Ok, I am kind of embarrased that I read another Karen Witemeyer. I know, I know, I should feel free to read whatever I like, but still. I fully understand that her books are formulaic and sickenly sweet, but sometimes I just need something reliable, clean, and positive to read. Which this is. I always used to tell my patrons, "if you are reading for fun, read what you want." I guess I take my own advice. (2015, 344 p.)
Friday, October 24, 2025
A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
This is my third book by Towles, and I liked this one very much. The writing is wonderful and it as much a fun adventure as it is a philosophical walk through the 1850's. Towels really is one of the great literary authors of our age, and this book won a boatload of awards. The characters are masterful and the book is put together brilliantly. Each chapter is written from the point of view of a different character, and aren't necessarily in chronological order. Each of the main characters are complex with fully developed backstories and personalities. I think the publisher expected the book to be a smash success, because they invested in three different voice actors to narrate the book and they all do a wonderful job. This is another great choice for a book club. (2021, 592p)
Personal note: When I was a little girl there weren't any DVD players of video games for kids to play in the back seat of a car. One thing I used to do on a long road trip was look at the cars passing or driving next to us and imagine my spirit jumping into the car with those people and going home with them for a while to see what they were like and how they lived. That is kind of what this book is like. The reader gets to jump into the lives of almost every character, live inside them for just a short tim, and see how they think and how they live.
Thursday, October 16, 2025
Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
I saw this book on the New Books shelf in the Highland Library and thought it sounded both interesting and hopeful. As it turned out, I found it interesting, but not very hopeful. Yes, the things they propose are possible and would go a long way to solving these large looming problems they discussed, but I think it is virtually impossible in the current political climate that anyone could do what they propose. I kept wondering who was the intended target audience of the book. I think they are hoping that liberal policy makers will read the book and realize they need to loosen regulation and actually accomplish some of these big projects if they ever want to win back the confidence of the American people. Instead, the book made me see why so many people are willing to accept the dictatorial actions of the current administration in hopes that they can actually get something done. It made me worry that our country will slip into fascism and lose both its political and moral identity. So, yeah, not a very hopeful book. (2025, 304 p.)
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Enchanting the Heiress by Kristi Ann Hunter
This is the third and final episode in the series that started with Vying for the Viscount. The premise for the second two books --the whole, twins who run away to the circus motif-- is a little improbable so it isn't my favorite of Hunter's series, but overall, I enjoyed it. One thing I liked about this one is that the woman is several years older than her love interest, and that isn't really an issue for either of them. They are more concerned about the difference in their social standing than their age. I also appreciated that when Harriet's deceptions are revealed, she doesn't get an immediate easy out. There are consequences and work that needs to be done to repair trust. So, if you are a clean Victorian romance fan, and have read all of Hunter's other series, go ahead and dive into this one. (2022, 368 p)
Sunday, October 12, 2025
Great Courses: From Jesus to Constantine by Bart D. Ehrman
I am particularly interested in this early Christian time period so I was excited to see this offering by the Great Courses. I have listened to Great Courses lectures by Ehrman before. He does not, himself, seem to be a believer, but he is a careful and knowledgeable scholar. At times he lets a little bit of scoffing coming into his voice, as if he delights in disproving peoples' cherished beliefs, but mostly he just gives facts and informed analysis of events as he sees them. Ehrman is an engaging lecturer, and I enjoyed this series overall. (12 hrs, 2004)
Thursday, October 9, 2025
Footsteps in the Dark By Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer (who wrote back in the 1930's) is best known for her Victorian romances, and hers are among my favorites in that genre. This book is one of a few mysteries she wrote, and when she wrote it it was set in contemporary (i.e. 1930's) England. As a result, some people have cars and others don't. Some have electricity, but telephones are still quite rare. It is interesting to me how much has changed in 100 years. Anyway, although Heyer is not as good at mystery as she is at period romance, this is a decent mystery and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot and clues to the mystery are carefully thought out, and Heyers adds a cute little romance. The characters have the snappy dialog found in all Heyer novels. The setting is fairly gothic, and it was a good choice as a not-too-scary October ghost story. (1932, 352 p)
Monday, October 6, 2025
Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer
This is an odd but charming rewriting of Snow White in a old western setting. It isn't any great work of literature, but kind of fun because it was so silly. Witemeyer always has a strong Christian message, and I tend to read Karen Witemeyer when I have been having high levels of stress and need something light and uplifting. In all Witemeyer's stories, the two main characters
each get to the point where they have to let go of their own will and turn things over to God. It is a bit trite, but I knew that message would be in the book and that is what I was looking for when I chose this. It didn't disappoint. (2023, 352p)
Friday, October 3, 2025
To Love a Governess: a Timeless Regency Collection by Josi Kilpack, Heather B. Moore, and Julie Daines
In the first, Dina's fortunes have declined while her childhood friend David's have improved. Even though Dina still holds a torch for David, she is determined not to interfere with his match to a "suitable" heiress, until she sees the fiancée sneaking off into the woods with another man.
