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

I have only a few books left to complete on my summer reading list, and the one I’ve just begun is A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon. I’ve loved many of Amy Harmon’s books, but it’s been a while since I read any. This historical novel is about the real-life Deborah Samson, who disguised herself as a young man to fight in the Revolutionary War. In the early chapters, the reader meets Deborah, an intelligent and curious girl, as an indentured servant living amongst a family of boys. I’m eager to keep reading.

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

After a long dry spell in his reading, my husband has been listening to Annie Jacobsen’s Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America. Using interviews and archival documents, the author brings to light the decades-long secret post-WWII project bringing Nazi Germany’s greatest minds –those who had committed war crimes and mass murder—to the United States. These men, relocated to the United States with their families, were also responsible for great American scientific achievements. This isn’t a new book, and it’s not unfamiliar to me, but it seems timely as I regularly learn of ways in which the U.S. government is or has been lying to or misleading the American public.

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

May’s a little wild, isn’t it? Even without spring sports, recitals, sacraments, or graduations, May flew by in a blur of concerts, tests, and general busyness. That meant a little less reading for some of us. Plus, my daughters have been reading more books in series I’ve already shared here multiple times. My college student, who completed his semester in early May, made up for them though.

I was happily surprised to receive book mail with Pauline Books & Media’s reprint of Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade. I’d heard of this spiritual classic, and my husband commented that it had been recommended to us by a friend. Turns out we have an ugly copy of it already. This edition from Pauline Books & Media is anything but ugly. With a durable leather-like cover, pretty gold ribbon, and thin pages, this book is both attractive and easily portable. Its chapters are super short, perfect for reading one or two each day and allowing me to ruminate. My husband was aghast that I’ve highlighted passages, but there are so many salient points I want to remember. Its focus is on attaining holiness through total submission to the will of God in every moment. It’s simple and yet so substantive. I’m so grateful to have discovered this treasure.

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

I haven’t seen my husband picking up many books lately, but he’s apt to snag titles from the kiosk in the narthex of our church, and that’s where he got Converts and Kingdoms by Diane Moczar. It’s an accessible look at the bond between the Catholic Church and Western civilization over the centuries that examines the Church’s survival amidst the various forces and factions that have opposed it through the ages. 

I wrapped up my string of contemporary rom-coms by reading Courtney Walsh’s My Phony Valentine. Having grown up an ice hockey fan in Pittsburgh during the pinnacle of Mario Lemieux’s career, I have a soft spot for professional hockey players. I was predisposed to like Dallas Burke, the considerate and misunderstood hero of My Phony Valentine. Dallas enters a contractual fake relationship with small-town chef Poppy Hart, an earnest, guileless woman who can’t help falling for Dallas from the start. Through their arrangement, Poppy gains exposure for her business and Dallas’s bad boy image gets an update. But these two have more in common than they expected, both having lived with the consequences of bad decisions and people’s unjust judgments. (I collected my recent rom-com reviews in a Relevant Fiction Reviews post.)

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