Vicki V. Lucas's Blog

Red Sails to Capri

Mamma Mia! This book was splendido!

Loosely based on a true story, Red Sails to Capri tells of a young boy, Michele, who meets three visitors to the island. The three men stay at Michelle’s family’s inn. Fascinated by a cove that the locals fear, the men embark on a mission to solve the mystery of the cove.

But before I gush about this book, I must offer two warnings. 

First, don’t jump on Google and research the history of Capri or the true story about this book. Let the surprise come to you as you read so that you can solve the mystery with the characters as they experience it. 

Second, don’t be deterred by the slow start as you sink into the culture of Capri and begin to live it. Trust the story will build until everyone is begging for one more page. The slow beginning gives you time to feel the culture and get to know the characters – each who stands out with amazing differences. A trick I used sometimes was to read the chapter ahead of time to see if I wanted to skip certain paragraphs just to get the story moving a bit faster. 

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How to Turn Your Reluctant Reader into a Bookworm

Reluctant reader is defined as a student who shows little to no interest in reading, act out in some way when asked to read, or simply rebel. I personally dislike this term because it started with a negative premise when viewing these kids. 

Some people think reluctant readers are lazy. The line of “kids these days would rather play video games or movies” comes out. People assume that reluctant readers aren’t the kind for reading, or maybe they should just try harder. 

Did you know that the word reluctant can mean unwilling, hesitant, and disinclined, it also comes from the Latin meaning writhing and offering opposition?

Reluctant comes from the Latin verb reluctari which means struggling against. 

In Latin, re- expresses intensive force and luctari means “to struggle.”

We often think of reluctant readers as not wanting to or not interested in reading.

But what if reluctant readers are in a battle to read? 

Maybe reluctant readers are in an intensive, full-blown war when they read, but we can’t see it so we don’t understand the effort when they stumble over words for 10 minutes. 

Maybe reluctant readers have the wrong tools, like a dagger instead of a sword, to fight when sent off to battle.

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Read Something New – Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge

Last year I challenged you to join the Goodreads Reading Challenge.

I repeated the reading challenge in 2021. This time I set my goal for 50 books and ended up reading 57. After completing my year, a friend challenged me in a different way.

 

Select your top 10 books from the 2021 Reading Challenge.

Now it got tricky because “top 10” is a bit vague. It could be in the top ten because of nostalgia like Trixie Bleden or because of the great title like Vicki and the Black Horse. And yet it can also be a top ten because its story swept you away so much that the world around you disappeared.

As I scoured my list, I found myself remembering stories like seeing old friends. “Oh, it was so good!”

When you look at my list, you can see that I spend most of my reading time in YA and children’s books. I am still working through my pile of books to be read, and I find myself falling in love with both categories of books.

I did divert to a few secular women’s fiction that I have liked for years.

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Fan the Flame to Change the World

I love my wood stove. Not because of how it looks, although I do like that, but because of the heat it puts out in the winter.

In December, I was putting more wood on the fire. The coals had burned down until only a tiny thread of heat glowed from a few spots. I put in a few pieces of crumpled paper, laid down some kindling, and then topped it off with a couple large pieces.

Nothing happened.

The next step is to grab the handheld bellows and gently pump a bit of air into the wood stove.

Within one pump, the tiny line of heat in the coals burst into flames. It only took a few seconds to hear the cheerful popping of wood.

I watched that fire for a while and thought of one word.

Ignite.

It’s been a while since I published a book.

I have series that need to be finished, sequels that are begging to be written, and great new ideas that I’m so excited to begin. Oh, and plenty of blogs to write too, of course.

It’s been a while since I wrote.

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The Ultimate List of Christmas Books the Whole Family will Adore

Our new home was a tiny town on the prairie where the wind whipped the snow into bullets, and with Christmas approaching, it wasn’t the weather on our minds. All we could think about were the things we were greatly missing.

Sledding hills filled with laughter. Ice skating on ponds. Epic parties with friends who came in packs like crayons.

The new town was nothing like the old home. No hills, no ponds. And friends came in packs of one or two.

Christmas seemed dismal. 

When it came time to get a Christmas tree, a local farmer offered to let us come on his land and search the tree line by the river.

Christmas hope soared.

One of my all-time favorite Christmas traditions was picking out a Christmas tree. With sleds and ice skates, we hiked through the woods looking for the perfect tree. We laughed, sledded, skated, and brought home our perfect tree.

When we went, the snow was barely an inch thick, and the hills weren’t sledding hills. We plodded through the mud and cold looking for that perfect tree.

