Welcome to the August 2026 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!
We recently returned from a weeklong vacation in Tennessee with stops in Virginia, so as is typically the case, some of our books relate to the sites we visited, starting with Smoky Mountain Ghostlore by Juanitta Baldwin. My husband likes to pick up this type of book wherever we travel. This is more folklore than ghost tales with odd and interesting stories set in the Smoky Mountains. While they are enjoyable, some of them end rather abruptly, as if they are unfinished.
I cued up an advanced copy of Tamera Alexander’s upcoming In These Hills, a novel about a fictional strident suffragist, Josephine Dunham, forced to rely on strangers in the small town of Lynchburg, Tennessee, for her survival. Imagine the conflict when this prohibitionist realizes she’s wound up at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, working for the distiller himself. Beautifully written story that treats complex issues and even more complex people with the thoughtfulness they deserve. A clean romance with wonderful historical detail of early 20th c. Appalachia, distilling, women’s suffrage, and even animal husbandry.
I accidentally started re-reading my own book All in Good Time, and, to my delight, couldn’t put it down. I still love the characters, the story, and the truths it communicates about human weakness, sin, redemption, and sacrificial love. This contemporary romance is my ode to simple summer pastimes like baseball and catching lightning bugs, my love letter to mothers of young children, and a look at how a pornographic culture affects us all. My oldest daughter read the book last month too, and it was such fun to discuss it with her.
The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson was available for advance review, and seeing a buzz about it, including a movie adaption, I gave it a shot. The premise was a little out there, but the writing, especially dialogue, is done well. I found the best friend unsufferable, particularly when her attitude spilled over onto the protagonist, Chloe, and had her treating the love interest, James, abysmally. I didn’t love this book the way I’d hoped to.
My friend Leslea Wahl has released another picture book featuring Siena the Loyal Goldendoodle. To Serve and Protect in the Wild is an adorable book to read with young children. I’ve camped with children and dogs, and Siena’s adventure is right on the mark. Illustrations are bright and fun, and this is a great book to prepare young children for a camping trip, reminding them of the basic rules to keep themselves safe and respect the campground.
We visited the Tennessee historic sites related to President Andrew Johnson (Lincoln’s vice president), and my son purchased Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse. After the death of his father, Johnson left home as a preteen, apprenticed to a tailor. He eventually lands in Tennessee as a tailor, a real rags-to-riches tale. He assumes the presidency after Lincoln’s assassination, during Reconstruction, and is eventually impeached by the House of Representatives—but not by the Senate. My son’s only disappointment in the book is that the its timeline jumps around a bit and therefore some elements become repetitive.
Chattanooga: A Death Grip on the Confederacy by James Lee McDonough details the fighting in summer and fall of 1863, following the Battle of Gettysburg. Chickamauga was one of the Confederacy’s greatest victories in the Western theatre. The following battle at Chattanooga, the gateway to the deep South, was one of its greatest blunders. The book evaluates the strategies of both commanders, their decisions, and the consequences. Engagingly written and easy to read (as far as battle books go), it can be supplemented with maps from the American Battlefield Trust.
Andrew Jackson: The Border Captain by Marquis James is the first of a two-volume biography of the president. In his full review, my son writes, “James presents the more interesting and in-depth portrait of a hot-headed man bound by a tradition of Scotch-Irish honor who was continuously pulled away from his quiet life in Tennessee by politics, patriotism, and financial necessity. Jackson will always remain a controversial figure, particularly for his dealings with the Indians, but for those interested in the real man, James points us towards a flawed but honest man who strove to improve the conditions of his compatriots through the taming of a brutal and hazardous frontier in a nascent, uncertain, and infant nation.” One of the book’s shortcomings, a common complaint of my son’s, is the lack of battle maps.
While my son preferred The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain was still a five-star novel for him. It was a fun book to read, filled as it was with childhood innocence and imagination.
Jefferson the Virginian by Dumas Malone is the first in a six-volume set biography of the third president of the United States. My son said it did a good job of portraying Jefferson’s political philosophy in his early life, including his initial views on liberty, revolution, and the rule of law. The series was written before Jefferson’s legacy became tainted by the Sally Hemmings controversy, and therefore it focuses more on Jefferson the man and less on his entanglement with slavery.
For my soon-to-be high school daughter, vacation (and travel time) means even more than her usual hefty amount of reading, so I’ll share only a trilogy from the ten books she read, all of which have appeared in An Open Book at one time or another.
She’s been enjoying the Liberty Trilogy by Theresa Linden. The series includes Chasing Liberty, Testing Liberty, and Fight for Liberty, a dystopian series for teens and up. It’s been a while since I read the series myself, but the story and characters have stuck with me. While the Regimen Custodia Terra has preserved Mother Earth, saving it from the pox of humanity, it has rationed life and personal freedom, creating a morally bankrupt but compliant society. But Liberty can hear the still, small voice in her heart and takes the reader on a wild ride as she escapes the hold of the Regimen.
My middle-school son also read more than usual. Among the books he read are A.J. Cattapan’s 7 Riddles to Nowhere, a book he enjoyed as much as his older sisters did. Kam and company try to be the first to solve the riddles that will give Kam enough cash to save their little Catholic school, which is slated for closure. In the process, they’ll have to outwit competitors, including some bullies, navigate Chicago streets and public transportation, and use their knowledge of the Catholic faith to devise the correct answers. The characters are unique and well-drawn, including the selectively mute Kam.
My son also continues to read The Green Ember series by S.D. Smith. In the second book, Ember Falls, sibling rabbits Heather and Pickett and the rabbit resistance are threatened by Morbin Blackhawk. This second book in the series continues the action, adventure, and inspiring valor that is enjoyable for the whole family. My son would love to see this series adapted as a movie.
Finally, he began to read another book my husband picked up while on vacation: Bear in the Backseat: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger by Kim DeLozier and Carolyn Jourdan. The book comprises various stories of wildlife encounters had by Ranger Kim DeLozier, many involving black bears, common in the Smoky Mountains. (Yes, there were bears on the property of the rental property we stayed at high up the mountain between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The juvenile I saw was easily scared off, but we suspect bears had opened the car doors of neighboring vacationers. They’re clever!)
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