Welcome to the January 2022 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!
My husband stumbled across a book I’d given him last year: Christmas Around the Fire: Stories, Essays, & Poems for the Season of Christ’s Birth by Ryan N. S. Topping. In fact, he read a selected story aloud to me—as it’s meant to be!—sitting alongside a cozy fireplace, and it was like something out of a storybook. There’s something about being read to, and, as an adult, I’ve experienced entirely too little of it. (I’m used to being the reader.) This book could help create some lovely family traditions.
I read fewer Christmas books than I’d have liked this year, but one of those I did complete was Mr. Nicholas: A Magical Christmas Tale by Christopher de Vinck. The “Christmas magic” accompanies Mr. Nicholas, as you might easily guess, but the story centers on a couple at the brink of divorce and their wonderfully simple son, who has Down syndrome. Mister Rogers Neighborhood serves as a touchstone in the story, which touched this fan of the show and western Pennsylvania native.
My daughter and I resumed listening to audiobooks together, something we haven’t really done since before the pandemic. We chose Pepper Basham’s The Mistletoe Countess, which I’ve seen so many glowing reviews for. We’re less than halfway through, but it’s easy to see why readers love this forthright, authentic, and bookish heroine. This young turn-of-the-century Virginian is paired with an English lord, and there’s a murder mystery to be solved at his beloved Havensbrook Hall.
Jennifer Rodewald has reached the last brother in her Murphy Brothers Stories with Brayden in After All. Having seen what the author has done in the other stories, aptly demonstrating the power of God to change hearts and lives, it’s not hard to accept what is a somewhat difficult story in which Brayden’s motivations and behavior sometimes made me cringe. Don’t worry, it turns out well! And, I think despite running out of brothers, there’s another connected book coming in 2022.
Let It Be Me is Becky Wade’s second book in her Misty River Romance series. Her stories are easy to sail through with smooth writing and witty banter. This book pairs a genius mathematician who discovers she was switched at birth and a closed-off pediatric heart surgeon (oh, the irony). There’s a mystery to solve regarding the circumstances of Leah, the mathematician’s, birth. I’m enjoying the story although I’m having trouble connecting with the main characters, something I don’t think I’ve ever experienced with a Becky Wade book.
My oldest son is home from college and is reading his way through his dad’s Star Wars books that he discovered in the attic over Thanksgiving break. He’s a fan of these now non-canon books and how they portray Luke Skywalker (as opposed to how the character is rendered in the final big screen trilogy). Both Heir to the Empire and Dark Force Rising are part of The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn.
We gave our teen daughter a beautiful hard cover edition of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë for Christmas. We recently watched a movie adaption, and she was primed and ready to read the classic. I purchased the book, and even I didn’t realize what a keepsake it would be. Not only does it include lovely illustrations by Marjolein Bastin, but it includes treasures like a copy of Bronte’s letter to her publisher, a postcard with period fashions, an advertisement akin to what Jane placed seeking a governess position, and more. I hope my daughter enjoys the Gothic romance of a courageous, principled orphan who finds love (and a wee bit of horror) at Thornfield Hall with Edward Rochester.
Having completed Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (again), my eighth grader also chose to begin Great Expectations. Thus far, she’s taken by the size of the volume and Dickens’s propensity for lengthy descriptions. I’ve not yet read this classic, which follows orphan Pip Pirrip’s life after he receives a mysterious inheritance.
My younger daughter received Coding Games in Scratch: A Step-by-Step Visual Guide to Building Your Own Computer Games by Jon Woodcock from her older brother. She enjoys simple programming apps she uses in the STREAM lab at school, and he thought she’d take to more coding. It teaches problem solving and all that, but mostly, I think, it’s just fun. (And her brother, who’s doing college-level programming now, is happy to spur her interest in something he enjoys.)
This fourth grader has also been busy snatching paper from the printer to draw all sorts of shapes and characters, so we gave her How to Draw Cool Stuff: Holidays, Seasons and Events by Catherine V. Holmes. It seems easy to follow, and she’s been bringing me pages from her new sketchbook filled with Christmas trees, elves, and ornaments.
In school, her class completed The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, which we’d read together last year. They’ve also continued to read from the I Survived Series, reading I Survived the Galveston Hurricane, 1900 by Lauren Tarshis. Eight-thousand people were killed in the Texas hurricane that took locals by surprise.
