought the first book in the series, Klem Watercrest The Lighthouse Keeper.
Heck, the name of the main character alone was a selling point!
As I read, it quickly became clear that I had been right about supposing it is a self-published book. The writing is sometimes awkward. The dialogue sometimes stilted or "cute." There were several instances in which the wrong word was used, evading spellcheck (For example at one point a woman putting on gloves was "downing" them, when clearly the author meant "donning.") The ending seemed too abrupt.
I checked the publisher. Yes, a Christian vanity press.
Despite all that, I liked the book!
The characters were likable. Some of the vignettes were charming. The underlying message was, as you'd expect from a Christian publisher, positive.
Certainly it's not great literature, but it was worth reading. Indeed, my local library has the other books in the series, and I will consider reading another one at some point.
Pax et bonum
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