Welcome to the May 2025 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

The Tire Swing by Crystal Walton is the light read I needed after slogging through some other books. It’s a small-town romance set in scenic Virginia. Ellie returns to Willow Creek to take care of her Aunt Bev’s estate—including a willful stallion. Cole, her high school love, never left Willow Creek, but a business opportunity might lure him away. They need to work through their past before they can build a future.

Since visiting Ireland a couple of years ago, my son has had a particular interest in Irish culture. Dubliners by James Joyce seemed like classic literature he should read. It’s a collection of short stories set in early 20^th century Dublin. The stories of middle-class Irish folk are organized by childhood, adolescence, maturity, and public life.

General James Longstreet: The Confederacy’s Most Controversial Soldier by Jeffry D. Wert is a historical book he found through a recommendation by a reporter from our diocesan newspaper who has a particular interest in Gettysburg military history. My son really enjoyed this author’s writing but laments the absence of good maps (a common and understandable refrain of his). We were discussing college cafeteria food, and he quipped that things don’t change much since Longstreet and his classmates reported cockroaches in the food at West Point!

My college son read selections from Confessions by Saint Augustine as part of a course but completed it on his own. From his review: “A theological and philosophical autobiography in which Augustine recounts his own process of conversion and openly grapples with and contemplates his own questions and the controversies of his day. The account is both fascinating and helpful.” He found the classroom discussion beneficial in his understanding.

Why Literature Still Matters by Jason M. Baxter was given to my son (and other students in a C.S. Lewis reading group) after the author, a professor at Benedictine College, was unable to visit his campus (Saint Vincent College) for a lecture due to a canceled flight. The book’s description: “In the second edition of his wide-ranging and accessible work, Jason M. Baxter puts our contemporary culture in conversation with literature and its ‘sister arts’ to make the compelling—and sometimes chilling—case not just for the relevance but urgency of the humane tradition as we enter our ‘digital apocalypse.’ Baxter draws on his areas of expertise, Dante and C.S. Lewis; his background in teaching the great books, art history, and music history; as well as his own travel literature to give his readers an almost sensuous feeling for what the alternative to our tech-obsessed culture is.”

My high school daughter enjoyed The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott. This was the author’s first novel and was published posthumously. She called it “an interesting, quick book. It felt like a suspenseful Jane Austen novel of manners crossed with Alcott’s favorite themes of purity and compassion. There were several endearing romantic moments between the hero and heroine, and I definitely enjoyed the suspense of Edith’s mysterious family origins, her relationships, and tragic situations. Lord Percy was also a true gentleman.” She did think the writing was sometimes a bit stiff and repetitive and the characters a little too perfect.

There’s not much original to say about Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but I’m including it here since my daughter is reading the lovely Marjolein Bastin Classics Series edition. These editions are beautifully illustrated, mainly with flowers, but also include items appropriate to the text. For example, there is a handwritten copy of Mr. Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth, complete with envelope, tucked in between the pages. These books become treasured favorites and make lovely gifts.

I read The Swiss Family Robinson by Johan David Wyss multiple times as a child, and I’ve been curious whether my children would enjoy it as much as I did.  So far, my middle-school daughter is enjoying the story of a family’s survival on a remote island. She did mention that some of the long descriptions of various plant discoveries become a bit boring. I would like to re-read this classic myself.

My middle-school son read The Word Eater by Mary Amato. A new student is caught amidst a club rivalry “until she finds a magical worm that eats printed words instead of dirt.” Once the worm eats the word, the object it represents disappears from the world. My son did say he wished it were a little longer and that some plot elements were repetitive.

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