Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 64

Treat Yourself to These Luxuries of Simplicity

The following post is from Rachel of The Minimalist Mom:

source: Rachel Jonat

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. – Leonardo Da Vinci

Many people equate minimalism or voluntary simplicity with austerity or deprivation.

They picture minimalism as cold hard days with the most basic of meals and a home that echos with emptiness- instead of seeing what remains they see what is no longer there. Minimalism or living with less sounds like a grueling diet one should avoid.

For my family simplicity has actually brought us more luxury.

We have less but what we do have, both in our home and in our life, is better. More resources like time, energy, space and yes, even money. Donation requests from friends are always answered. Weekends are unhurried affairs with lots of time to wander and explore for our kids and for at least one parent to sleep-in an extra hour or two. Dinner is never rushed. When our second child arrived there was already an empty drawer, or four, for his tiny clothes. Simplicity has allowed us more luxuries.

Yes, even some of our ‘things’ are more luxurious too. We’ll spend a bit more on shoes so they last longer and can be repaired rather than replaced. With casual and emotional shopping not eating up our budget we can splurge on organic produce and some out of season treats. It’s not all gruel and deprivation – I promise!

If you struggle to think of simplifying as joyful or anything other than a painful process, try to imagine what simplifying will give you instead of what it takes away.

What would make your life better right now?

Time to take a leisurely walk on your favorite path without an imminent deadline of what has to be done next. An extra twenty minutes to make something from scratch for dinner rather than heat a frozen pizza. Space in the nursery so you’re not bumping into things in the middle of the night. Some extra patience for the inevitable melt-downs in late afternoon. Some breathing room in your budget so when something out of the ordinary arises, a request to donate or an opportunity for you to participate in, you can say yes without anxiety or guilt. These simple things often feel like extravagances when we’re strapped for time, space and money. They are also some of the last things we think of treating ourselves with when we get the chance.

Remember these ways to make luxury out of simplicity:

Indulge in less hurry and more time. When you simplify your schedule you give yourself more time to smell the roses, taste the homemade pancakes or get lost in thought. Less hurry gives you more breathing room for the glacial movement of children when you need to leave the house. Revel in having time and when others complain about being too busy quietly enjoy the fact that you’re not.
Use what you do have. Simplicity allows you to keep just what you love and use. So use it: sew, craft, run, relax, read or do nothing at all. The overly busy and stressed can’t use all that ski equipment or finish their embroidery projects, you can. Enjoy!
Gift your time and resources to others. Offer to take a stressed out parent’s kids for the afternoon. Invite friends for a home cooked meal. Creating financial space and more unscheduled time in your life allows you to give generously without the need for a swap or IOU as motivation or necessity.

Simplicity isn’t all bare shelves and one pot meals. It’s using less to more effect. We do and have fewer things so they can be better. Remember this the next time you have to decide if something should stay or go in your life and home. Instead of thinking about what you will miss, think about what you will gain.

How do you spoil yourself with simplicity or having less?

Rachel Jonat is a former world medalist rower turned marketing professional turned SAHM/writer. At The Minimalist Mom, Rachel writes about living a rich life with less stuff. Currently living on a windswept island in the middle of the Irish Sea, Rachel owns two pairs of jeans and is (finally) debt-free.

Treat Yourself to These Luxuries of Simplicity

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

Quick Tip: Repack the Diaper Bag Right Away

While I was on maternity leave, I made lists of the things I wanted to share with you about life with a newborn, and I’m excited to do that now through this series: Notes from the Newborn Daze. Because I know not all of our readers are at this stage or interested in reading baby tips, I’ll be sharing those just once a week over the next couple of months, with plenty of tips, stories and encouragement for other stages in between.

source: Mandi Ehman

There’s no doubt that, even for minimalist parents, babies require more stuff than their older counterparts. Diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, etc. are pretty standard necessities when leaving the house.

While I’m looking forward to the day when we can just tuck a couple diapers and wipes into the glove box of the car (because I am totally that mom!), for now I’m embracing my pretty JJ Cole diaper bag as part purse/part baby gear.

As much as I love my diaper bag, the last thing I want to do is spend time running around restocking it as we’re heading out the door, so I’ve made it my practice to repack the bag almost as soon as we get home every time. In reality, it sometimes has to wait a couple of hours while I unpack groceries, nurse the baby or simply put my feet up, but I always do it sooner rather than later.

Keeping the bag packed makes it easy to get out of the house and means I’m less likely to forget something since I’m thinking about it while I’m focused and calm.

And with two ER visits under our belt since Jackson was born, I’m thankful that I’ve actually followed my own advice so that the diaper bag was the one thing I didn’t have to think about as we were rushing to get there!

What’s in the diaper bag? Here’s my list of necessities:

Clean onesie & outfit
Burp cloth
aden + anais swaddle blanket — to use as a nursing cover, light blanket or whatever else I need
Diapers & wipes
Extra paci
Changing pad
Nursing pads
Lip gloss
Pack of gum
Lotion
Thieves hand purifier
Tissues
Wallet

What are your diaper bag essentials?

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Quick Tip: Repack the Diaper Bag Right Away

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

PaperKarma {iOS App of the Week}

My mom introduced me to PaperKarma several months ago, and I love it!

PaperKarma is the easy way to reduce junk mail. Simply pull out your phone and snap photos of any mail you don’t want. PaperKarma will figure out what it is and how to stop it!

The system is simple: Using a massive database of company information, PaperKarma identifies your photo and instantly submits a request on your behalf.

With a quick photo, you can unsubscribe from:

Catalogs
Magazines
Coupon Books
Fliers
Credit Card Offers
White and Yellow Pages

Basically, if you can take a picture of it, PaperKarma will try to stop it.

And the best part is the app is — at least for now — completely free!

Download for your iPhone: PaperKarma (FREE)

P.S. This app is available for Android as well!

See all of our featured apps here.

PaperKarma {iOS App of the Week}

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

Teaching Kids to Organize Their Time

The following guest post is from Kristin Sterk of Organizing Life with Less:

source: Kristen

Every night, do you battle the question with your kids: “Have you finished this?” knowing full well, they have not accomplished everything they have to before bedtime?

Helping kids organize their time and teaching time management skills at a young age can happen and is feasible! Believe it or not, organizing is a learned skill. Teaching children to make the most of their time at a young age, will only prepare them to take the initiative later on in life, to be able to do this on their own.

Where to begin?

I am going to share with you some practical and helpful tips on how to help kids get organized with their schedules and time. Some of these ideas may work better than others, but give them a try and see what your children react to the best!

1. Create a checklist.

Every night, have your children complete a routine, such as their homework, picking up their toys, getting their school bags ready, brushing their teeth, etc.

2. Help your kids discover time management skills.

Before they can go and play with friends, they have to finish “this”. Before they can watch a favorite TV show, they have to get their homework done. You don’t want your children to rush through their homework, but if they know that EVERYDAY they have to finish it before they can watch TV, they will be determined to do so (the priorities of a child!).

3. Create a consistent study place, such as the kitchen table.

This way you are most likely available if they have questions and they are able to spread their homework out. Little do they know too, that when they are distracted, a watchful eye (YOU), will catch them and keep them on task!

4. Keep tabs on their homework.

When they are doing their homework, everyday ask them what homework they have.You could even take it a step further (depending on their age) and go through their assignments with them.

5. Have a calendar in your home that everyone can read and understand.

If you have a weekly calendar that you use, have your kids sit nearby as you fill it out and purposefully ask them what they have coming up. This helps them take ownership of their schedule (even if you know the answer to this simple question).

6. Put long range assignment due dates on the calendar.

When filling out the calendar, if your child has a project that is going to take a while, put the due date on the calendar. This assures you AND them, that it will get done. It is a helpful reminder to the child that working ahead is a tool that they will use the rest of their life!

7. Finally, have your child pack their school bag the night before.

Working in a school, it is amazing the number of items that are forgotten at home each day! Help your child think about the day ahead and what they might need. Don’t tell them – ask them. This again, gives ownership. Also, have a consistent place where they can keep their school bag, instrument, lunch, etc.

As much as parents want their children to be flexible and “go with the flow,” it is also important that they have routine and consistency. Teaching your children about boundaries, time management, and organizing their schedules, will go a long ways in helping them become adults. Responsible adults at that!

What is your #1 way to help your kids get organized?

Organizing, simplifying, and DIY have become a way of life for Kristin, who enjoys them so much that she can’t help but blog about them at Organizing Life With Less. Join her in her journey to find inspiration and motivation to organize your life with less!

Teaching Kids to Organize Their Time

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Websites, Printables & Activities {Mom’s Idea Book}

source: Mandi Ehman

We’re pretty excited about the 2014 Winter Olympics in our house — although my oldest is heartbroken that Lindsey Vonn isn’t competing this year — and I decided to give the girls a break from our regular school assignments and lift the TV limits for the duration of the Games.

