Series: Flowers of Eden

August 2016 in Review

Posted September 5, 2016 in Life, Reading / 4 Comments

August 2016 in Review

Things that Happened in August

  • I arrived home after World Youth Day! It was an amazing experience but it is always good to come home.
  • After arriving home, I read five books in four days. I hadn’t read any novels in the three weeks I was gone and I must have been making up for lost time.
  • The weather here is kind of crazy. It is really smoky with all the forest fires around. Some days I won’t even open the windows because the smoke is hanging so thick in the air.
  • School started for my students last week. It is good to be back, even if it is completely crazy (as the beginning of every school year is).
  • My grad classes started a week ago. I am a bit overwhelmed right not and it is strange to think of myself as a student again. It has been quite a few years.

My Favorite Book of August

Rebel of the Sands

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Read More

Tagged as , ,

Making a Difference in the World – Castles in the Clouds {Review}

Posted August 25, 2016 in Faith, Reading, Review / 2 Comments

Making a Difference in the World – Castles in the Clouds {Review}Castles in the Clouds by Myra Johnson
Series: Flowers of Eden #2
Publisher: Franciscan Media (2016 - Aug. 26)
eARC (304 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2016

Synopsis

The first book in the Flowers of Eden series introduced readers to Bryony Linwood, an orphan trying desperately to provide for her sisters in the shadow of the Great Depression. In Castles in the Clouds, we meet one of those sisters—Larkspur Linwood, a young woman who has a passion for teaching but yearns for something more than life as a small-town Arkansas schoolmarm.
Young and impressionable, Lark mistakes a college professor’s interest for romantic love. When he offers her the chance to join his efforts to start a school in Kenya, she pictures herself bringing the light of knowledge to hundreds of African children eager to learn. But the menial tasks she’s assigned at the school aren’t so different from life on the farm where she grew up. Miserable and deflated, with her fragile heart broken, she gives up and returns home.
Enter Professor Anson Schafer, whom she met briefly in Kenya. Partially blinded from an eye infection he contracted there, Professor Schafer cannot return to Africa. He has come to Lark’s school to recruit teachers like her for a more modest venture—the founding of schools and relief efforts here in the U.S. for those struggling through the Depression.
Still stinging from her experience in Kenya, Lark is reluctant to risk leaving her familiar surroundings, but she knows how great the need has become, and—although this isn’t the exciting life she’d envisioned—she finally agrees. As they work side by side, Lark begins to realize that the deepest satisfaction comes not so much from what you do, or where you do it, but from the attitude of your heart.

Find the book: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository

Read More

Tagged as ,

June 2016 in Review

Posted June 29, 2016 in Life, Reading / 8 Comments

Month in Review

Things that Happened in June

  • I spent a weekend at Glacier National Park. I kind of sort of love it there. It is beautiful. If you haven’t gone, you definitely should!
  • I attended my friend’s wedding in California. My sister came with me and we had a blast.
  • I’ve been doing quite a bit of prep for the upcoming school year. I can’t believe June is over already! Only a month and a half until I am back in the classroom.
  • I did not reread any books this month. Wow! I am pretty sure that is a first this year.
  • I messed with my blog fonts last weekend (and updated my About Me page). I ended up changing up the fonts (both headers and body text) and simplifying my header. My design itself hadn’t changed since last October. Please let me know what you think about the changes! Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Below is the screenshot I took last October after my last design update:

Blog Design Change 06

My Favorite Book of June

Ruined

Ruined by Amy Tintera

Read More

Tagged as