Welcome to the October 2021 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

We have a kiosk of Catholic books in the narthex of our church with rotating titles. My husband frequents it. A lot. Last month, he picked up Marching Orders: A Tactical Plan for Converting the World to Christ by Dan McGuire is a military-style guide to evangelization from Catholic Answers. The author mines his experience as a Marine officer and applies it to sharing the Gospel by planning, using the correct tools, overcoming obstacles, and more.

Rhonda Ortiz’s debut novel, historical fiction set in colonial America, is a romance populated by rogues, spies, gossipy hens, and crusty sailors.  In Pieces, with its polyglot sailor who has a passion for theology, Josiah, and a strong, sensible, creative heroine in Molly, is a great start to a series I’m certain I’m going to love. Strong characters, solid writing, and attention to historical detail make for an excellent novel.

I enjoyed the second installment in Georgiana Daniels’ KC Crum Mystery series even more than the first. Crumb and Punishment picks up where the first book left off in Beaver Bluff, with KC and her mostly elderly pals stumbling across dead bodies. Their stealth investigation will take them to bingo, of all places, but even that can’t keep Office Hamson from discovering their involvement.

I read an advance copy of one of the stories in the yet-to-be-released 99-cent bundle Dangerous Pursuits: 15 Stories from Today’s Most Popular Mystery and Suspense Authors. Sleep Deprived by Therese Heckenkamp is ultimately a story about reconciliation between a grief-stricken husband and wife. The plot centers around a kidnapped infant and whether Mae, sleep-deprived and depressed, is the perpetrator. I’m looking forward to reading the entire collection.

The Party Planning Committee by Amy Matayo was just plain fun. And while it seems like an easy, superficial read (nothing wrong with that sometimes), there’s more beneath the surface, revealed when reality-TV life is scrapped in favor of real life. Charlotte and Lance are adorable, and like all Amy Matayo’s characters, their charm, biting wit and laser-sharp interior thoughts make them super fun to read about.

Susan Peek, who specializes in adventurous stories about little-known saints, recently released Saint Cloud of Gaul, The Prince Who Traded Kingdoms. This short novel has plenty of excitement, a lot of jeopardy, and a wee bit of romance. Cloud’s escape from his murderous uncles will keep your turning pages.

Speaking of saints, Corinna Turner’s Old Men Don’t Walk to Egypt is the second in her Friends in High Places series and demonstrates how relevant the virtues of St. Joseph are to modern youth. The author deftly tackles a pervasive issue among teens, sexting, in the most inoffensive way, focusing on virtue and modesty. Readers will recognize characters from the first book in the saint series.

In his first semester at college, my oldest son has been reading several short stories. One is Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville. I read this one in college as well, and my only memory is that I preferred it to Melville’s longer work, Moby Dick, which I intensely disliked. Other stories he’s reading are The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benet and The Birth-Mark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

My eighth-grade student is reading The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare with her class. The novel, set in colonial Maine, is a Newbery Honor book. Thirteen-year-old Matthew is left to guard his family’s cabin in the wilderness and meets a Native boy, Attean, who teaches him about his culture. 

My daughter also read The Fire of Eden by Antony Kolenc, which I covered here in August, and moved on to White Fang by Jack London, a book her older brother loved. (I’ve now been doing An Open Book long enough that we’re going to be cycling through books older siblings have read!) If you’re not familiar with the classic book or movie adaptions, White Fang is the story of a wild wolfdog. Fun fact: It was first serialized in a magazine.

I started reading Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes aloud to the kids. I learned of this award-winner in An Open Book post by Read-At-Home Mom.  The story centers around the Pye family, headed by Mr. Pye, a “famous bird man.” We’re only a couple of chapters in, as the children, Jerry and Rachel, contemplate buying a pup, Ginger. Somewhere along the way, beloved Ginger is stolen, and I’m looking forward to seeing what ensues.

My younger daughter’s fourth-grade class will be reading a lot of books in the I Survived series this year, and they began with I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis. The story, set at the Jersey shore, features a 10-year-old, Chet, and his friends, that dramatize the real-life event. Let me just say that I’m glad they are reading this in September and not in the spring, in advance of everyone’s beach vacations.

Contributing to our apparent dog theme this month, my fourth grader is also reading a Magic Treehouse book, Balto of the Blue Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne. Some of my kids have enjoyed these books more than others. My oldest read dozens of books in the fun but educational series built on the premise of time-traveling siblings that get a lesson in a variety of historic events and cultures. This one takes them to 1925 Alaska, where they meet the Siberian husky charged with the final leg of the journey to get the diphtheria serum to Nome in time.

