An Open Book

An Open Book

Welcome to the March 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

For the first time in An Open Book history, it’s a week late. If you even noticed – sorry! I’ve been under the weather for, well, longer than I’ve ever been under the weather, but each day I’m a little better, and thanks be to God it seems it’s merely viral and not anything of a serious nature. 

If I can say anything good about being sick and fatigued for so long, it’s that I was able to complete the lengthy Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell much more quickly than I anticipated. After all these years and coming to it with a mature perspective and greater knowledge of both life and history, it’s still a five-star novel for me. Now, on to what else we’ve been reading!

Authentically, Izzy

When I was feeling worst, I needed relief from the brutality of war and death in Gone with the Wind, so I picked up Pepper Basham’s Authentically, Izzy. I always enjoy her writing, and this novel was chock full of fun literary references and likeable characters set in both the Blue Mountains of the American South and a fictional Scottish-like isle. It’s mainly an epistolary novel, which I enjoy, although I think by its nature, it increased the book’s length beyond what was necessary. The repetition of the characters’ bookish natures and the heroine’s wonderful creativity became somewhat tiresome. Still, it suited my mood and was an enjoyable contemporary Christian rom-com.

King Alfred

Last month, I forgot to include one of my oldest son’s Christmas gifts, which he read on his break between semesters. King Alfred: Burnt Cakes and Other Legends by David Horspool came recommended by one of his instructors. As you might guess, it includes legends surrounding the 9th century English king. From my son’s review: “This book provides a well-rounded, all-around view of Alfred, not only relaying the history of King Alfred, but exploring the historiography, popular perception, and legends of the famous king. Each chapter takes a specific legend or notion about Alfred, explores the history behind the story, and then shows how that story has affected Alfred’s perception over the years. I had no idea how prominent of a figure Alfred was, maintaining a status as a household name until around the mid-twentieth century, and the book really introduces the reader to the prominence and importance of both the figure and this period in history.” He also appreciated the genealogy chart and maps included, though more maps of Viking and Anglo-Saxon movements would have been helpful.

Balance Point

Continuing with his Star Wars reading list, my son also read Balance Point by Kathy Tyers, part of The New Jedi Order series. He gave this one four stars but is ready for a break from the series. Refugees fleeing a murderous race are sent to the overcrowded planet Duro. The Solos and Skywalkers get tangled up in the drama as the Yuuzhan Vong target Duro next.

Prey

Michael Crichton’s Prey was a quick spring break read. From his review: “A stay-at-home dad who has fallen on hard luck in his programming career is one of the only people who can stop unrestrained, intelligent, and evolving nanotechnology from becoming man’s most fearsome predator in Michael Crichton’s Prey. The book draws primarily on developments and theories from both biology and computer science (topics that I found easier to comprehend than those in other Crichton novels) in this thrilling sci-fi suspense. The novel is like a cross between Jurassic Park and Sphere in terms of story and themes with some elements of The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” (By the way, you can follow my son’s Goodreads reviews; I’m biased, but I think his reviews are top-notch.)

Leadership Insights for Wizards and Witches

Continuing his reading for a class on leadership, he also read Leadership Insights for Wizards and Witches: Exploring Effective Leadership Practices Through Popular Culture by Aditya Simha. As you might guess, the book uses examples from the Harry Potter series to demonstrate successful and unsuccessful leadership techniques.

Unclaimed

My high school daughter was on a bit of a Jane Eyre binge after we watched another movie adaption. After re-reading her favorite passages from the Charlotte Bronte classic, she began reading Erin McCole Cupp’s Unclaimed from The Memoirs of Jane E, Friendless Orphan trilogy. It’s a wonderfully creative cyberpunk adaption of the literary classic. It seems especially timely, once again, since this orphan Jane was an unclaimed embryo.

Story of a Soul

For Lent, she’s also been reading the spiritual classic The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of The Little Flower by Saint Therese of Lisieux. Saint Therese’s writing is accessible enough that my younger daughter has been snatching this away from her sister and reading it as well.

The Thief Lord

With her class, my middle school daughter is reading The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke, a book that appeared in An Open Book in 2020. In summary, a gang of orphans on the streets of Venice steal from the wealthy, and a pair of runaway brothers find their home with them.

