Sneak Peek Book Review: "Learning" by Karen Kingsbury

I started reading Karen Kingsbury’s books when I was a teenager. As a young girl waiting for her “prince charming” to arrive on the scene, I was captivated by anything romantic – so it was wonderful to have a collection of wholesome stories to enjoy. Karen’s writing has a way of capturing the beauty of everyday life with characters who feel completely real – something not often found in fictional tales, and (in my honest opinion) especially not in inspirational stories. What a blessing to have “real” characters to read about!

Learning is the second book in Karen’s latest series, which is about Bailey Flanigan – a character we have grown to love over the last several novels. I have kind of grown up with Bailey, since she has been featured in many of Karen’s recent releases. This latest installment continues where the first Bailey Flanigan book (Leaving) left off – as Bailey is making her journey to New York City to take on a role in the Broadway musical “Hairspray.”

I direct children’s drama and community theatre productions several times a year and have always had an underlying dream of singing on Broadway, so this storyline is especially meaningful to me. Bailey’s first months living in New York are filled with discovery, trials, surprises, and heartbreak. As she works to learn her role in “Hairspray,” she is also struggling emotionally as she is unsure what to make of the two boys in her life – Brandon Paul and Cody Coleman.

As we follow Bailey’s story, we see snippets of life with other characters we know and love – including Bailey’s mom and brothers; Cody Coleman, his football team, and his friend Cheyenne Williams; and of course a few members of the Baxter family – notably Ashley Baxter Blake, her husband Landon, and their kids. Karen seems to know that we readers are not willing to part with the Baxter family, so they continue to make an appearance. You definitely will not hear any complaints about this from me!

Something that left an impression on me as I read this book was a quote from one of the characters about halfway through the story. This person said “God doesn’t open doors we don’t knock on.” I love how so simple a thought can mean so much. I’ve made a decision that there will never again be a time when I should not take the chance to do something new…something exciting…something great or even amazing! If I’m not willing to give God the chance to work a remarkable change in my life, how can I expect great things to appear? Thank you, Karen, for a wonderful truth! This one will stick with me for the rest of my life, I am sure.

Learning will be released on June 21 – just a few short days away! I’m sure you are excited to read the next chapter in Bailey’s story. Personally I’m already excited for the third installment, Longing, which is set to be released this fall! I know it will be here before we know it – but I’m pretty sure the suspense may drive us crazy in the meantime! Snap up your copy of Learning as soon as you can – it’s a read you don’t want to miss.

You can find the Bailey Flanigan books on Amazon:
Leaving (book 1 - available now!)
Learning (book 2 - will be released 6/21/2011!)
Longing (book 3 - due out fall 2011 and available now for pre-order!)

If you've never read any of Karen Kingsbury's work, you can also browse the full collection of Karen Kingsbury titles available at Amazon.  If you're in need of summer reading, this is definitely the place I would start.  :)

Thanks to Karen Kingsbury for the opportunity to be on "Team KK" and for my book sample used for this review.  I received no other compensation and all views expressed are my own!

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