We recently visited the Boston area of Massachusetts, and I’ve been thinking of the books I’ve read – contemporary or historical – set in this locale. I bet I’m forgetting some! But these are the first that came to mind.
A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman
I’ve read A Passion Most Pure twice – something I don’t often do – mainly due to the size of my to-be-read list. This book, my introduction to Julie Lessman’s writing, stuck with me so much I gave it a second go.
Is it a little like a soap opera in spots? Yep. There’s a reason soap operas of the daytime and nighttime variety have endured. I don’t consider those elements a strike against the book.
I love that the importance of chastity is addressed without minimizing temptation, glossing over human frailties, or the purpose of God-given passion in our lives. A great introduction to the Daughters of Boston!
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[Previously available under the title Warrior of the Kizan.]
Death, death . . . The crunch of the snow said the word to him over and over.
I can hear this first line. The crunch of hardened snow beneath boots in a steady rhythm as he plods along. Death, cold and foreboding – again and again. It sets a tone for the book and what we can expect. Is it a death from the past that haunts this character, the threat of near death, or death in the future? Or all three? His own death or someone else’s?
What’s the first line of the book you’re reading? Or the book nearest to you?
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By chance, I finished listening to the audiobook version of The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse just before we left Hershey for Boston. We hadn’t even planned on visiting Plymouth Rock, but it ended up we did. I had a greater appreciation for the pilgrims and their sacrifices than I would have had otherwise. I needed a bit of a refresher. The rock isn’t much to look at, but it’s a quaint town.
Welcome to the July 2019 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart AND CatholicMom.com!
Around the time of the D-Day anniversary (June 6), my husband began listening to The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach by John C. McManus. The book is an account of the harrowing World War II battle. With fewer WWII veterans remaining every day, this history takes on greater significance. So many, including my own father and father-in-law, spoke so little of the horror or the heroism they experienced.
I’ve been listening to a historical novel that goes back a few centuries farther:The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Wodehouse. It’s the first in the Daughters of the Mayflower Series, which in includes eight books by six different authors. While from the title you’d guess this is a romance, what strikes me most are the hardships faced by the pilgrims. Stormy seas, sea sickness, scurvy, a leaky ship, scarce food and water, threatening natives, and more. Crossing the Atlantic was not for the weak. Historical figures interact with fictional ones in this sobering account of the journey to the New World by “saints” and “strangers.”
Many of the books I’ve been reading have yet to be released, and that includes one I’m ready to begin. The Killing Tide by Dani Pettrey is the first in her Coastal Guardians series. If you’re a fan of Christian romantic suspense, the author has two series under her belt already, and they are consistently entertaining. This series launches with a Coast Guard Investigative Service special agent butting heads with an investigative reporter who happens to be his boss’s sister as they try to uncover who is behind the death of one Coast Guard officer and the disappearance of another.
This summer’s CatholicMom.com Book Club featuresOur Lady of Charity: How a Cuban Devotion to Mary Helped Me Grow in Faith and Love by Maria Morera Johnson. The Cuban history is fascinating, and the author’s experience as an exile enriches her account of her heritage and person devotion to the Blessed Mother under the Our Lady of Charity mantle. I was privileged to interview the author. The interview and a series of chapter reflections round out the summer book club. Learn more, including how to buy the book at a discount through CatholicMom.
As the school year ended, my son told me about the great movie his Latin II class had watched. From his short description, I guessed that they’d watched The Eagle. Conveniently, I’d read The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutliff as part of Sabbath Rest Book Talk. Marcus sets out to discover the fate of his missing father, who led the Roman Ninth Legion. We requested the book from the library, and so began his summer reading.
For his birthday, my now-high school junior (gulp!) received The Jedi Path. (You knew there were Star Wars books coming, right?) This unique book is an ancient training manual for Jedi. It includes history and lore of the Jedi order with notes from Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and others. My son says it’s great for Star Wars fans and just plain fun to look at, but he does warn that since Disney has acquired the Star Wars franchise, information included in the book is no longer canon.
Star Wars: Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray is the latest Star Wars novel, and this one is part of the new canon. It follows Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi master and his padawan, before The Phantom Menace. Seeing as my son has been buried in this novel, for which he acquired a signed, hardcover copy, I’d say he thinks it’s very good.
My little second grader is moving between picture books and chapter books. She attends a lunchtime book chat for children her age (Chewsy Readers) at our local library. In conjunction with this summer’s spaced-themed reading program, she brought home Dwarf Planets: Pluto, Charon, Ceres, and Eris by Nancy Loewen. Simple graphics and illustrations make the astronomy lesson palatable for all ages. She loved this book!
We picked up an inexpensive copy of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This is one of those childhood classics that I missed out on, and I’d like to read it myself. Straight from the description: When orphan Mary Lennox moves to her uncle’s house, she finds lots of secrets, including nearly a hundred rooms. She discovers an escape in a secret garden and is determined to bring the garden back to life.