I recently edited a book in Theresa Linden’s Armor of God series, which my daughter loves. I need to get her her own copy of Boots of Peace, which follows George Pennington’s pursuit of a full set of armor. So far, he, his younger brother, and his friend Robyn have earned their Belt of Truth and Breastplate of Righteousness. With each piece earned, they learn valuable lessons about life and virtue while discovering a little more about the mysterious knights’ table they’ve discovered in the woods. This series is perfect for children in the sacramental years who are either preparing for or have recently received First Penance and First Holy Communion.
My third grader enjoyed Bots: The Most Annoying Robots in the Universe by Russ Bolts, in which some space robots are discovered. At least that’s what I absorbed from his brief description of this graphic novel about Joe and Rob, a couple of goofy robots who discover strange video cameras that fell from the sky.
All of the kids enjoyed Let’s Explore! Woodland Creatures by Claire Philip. It includes a series of woodland animals, how each is adapted to its habitat, finds food, is affected by the seasons, and more. The illustrations by Jean Claude are charming too.
Our son received The Night the Saints Saved Christmas by Gracie Jagla, and it’s such a sweet and beautiful tale of the saints in heaven working to deliver Christmas presents when St. Nick gets sick. The rhyme is fun to read, and we love picking out the saints, like St. John Paul II delivering presents on skis or Blessed Pier Giorgio scaling mountains to distribute gifts. This book would make a treasured part of a child’s Christmas library.
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As always, I added a couple (Becky Wade, Jennifer Rodewald) to my TBR list after reading your reviews!
I’ll read anything either of those authors write. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Murphy Brothers series. I admire Jennifer Rodewald’s pace in getting those written and the consistency of the product. Good stories, well written.
Those are a lot of great books! I’m going to show my oldest to give her some suggestions – she wants to read at least 2 books a month this year. I think she might like The Mistletoe Countess.
I’ve seen so many people raving about it. We’re slow in getting through it because we’re mostly limited to when we’re in the car alone. It’s playful and fun and the main character is easy to love.
I love your Open Book posts and how you list books that each member of the family is reading. It’s given me many new titles to check out for myself and other family members.
Have you ever thought about making specialized posts that focus on one group at a time? I think that would be fun. I would be interested in the books your college-age son has enjoyed during high school till now–looking for interesting titles for my son.
Hmm. I’ve never thought of collecting titles by child/age. That might be interesting. I’ll have to come through the posts and as my son what his favorites were. A lot of it has been assigned reading, but some titles he certainly loved more than others.
Jane Eyre is in my top ten list! I have read it so many times and appreciate it more every read through. As a child I was in it for the story alone but there is so much more to it.
I’m intrigued by your description of Mr. Nicholas. I love Mr. Rogers too. 🙂
I’ve been wanting to read Jane Eyre again. I think it would be my fourth time. Have you read Erin McCole Cupp’s adaption of it? It is SO good! It’s a trilogy of e-books (though I think you can still get it as one, giant paperback) called Jane E, friendless orphan. It’s a cyberpunk update, so cleverly done.
That’s so neat that you found a gorgeous volume of Jane Eyre! That looks and sounds beautiful (though I have to confess that I prefer many other classics to Jane Eyre-Rochester gives me the creeps haha!). And I’m impressed that your eighth grader is going to tackle Great Expectations. Dickens is a wonderful author, but his books look so daunting! The last time I picked up a Dickens novel was about 4 years ago, and when I was halfway through the book (400 pages into Nicholas Nickelby) life got crazy and I never read the last 400 pages.
There are a couple of other illustrated classics in the series – Pride & Prejudice and Emma. They look beautiful too. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W4XKD97
We’ll see how she does with Great Expectations. I’m put off by the length of most Dickens’ books too. I could read several other books in the amount of time it would take me. I should pick one up again though.
If your family enjoyed the I Survived the 1900 Galveston Storm, here are a few follow-up reads! A Weekend in September by John Edward Weems. Fifty years after the Storm, the author interviewed survivors to craft a non-fiction told in narrative style accurate to each participants recollection. (The authors original notes and correspondence with survivors is in the Rosenberg Library/Galveston.) Also, read the actual words of the survivors themselves through their own letters, memoirs, and oral histories in Through a Night of Horrors: Voices from the 1900 Galveston Storm. (TAMU Press, 2000) edited by yours truly. 😉
Oh, thank you! I’ll have to check these out with her. Oral histories are fascinating.