I don't usually post on Sunday (day of rest and all that), but since this kinda sorta has to do with church (mine, anyway), I'm going to go ahead:

The LDS Publisher blog is sponsoring Summer Book Trek, a reading challenge that encourages people to read books by authors who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly referred to as the LDS Church or the Mormon Church).  You do not have to be LDS to participate.  Before you turn away, thinking this is just a ploy by those sneaky Mormons to lure you into their clutches with a bunch of preachy books, STOP!  Any kind of book (except maybe picture books—not sure on that one) counts as long as it's by an LDS author and, honey, there are a whole lot of them:  Stephenie Meyer, Ally Condie, James Dashner, Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull, Dan Wells, Robison Wells, Kimberley Griffiths Little, Bree Despain, Emily Wing Smith, Brodi Ashton, Glen Beck, Richard Paul Evans, Jessica Day George, Shannon Hale, Janette Rallison, etc.  And that's just a short list of the ones who write books geared toward the general public.  There are plenty more.

Need another reason to join up?  How about this—prizes!  LDS Publisher has lots and lots of books and other fun stuff to give away.  There are many easy ways to earn points.  Plus, so far, there aren't many participants, which means you've got an even greater chance of winning prizes.  And, oh yeah, the rules are totally flexible.  You can read as many or as few books as you'd like.  You can change your reading list—add items, subtract them, alter them, whatever—at any time.  So, really, why wouldn't you join?

The challenge runs through the month of August (although you can start earning points now), and it's going to be lots of fun. Wanna join up?  Click here for all the details.


Here's a very tentative (and no doubt unrealistically ambitious) list of the books I'm hoping to read:  


The Hollow City by Dan Wells
Faith, Hope & Gravity by Merrill Osmond
Infinity Ring by James Dashner
Twitterpated by Melanie Jacobson
Evertaster by Adam Glendon Sidwell
Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Possession by Elana Johnson

I know.  It's impossible, but that's the cool thing about this challenge, I can add/delete titles at any time.  Sweet!

Although I'm still waaaaayyy behind on reviewing, I actually wrote the one for One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf over a month ago.  In the aftermath of the theater shootings in Colorado, I feel a little weird posting it, let alone offering a copy of the book as a giveaway like the book's publicist asked me to.  After debating the issue, I'm going to go ahead, if only because the novel brings to light the way shootings like these affect not just those killed or injured and their families, but all of us.

Like all of you, I was shocked to hear about the tragedy in Colorado.  Everything that could be said about it has already been said, so I'll just add that my prayers go out to all the victims.  May God bless and heal them.


Even though I didn't love, love, love One Breath Away, you might, so I'm giving you the opportunity to win a paperback copy of the book.  All you have to do is leave me a comment saying you're interested in winning.  Easy cheesy.  I'll pick a winner on August 10.  If you don't have a public blog that you update frequently, please leave your email address in your comment.  Also, because the book will be mailed by the publicist, the giveaway is only open to readers with U.S. or Canadian mailing addresses.

Another tidbit I forgot:  I was supposed to give you this link, so you can continue to follow Gudenkauf's book tour.  And, if you're interested, the author will be doing a live chat today.  You can get all the deets by clicking the icon below: