My Scribbler’s Heart

An Open Book

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An Open Book

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

I didn’t hit my Goodreads reading goal for 2023, despite finishing strong. I may have to downgrade my goal for 2024, but these are the books that ended our year in reading.

Like a Winter Snow

I’ll read Christmassy books well into January. Sticking with the liturgical season and all. 😉 Like a Winter Snow by Lindsay Harrel is a sweet romance Christmas novella with a heroine who is so invested in helping to care for her mother that she’s assumed way more responsibility for her welfare than is reasonable. A Christmas getaway to England for her friend’s wedding gives her (eventually) the perspective she needs when she meets a handsome Englishman.

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My 5-Star Reads in 2023

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I sifted through my year of reading and selected all of my 5-star reads. Below are the seven adult novels and three Young Adult novels (Blink and We’ll Miss It, The Merchant’s Curse, and Murder at Penwood Manor) that earned those coveted five stars.

Scroll down for the half dozen children’s books I gave five stars and then two prayer books as well.

All recommended! Enjoy.

Adult and YA Fiction

Code Name Edelweiss
Blink and We'll Miss It
Murder at Penwood Manor
In Pieces
My Phony Valentine
Wild Life
Adrift

Children’s Books

Anyone But Bear
Women Doctors of the Church
Light of the Saints
New Friends Now and Forever
'Twas the Day Before Christmas in Bethlehem Town

Prayer Books

5 Minute Prayers Around the Advent Wreath
The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours

What were your favorite books read in 2023?

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An Open Book

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An Open Book

Welcome to the December 2023 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

December already! We’re closing out the year with a new look for An Open Book that includes the updated Catholic Mom logo and look. Share what you and your family are reading by linking your blog or social media post or simply commenting.

A Faith Such as Heaven Intended

A Faith Such as Heaven Intended is the fifth book in Amanda Lauer’s Heaven Intended series. The story begins in Gettysburg, a place close to my heart and my home, and then moves to Washington City (Washington, DC) during the final year of the Civil War. Amidst the death and destruction of war, brainiac surgeon Ben Holt’s stalwart Catholic faith is just what it takes for determined surgical assistant Ruth Simmons to experience the forgiveness and peace that’s long eluded her.

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Relevant Fiction Reviews: Take Me to the Blue Ridge Mountains

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Relevant Fiction Reviews

I’m entranced by the Blue Mountains of Virginia, and I love reading books set in the region. I’ve collected a handful that capture that beautiful setting that make me want to head to the mountains. Again. Even their covers beckon me.

Sons of Blackbird Mountain (Blackbird Mountain, #1)Sons of Blackbird Mountain by Joanne Bischof
The Norgaard brothers, Jargon, Thor, and Haakon, will linger in my imagination for a long, long time. And not only because they are “braw,” fierce protectors, and (for the most part) honorable gentleman. Joanne Bischof’s characterizations are extremely well done – so much so that I could be convinced the brothers were actual historical figures. I can easily imagine Thor stomping through the farm house; Haakon jumping into the pond or climbing the rafters, armed with a rifle; or Jargon steadfastly standing by each.

I recognize the challenge Thor’s character brought to the author, as he is deaf and mute. Certainly a writer’s challenge!

The rural Virginia orchard setting also took up residence in my imagination as I experienced its workings through Aven’s eyes and Thor’s other senses. The setting is its own secondary character, as well rounded as the human characters that live and work in and around the farm.

A beautifully written story that merits a re-read. Continue reading →

An Open Book

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An Open Book Logo

Welcome to the November 2023 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

They Call Her Dirty Sally

They Call Her Dirty Sally is far and away the most-reviewed (and I’d guess, best-selling) of Amy Matayo’s novels. I’ve loved so many of her books, and I’m so happy to see her readership broaden. Oddly though, this novel isn’t one of my favorites from her. The story is borne from a home and a woman observed in Matayo’s childhood. Those childhood musings are developed and brought to life in a story of small-town Arkansas, where a hospital fire resulted in tragic loss of life. Journalist Finn Hardwick, whose parents had ties to the town, arrives to cover the anniversary of the fire. There, he meets Billi Ellis, a motel receptionist who helps him uncover the town’s secrets and, in the process, the cause for Sally’s ostracization. While I appreciated Sally’s story, I found the character too passive for my liking and the conclusion underwhelming. The modernish (1990s) characters, Finn and Billi, were likable but didn’t have much of a story arc.

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An Open Book

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An Open Book Logo

Welcome to the October 2023 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

On a recent visit to see our son at Saint Vincent College, we stopped by Fort Ligonier, a French & Indian War outpost about an hour east of Pittsburgh (then Fort Duquesne). The college is only about 10 minutes from the fort, and I hadn’t been there since I was a child. My son took interest in a historical book that will likely appear in this space at later time, but my husband picked up lighter reading: Ghosts and Legends Fort Ligonier by Cassandra Fell and Dr. Walter L. Powell. It seems to have limited availability outside of the museum store, but it’s what you’d expect—lore and legends from in and around the historical site, which has been excavated and re-created.

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Catholic Novelist Jim Sano: An Interview

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Your debut novel, The Father’s Son, is what I might call apologetic fiction. Do you think there is a difference in how readers are receptive to apologetics, or a defense of the faith, in fiction as opposed to traditional nonfiction?

The Father's Son

The writing of and reception to The Father’s Son have certainly been a gift from the Holy Spirit, and, at one level, the story does weave in a case for the faith Christ left us as essential to living life as fully as God intends. At its heart, The Father’s Son is a very human journey for the main character, David Kelly, confronting the effects of his childhood trauma. From the world’s standpoint, David has everything, but the emotion-filled journey he has been avoiding begins with an unexpected friendship and unlocking the mystery and truth of his past. Beyond apologetics, the core of this is a story is of friendship, redemption, forgiveness, love, faith, and many twists and turns. 

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