Welcome to my blog's stop on the Celebrate Lit blog tour for There is Hope: Bloom Where You are Planted (book) by Carla Huelsmann!
Read my review of Carla's book below and enjoy your time with her today!
Remember to enter the fun giveaway contest toward the end of this blog post.
About the Book:
Title: There is Hope
Author: Carla Huelsmann
Genre: Journal, devotional, memoir
Release Date: August 2018
52 life lessons for those struggling with major illness will inspire hope and encourage those suffering to take back control of their lives.
Carla Huelsmann dealt with the daily impact of seizures since age two. Her life-long battle with epilepsy impacted all parts of her life, family, career, self-confidence, and independence until corrective brain surgery ended the seizures. Free from the debilitating seizures and their accompanying residues of doubt and fear, Carla Huelsmann lives independently and shares her story to help others along their own journeys.
Part journal, part devotional, and part memoir, this is a book of hope, faith, and inspiration. The book addresses the fears, challenges, and questions about the future those going through a major illness, debilitating injury, or life crisis may have. Designed as a traveling companion for those facing challenging circumstances, each one-page entry is accompanied by blank space for the reader to journal his or her own thoughts and prayers.
My goal is to give hope, help, healing, and resources. I want to walk alongside others and assure them they are not alone; there is hope. -Carla Huelsmann
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Buy Carla's book on Amazon
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About the Author:
Carla Huelsmann earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Eastern Illinois University, subsequently taught grades five through eight, and now works for the US Department of Veterans Affairs in St. Louis, MO.
The alumnus of a fiction-writing course at Southern Illinois University, and the CLASS Seminar with Marita and Florence Littauer, she is also the author of articles on her experiences, and is available to speak.
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A Message from the author (Carla):
I want to inspire and equip others struggling with epilepsy or other major illnesses to take back control of their lives. Eighteen years after corrective surgery, I live a seizure-free life that I feel in control of. And, I want to share my story and lessons learned with others facing serious challenges.
Carla Huelsmann dealt with the daily impact of seizures since age two. Her life-long battle with epilepsy impacted all parts of her life, family, career, self-confidence, and independence until corrective brain surgery ended the seizures. Free from the debilitating seizures and their accompanying residues of doubt and fear, Carla Huelsmann lives independently and shares her story to help others along their own journeys.
Part journal, part devotional, and part memoir, this is a book of hope, faith, and inspiration. The book addresses the fears, challenges, and questions about the future those going through a major illness, debilitating injury, or life crisis may have. Designed as a traveling companion for those facing challenging circumstances, each one-page entry is accompanied by blank space for the reader to journal his or her own thoughts and prayers.
My goal is to give hope, help, healing, and resources. I want to walk alongside others and assure them they are not alone; there is hope. -Carla Huelsmann
~*~
Buy Carla's book on Amazon
~*~
About the Author:
Carla Huelsmann earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Eastern Illinois University, subsequently taught grades five through eight, and now works for the US Department of Veterans Affairs in St. Louis, MO.
The alumnus of a fiction-writing course at Southern Illinois University, and the CLASS Seminar with Marita and Florence Littauer, she is also the author of articles on her experiences, and is available to speak.
A Message from the author (Carla):
I want to inspire and equip others struggling with epilepsy or other major illnesses to take back control of their lives. Eighteen years after corrective surgery, I live a seizure-free life that I feel in control of. And, I want to share my story and lessons learned with others facing serious challenges.
My goal is to give hope, help and healing and resources of helpful information in one book. I want to walk alongside them and assure them that they are not alone and there is hope!
I’ve dealt with seizures, epilepsy and their daily impact since the age of two. It has impacted my family, career, self-confidence, independence and much more. Through it all, family, friends and faith have provided bedrock sources of strength. In addition, timely interventions by doctors, new contacts, new techniques and self-discipline came at opportune times through perseverance.
