The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

 Hercules Beal has a lot on his plate.  His parents have recently died, and his older brother has come home from his "dream job" to take care of Hercules and take over the family nursery. On top of that, he hasn't yet hit his growth spurt so he is the shortest kid in his whole junior high class. He is bummed when his brother enrolls him in a charter school that focuses on environmental science, especially when he finds out that his home room and English teacher is an ex-marine major. His teacher assigns him to somehow recreate his own version of Hercules' seven labors as his year-long English project. As Hercules tries to find his name sake's motivations and trials reflected in his own life, he begins to process all that has happened in his life--the good and the bad--and learn the importance of facing everything on his own.

Besides Jason Reynolds, I think Gary Schmidt is my favorite contemporary writer for kids. His 12-year-old boy voice is spot on, and his characters are all fully developed and sympathetic. This story is super heart-warming.  I think I cried four different times while I was listening to this book, not because it was sad, (though there are sad parts) but because it was so touching. Schmidt's setting is good as well.  It is realistic enough to be believable, but quirky enough to be interesting. I finished the book and thought to myself, "I hope they make this a Battle of the Books selection some day because I want  thousands of kids to read this."  (352 p, 2023) 

A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer

 Charlotte Atherton escapes from her post as teacher at a boarding school for gifted children in the middle of the night with three children in tow, including her own adopted dauther, Lily. Charlotte has legal custody of Lily, but she knows Lily's grandfather wants the girl to come and live with him. Lily's grandfather, in fact, has hired a "retriever" a past Texas Ranger, Stone Hammon, to find and bring the girl to him.  Stone believes Charlotte is a kidnapper, but when he finally finds her, he sees that the children in her care genuinely love her.  When an accident necessitates Stone staying with Charlotte and the children during his recovery, he begins to believe that she is not what he was led to believe, but is, in fact, much much more. 

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.)

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

 Emmett Watson returns home from Juvenile Detention to find that his father has died and their farm is lost to creditors.  All Emmett wants to do is take his 8-year old brother, Billy, away from Nebraska and make a new start in Texas. Billy has other ideas.  He wants to take the Lincoln Highway to California and search for their mother who abandonded the family when Billy was a baby. Before they can firm up their plans, two of Emmett's friends from the detention center, Dutchess and Wooly, show up on his doorstep.  They claim to have a treasure  just waiting for them in New York, that they are willing to share with Emmett, and all they need is for Emmett to drive them there.  Emmett refuses, but before he knows it they have stollen his car and he has no option but to go after them.  Thus starts an adventure for each of the boys. Emmett wants his car back, Billy wants an escapade like the ones in his adventure book, Dutchess wants to even the score with people in his past, and Wooly just wants to see his sister again. Their adventure leads them along the highways and railways of 1954 America, meeting all kinds of characters along the way. 

 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. 

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

 This book seems to be the concatenation of essays written by the two authors about what is wrong with our current political system, and what we might do to fix it.  They focus on two main problems: the lack of affordable housing, and the problem of global warming but their ideas also have a broader application to society in general.  The main premise seems to be that government regulation, although well intentioned, has gotten so unmanageable that it is very difficult to accomplish the large scale projects needed to end the housing crisis and combat global warming.  They give examples when government regulation was scaled back in an emergency and how quickly and efficiently the government was able to address needs when that happened, as in the creation of a vaccine during the COVID pandemic, and the recent speedy repair of the damaged bridge leading into Washington DC. They finish by explaining that our country has all it needs to combat its massive problems if we will only leverage it in the right way. 

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.)

Enchanting the Heiress by Kristi Ann Hunter

 Harriet Hancock and time, money, and a big heart.  She also has a plan to help almost everyone she comes across, whether they want her to or not. She sets her sights on her friend's brother, Jonas Fitzroy.  He is currently working as a ranch hand, but she is sure he has hidden talents she could help him discover.  She uses her friendship with his sister to rope him into "helping her" write a book. As they work together Jonas recognizes that she is trying to meddle in his life, but he also begins to see that his own life has been lonely ever since his sister's marriage. Harriet's company fills a void in his life, and writing with her is strangely fulfilling. Harriet has an ulterior motive in their little collaboration with Jonas that she keeps as a secret from everyone.  When that secret comes out, will it destroy the respect and affection growing between the two lonely hearts?

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)

Great Courses: From Jesus to Constantine by Bart D. Ehrman

 After the death of Jesus Christ, his followers grew and spread across the countries bordering the Mediterranean. Believers in different regions developed a variety of beliefs about who Jesus was and what he taught. Many believers came under persecution from both the Romans and local authorities. In this series of 24 lectures, Ehrman follows the spread of Christianity, discusses the variations of beliefs, the causes and affects of persecution, and traces how the orthodoxy recognized by most modern Christians came to be adopted. 

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)

Footsteps in the Dark By Georgette Heyer

Soon after Peter, Margaret, and Celia inherit an old family estate, they begin to hear rumors from staff and locals that the house is haunted bya ghost they call The Monk.  At first the rumors give the young people a pleasant kind of thrill, until they literally find a skeleton in the closet! Meanwhile, unexpected people keep wandering across their property, and townsfolks are acting strangely. Can the three solve the mystery, or will encounters with The Monk force them to give up their ancestral home?

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)