Lines of Courage

Our school ditched Scholastic for its most recent book fair, and we were very pleased with the selection of books offered by I:55 Book Fairs. My daughter picked up Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen and devoured it. The book relates the interconnected stories of five children living in different parts of Europe during World War I.

The Perfect Blindside

Also on my daughter’s reading pile were Leslea Wahl’s Blindside books—The Perfect Blindside and eXtreme Blindside.(It’s getting difficult to keep up with this child’s reading pace.) These teen adventure mysteries with a little romance and faith themes are fun, easy reads. Both feature Olympic snow boarder Jake and high school journalist Sophie. They make a fun pair as they solve mysteries, and I always happily recommend these books for teens.

When I received an advance copy of Antony B. Kolenc’s Penny and the Stolen Chalice from OSV Kids, my daughter snapped it up. Penny is a new, non-Catholic 6th grader at a Catholic grade school, and she doesn’t understand exactly what the big deal is about a stolen chalice. When her friend Jayden is accused of the theft, they team up to uncover the truth. I’m looking forward to reading this too and passing it on to my youngest son.

Minecraft: The Island

Finally, my youngest son enjoyed Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks. (Interestingly, I noticed the audiobook version is narrated by actor Jack Black.) The hero is stuck within the world of Minecraft and must uncover the secrets of the island he is stranded on to survive. My son said it was alternately funny, sad, and scary. Who would’ve thought Minecraft would have this level of staying power? Not me.

Rules

In addition to reading the Star Wars Jedi Academy series, which appeared here several years ago, my son is reading Rules by Cynthia Lord with his fifth-grade class. It’s a Newbery Award winner about a twelve-year old, Catherine, with an autistic brother. New friends, including a paraplegic boy, force her to examine what it means to be normal.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Share what you're reading with An Open Book and @CatholicMomCom #openbook Click To Tweet

Want more details on An Open Book? You can also sign up for An Open Book reminder email, which goes out one week before the link-up. No blog? That’s okay. Just tell us what you’re reading in the comment box.


THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

An Open Book

An Open Book

Welcome to the February 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

Gone with the Wind

I read Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell several times, but it’s been decades since the last re-read. I’ve been eager to read it again to see how it holds up now that I’m older and an author. So far, I’m still loving Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize winner and marveling at how faithful the movie adaption is to many details. It’s been a rather slow read so far only because it’s long and I’m reading a paperback. Without a decent booklight, a lot of my reading time is lost (since I read ebooks at my younger children’s bedsides at night).

Season's Schemings

Katie Bailey was a new-to-me author, and Season’s Schemings was an enjoyable rom-com featuring the marriage of convenience trope. I’m partial to ice hockey, so this made the story appealing. After being dumped by her longtime boyfriend on national television, Maddie Grainger goes to work for an NHL team. During a drunken night in Las Vegas, she marries the hockey team’s star, Seb Slater. Seb will be the new man she can rub in her ex’s face at her family’s Christmas gathering, and she is his means of staying in the country when his work visa expires. This is a secular market rom-com and includes a little more innuendo than I’m accustomed to reading lately, but it’s a closed-door romance that didn’t offend.

Christmas in Mistletoe Square

I wrapped up my Christmas reading early in 2024 with Christmas in Mistletoe Square, a collection of Christmas novellas by contemporary Christian authors. Each story is tied to the same town, so the same shops and people re-surface in each story. This was a strong, consistent collection with stories by Pepper Basham, Cara Putnam, Teresa Tysinger, and Janine Rosche. Basham’s was my favorite, but they were each enjoyable. 

Mistletoe and Murder

After several Christmas seasons, I also finally finished Mistletoe and Murder: A Christmas Suspense Collection. This package included ten full-length novellas, and the quality was very uneven. There were a few gems, but others were either only okay or disappointing. Not bad for a 99-cent e-book set. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s available as a set any longer.