In the second, when Captain Ridout's brother and sister-in-law die suddenly of a sickness, he finds himself in possession of both and estate and two orphaned children. Emmeline is from a good family but is heartbroken when her crush marries another women. To get away from the situation, she takes the position as a governess for the captain just for a year until she can make enough money to start a new life. She doesn't bargain on falling in love with the children and their uncle.
In the third, Sarah Woolsey was orphaned as young child and accepted as a charity student at a girl's school. She becomes a housemaid but is hastily elevated to be the governess to a foundling child left on her employer's doorstep. Her frank country ways and unspoiled beauty captures the attention of her employer, but can he convince she is good enough to marry a gentleman?
This is a sweet and delightful collection--just what you would expect from the book description and title. It is shameless wish fulfillment, but sometimes that is just what we want to read.
(320 p. 2019)
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Reckless by Cornela Funke
Here is a good choice if you are looking for a spooky Halloween read. Funke is a good writer, and her mirror world convincingly weaves together the darker elements of a lot of well known fairytales. The scary elements are balanced by the brotherly devotion between Jacob and William, and by the stalwart loyalty of William's girlfriend, Clara. Overall, it is a good horror book except for the fact that the resolution is a bit abrupt, and not really well supported by the story. There are more in the series so I wasn't sure until almost the end if Funke would bring the story to a resolution, but then suddenly she did. I generally like Funke's books, and I think a lot of readers have and would like this one, but horror is not my thing and I am not likely to read the next in this series. (2010, 400)
To Ride the Wind and To Steel the Sun by Melanie Cellier
Here is a two-book retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon set in the Four Kingdoms universe. Charlotte is the odd man out in her family of three sisters. When a mysterious talking white bear promises her family riches and prosperity in exchange with a hasty marriage with Charlotte, they only make a pretense of objecting. Something in the stranger's eyes captures Charlotte's trust, and she decides she is as well off with him as in a love-starved home. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn is the obedient daughter of a tyrannical queen of a high mountain kingdom. She is so cowed by her mother that she fails to see how oppressed her servants and the people of the nearby village are. Then one day something happens that opens her eyes, and she knows she must do something to help. When Charlotte makes a mistake that separates her from her beloved bear husband, she teams up with Gwendolyn in hopes of saving both him and Gwendolyn's kingdom.
This fascinating fairytale has always been interesting to me, and I think Cellier does an decent job on the odd story. It takes some plot acrobatics, and some convenient "Godmother gifts" to make things work out, but Cellier manages to pull it off. The tone of the story is very much like all her other fairytale retellings. It is actually something I like about Cellier, you pretty much know what you are getting when you start reading one of her books. The princesses and princes all have almost the same personalities from one book to an other, with only a few small variations. This princess might be a little more spunky, and that a little more shy, but in the end they are all the same. Still, it makes her books a predictable read when you need a predictable read. To Ride the Wind (2024, 314 p) To Steel the Sun (2024, 282 p)








