Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for Africa came from my college days at Tennessee Temple University. Each year, the university would sponsor a missionary conference, and I always found myself drawn to the African exhibits. I am particularly passionate about missionary work in Africa and the challenges that it presents. Africa is a vast and splendid place with cultures as diverse as the climates in which they live. My research has only deepened my great love for this continent and the precious people who live there.


I wrote

Saving Eric

By Joan Deneve,

Book cover of Saving Eric

What is my book about?

Eric Templeton’s well-ordered life as a top CIA agent is shattered when a traitor within the agency plots to have…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Too Small to Ignore: Why the Least of These Matters Most

Joan Deneve Why did I love this book?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Too Small to Ignore. Dr. Wes Stafford, the son of missionaries, wrote amusing anecdotes of his boyhood adventures in a West African village. Also in the book, Dr. Stafford, head of Compassion International, writes of the challenges that children in Africa often face. This book is inspiring and captivating to read and will leave the reader with a greater understanding not only of the beautiful country of Africa but also of the compelling need to champion all the children of the world.

By Wess Stafford, Dean Merrill,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Too Small to Ignore as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The time has come, argues Dr. Wess Stafford, for a major paradigm shift: Children are too important and too intensely loved by God to be left behind or left to chance. Children belong to all of us and we are compelled to intervene on their behalf. We must invest in children–all across the world.
There are strategic, persuasive reasons–beyond love and kindness–to invest in children. Today they may snuggle into your lap, if you let them. But tomorrow you may not have access to them in the corridors of power they might occupy. Now is the time to shape the…


Book cover of The Whisper of the Palms

Joan Deneve Why did I love this book?

I loved this book! It is an engaging inspirational novel of two people who love God and answer His call to go to Africa as missionaries. The author does a wonderful job of putting the reader right there in the scene. I especially loved the way the characters at times struggled in their faith but always sought God's will. This is a really great book that will help to strengthen the reader's faith and walk with God. Harriet Michael was born in Nigeria, West Africa. The Whisper of the Palms, based on the love story of her parents, offers an authentic insight into a missionary’s life in Africa.

By Harriet E. Michael,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Whisper of the Palms as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Africa beckoned ... but would she have to go alone?            
Growing up in the foothills of North Carolina, Ali Blackwell dreamed of going places she had only seen in books and magazines. She lived in a small farmhouse that her farmer father had built with his own hands, and the prospects of ever leaving her little town of Union Mills appeared unlikely. Her family barely scraped by on the sale of produce grown by her dad and brothers and the supplemental income they earned working at the nearby textile mill.  
Kyle Edmonds, a few years her elder, lived in a…


Book cover of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Medical Missionary's African Challenges

Joan Deneve Why did I love this book?

I found Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory a compelling and interesting book about Dr. Gess and his work as a doctor in Africa. Although he treated various medical conditions, his work focused on the plight of the blind in Africa. This dedicated Christian doctor brought not only physical healing to his patients, but also spiritual help and guidance to his patients and their families. The book includes many photographs of the events being described. By end of the book, I had a new awareness of the physical and spiritual needs of the people in this vast continent.

Book cover of The Hand on My Scalpel: Humorous & Heartbreaking Stories from a Jungle Operating Room

Joan Deneve Why did I love this book?

The Hand on my Scalpel was interesting and amusing to read. Dr. Thompson gave a first-hand account of his work in Africa as a surgeon. He is an excellent writer who was able to relate his life and challenges in Africa with vivid clarity and descriptions. I was able to envision each scene as if I were there. 

By David C. Thompson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Hand on My Scalpel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is not just a book about surgery. It is not even just about surgery in a remote jungle station.

It is about God and His unpredictable working in the life and ministry of a missionary kid from Cambodia who ends up as a medical doctor at an isolated hospital in Gabon, West Africa.

You will laugh when a "simple" outhouse building project turns into a comedy of errors. You will cry when a pregnant, retarded and epileptic girl arrives at the hospital and gives birth to "Grace." But most of all, you will come to understand that there is…


Book cover of Angola Bradt Travel Guide 2nd

Joan Deneve Why did I love this book?

I found this book helpful because my books are set in Angola. This travel guide gave specific details about the terrain, climate, and geographic challenges of life in Angola. A travel guide such as this one is invaluable to anyone considering a short-term trip to Africa. This particular book even offered help with conversational language terms and gave thorough and interesting information that helped give my books the authenticity I wanted.  

By Mike Stead, Sean Rorison, Oscar Scafidi

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Angola Bradt Travel Guide 2nd as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Angola is changing at a rapid pace. This new edition reflects the continued resurgence of tourism following years of conflict. While no city comes close to matching Luanda for sheer size, venture outside the capital and you will find everything from frontier diamond towns to relaxed beach resorts. The country offers over 1,000km of unspoilt beaches, excellent fishing and some of the best surfing waves in the world. Rain forests and bird spotting opportunities abound. Whether business traveller or pioneering adventurer, Angola provides all the practical and background information you'll need to tackle this vast country. It also acts as…


Explore my book 😀

Saving Eric

By Joan Deneve,

Book cover of Saving Eric

What is my book about?

Eric Templeton’s well-ordered life as a top CIA agent is shattered when a traitor within the agency plots to have him eliminated. Sent on a bogus mission to Africa, Eric is ambushed and severely wounded. A helicopter pilot flies Eric to a remote mission hospital where more than Eric’s life is saved. Brock Whitfield, the mission doctor, teaches Eric of God’s love and forgiveness and also reveals shocking news of Eric’s true identity. With God’s help, Eric confronts the traitor and leaves the agency for good. He also is able to reconnect with his estranged atheistic father. In a secluded area of tribal Africa, three lives will be brought full circle. Justice will prevail, truth will triumph, and mercy will rebuild a family.

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The Open Road

By M.M. Holaday,

Book cover of The Open Road

M.M. Holaday Author Of The Open Road

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up a fan of an evening news segment called “On the Road with Charles Kuralt.” Kuralt spotlighted upbeat, affirmative, sometimes nostalgic stories of people and places he discovered as he traveled across the American landscape. The charming stories he told were only part of the appeal; the freedom and adventure of being on the open road ignited a spark that continues to smolder. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are our annual family road trips, and I still jump at the chance to drive across the country.

M.M.'s book list on following the open road to discover America

What is my book about?

Head West in 1865 with two life-long friends looking for adventure and who want to see the wilderness before it disappears. One is a wanderer; the other seeks a home he lost. The people they meet on their journey reflect the diverse events of this time period–settlers, adventure seekers, scientific expeditions, and Indigenous peoples–all of whom shape their lives in significant ways.

This is a story of friendship that casts a different look on a time period which often focuses only on wagon trains or gunslingers.

The Open Road

By M.M. Holaday,

What is this book about?

After four years of adventure in the frontier, Win Avery returns to his hometown on the edge of the prairie and tracks down his childhood friend, Jeb Dawson. Jeb has just lost his parents, and, in his efforts to console him, Win convinces his friend to travel west with him―to see the frontier before it is settled, while it is still unspoiled wilderness.

They embark on a free-spirited adventure, but their journey sidetracks when they befriend Meg Jameson, an accomplished horsewoman, lost on the Nebraska prairie. Traveling together through the Rocky Mountain foothills, they run into Gray Wolf, an Arapaho…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Africa, parenting, and Christianity?

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