She Reads

I have written before about my involvement with She Reads, a new division of Proverbs 31 Ministries that caters specifically to fiction readers by introducing great novelists and the stories they have to tell.

I have spent the past 6 weeks going through a Bible study called Secrets Jesus Shared. I loved learning about the tools Jesus used to draw in His listeners, how He would take a complicated subject like grace or forgiveness and see that the people were not getting it. So He would lapse into a story to aid their understanding. Our Creator knows the way our brains work best. We grasp stories. Think about the last time you heard a speaker. Can you name the 3 or 7 or 10 points they made? Probably not. But can you still recall the story they told? Stories work!

Fiction writers know this. I think it's easy to discount fiction as fluff-- unnecessary, a waste of time. One person I know said, "I don't read fiction because if I have time to read I need to use that time to actually learn something." I challenged her to read one of the She Reads books and see if she doesn't learn something in a whole new way.

This point was best driven home for me this weekend when I gave one of my friends who doesn't typically read fiction a She Reads book to read while she was out of town. She ended up reading the whole book due to airport layovers and cancelled flights. She told me she literally could not put the book down, she was so engaged in the story. "It was like a movie in my mind!" she said. "The message in the book was so strong and was relayed in such a way that it didn't sound preachy. It's a message I want my daughters to hear so I am going to buy them each a copy."

I had created a fiction convert. Which is what I hope that She Reads does for those who don't typically read fiction. And for those who are already fiction lovers, I hope we can keep introducing new and seasoned authors who have something to offer. There really is power in stories-- whether serious or slapstick, literary or lighthearted. I am excited to keep letting others know what's out there, to share the wealth of great reads that exist in the world of Christian fiction.

How can you get involved with She Reads? Visit the site. Subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Twitter. Friend us on Facebook. Become one of our blog followers so you don't miss a single post-- including two great (and I do mean GREAT) giveaways we have coming up this month. In honor of Valentine's Day, we are also featuring a post by two writers whose writing brought them together. Want to find out how? You have to read the post!