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!
11-5-25 Ambush of the Heart - Mary Connealy - This is the start of a new series about US Marshals in the Old West, although this story started in the middle of action that made me wonder if I missed something. But I didn't, and the backstory was filled in. It was filled with adventure and survival skills that left me very impressed, along with two romances. Fans of Western adventure/romance will enjoy this. (Read for a book review publication).
11-9-25 On a Midnight Clear - Tracie Peterson, Karen Witemeyer, Misty Beller - This is an enjoyable trilogy of Christmas novellas. I enjoyed all of them, but my favorite was "A Star in the West," about an awkward math professor from Massachusetts who finds love with a young woman from Texas.
11-13-25 The Caregiver at Wounded Knee - Debby Lee - This is the story of a young Lakota woman who was taken from her people when she was young and educated as a nurse in Boston. She has now returned to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to help provide medical care. She is eager to rediscover the Lakota language and customs, even though it is frowned upon due to rising tensions between the white settlers and her people. I had a vague memory of learning about Wounded Knee in school, but this story truly brings that massacre to life. It is a powerful story that will stay with the reader. In addition to appealing to adult fans of historical women's fiction, it would be a worthwhile work for high school students to read.
11-16-25 The Velveteen Daughter - Laurel Davis Huber - This is historical fiction about Pamela Bianco, the daughter of Margery Williams Bianco (who wrote The Velveteen Rabbit, one of my favorite stories of all time). Pamela was a child prodigy and a famous artist, but she also suffered from mental illness. This book offers a strong depiction of family dynamics and the inner workings of a struggling mind. I found it very interesting. Unfortunately, the Lord's name is taken in vain a few times in it.
11-23-25 A Carol for Mrs. Dickens - Rebecca Connolly - This is a charming Christmas novella featuring Catherine Dickens, the wife of the famous Charles Dickens. It is 1851, a few years after the publication of "A Christmas Carol," which has made her husband "Mr. Christmas." She lost a child that year and is pregnant with another one. She's tired and worn out and wants little to go with helping Charles host big Christmas gatherings. In this story, she is reminded of the spirit of Christmas and regains her sense of joy.
11-25-25 Out of Time - Irene Hannon - This is a suspense-filled story about a historical anthropologist spending her sabbatical helping an older woman translate journals written in a rare French dialect. It should be a dream semester, but when dangerous things begin to happen on the estate, she may be lucky to get out alive. (Read for a book-review publication).
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).
11-13-25 I finally finished! - 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. I give the man props for working on this book for over twenty years. Is my life better for having read it? No. But I was very happy to cross it off my list after several months and be able to move on to the next book on the list.
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