Summer Reading With Tricia Goyer

A couple months ago, I came across a summer reading initiative for author Tricia Goyer’s work. In exchange for reviews, I would receive some books for free. I chose three books for a few reasons.

One, I was getting serious about including more reading in my days and that fit well with the overall vision of the initiative. Two, I’ve been wanting to read a few of her books as it is and this seemed like a great way to do that. Three, there are three months of summer. Genius, I know.

I’ll be reviewing one book for each month of summer. You can follow along with all the summer reading fun on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #triciagoyersummer. I’m not the only blogger participating so you won’t get overloaded on me.

Want a sneak peek of what I will be reviewing? Check out my summer reading list, all three books are included.

About An Amish Garden

An Amish Garden is a collection of four Amish novellas. They are written by Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Tricia Goyer, and Vannetta Chapman. The book is published by Thomas Nelson, runs 416 pages, and includes a reading group guide for each novella.

The novellas included are “Rooted in Love” by Beth Wiseman; “Flowers for Rachel” by Kathleen Fuller; “Seeds of Love” by Tricia Goyer; and “Where Healing Blooms” by Vannetta Chapman. All four revolve around an Amish garden. Shocking surprise, I know.

My Review of An Amish Garden

This was my first Amish novel of any length. I think the only other work from the Amish genre I’ve experienced has been watching The Shunning and being rather annoyed with the sudden ending. Apparently, there’s a sequel, but I digress.

An Amish Garden was a great read. I very much enjoyed the novella format. I am one of those readers that gets sucked into a black hole with a good story. Forsaking everything else, I must finish the story! This is actually why I rarely read fiction. I have too much work to go “forsaking everything else” too often.

I found the novella length to be perfect. The stories read quickly and I didn’t lose too much of my day(s). The stories are easy reads that have just enough mystery of backstory to keep you reading to find out what happened and what is going to happen.

I was going to tell you which one I enjoyed the most, but I don’t know if I could pick. So instead, I’ll tell you what I most enjoyed about each one.

• Rooted in Love – I could relate to Rosemary’s lack of gardening skills. Shocking for someone who writes gardening posts, yes? It’s something I have to be intentional about, it doesn’t come naturally to me.
• Flowers for Rachael – I actually loved all the references to flowers and their meanings. The way Rachael and Gideon use the flowers is sweet.
• Seeds of Love – I’m a big fan of heirloom seeds and I love how they are included here. I love how strongly Sadie wants to preserve her heritage and the touching turn of events at the end.
• Where Healing Blooms – I love the non-traditional aspect of this one. Emma is an older woman and it was such a heartwarming story. I loved the Naomi and Ruth-like story line of Emma and Mary Ann.

One thing I appreciated about all four of the books is the reminder of how often hurts are caused by miscommunications or misperceptions. It’s a good reminder to not let hurts fester for days, months, or YEARS, but to attempt to reconcile with open communication. It’s something I’ve been reflecting on a lot lately.

Anywho, if you are looking for some fun, quick summer reading, pick up An Amish Garden. I think you will enjoy it! I did.