My youngest, a third grader, recently read Stuart Little by E.B. White. My husband, in particular, has a fondness for the little mouse adopted into the Little family. We recently re-watched the movie adaption starring Geena David and Michael J. Fox, and I was reminded what a lovely little story it is.

All three of the kids in the house have been spotted reading or re-reading various books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The latest to come home is The Getaway, the twelfth book in the popular illustrated series. I read the first several books before my oldest started reading them and thought that author Jeff Kinney had a keen, if a bit cynical, insight into childhood and family life. I’m not sure if the series has sustained its magic, but my kids, at least, seem to think so.

Saint Joseph, Watch Over My Family by Sabine du Mesnil is a beautiful board book from Magnificat US and Ignatius Press that I hope my children will turn to again and again. It introduces children to St. Joseph using scripture, shares the many and varied circumstances in which to call on St. Joseph, and includes prayers and miraculous tales. The prayers and recommendations for going to St. Joseph are beautiful and perfect for fostering devotion to this eminent saint.

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!

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Welcome to the September 2021 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

While on our long car ride from Pennsylvania to Maine and back, we listened to an audiobook I’d mentioned here in July of last year: Dooku: Jedi Lost. The whole family enjoyed this lively Star Wars audio drama. I love a well-done audiobook, but an audio play, with actors voicing each character, is something else altogether. If you have a favorite audio production, please share it in the comments. I’d love to find some more to enjoy.

While traveling, my husband often picks up local lore books. In Maine, he grabbed Haunted Lighthouses: Phantom Keepers, Ghost Shipwrecks, and Sinister Calls from the Deep by Ray Jones. Four Maine lighthouses are included in the book, which promises “spine-chilling tales.” His favorite part of these types of books is not so much the spooky stuff, but the history that the stories necessarily entail.

Heaven’s Hunter by Marie C. Keiser is an action/adventure space saga with a bit of military detective procedural thrown in. Add to that the faith element that Major Randall Yung uncovers as he seeks to avenge the death of his only friend, and it becomes a story of self-discovery, moral complexity, and integrity. I think science fiction fans will enjoy Heaven’s Hunter and the way the Catholic faith is incorporated into the story.

I can always count on Karen Witemeyer for a well-written historical Christian romance. I needed an enjoyable distraction, and The Heart’s Charge, the second in the Hanger’s Horsemen series, fit the bill. There are two romances for the price of one and a mystery to be solved—who’s snatching orphaned children from town and what for?

Jennifer Rodewald is nearing the end of her Murphy Brothers Stories that I’ve enjoyed so much. Who You Are is a bit lighter than some others and concerns the second youngest brother, Brandon, who’s entered a trial engagement with a virtual stranger, Megan. Megan is spoiled and immature, and her parents invite family friend Brandon to teach her a little about hard work, integrity, and the kind of man she should be seeking.

Amy Cattapan (A.J. Cattapan) has just released her first nonfiction book, Sweet Jesus, Is It June Yet? 10 Ways the Gospels Can Help You Combat Teacher Burnout and Rediscover Your Passion for Teaching. In it, the author shares her own successes and failures inside and outside of the classroom as she relates lessons gleaned from the greatest teacher of all time, Jesus. This book makes a great teacher gift.

My college-bound son has been reading Assasin’s Creed: Forsaken by Oliver Bowden. The book, based on the video game, begins in 1735 London and tells the backstory of the assassin Connor’s father and how he is drawn into the ongoing battle between the Assassins and the Templars. It’s a companion to the games, more or less. I’ve not played any of the games, but I’ve been impressed by the painstaking attention to historical detail in them.

My eighth-grade daughter discovered a Newbery Honor Book set in Maine amongst the stacks of books at our parish’s festival flea market. She read Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt while we were in New England and really enjoyed it. Set in early 20^th century Phippsburg, Maine, it is told from the point of view of Turner, who becomes friends with spunky Lizzie. Lizzie introduces him to the wonders of the rocky coast of Maine as they work to prevent the island from becoming merely a lucrative tourist destination. I want to read this one too.

I read the youngest kids, now third- and fourth-graders, a couple of books by Robert McCloskey both set in Maine. The first was the ever-popular Blueberries for Sal (a Caldecott Honor Book), in which Sal and Sal’s mom and a bear and its cub get all mixed up while picking fresh blueberries on the mountainside. It’s such a simple story, but the illustrations are wonderful, and the kids love it.

The second book was on the shelf in the 1860s farmhouse where we stayed in rural Maine. It’s a lesser-known book of McCloskey’s, I think—One Morning in Maine. In this book, we see an older Sal, who’s got a loose tooth, set off across the bay with her father to go to town. It’s a lovely picture of coastal Maine life.

