Reading is one of my favorite hobbies. I kinda slowed down on it for a while, but all I was reading was non fiction books. Good ones, they just take me quite a bit longer to absorb the information in them. This month I discovered they genre dystopian. I know, I am way behind on that band wagon. I didn't realize this was a genre. Its what books like Hunger Games and Divergent fall into. 

In case you need a definition:

"Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system."  According to readwritethink.org

Your welcome.

Any who, I didn't realize this was a genre until I received The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker for free when I cashed in some of my Tyndale House Reward points. Her father, Ted Dekker has been a long time favorite author of mine. I will say her writing did not disappoint!

The story is set around a society that has a choosing ceremony for young women. These women get to attend one ceremony and if they are chosen as a wife then they get to stay in society. If they are not chosen they are sent to the out skirts to silently serve the city. There is a ton of twists involved in the story and Rachelle does a great job at not making the story line predictable. 

After devouring that book, I checked out the second book in the series called The Calling.

This one I read in just a couple of days! Which is saying quite a bit considering I have three kids five and under. I might have not gotten much sleep those nights, but it was so worth it! To my disappointment the third book in the series does not come out until fall. Whomp whomp. 

I decided to find more dystopian books. Upon searching Goodreads I found the Out of Time Series by Nadine Brandes. My library carried the first book in the series called A Time to Die. The title seems a bit, well, harsh. Once you read the book though it makes complete sense. This book is based on a world that had a huge war in the past. There was then a wall built around the center of the entire world. Parven (the main character) lives on the east side. That side they have developed technology that can accurately tell you when you will die. You must always have your clock on you to show anyone who asks. If you don't have it or have smashed it you get sent across the wall. Holy cow. This book was incredible. I would say better then Hunger Games. Which is saying alot because I loved Hunger Games. 

_Sadly, my library did not have the second book in this series A Time to Speak. Luckily, if they do not have a book they will borrow it from a library that does have it. The second book was even better then the first. 

Some how I continue to strike out. The third book in this series won't be out until this fall too. Oh well, I'm going to have a great fall. The above links are to the paper versions of the books. Here are the kindle versions if you want to read any of them today:

The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker 
The Calling by Rachelle Dekker
A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes  
A Time to Speak by Nadine Brandes 

A Time to Die and A Time to Speak are only $5.99 on the kindle! Way worth it! I am hoping when the third books come out I can purchase them in a set. 

I am also making my way through For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. A wonderful read. I received it with our My Father's World kindergarten curriculum. Do you have any tips on how to take notes on non fiction books? My mind tends to wonder and I have to reread pages several times. It's not that the book is bad because there is so much good info. I just don't have a great method for really taking in all the good info. Any help would be appreciated. 

I'll try to take some actual pictures of the books next time. You know like all in a stack, all fancy and stuff. Or, real life photos of them scattered around the house and me trying to find where my kids put them because they were trying to help clean. 

What have you been reading this month?

A few posts ago I wrote about a vintage camper we had bought and planned on fixing up. Well, we started to get into it and it was an absolute mess. Walls were rotted out, plumbing was shot, roof falling, you name it. Plus, since it was an old hunting camper there were lots of critters that had lived and currently living in it. Don't ask me how we found this out! 

After much debate, we tore the whole thing down. Then we decided to build our own camper. (see above photo) We had great plans. It was going to be slightly a tiny home, slightly camper. It was going great. Then my husband got a new week job (he is a bi-vocational pastor), that was going to require more time out of his day and less time on our homemade tiny home/camper. 

It now sits in our backyard waiting to be torn down and reuse the wood for a bigger chicken coop. Our hens are complaining about needing more room...

The trailer will remain a trailer. To be honest, we only paid $500 for the camper. Now having a trailer for that price is pretty good if you have checked the price of trailers lately. 

The problem was we still wanted a camper. I know get a tent. Trust me the five of us have done plenty of tent camping. And as much fun as that was with a baby, we wanted a camper. Our vacations are camping. We love it.

Long story even longer. We searched the good ol trusty craigslist for a few days and stumbled on the above beauty. Guys, I kid you not this thing (minus a few soft spots in the floor) is in excellent condition. We got such an incredible deal on this thing. It blows my mind. We will be fixing this one up over the non-camping season. Just painting and making it feel more home-y. Stay tuned for those updates!

God knows what rests our souls. I think He enjoys blessing us at times with things to help us rest. 

​We were able to take it out the week we got it.

And we hiked.

And camped.

And splashed in streams.

​And loved every minute of it.

I encourage you to find something that takes you out of your normal routine of things. Something that refreshes you and your family's souls. 

I would highly suggest camping.

Because it is AWESOME.