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

You’ll notice that a lot of our recent reading was inspired by our summer vacation in Kentucky, where we made eleven stops on the Bourbon Trail and visited Daniel and Rebecca Boone’s graves, among other places.

Many hours of our travel time were spent listening to Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan. Frontiersman Daniel Boone was a complex man who lived a fascinating life in 18^th-century America. Robert Morgan’s biography is long and detailed, occasionally veering off on interesting tangents. While we didn’t complete the entire book as a family, my oldest son is listening to the remainder on his own. When presented with the hardships Boone overcame in uncharted wilderness and in conflict with hostile native tribes, I couldn’t help but think how soft we Americans have become. 

Since we arrived home to Pennsylvania, my husband has been reading The Kentucky Bourbon Trail by Berkeley Scott and Jeanine Scott, part of the Images of America series that is familiar to almost everyone. He found it informative, and like the other books in the series, you get a glimpse into the past with nostalgic photos. He wishes he’d read it before our vacation. Note: the book was last revised in 2017 and could use updating.

My husband’s also been reading The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius by Bob Batchelor. Among Remus’s crimes was a crime of passion—murdering his unfaithful wife. Crazy stuff about a Prohibition bootlegger/millionaire/criminal defense lawyer who ultimately helped inspire The Great Gatsby. Heard of “temporary insanity” as a defense? This is where it came from.

While I did not read the entirety of The Crayon Papers by Washington Irving, I did read “The Early Experiences of Ralph Ringwood” after our visit to the Talbott Tavern in Bardstown, Kentucky. A scene in the story is set at the tavern (which was visited by Washington Irving, Daniel Boone, Jesse James, and Abraham Lincoln). The story chronicles a young man’s adventures in leaving Richmond, Virginia, and learning to hunt and subsequently study law. It was an interesting, sometimes humorous, story.

While nearly melting as we tent camped during a Kentucky heat wave, I read The Children’s Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin. Sadly, the detailed descriptions of the frigid weather did little to cool me off. I’d previously been familiar with this event only from the Little House on the Prairie episode it inspired. While the writing was top notch and I learned a great deal about the tragedy, the novel ultimately felt nihilistic. Very few of the survivors had a somewhat happy ending. I may try reading the nonfiction book by the same name.

The Thief of Blackfriars Lane by Michelle Griep was a fun historical romance, filled with fast-paced reversals of fortune. The story kept me on my toes, and Constable Jackson Forge and swindler Kit Turner made a formidable pair in ultimately uncovering why several London men had gone missing. First in a series I’m looking forward to reading.

680 Miles Away by Tara J. Stone is the story of two young women, Evie and Sam, both talented musicians abandoned by their parents, trying to find their place in the world. The novel includes two sweet Catholic romances (bonus!) and reads very smoothly. It’s one of the few novels I’ve read set during the global pandemic in 2020-21.

I have Kindle Unlimited for a couple of months, and one of the first books I wanted to read was Rocky Road by Becky Wade, the second book in the Sons of Scandal series. The author’s recent books share a similar writing style and work from a similar template, but I still enjoy reading them, typically whipping through them quickly. This story pairs reserved FBI agent Jude Camden with bold perfumer Gemma Clare. He’s undercover and she’s cooperating in his case, which makes romance a no-no. There’s a little mystery regarding Gemma’s great grandmother’s forgotten love story as well. I love the point of view of Jude’s mother, Fiona, and I’d love to see Becky Wade writer her romance, that of a middle-aged woman. The author does a great job with Jude’s dialogue and his internal thoughts, which so perfectly suit the personality she’s given him.

I’ve also been working my way through Stories of the Eucharist: A Family Treasury of Saints and Seekers by Heidi Hess Saxton. The stories are set in different centuries and locales and most involve saints. For each story, there is an overview, the story itself (a page or two), things to think and talk about, specific questions, and a short prayer. This can easily be used as part of daily devotions or even shared on Sundays. Forty stories are included.

My college son read 1776 by David McCullough, once his sister completed it. (See August’s An Open Book.) He then listened to “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori. This classic vampire story preceded Bram Stoker’s Dracula and was mistakenly credited to Lord Byron. A wealthy young man, Aubrey, encounters a mysterious man. After a run-in with bandits, the man, Lord Ruthven, is fatally injured—yet reappears later, becoming friendly with Aubrey’s sister. Vampire!

More vampires and Lord Byron appear in The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers. Michael Crawford teams with Byron, Keats, and Shelley to free Crawford’s bride from a vampire who has claimed the woman as his own bride. My son gives is five stars. He characterizes Powers’ vampires as the folkloric kind and says, “The characters are . . . extremely well done. Everyone has a unique personality and different motivations, so much so that historical figures seem to leap off the page.”

My high school daughter just barely made time to complete her extra credit summer reading assignment. She chose to read To Crown with Liberty by Karen Ullo, and she absolutely loved it, proclaiming it one of her favorite books. I wish I’d recorded her spiel about it because it sounded like an endorsement for Catholic fiction! She’d covered some similar content in her AP European History course last year, so events were familiar, but the novel integrated them and brought them to life through lived human experiences. More on To Crown with Liberty.

While perusing the library shelves looking for something on tapping maple trees (ours are finally the right size!), my daughter found The Essential Book of Homesteading: The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Living by Ashley English. We’ve enjoyed perusing this book, learning all about making cheese, sour cream, canning, beekeeping, and so much more. Simple language and many illustrations/photographs.

I’m glad I brought my Kindle on vacation since it gave my middle school daughter a hefty supply of reading material. Based on the number of books she read last month, she needs her own post.  Instead, here are the series she’s been continuing or completing: the Heaven Intended series by Amanda Lauer, the Birdface series by Cynthia T. Toney, the I Am Margaret series by Corinna Turner, the West Brothers series by Theresa Linden. She also read three books by Leslea Wahl: Where You Lead, Into the Spotlight, and Charting the Course. You can find all these books and series at Catholic Teen Books.

She also read one book I haven’t yet read, Emerald Illusion by J. Rodes (contemporary Christian romance novelist Jennifer Rodewald). The book is set in Oz, but is not a sequel to The Wizard of Oz. The description: “Abrielle finds herself in the middle of a realm everyone had heard of but no one believed existed. When she meets a boy named Levi, she finds out there is nothing safe about Oz. However, there is something beneath the darkness… something she needs to grasp. If only she has the courage to believe.”

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