In 2014, I’m determined to do a better job at celebrating the minor holidays with our kids {after realizing that I pour everything into Christmas and pretty much neglect the rest of the year!}, and that includes the Olympics this year.

With that in mind, I’ve been gathering websites, printables, learning activities, crafts and themed snacks to use over the next two weeks. As I was printing and preparing this weekend, I decided to go ahead and compile my ideas in a post for anyone who is looking for simple but fun Olympic activities for their kids as well!

Websites

Find the event schedule, latest standings, news and more at the official Sochi 2014 website.

Learn more about the American athletes at TeamUSA.org. (I’m sure there are similar team sites for every nation; this is just the one we’ll be using!)

Olympic.org is the official website of the International Olympic Committee and offers lots of great information about the athletes, sports and history of the Olympics.

Geared specifically for kids, the Time for Kids Olympics mini site offers kid-friendly articles, Q&As and more.

Snacks

We’re not big on cutesy snacks, but I love these Olympic Ring Sugar Cookies.

And I think we’ll start off one morning with some Olympic Ring Doughnuts.

Popcorn is one of our favorite snacks, and these Popcorn Torches may show up for more than one afternoon snack over the next couple of weeks!

Gold Medal Oreos are almost as good as the real things, and these will be the perfect way to close out the Games {although I’m trying to think of a non-sugar/food-dye option for the string!}.

Learning Activities

We’ll be keeping track of the U.S. medals with this Olympic Medal Count Chart.

Using a World Map, the big girls are going to look up and color the participating countries.

We’re also going to use the coloring pages, glyphs and surveys from this Unit Study.

Coloring Pages

One of the most recognizable symbols of Russian nesting dolls, and these Printable Matryoshka Russian Dolls are a fun way to introduce children to them. I can’t wait to see what designs our girls come up with!

Mazes and puzzles are always fun and this Ski Maze is a great addition to our activity folders.

Activity Village has  ton of Olympic Coloring Pages to choose from as well!

Crafts

I printed flags from some of the participating countries to make a flag garland for the window {pictured above}.

Winning Olympians might not receive a laurel crown anymore but these Paper Plate Laurel Crowns are a fun nod to the history of the Games!

Since we’ll be buying paper plates for the crowns anyway, I think we’ll paint a set of Paper Plate Olympic Rings to hang on the back door too.

I’m not sure our older girls will want to do this one, but I think our younger girls will love these Torn Paper Olympic Torches.

A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels: Winter Olympics, on the other hand, will be perfect for the older girls to try their hand at chalk pastels and create some of the images of the Games!

How is your family “celebrating” the Olympics?

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Websites, Printables & Activities {Mom’s Idea Book}

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

More Than 200 Recipes for Just $7.40! {BundleoftheWeek.com}

Spice up your meal plan with this recipe collection from BundleoftheWeek.com! This bundle includes recipe ideas for every meal of the day to help you save time and money while eating healthier. Discover more than 40 delicious, easy-to-make breakfast ideas, over 50 ideas for veggie side dishes, dozens of healthy entrees plus recipes for your favorite pantry staples, and 50 mouthwatering desserts to top it all off! That’s more than 200 recipes altogether, plus tips to help you expand your kitchen skills along the way.

This week only, get this entire collection of recipes for 85% off the regular price:

And now you can choose between the PDF, Kindle or ePUB versions of the ebooks in each bundle. Select your format at checkout!

The Breakfast Revolution by Beth Ricci
The Veggie Book by Sara, Danielle, Debra, Kayla
Better Than a Box by Katie Kimball
Back to School Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes by Stephanie Brandt Cornais
Daily Desserts by Shaina Olmanson

Get yours today!

Even if you’re not interested in this week’s bundle, be sure to sign up for the BundleoftheWeek.com weekly newsletter so you can be the first to know about the latest bundle:

More Than 200 Recipes for Just $7.40! {BundleoftheWeek.com}

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

Giveaway: Strawesome Reusable Glass Straws (2 Winners!)

Several years ago, we began the process of eliminating plastic from our kitchen, motivated by a desire to purchase quality, lasting items that can be repurposed rather than recycled or thrown away. One of the products we added to our collection were glass straws from Daedra at Strawesome. Those glass straws — yes, the same ones! — continue to be among my favorite kitchen items.

