Last night, a random thought entered my mind. I was thinking back to when I was stumbling upon this reading life and how people are just now really discovering clean and Christian fiction books. I mean, they’re not new, obviously, but there’s this mass movement toward cutting out spice and being convicted of what we’re consuming through the written word.

When I was in high school, I really got deep into reading. The I-need-to-stay-up-late-to-finish-this kind of reading. I was mostly reading Janette Rallison or Sarah Dessen, but then I ran out of books so was reading whatever I could get my hands on that sounded cool, or what other kids were reading (I got into anime even!).

It wasn’t until probably college that I went to Mardel and found out they had books! I wasn’t a frequent shopper there, so I didn’t know what a goldmine was just a few miles away. It’s literally a Christian store. Obviously, not everything at a Christian store is going to align with your beliefs and doctrine, but books, people! I discovered this thing called Christian books.

It was also around this time I was at Barnes & Noble when Lady, Maybe by Julie Klassen was on one of those front tables – I can’t remember the table display theme, though. It obviously wasn’t like the best book out there, but it was enough to want to read more regency! Guess where the best regency books are found? 🙂 The Christian fiction section!

And Julie Klassen books are always at Mardel – just FYI. 🙂

It’s interesting how the little experiences and discoveries we have out and about can impact the trajectory of our journeys – reading journeys, for example.

I have zero interest in reading spice. In high school, I unknowingly consumed some spice because I didn’t know that it could be avoided and thought it was normal.

If you’re unsure or it makes you uncomfortable, please know it’s not normal. You can choose and you can say no to the spice.

If you or someone you know is looking for no-spice reads – Christian or otherwise – I have plenty of recommendations! My monthly recaps are a great place to start for my thoughts on specific books I’ve already read. If you’d like a list that fit into certain specifications, comment or contact me directly and I’d be happy to provide!

Do you remember how you came to reading Christian / clean reads? Feel free to comment your thoughts!