Now free from the tunnel of doubt, fear and debilitating seizures, I’ve gathered up my collection of personal journals and thoughts in order to help others along their journey. There Is Hope: Bloom Where You are Planted is a devotional for someone going through major illness, major injury, or life crisis.
Now free from the tunnel of doubt, fear and debilitating seizures, I’ve gathered up my collection of personal journals and thoughts in order to help others along their journey. There Is Hope: Bloom Where You are Planted is a devotional for someone going through major illness, major injury, or life crisis.
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My Review of Carla's book:
There Is Hope: Bloom Where You are Planted is a book with a beautiful cover that makes you want to pick up the book, open to the first page and inhale deeply as the reader!
However, as I journeyed through the pages of this story, I found it to feel incomplete.
My impression is that the author wrote the manuscript, telling her story but then simply divided it into chapters that were not complete. As I turned the pages of this book, I found chapters that were barely two paragraphs long! And at times, the endings of the chapter felt more like a beginning that hadn't started or middle that's missing. It left me feeling like the author's story, as formatted in this book, is not complete. Halfway through the book, the author had letters to her doctor as full chapters that were only about one or two pages long! I didn't understand how that was considered a chapter and I've yet to read any other nonfiction story written with this type of layout in any other book in my lifetime thus far.
However, I do think that the author does a good job of putting her heart out there and I admire how she isn't scared to share deep details of her personal real life story in a way that will help the reader have hope in hard times. And I do realize that the summary of the book says the these are "52 life lessons" that compose this book. However, I still do think that some of these life lessons throughout this book could have been elaborated for stronger impact. Sometimes the lessons were too precise and concise.
But I couldn't move past the feeling that this book was incomplete and the chapters didn't feel or look like chapters. It doesn't take away from the message of hope and resilience that is at the core of the author's story. But it just feels ... incomplete.
*Celebrate Lit provided me (Alexis A. Goring) with a complimentary copy of "There is Hope" (book). My opinions in this book review are my own.
My Review of Carla's book:
There Is Hope: Bloom Where You are Planted is a book with a beautiful cover that makes you want to pick up the book, open to the first page and inhale deeply as the reader!
However, as I journeyed through the pages of this story, I found it to feel incomplete.
My impression is that the author wrote the manuscript, telling her story but then simply divided it into chapters that were not complete. As I turned the pages of this book, I found chapters that were barely two paragraphs long! And at times, the endings of the chapter felt more like a beginning that hadn't started or middle that's missing. It left me feeling like the author's story, as formatted in this book, is not complete. Halfway through the book, the author had letters to her doctor as full chapters that were only about one or two pages long! I didn't understand how that was considered a chapter and I've yet to read any other nonfiction story written with this type of layout in any other book in my lifetime thus far.
However, I do think that the author does a good job of putting her heart out there and I admire how she isn't scared to share deep details of her personal real life story in a way that will help the reader have hope in hard times. And I do realize that the summary of the book says the these are "52 life lessons" that compose this book. However, I still do think that some of these life lessons throughout this book could have been elaborated for stronger impact. Sometimes the lessons were too precise and concise.
But I couldn't move past the feeling that this book was incomplete and the chapters didn't feel or look like chapters. It doesn't take away from the message of hope and resilience that is at the core of the author's story. But it just feels ... incomplete.
*Celebrate Lit provided me (Alexis A. Goring) with a complimentary copy of "There is Hope" (book). My opinions in this book review are my own.
~*~
Blog Stops
Texas Book-aholic, January 13
janicesbookreviews, January 14
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 15
Older & Smarter?, January 16
Inklings and notions, January 17
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, January 18
For the Love of Literature, January 19
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, January 20
Through the Fire Blogs, January 21 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, January 21
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 22
CarpeDiem, January 23
Splashes of Joy, January 24
By The Book, January 25 (Author Interview)
Stephanie’s Life of Determination, January 25
God is Love, January 26
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Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Carla is giving away the grand prize of an autographed copy of the book! Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter:
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