I finally got around to reading this novel that I purchased and had autographed by the author in Sanibel in February, 2011. I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first; it seemed predictable and repetitive, and longer than most of the books I've read recently, close to 400 pages. However, halfway in or so the plot did grab me and my predictions were not always panning out. I came to care about some of the characters, especially Ayse and J.J. and eventually, Daniel. I found it unique that one of the two main characters, Daniel, is a writer and even writes poetry in his journal which he calls his Book of Midnights. This allowed the author to share his poetry which I thought was quite good. Jordan, or J.J., was my favorite character. I loved his idea of christian as opposed to Christian! (Now you'll have to read it to know what that's about!)
Mr. Sobczak certainly had his work cut out for him since he is from Minnesota originally, now a resident of Sanibel, FL, and is something of an expert on the natural environment of SW Florida. He has set this novel primarily in Atlanta, GA but goes from there to Istanbul and back a number of times. Not only did he have to know these geographical locations well but would have had to delve into Islam and conservative Christianity to establish the theme of religious intolerance. I wouldn't want to give away the plot and thus far have given fewer hints than the back of the book.
I would recommend A Choice of Angels to women and those whose religious faith is on the liberal side. In our book club the men would probably call this "chick lit" since it involves a love story. Atheists or agnostics might be bored with all the preaching and scripture quoting. Our group rates books on a 1 to 5 scale with only whole numbers allowed. Since this was not a group selection, I will give it a 3.5. I am glad I read it!
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