My kids are big fans of The Berenstain Bears books, especially the older ones, and we discovered a Berenstain Bears chapter book on Kindle Unlimited. The Berenstain Bears: The Trouble with Tryouts by Stan and Jan Berenstain follows poor Sister Bear as she is denied a spot on the soccer team but offered a spot as team manager. 

My husband picked up a copy of A Squirrel’s Tale of a Crow’s Feat by Michae Rothan at a recent Catholic men’s retreat. Father Rothan, who baptized our oldest son, was the retreat master and has written several books, including this one for kids. It’s an illustrated morality tale about the discord between the squirrels and the crows and the common enemy they unite to resist. Father Rothan has an unusual experience, related at the end, of raising some abandoned baby squirrels.

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!

Welcome to the April 2021 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart and CatholicMom.com!

My husband has just begun reading Immortal Combat: Confronting the Heart of Darkness by Fr. Dwight Longenecker. Books on spiritual warfare seem to have risen in popularity lately, and this book is part of that trend. It calls on Christians to show heroic virtue in the face of evil while rejecting a feel-good, nonconfrontational gospel.

All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese is superb! Deese, whose work I have always enjoyed, has become one of the best in her genre (contemporary Christian romance/women’s fiction), in my opinion. All that Really Matters is a timely tale that examines the superficiality of life lived behind a screen. There is so much to reflect on in Molly’s journey from YouTube beauty influencer to, well, you should read it and find out. While Molly is the force behind the novel, Silas, the director of a transitional home for young adults, has his own engrossing story.

Courtney Walsh’s latest novel, Is It Any Wonder, pairs Coast Guard officer Cody Boggs with his teenage love, Louisa Chambers, as they uncover the secrets surrounding the death of Cody’s beloved father. Both are carrying a heap of guilt related to his death, and ultimately Is It Any Wonder is a story of forgiveness and letting go of the residual anger that can keep us from truly living. A well-written Christian romance.

Be Bold in the Broken: How I Found My Courage and Purpose in God’s Unconditional Love is Mary Lenaburg’s follow-up to her acclaimed debut, Be Brave in the Scared. Her author voice is characterized by humor and authenticity, which make her books so easy to read and relate to. This book pairs stories from her childhood and adulthood that show how pinning her worth on others’ opinions and expectations ultimately failed her.

If you like witty cozy mysteries, look no further. Georgiana Daniel’s Crumbs of Passion is the first in a series. I enjoyed this mystery and its cast of sometimes-kooky characters. It kept me guessing and laughing. I’m looking forward to the next installment.

The Circus of Stolen Dreams by Lorelei Savaryn is a well-written, imaginative middle grade novel that veers occasionally into the creepy. Twelve-year-old Andrea must unravel the lies and secrets keeping kids trapped in both dreams and nightmares under the guise of a “one-night” circus. It examines the perils of trying to escape suffering indefinitely rather than facing it head-on.

Amy Matayo’s Before Time Runs Out is a fun, clever, time travel romance/adventure. This Dickensian time hop is the first in a series and features modern-day Bree and 20^th-century war veteran Theodore as they try to discover a way back to their respective eras. As you might guess, that decision is complicated by their growing affection for each other.

Candide by Voltaire is my oldest son’s selection for independent reading in his literature class. His description: a naïve young man gets mixed up in crazy adventures in 18^th-century Europe and the Americas. The humor holds up better than he thought it would in the 21^st century.

My daughter is reading Crusader King: A Novel of Baldwin IV and the Crusades by Susan Peek in tandem with her history studies. This is the only little-known saint novel of Susan Peek’s that I’ve yet to read. Baldwin IV suffers from leprosy, and I’ve been peppered with a dozen or so questions about the disease. Apparently, it’s the most striking element of the book so far, and I’m anxious to see what my daughter thinks of the entire story and to read it myself.

After seeing it recommended elsewhere, I read Harriet Tubman: Freedombound by Janet Benge and Geoff Benge aloud to my children. I realized rather quickly that I knew shockingly little about this revered woman. The biography covers Harriet Tubman’s childhood through her escape from slavery and travels on the Underground Railroad to her death. It’s appropriate for children without minimizing the brutality and inhumanity of slavery or the complicated nature of politics.

We’re Sailing Down the Nile: A Journey Through Egypt by Laurie Krebs is a rhyming picture book about both ancient and modern Egypt. The simple story is followed by several appendices with more information about geographic and historical locations, ancient scripts, and various gods and goddesses. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and fun.

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!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.