MAY 29 | This Outside Life: Finding God in the Heart of Nature | By Laurie Ostby Kehler | 208 pages | $1.00 | Has your breath ever caught at the sight of a sunset? Have you ever stopped in your tracks to listen to a birdsong? When was the last time you stood in awe of the world around you? Using stories, practical application, and reflective questions, Laurie Kehler invites you on a journey of discovery to escape the crazy and reset your spiritual compass to explore pathways of peace. Are you ready to set out on a new kind of adventure? Consider this your trail guide for uncovering God's signposts in the world and revealing his fingerprints on your life.
Book Club will not meet in June or July.
AUGUST 28 | Miss Unlikely: From Farmgirl to Miss America | By Betty Maxwell | 208 pages | $2.00 | Betty Cantrell proved you don't need an upscale background to make it to number one! She followed her dream and God's unique plan to become 2016's Miss America. Now she shares her story---from a double-wide trailer on a Georgia farm to her fairytale wedding---and offers advice on school, boys, self-esteem, mentors, cyberbullies, and more.
SEPTEMBER 25 | Row for Freedom: Crossing an Ocean in Search of Hope | By Julia Immonen | 240 pages | $1.00 | Thirty-two-year-old Julia Immonen and four other women took on a challenge completed by fewer people than have climbed Mount Everest or gone into space: row three thousand miles, unaided, from the Canary Islands to Barbados. Row for Freedom chronicles that dramatic journey, detailing the grueling, peril-filled crossing, which broke two world records, as it weaves together Julia's search for hope and purpose against a background of relationships scarred by violence. As Julia's physical and emotional treks unfold, you also learn about the plight of the thirty million victims of the modern-day slave trade that serves as the motivation for her row. Be inspired by Julia's self-discovery and her team's triumph in one of the most formidable physical quests ever undertaken.
OCTOBER 23 | The Pug List: A Ridiculous Little Dog, a Family Who Lost Everything and How They All Found Their Way Home | By Alison Hodgson | 176 pages | $2.00 After her family's home is destroyed by arson, writer Alison Hodgson tries to balance her own traumatic reactions, and her children's, all while sorting through the remains of their belongings and a mountain of insurance paperwork. With humor, she recounts her seven-year-old daughter Eden's relentless pursuit to adopt another dog, a little pug named Oliver. Unexpectedly, Oliver helps the family reconnect and heal in surprising ways.
NOVEMBER 20* | Ruined | By Ruth Everhart | 336 pages | $2.00 | “It happened on a Sunday night, even though I’d been a good girl and gone to church that morning.” One brisk November evening during her senior year at a small Midwestern Christian college, two armed intruders broke into the house Ruth Everhart shared with her roommates, held all five girls hostage, and took turns raping them at gunpoint. Reeling with fear, insecurity, and guilt, Ruth believed she was ruined, both physically and in the eyes of God. In the days and weeks that followed, Ruth struggled to come to grips with not only what happened that night but why. The same questions raced through her mind in an unrelenting loop―questions that would continue to haunt her for years to come: Why me? Where was God? Why did God allow this to happen? What am I being punished for? Told with candor and unflinching honesty, Ruined is an extraordinary emotional and spiritual journey that begins with an unspeakable act of violence but ends with tremendous healing and profound spiritual insights about faith, forgiveness, and the will of God.
DECEMBER 18* | Christmas Carol Murder | By Leslie Meier | 272 pages | $5.00 | A newspaper report in the fictional town of Tinker’s Cove, Maine, Lucy is quite excited to take part in the town organized play A Christmas Carol and when a major explosion and fire occurs at the manor of Jake Marlowe, resulting in his death. Marlowe was pretty much a scrooge all his life, which doesn’t mean he should have paid with his life for his avarice. If you like Dickens, this story will be especially attractive to you due to the parallels presented in it. Marlow is the scrooge from Dickens’ story and several other characters and even some of the plot lines are quite similar.
*Third Wednesday due to the holidays.