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Why I Love that C.S. Lewis Used Bacchus in Prince Caspian

Bacchus in Prince Caspian reminds me of things you find at a garage sale.

People have different attitudes towards garage sales. Some try to escape as soon as possible. Others scan and go while others carefully study each item with great thought on how it may be used or refurbished.

I belong to the scan and go group. The people who study each item thoroughly used to irritate me. But then I realized an important truth.

Where I see garbage, that person sees potential. 

Much like junk at a garage sale, I used to wish C.S. Lewis hadn’t written Bacchus into Prince Caspian. I prefer to dart off to another book to find more great value than to stop and consider how Bacchus may have potential.

I’ve never stopped long enough to consider how Bacchus could teach us.

But C.S. Lewis was very intentional in his use of Bacchus, even mentioning him in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before the whole Narnia series was plotted out completely.

“the Faun… began to talk of… Bacchus himself, and then the streams would run with wine instead of water and the whole forest would give itself up to jollification for weeks on end.” The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

While some accuse C.S.

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This New Twist on The Boxcar Children is the Best

If you’ve been around children’s books a while, you’ve probably heard about The Boxcar Children.

But let me tell you this.

There’s something new with this old series The Boxcar Children that has to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in a book.

As a child, I remember loving this book. The main characters – Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny – became my inspiration for finding anything that looked like a car from a train and setting up house.

In case you don’t remember, the first book tells of four orphaned children, ages 5 – 14, who are searching for a home. They find a boxcar in the woods and begin making their place a home. The book is written at a second or third grade level, told in a way to ignite empathy to the listeners, and appeals to ages as young as 4 or 5.

As an adult, I fell in love with the books again. The series never says how their parents died. But they must have been amazing parents to raise the kind of children they did.

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The Most Important Reasons Why the Magic in Narnia is Different

If you hang around me very long, you’re going to quickly discover one thing.

I love The Chronicles of Narnia very, very much with The Lord of the Rings as a very close second.

And if you spend any time with me, you’re going to find out I like both fantasy books and movies.

But what is harder to observe about me is that I’m extremely picky about the fantasy that I read and that a lot of fantasy never finds its way into my heart. 

One of the reasons I don’t always  love reading fantasy is the use of magic. Fantasy has this unique relationship with magic. Without magic, fantasy is more like historical fiction.

But if you read the Bible, magic is forbidden.

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:31

“Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:20-21

So how do we balance our love for fantasy books while following what God commanded in our Bible?

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Love Fantasy? Here’s the Best Book of the Bible for You to Read

What book of the Bible would someone who loves to read fantasy really enjoy?

The best answer would be every book of the Bible.

But there’s one book with plague, pestilence, and battles.  Oh, and did I mention a dragon?

Revelation.

To be honest, I haven’t dug too deep in Revelation. I’ve read through it a few times, but maybe because I felt it was too deep or symbolic, I moved on. In my studies, I tend to be a practical person. When I studied teaching, I barely endured the classes on theories of language acquisition. However, in the classes that taught ways to teach, I excelled.

So it might be due to my personality that I gravitate to Romans, Ephesians, and James, where the theme is how to live as Christian and what that means. I love history, so I devour Genesis, Joshua, and I and II Kings. Of course, I have a bit of a romantic bug in me, too, so books like Esther and Ruth catch my attention.

Revelation?

It’s a little uncomfortably real.

And yet, it’s a book in the Bible, which means God wanted it there.

Continue Reading Love Fantasy? Here’s the Best Book of the Bible for You to Read

Love fantasy? Here’s the Best Book of the Bible for You to Read

What book of the Bible would someone who loves to read fantasy really enjoy?

The best answer would be every book of the Bible.

But there’s one book with plague, pestilence, and battles.  Oh, and did I mention a dragon?

Revelation.

To be honest, I haven’t dug too deep in Revelation. I’ve read through it a few times, but maybe because I felt it was too deep or symbolic, I moved on. In my studies, I tend to be a practical person. When I studied teaching, I barely endured the classes on theories of language acquisition. However, in the classes that taught ways to teach, I excelled.

So it might be due to my personality that I gravitate to Romans, Esp, and James, where the theme is how to live as Christian and what that means. I love history, so I devour Genesis, Joshua, and I and II Kings. Of course, I have a bit of a romantic bug in me, too, so books like Esther and Ruth catch my attention.

Revelation?

It’s a little uncomfortably real.

And yet, it’s a book in the Bible, which means God wanted it there.

Continue Reading Love fantasy? Here’s the Best Book of the Bible for You to Read