Although we do have some regular plastic straws in the house, I always reach for a Strawesome straw for a thick almond-banana smoothie or my iced tea. The girls regularly use them for milk, smoothies and the occasional soda treat too, and they have yet to break one.

In fact, each handcrafted straw is made from the strongest glass and comes with a lifetime replacement guarantee from Strawesome, so you can invest in glass straws without worrying about how long they’ll last.

I love glass straws in general for their permanence and the practicality of larger smoothie straws for thicker drinks, but I especially love Strawesome glass straws because they’re so pretty. And with a variety of designs, family members or guests can keep track of their drink based on their straw!

Click here to learn more about Strawesome’s many designs and styles.

Enter to Win

This week, Daedra is giving two lucky Life Your Way readers an artist’s choice collection of 5 straws plus a cleaning brush!

To enter, fill out the form below:

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The giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, 2/14. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well. Unfortunately, due to the international laws governing sweepstakes and lotteries, we’re only able to offer these giveaways to U.S. residents 18 years and older.

Giveaway: Strawesome Reusable Glass Straws (2 Winners!)

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

Weekend Reading: February 8, 2014

source: Mandi Ehman

In our family, we make a pretty big deal about birthday milestones, and 8th birthdays for our girls include bra shopping, a {very basic} introduction to the birds and the bees and a special trip with mom.

Our oldest got to go to Florida to spend a week at my grandmother’s house with her cousin and to visit Winter the dolphin, and — entirely coincidentally — our second daughter and I (plus the baby, since he goes where mama goes) will be heading to Florida next week to participate in the Jacksonville Color Run.

This daughter of mine — who was the fussiest, clingiest baby — is outgoing and funny and has a passion for long walks and runs. She also loves kittens, but since I couldn’t think of any cat-centric destinations, the Color Run seemed like the perfect way for us to celebrate this milestone. My mom and sister will be joining us for the run, and I’m looking forward to a few days without my computer so that we can just focus on our time together.

Although we started Couch to 5K at the beginning of the year, the snow, ice and insanely cold temperatures prevented us from getting as much practice in as we had hoped, so we’ll mostly be walking this 5K, but we’re excited and looking forward to it nonetheless!

Also. while I took all four girls to Florida last year by myself, I’ll admit I’m a little nervous about flying with the baby this time (so much extra stuff to cart with us, plus the uncertainty of how he’ll act on the plane!), so your prayers are appreciated!

Here are some of my favorite posts from this week. As always, check out what I’m reading and what I’m pinning to see the other posts that make me stop and think (or, you know, drool…). You’ll find new posts all week long!

Motherhood {Encouragement for the Weary}

What will you see when you look back? | Simple Homeschool


the real mom manual. | finding joy


Grace waits. | Jamie the Very Worst Missionary

Work {Finding Meaning in Work}

Work enough. And that’s all. | The Art of Simple


The work that makes more of you | Modern Mrs. Darcy


Why I woke up today. | Jon Acuff

Family {For Our Girls}

10 Things I Want My Daughter To Know Before She Turns 10 | Lindsey Mead


Let’s Not Handicap Our Girls | Next Level Mama

Have a great weekend!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Weekend Reading: February 8, 2014

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

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{Book} Favorites: Seven More Series for Fans of Divergent

Like many people, The Hunger Games series introduced me to a new genre of books — young adult dystopian — and left me hungry for more (no pun intended!). Since then, I’ve read many series recommended by fans of the genre, and the Divergent series quickly became one of my favorite. In fact, I finished the final book in the series in the hospital after Jackson was born, and I’m looking forward to the Divergent movie next month.

With that in mind, I thought I’d share seven more series for fans of Divergent. And because I’m always on the lookout for more books to add to my reading pile, I’d love to hear what other series you’d add to the list!

Under the Never Sky, Through the Ever Night & Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi


I stumbled across this series in 2012, and I loved the first book so much that I immediately started recommending it to the people I knew also enjoyed this genre. I picked up books #2 and #3 as soon as they came out — the final one just this month — and I actually loved the ending of this trilogy — something I can’t say for many of them!

From Amazon: “Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive. A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria’s help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption.

In alternating chapters told in Aria’s and Perry’s voices, Under the Never Sky subtly and powerfully captures the evolving relationship between these characters and sweeps readers away to a harsh but often beautiful world.”

