Happy April!
April is a time of renewal, growth, and change, so it’s the perfect backdrop for our April journal prompts. This month we are looking at adventures in reading.
Books have an amazing power to take us to new worlds, introduce brazen characters, and experience epic journyes all from the comfort of our own home.
And I love reflecting on my reads. Be it through questions, favorite quotes, or characters I related to.
When you think of the word adventure, especially in the literary sense, you typically think of an actual adventure like a quest, but there are other types of adventures too. Let’s unpack the different types of adventures in books before we get into the collection of April journal prompts.
Types of Adventures in Books
Physical Adventure – As noted above, this is the traditional adventure you probably think of when you hear the words “adventure novel.” Examples could be a quest, traveling to an unknown land, a treasure hunt, or even some type of escape adventure could all be examples of a physical adventure.
In addition to having characters physically journey somewhere new or unknown, there are often battles between races or monsters that happen. Essentially some type of physical confrontation.
Books like The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien or The Princess Bride by William Goldman stick out for me as physical adventures. Going way back to my English Literature roots, stories like The Odyssey by Homer and Beowulf are also good examples of physical adventures.
Intellectual Adventure – On the flip side, when there is little to no physical conflict these books are more of an intellectual adventure. Something like solving a mystery or a puzzle can still be an adventure, even if there is no physical fighting. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is a good example of an intellectual adventure.
Other types of intellectual adventures could be something like a legal or ethical battle like you see in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
It’s an important type of adventure because adventures don’t have to be physical.
Emotional Adventure – This brings us to the last type of adventure I want to highlight, which is an emotional adventure. Personal growth, overcoming fears, stepping into the unknown, all of these are important and highlight an emotional adventure.
A great example of this would be Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s a story that focuses on the inner journey of the protagonist, and although Elizabeth may physically travel to different places throughout the book, the most important changes happen internally.
In some ways, I think when books take us on an emotional adventure it’s the most important one of all because these stories typically resonate deeply with us. These types of adventures are great ones to journal about, too, as you are able to reflect on your own emotional journey.
There are, of course, other types of adventures you can read about, but for the most part, things typically fall into a physical, intellectual, or emotional category (and honestly, the best books blend all three!).
10 April Journal Prompts: Adventure & Exploration in Books
Now that we’ve explored the different types of adventures you might see in a story you are reading, these April journal prompts will help you uncover your favorite stories and characters from your epic reads.
- What’s the most physically adventurous book you’ve ever read? What made it thrilling or unexpected?
- What’s the most intellectually adventurous book you’ve ever read? What made it thought-provoking and stimulating?
- What’s the most emotionally adventurous book you’ve ever read? What about the story resonated with you?
- What’s a book you’ve read that best combined all three types of adventures? Are there specific examples you can give from the story for each type of adventure?
- What type of adventure (physical, intellectual, or emotional) would you most like to go on in real life? Why?
- If you could step into any fictional world for an adventure, which would it be and why?
- Describe a moment in a book where a character had to take a leap of faith. How did it change them?
- Write about a book that inspired you to seek adventure in another country. Where did it make you want to go? What did it make you want to do?
- If you had to create your own adventure team of no more than five characters, what characters would you pick and why?
- What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from a book about going on an adventure (any type of adventure)?
Every book is an adventure, no matter if it takes us across the world or deep within ourselves.
And reflecting on those adventures allows us to both appreciate the story on a deeper level and learn more about ourselves too. So, I encourage you to pick up an adventure book this month, escape to somewhere new, and then write about it using these April journal prompts.
You never know what you might learn about yourself!
