Young Adult Reading Challenge (April 2018)

Spring is here.

With this season comes new life. All around us we can see baby animals, new sprigs of plants, fresh growth on trees and rosebushes, and a crisp scent of hope in the air.

April's reading challenge ties into spring in this way:

Young adult books present coming-of-age stories in which young people must figure out how to adapt to living in a grown-up world. They're discovering how they want to spend the rest of their lives and learning a lot from the journey it takes to get there.

These books are typically geared towards folks between ages twelve and twenty-five, and they cover a variety of sub-genres such as romance, science fiction, fantasy, thriller, dystopian, utopian, and many others.

The challenge for this month is to read young adult books.

Need some suggestions?

Here are a few YA books on my radar:

Ice Castles in the Sand - a Short Story

The travel-tine tile numbed Hallyn’s feet, sending chills up her shins as she scampered down the stairs and toward the back door. Howling wind had awakened her much too early, but surely Mommy wouldn’t mind if she checked on her sand castle. She’d made sure to make it far enough up the beach that it wouldn’t get washed away, but if any rain had accompanied the gusts of cold air, her hard work would be destroyed.

In the mudroom—Mommy called it some fancy name, but it was too hard for Hallyn’s four-year-old tongue to manage—she stuffed her bare feet into her rubber boots, then lifted onto her tippy-toes to yank her rain jacket from the hook that was too high for her to reach. After shoving one arm into a sleeve, she flung open the door and hurried down the stairs. She slipped a couple of times but managed to grab the rail bar and wobble into steadiness again before taking another quick step.

Once she reached the bottom of the nearly endless staircase, she grabbed the flapping half of her jacket and pulled the sleeve over her arm. A shiver scrambled through her body, making her teeth chatter, and little goosebumps speckled her naked legs beneath her silky-feeling nightgown. Scurrying across the sand, Hallyn sent wish-prayers up to Heaven. If her castle were gone, would her sister and daddy be gone for good too?

Beneath a Prairie Moon by Kim Vogel Sawyer

I've been blessed to be on Kim Vogel Sawyer's street team again, this time for Beneath a Prairie Moon. I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I. Here's my honest review of this upcoming release.

A Lighthearted, Atypical Mail-Order Bride Story

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review, which was NOT required to be positive.

After reading Ms. Sawyer’s previous novel, Bringing Maggie Home, I wasn’t sure if I should expect another gut-wrenching story. Just a few pages into Beneath a Prairie Moon revealed that I was in for a delightful treat. While not a typical mail-order bride tale, it is filled with laughter, adventure, and unique characters that claim space in the reader’s heart.

It was really neat to see a sunburn featured through the story. That’s a different sort of aspect that I quite enjoyed. It brought back many memories of sunburns I’ve had, some more painful than others. This was a really creative thing to add into this wonderful book.

Keturah by Lisa T. Bergren

FTC disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The first third of this book was entertaining, intriguing, and mostly well written. My enjoyment of this portion of the book is what saved it from being a one-star read for me. The back-cover copy and beautiful cover art drew me to this story, and I had been excited to receive an early copy (a positive review not required). The aspect I was most looking forward to was a woman in the late 1770s fighting to save her family's plantation. That was a unique approach.

March Movie Madness

Picture by Andrea Cox

While other folks are hosting college basketball watch parties for March Madness, I'll be hosting a new reading challenge here on Writing to Inspire.

In January, we read books from our ever-growing to-be-read piles.

For February's reading challenge, we read books that were all about love.

This month, I thought we'd have a bit of fun. There will be two phases to this challenge. The second one is optional.

The Heart Between Us by Lindsay Harrel

As promised last week, today I'm bringing you my review for Lindsay Harrel's second book, The Heart Between Us.

I received an early e-copy from NetGalley, but a positive review was not required.

Heart by the Bucketful

This is Lindsay Harrel's second book, and it's becoming evident to me that her trademark is going to be incredibly deep character journeys. This book, as the title suggests, is full of heart. From beginning to end, the passion for life and figuring out one's faith and laying down one's fears make this journey one worth taking... several times. The fact that communication being key to relationships was featured made me smile and fall in love with this book even more. I've been saying for years that communication is crucial for any relationship to be successful, and it's wonderful when that outlook is emphasized and even featured in a fictional book.

Another fantastic aspect to this story is all the travel. From Rome to Australia to Greece to Peru -- not to mention a couple of stops in the good ol' U.S. of A. -- this book came alive with atmosphere, culture, and adventure. I really should get a passport and save up some money for international traveling, because Ms. Harrel made each location seem like the ideal vacation spot.

If I'm Honest

There’s a song by Francesca Battistelli that speaks of being honest, laying our fears and secrets down at the cross, and finding healing in God’s love. It’s what I’m borrowing the title of this article from, and it’s part of the inspiration for what follows. If you like to listen to music while you read, be sure your volume’s turned up and click the below video before moving on to the next paragraph.

“Not one to wear her heart on her sleeve—at all.”

~ The Heart Between Us by Lindsay Harrel ~

Wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve is all about being vulnerable and sharing the deepest part of oneself. I’m not always great at either. Yet, here I am, typing up this gut-deep article. The way I see it, if I can’t be honest with myself and with you, then what’s the point of writing at all?

Oh, trust me: All the rest of my articles prior to this point (and afterward) have been (and will be) honest. But I haven’t always dug very deep. I haven’t always made myself be very vulnerable with you.

It’s hard to put myself out there, to say what’s moving my heart in monumental ways. It’s even tougher to admit what’s holding me back.