Beautiful Eucharist

Our parish offered copies of Beautiful Eucharist, edited by Matthew Kelly, this Christmas season. It is a short collection of pieces (some original, some adapted) reflecting on the Eucharist. Authors run the gamut from Catholic Mom foundress Lisa A. Hendey to Venerable Fulton Sheen. The essays are short and meaningful with suggestions for further reading and are perfect for contemplating either in front of the Blessed Sacrament or on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Jedi Eclipse

My son is back at college and continuing to work his way through various Star Wars novels, mainly in The New Jedi Order series. Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse by James Luceno continues the saga of the New Republic battling the Yuuzhan Vong warriors. Leia Organa Solo, estranged from her husband, Han, is helping to evacuate refugees from various planets while her brother, Luke Skywalker, is holding together the Jedi Knights. My son gives it 3.5 stars, saying, “not Luceno’s best work but not his worst.”

The Courtship of Princess Leia

Not part of the same series, but including crossover characters, The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton includes a love triangle involving Leia, Han, and the “dashing and wealthy” Prince Isolder. My son enjoyed the book’s humorous moments, though some of Han Solo’s actions (such as kidnapping Leia) seemed out of character. The book also provided backstory on the Nightsisters, who have become more prominent in recent Disney Star Wars offerings, albeit as even more creepy and occult characters.

A Manager's Guide to Using the Force

For a class on leadership, he also read a book by his instructor, Michael J. Urick, entitled A Manager’s Guide to Using the Force: Leadership Lessons from a Galaxy Far Far Away. The book is an attempt to explore effective leadership practices through pop culture, specifically the Star Wars universe.

The Book of Lost Tales

The Book of Lost Tales, Part One by J.R.R. Tolkein details the history of writing Middle-Earth, which is, as I understand it, earlier versions of The Silmarillion. Despite it being interesting, my son found this a difficult book to get through. 

The Most Dangerous Game

Finally, he gave five stars to a short story by Richard Connell, “The Most Dangerous Game.” In this story, according to the description, “a big-game hunter from New York . . . becomes shipwrecked on an isolated island in the Caribbean and is hunted by a Russian aristocrat.” Read on the recommendation of a friend, this story is one of the best short stories he’s listened to. It includes a nice twist, unique characters, and is well-written overall.

Going Deeper

My high school daughter quickly read Going Deeper: A Reasoned Exploration of God and Truth by Leo Severino. The book provides a logical, systematic approach that demonstrates how faith and reason go hand in hand and helped satisfy some of her philosophical questions. I read the book in 2018 and described it as “Perfect for those who can’t reconcile faith and reason, are intellectually curious (and honest), doubters, seekers, or those who defend the faith.”

The Inferno

As a class, she is also reading parts of Dante’s Inferno. They’ve only just begun but have already watched a Word on Fire video by Bishop Barron explaining how the entire tale is about man’s spiritual journey. This is a classic I should return to someday as I think I also read only excerpts in high school.

Saint Magnus

My middle school daughter loved Susan Peek’s Saint Magnus: The Last Viking. She thought the writing was really engaging and recommended it to her older sister, so long as she wouldn’t mind the bloody scenes. (Magnus was martyred and this is, after all, a Viking tale.) The novel centers around the conflict between Magnus Erlendson, a pious, heroic prince, and his cousin Hakon, who’s been banished from their kingdom.

Number the Stars

With her class, my daughter is also reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. A description of the Newbery Award winner: “Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It’s now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are ‘relocated,’ Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen’s life.”

Rabbit

Also, Rabbit: A Practical Guide to Caring for Your Rabbit by David Taylor didn’t leave her hands for days. I was peppered regularly with facts about breeds and the care and feeding of rabbits along with the at least thrice daily plea, “I want a rabbit.” This is what happens when you spend time at the Farm Show amongst rabbit breeders.

Mission Libertad

My youngest son is reading Lizette M. Lantingua’s Mission Libertad with his fifth-grade class. I covered that book (again) last year, when his sister read it, but it’s worth repeating that as an adult, I learned more about what communism looked like on a daily basis from this book than any other source. It’s a great mystery for young readers that includes the history of 1970s communist Cuba and the lived faith of Cuban Catholics.

Finally, my son picked up War Stories by Gordon Korman from the Catholic Schools Week book fair, and he’s really enjoying it so far. Since both his grandfathers served in World War II, it’s taken on a special interest for him. Trevor loves playing war-based video games, but he learns about the complex nature of war from his great-grandfather Jacob, who helped to liberate a French village in World War II.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Share what you're reading with An Open Book and @CatholicMomCom #openbook Click To Tweet

Want more details on An Open Book? You can also sign up for An Open Book reminder email, which goes out one week before the link-up. No blog? That’s okay. Just tell us what you’re reading in the comment box.


THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

An Open Book

An Open Book

Welcome to the January 2024 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

I didn’t hit my Goodreads reading goal for 2023, despite finishing strong. I may have to downgrade my goal for 2024, but these are the books that ended our year in reading.

Like a Winter Snow

I’ll read Christmassy books well into January. Sticking with the liturgical season and all. 😉 Like a Winter Snow by Lindsay Harrel is a sweet romance Christmas novella with a heroine who is so invested in helping to care for her mother that she’s assumed way more responsibility for her welfare than is reasonable. A Christmas getaway to England for her friend’s wedding gives her (eventually) the perspective she needs when she meets a handsome Englishman.

Continue reading

My 5-Star Reads in 2023

I sifted through my year of reading and selected all of my 5-star reads. Below are the seven adult novels and three Young Adult novels (Blink and We’ll Miss It, The Merchant’s Curse, and Murder at Penwood Manor) that earned those coveted five stars.

Scroll down for the half dozen children’s books I gave five stars and then two prayer books as well.

All recommended! Enjoy.


Adult and YA Fiction


Children’s Books


Prayer Books

What were your favorite books read in 2023?


THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

An Open Book

An Open Book

Welcome to the December 2023 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

December already! We’re closing out the year with a new look for An Open Book that includes the updated Catholic Mom logo and look. Share what you and your family are reading by linking your blog or social media post or simply commenting.

A Faith Such as Heaven Intended

A Faith Such as Heaven Intended is the fifth book in Amanda Lauer’s Heaven Intended series. The story begins in Gettysburg, a place close to my heart and my home, and then moves to Washington City (Washington, DC) during the final year of the Civil War. Amidst the death and destruction of war, brainiac surgeon Ben Holt’s stalwart Catholic faith is just what it takes for determined surgical assistant Ruth Simmons to experience the forgiveness and peace that’s long eluded her.

Continue reading

Relevant Fiction Reviews: Take Me to the Blue Ridge Mountains

Relevant Fiction Reviews

I’m entranced by the Blue Mountains of Virginia, and I love reading books set in the region. I’ve collected a handful that capture that beautiful setting that make me want to head to the mountains. Again. Even their covers beckon me.


Sons of Blackbird Mountain (Blackbird Mountain, #1)Sons of Blackbird Mountain by Joanne Bischof
The Norgaard brothers, Jargon, Thor, and Haakon, will linger in my imagination for a long, long time. And not only because they are “braw,” fierce protectors, and (for the most part) honorable gentleman. Joanne Bischof’s characterizations are extremely well done – so much so that I could be convinced the brothers were actual historical figures. I can easily imagine Thor stomping through the farm house; Haakon jumping into the pond or climbing the rafters, armed with a rifle; or Jargon steadfastly standing by each.

I recognize the challenge Thor’s character brought to the author, as he is deaf and mute. Certainly a writer’s challenge!

The rural Virginia orchard setting also took up residence in my imagination as I experienced its workings through Aven’s eyes and Thor’s other senses. The setting is its own secondary character, as well rounded as the human characters that live and work in and around the farm.

A beautifully written story that merits a re-read. Continue reading

An Open Book

An Open Book Logo

Welcome to the November 2023 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

They Call Her Dirty Sally

They Call Her Dirty Sally is far and away the most-reviewed (and I’d guess, best-selling) of Amy Matayo’s novels. I’ve loved so many of her books, and I’m so happy to see her readership broaden. Oddly though, this novel isn’t one of my favorites from her. The story is borne from a home and a woman observed in Matayo’s childhood. Those childhood musings are developed and brought to life in a story of small-town Arkansas, where a hospital fire resulted in tragic loss of life. Journalist Finn Hardwick, whose parents had ties to the town, arrives to cover the anniversary of the fire. There, he meets Billi Ellis, a motel receptionist who helps him uncover the town’s secrets and, in the process, the cause for Sally’s ostracization. While I appreciated Sally’s story, I found the character too passive for my liking and the conclusion underwhelming. The modernish (1990s) characters, Finn and Billi, were likable but didn’t have much of a story arc.

Continue reading