My two youngest are enjoying Audacious Ignatius by Paul Mitchell with bright illustrations by Katie Mitchell Broussard. Who would’ve thought so many words rhymed with Ignatius? This brightly illustrated, rhyming picture book is a fun biography of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. It’s a great introduction to the saint for young children – and a vocabulary-building book as well!
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Your trilogy of Civil War romances offer a blend of American historical fiction, sweet romance, and a gentle faith. How do you blend those to satisfy fans of each of those genres?
This actually came rather easily to me, because this is the kind of book that I have been looking for since I started reading historic romance novels in high school. I love writing books that are based in fact, involving real-life figures and that highlight historical events in an engaging way. The primary characters in my books are Catholic, so featuring how their faith, like mine, is interwoven into their day-to-day lives came naturally to me. As far as the sweet romance goes, everyone loves a good love story with a satisfying ending! My preference in what I consume and in what I write is to give readers a glance at our couples’ romance without describing every detail. The rest is up to their imagination!
Because the to-be-read pile looms large, both in physical books and in electronic books, I’ve created by own accountability post to keep me on track this summer.
Welcome to the June 2019 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart AND CatholicMom.com!
Do you read and/or listen to many books simultaneously? I’m usually listening to one audiobook and reading one ebook or paperback at a time. Occasionally, I’ll add another that I’m reading bit by bit. My husband has so many going I can’t keep track. One that sparked by interest is The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys are Struggling and What We Can Do About It by Warren Farrell and John Gray. The blurb describes it as: “A comprehensive blueprint for what parents, teachers, and policymakers can do to help our sons become happier, healthier men, and fathers and leaders worthy of our respect.” It touches on mental health, fathering, and education. As a father of two boys and a Cub Scout and Boy Scout Leader, this topic is of great interest to him.
Did you know whole books are written about sleeping in hammocks? Me neither. Enter The Ultimate Hang: Hammock Camping Illustrated by Derek Hansen. Whether you’re looking to lounge in your home, back yard, or intent on serious trail hiking, this book has tips and many illustrations for setup as well as staying warm, dry, and bug-free. Done right, the hammock should be more comfortable than the ground.
Laura Frantz writes sweeping sagas filled with longing, heartbreak, and romance in the broadest sense of the term. In A Bound Heart, Magnus MacLeish, laird of a Scottish isle, is alternately drawn to and pulled away from his childhood friend, Lark MacDougall. Exiled from their beloved home, they are sent as indentured servants across the Atlantic to America. The narration is very well done with heartfelt emotion and Scottish accents that seem, at least to this uneducated ear, to be on point. Filled with lovely imagery and strong, honorable characters.
I’ve just finished The Hidden Legacy: A Novel by Carrie Sue Barnes. Through this novel and Ellen Gable’s Great War-Great Love series, I’ve come to learn about the service of American nurses in France during World War I. This story is split between France during WWI and the beginning of the 21st century, moving between nurse Annie’s tumultuous past serving wounded soldiers and her relaying the tale to her granddaughter Laurel eighty-three years later. I was drawn into the characters’ lives and their attempts to love bravely and freely while letting go of past hurts.
For the last fifteen minutes or so during weekly adoration, I’ve been reading The World’s First Love: Mary, Mother of God by Fulton J. Sheen through FORMED. In each chapter, I highlight beautiful and profound insights that I’m eager to share. Venerable Fulton Sheen’s clear thinking and wisdom are evident on every page. It’s a mix of spirituality, history, and theology.
The last book for my son’s sophomore literature class is Thomas Bolt’s play A Man for All Seasons. The class reads portions of the play aloud together and other parts independently. I’m looking forward to watching the Oscar-winning movie adaption of this story of St. Thomas More’s conflict with Henry VIII with him once the school year ends.
With the long days of summer looming ahead, my daughter has decided to give the rather long but beloved classic Little Women by Louisa May Allcott a try. We watched the movie adaption featuring Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder several months ago, and I think my daughter will come to love the book.
Eager to have a cavy of her own, my daughter is also reading Guinea Pigs by Kay Ragland. The pictures of the cuddly creatures are adorable, but there is also a lot of information about breeds and care though this book was written in the 1980s.
Many, many nights in our home end with my youngest son requesting Secrets of the Rainforest: A Shine-a-Light Book by Carron Brown. Armed with my book light, the kids take turns shining it behind the pages to reveal the hidden creatures in the rain forest: the tapir, the leaf-cutting ants, the sloth, and more. Another quality book from Usborne!
In anticipation of his older brother’s birthday, my little boy also borrowed Click, Clack, Surprise! (A Click Clack Book) by Doreen Cronin. The wry farm animals in this series of books entertain me as well as the kids, and this birthday-themed story centered on a duckling trying to ready himself for a party is cute.
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!
Children have an innate sense of justice and fairness. If you spend any time with kids, you know the plaintive cry “It’s not fair!” surfaces with enough frequency to make a drinking game based on its utterance a dangerous affair.
Many times a week, I hear myself responding to those cries with a trite, “Life’s not fair.” In other words, “Suck it up, buttercup.”
True enough. And yet those words don’t take away the niggling rub that, well, gosh, it’s not fair.
A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman
