#OpenBook for September 2025

 

Welcome to #OpenBook. I'm joining up with Carolyn Astfalk who hosts an #OpenBook Linkup on CatholicMom.com. Here's what I've been reading this past month. The dates indicate when I finished the books. Thanks for stopping by!

8-6-25 American Patroness - Edited by Katherine Dugan and Karen Park. I had wanted to read this book because I met Katherine Dugan once and really liked her! She's a professor at a local college and met with me because she was doing research on women who used NFP. This is a scholarly book about various Marian shrines and different immigrant groups and ethnicities that have been involved with them. It is a very expensive book. I don't know why the publishers don't want people to buy it! But if you are interested in this topic, it is worth reading. 

 

 8-10-25 Raising Lumie - Joan Bauer - I had taken this book out of the library to read with my daughter, but she wasn't interested, so I read it myself. It is a sweet story of an orphaned twelve-year-old girl, now living with her much older half-sister, who finds healing and purpose in raising a future guide dog. 

 

8-13-25 Still Waters - Patricia Johns - This is the second book in "The Amish of Shepherd's Hill" series, but it works well as a stand-alone. Beth comes to stay with her grandmother and help her prepare to move out of her home. Beth's father died a few months ago, but she never knew much about his childhood, and wants to find out more. Why has everyone always been so secretive? It doesn't help that her grandmother has dementia and sometimes gets lost in the past or that Beth has been questioning whether or not to get baptized Amish or explore the Englisch world. Her relationship with an old friend, Danny, is also changing, but he wants a life she might not be ready to commit to. (Read for a book review publication)

 

8-13-25 Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington - Mary Higgins Clark - I saw this one mentioned on a historical fiction Facebook group. It was published in 1969 under the title Aspire to the Heavens, the first book written by Mary Higgins Clark, and was republished in 2002 under the current title. It is a well-written, well-researched look at the lives of George and Martha Washington that was both informative and entertaining. 

8-15-25 Joline - Jim Sano - This mystery is part of the Father Tom series by Jim Sano. Fr. Tom is on vacation in Maine, where he works to solve the mystery of a young woman who was found murdered and dumped in the harbor waters. It was a compelling story that explored generational trauma in an insightful and empathetic way. 

 

8-18-25 The Rosary - Colleen Pressprich - This is a small illustrated book perfect for helping children learn the mysteries and reflect on the Rosary. Adults can appreciate it as well and it would be great for using for a family Rosary. 

 8-20-25 At Morning's Light - Lauraine Snelling with Kiersti Giron - This is the second book in a series about Norwegian immigrants in 1890 Iowa. Maya was planning to come to America with her husband to live with her cousin, but after he dies in a fishing trip, she makes the journey with her brother. Full of grief and angry at her husband, she is surprised to find she is also pregnant, which brings some hope to her dark days. Her new neighbor, Eben, may also reawaken romantic feelings in her heart. I enjoyed this story of God bringing hope and new beginnings even in the midst of grief and pain. (Read for a book review publication)

8-21-25 Spark: How Genius Ignites, From Child Prodigies to Late Bloomers - Claudia Kalb - This was a series of short biographies about such notable geniuses as Picasso, Shirley Temple, Bill Gates, Isaac Newton, Julia Child, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Grandma Moses. The author's main point is that genius can come at any age. It was interesting to learn about the different individual's lives and their accomplishments. 

 

8-24-25 Before Dorothy - Hazel Gaynor - This book tells the story of Auntie Em of Wizard of Oz fame and her life before and after her niece, Dorothy, came to live with her and her husband. It is also a powerful portrait of life during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s in Kansas. Highly recommended if you enjoy historical fiction.

8-29-25 The Fault Between Us - Stephanie Landsem - This was one of the best books I've read in a while. It focuses on the three Reilly sisters, who were abandoned by their mother when they were young in 1942. In 1959, the oldest lives in Yellowstone, and when her sisters come to visit her, all their lives will be impacted by the Hebgen Lake earthquake. Based on true events, this story was riveting. (Read for a book review publication).

8-31-25 This Dog Will Change Your Life - Elias Weiss Friedman (The Dogist) - Friedman has made a career of taking photos of dogs and posting them on social media. Before I read this book, I had never heard of him, but I picked it up because it is a feel-good book about dogs that emphasizes all the ways dogs impact our lives. It is honest about the challenges they can bring, but mostly talks about the good. Friedman shares stories of different dogs he has met and their human owners, as well as different dog breeds, and special skills dogs can learn. If you are a dog lover, you will probably enjoy this book! 
 
 

 The Patron Saint Quilt Coloring Book - I had fun this summer putting together this coloring book with quilt block designs created to represent 22 holy women. Both children and adults will enjoy coloring these unique quilt designs in honor of the Blessed Mother, St. Anne, St. Barbara, St. Bernadette, St. Brigid, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Clare, St. Elizabeth, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Faustina, St. Gianna, St. Kateri, St. Margaret Mary, St. Maria Goretti, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Monica, St. Rita, St. Rose, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and St. Zélie.

 

Since the spring of 2019, I have been making my way through the Great Books Curriculum of Thomas Aquinas College (I'm currently working on the readings for junior year). 

Still in progress - I'm in Volume 4! Someday I will finish this. - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon -  Gibbon was an English essayist, historian, and politician who wrote this epic six-volume work between 1776 and 1789. It's incredibly long, and I have little interest in the Roman Empire. It is going to take me a while to get through this one.

 

My fourteen-year-old daughter and I read the following book this month:

 

8-25-25 The Shepherd Who Didn't Run: Blessed Stanley Rother - Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda - This was my daughter's summer reading book for 9th grade. I knew very little about this man, who was raised in Oklahoma, ordained as a priest, who then became a missionary in Guatemala, where he was martyred on July 28, 1981. The book not only portrays Blessed Stanley's life, but also discusses the native people of Guatemala and their customs. I found it interesting; my daughter did not. 

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