Graceling, Fire & Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore


Although this series is more fantasy than dystopian, it’s a great segue between the two genres. Featuring a strong female protagonist who sets out to save the world gone bad — even if that world is not quite earth-like — it’s easy to see the appeal for fans of dystopian. I truly loved the first book in this series, but it’s a somewhat disjointed trilogy — moving between two unrelated storylines in the first two books before tying them together in the third — and I didn’t really love that format.

From Amazon: “Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa’s Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power.”

Eve, Once & Rise by Anna Carey


When I finished Under the Never Sky, I was desperate for another quick, light read, and that’s when I discovered the Eve Trilogy. The thing about these books is I enjoyed them while I was reading them, but I always forget about them because they weren’t particularly remarkable. That said, if you’re just looking for something to read, these are definitely a good choice!

From Amazon: “Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth’s population, the world is a perilous place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and artists of the New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns the shocking truth about her school’s real purpose—and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Arden, her former rival from school, and Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust . . . and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.”

Delirium, Pandemonium & Requiem by Lauren Oliver


Is love dangerous? As it turns out, love may be the greatest threat to any dystopian society, and this trilogy tackles that idea head on. I’m a sucker for a good overcoming-the-odds love story, but the twists and turns in this series — while skillfully done — took away some of that magic for me.

From Amazon: “In an alternate United States, love has been declared a dangerous disease, and the government forces everyone who reaches eighteen to have a procedure called the Cure. Living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Portland, Maine, Lena Haloway is very much looking forward to being cured and living a safe, predictable life. She watched love destroy her mother and isn’t about to make the same mistakes.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena meets enigmatic Alex, a boy from the Wilds who lives under the government’s radar. What will happen if they do the unthinkable and fall in love?”

Matched, Crossed & Reached by Ally Condie


I pushed for the name Xander for our baby boy after reading this series, but Sean wasn’t interested. However, Xander was easily my favorite character in this series, and although it moved to the dreaded back-and-forth narration in the second book, which I found weak anyway, I enjoyed the third book and the closure it offered.

From Amazon: “Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.”

Wither, Fever & Sever by Lauren DeStefano


The Chemical Garden series is a particularly depressing trilogy, and it wasn’t until I reached the end of the third book that I really appreciated the series as a whole. While I could see myself rereading many of the other series on this list, I don’t think I’ll ever reread this one.

From Amazon: “By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males born with a lifespan of 25 years, and females a lifespan of 20 years–leaving the world in a state of panic. Geneticists seek a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

When Rhine is sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Yet her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement; her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next; and Rhine has no way to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive.

Together with one of Linden’s servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?”

The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger & Son by Lois Lowry


Lois Lowry is an incredibly talented writer, and I picked up The Giver after reading Number the Stars, reading the first three books fairly quickly. I hadn’t realized that a fourth book was coming — or that it had been released — until just a few months ago when a friend recommended Son on Facebook. I picked it up because I didn’t have anything else to read at the time, and it ended up being my favorite book in the series. Son is definitely the book that ties the rest together, and I have a new appreciation for the rest of the books now that I have the full picture!

From Amazon: “Jonas’s world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world.

When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does Jonas begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.”

Open Minds, Closer Hearts & Free Souls by Susan Kaye Quinn


Occasionally a Kindle freebie will turn out to be a diamond in the rough, and this series is one of those examples. I stumbled across Open Minds and blew through the first book before picking up the rest of the books in the series. I’ll be honest that the books themselves aren’t the world’s best writing, but the stories are exciting and make you think. And the first book is still free on Amazon!

From Amazon: “Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden underworld of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.”

What other dystopian series would you add to this list?

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy on the way, and together, they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. She loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

{Book} Favorites: Seven More Series for Fans of Divergent

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

Share the Love with Life Your Way Products: One for You, One for a Friend

This month we’re running a fun promotion on the Life Your Way Complete Printables Download Pack (now with more than 350 printables plus monthly updates as we release new printables!) and the Easy Homemade ebook.

Purchase either item, and you will receive a coupon code that you can share with a friend for a free copy.

Send the free set as a gift or split the cost with a friend upfront to save on both of these popular products!

Please note that in order to get this special offer, you’ll need to purchase directly from the Life Your Way store: Get yours today!

Offer valid through 2/28/14. The Share the Love coupon offers the purchaser one free product redemption for an identical product. Share the Love coupons expire 3/31/14.

Share the Love with Life Your Way Products: One for You, One for a Friend

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved