Books Completed in January 2025

 One Christmas in Washington, David Bercuson and Holger Herwig

  The Joys of Christmas 2013 -Guideposts

  Ideals Christmas 2024

 Ideals Christmas 2025

 The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah, Jean Meltzer

 Old Christmas, Washington Irving

 The Little Book of the Nativity, Dominique Foufelle

  Re-read: A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

 Goodness and Light and Watch for the Light

 Quincy's Curse, Keith Robinson
In this quirky fantasy, Quincy Flack, a boy who believes he's cursed, moves to a new village with his abusive aunt and uncle (think the Dursleys) and is befriended by Megan Mugwood, a plucky girl who lives with her widowed mother, experiencing hard times since her father was killed by a dragon. Next thing you know, they've met a wizard—he says he's not—who can "grow mountains."

This is rather oddly told, from the point of view of each new character that Quincy, Megan, and Pagfire encounter, rather than the other way around, so you really don't get a whole lot of character development. But it's a fun story to see how the coincidences work out.

  Unearthing The Secret Garden, Marta McDowell
I say I didn't inherit the Italian gene for gardening; however, I can't seem to resist these garden-related books by McDowell (Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder). Maybe because I would like to have a beautiful walled garden like in the Burnett book, but don't want to do the work!

If you like The Secret Garden, you'll probably enjoy this book, as it tells an abridged version of Burnett's life, and her special affection for gardens: wherever she lived, she always had one, even if it was a leased property. If you love gardens/gardening, then this is just the book for you, with beautiful black-and-white/color photographs of Burnett in her gardens or just of the flowers in her gardens. As a bonus, the volume includes three of Burnett's short writings: an essay about her gardens, an article about the "ha-ha," an English estate feature that separated gardens from parkland, and the story of the robin that inspired the robin character in The Secret Garden.

  The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association, Caitlin Rozakis
Vivian and Daniel Tanaka and their five-year-old daughter Aria were just normal people until Aria is bitten by an emotionally-disturbed werewolf. Since she can't go to a human-only school because of her unfortunate tendency to shift, sometimes in mid-play, they are forced to send her to the magical Grimoire Grammar school, where Vivian feels left out because she's only mortal, and tries to juggle Aria's magical curriculum and be part of a community. But someone seems to be targeting Aria as part of a prophecy that states the community will be destroyed.

Think PTA politics taking place at Hogwarts. The enjoyment in this book is the magical, yet mundane, universe that Rozakis builds around the Tanaka family, with gossiping, pushy parents.

  Feuds, edited by Mercedes Lackey
These are 21 new stories from Lackey's world of Valdemar, about Heralds, Bards, Healers, and recurring characters like Nwah the kyree.

I'm still really not sure that I like the "themed" volumes that they've done the last few times. Shenanigans rather bored me, although Anything With Nothing was better. I have to say about this one, though, that I enjoyed how each writer addressed "feuds" differently, with different concepts (especially the first story, which had the creepy "full circle" vibe to it), and that there's really not a bad story in the bunch. We even get a Vanyel story where he pairs up with his aunt in a story that parallels Romeo and Juliet. I got a big kick out of Vanyel posing as "Jackomo, Prince of Minstrels and Minstrel to the Prince," revealing that Misty Lackey is a fan of the wonderful Danny Kaye film The Court Jester (Kaye poses as Giacomo, King of Jesters and Jester to the King).

  The Martians, David Baron
Who hasn't heard of the Lowell Observatory? Certainly I'd heard about it, and thought Percival Lowell was a famous scientist.

He wasn't, just a rich Massachusetts dilettante from the famous Lowell family of cotton mill fame (Amy Lowell, the 19th century poet famous for "Patterns," was his sister). He went looking for novelty, including during trips abroad, where he encountered the charismatic Camille Flammarion, an astronomer who opened the minds of hundreds to the wonders of space. But the real obsession with Mars began when astronomers at the Lick Observatory spotted three lights in a triangular pattern and an Italian named Schiaparelli mapped the planet and identified lines he called "channels," translated as "canals" in English, clear evidence of life on Mars—and Martian obsession was on, with everyone from H.G. Wells to Nikola Tesla involved.

If you thought alien-mania started after Roswell, this will disabuse the notion. Illustrated with black-and-white pictures from the newspapers of the time.

 The Mating Game, Lana Ferguson
This is a companion book to Ferguson's The Fake Mate (Nate, the doctor in that novel, is related to Hunter Barrett). I wasn't enchanted by that one, but this one was half price...another omegaverse novel, this about Tess Covington, who discovers she's a late-bloomer wolf-shifter who's also an omega about to go through her first heat. Her doctors tell her it would be dangerous to take heat suppressants before her first heat, so she's advised to keep away from alphas.

Unfortunately, her next client for redesign—she and her brothers are hoping for a home redesign show on HGTV—is Hunter Barrett, a small-town lodge owner, an alpha who's avoiding romance. The prospects for the redesign are good, since the lodge is charming but how will these two stay away from each other, especially after Tess starts going into full-blown heat?

I liked this one a little better. The lodge sounds like a really nifty place and Hunter's protectiveness of Tess was very sweet.

2025 Book Challenge

Favorite Books of 2025

Another baker's dozen:

 The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl (nonfiction about birdwatching)

 The Rhine, Ben Coates (nonfiction travelogue about following the course of the Rhine River)

 The Curse of Penryth Hall, Jess Armstrong (fiction: 1920s-set mystery with a female protagonist meeting a most unusual doctor)

 The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, David McCullough (nonfiction about the Americans who traveled to Paris in the early 1800s)

 It's OK That You're Not OK, Megan Devine (nonfiction book about grieving which I bought after my husband's death)

 The Book of Murder, Matt Murphy (nonfiction about a district attorney in California)

 The New Girl, Cassandra Calin (yeah, children's fiction and a graphic novel: Romanian girl moves to Quebec due to her mother's job and learns to adjust)
 
  Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory, Caitlin Doughty (nonfiction about working in a crematorium)
 
  The Cloisters, Katy Hays (dark academia fiction about a small-town girl accepting a job at The Cloisters in New York City for the summer)
 
  The Yankee Road: Volume 3, Apotheosis, James D. McNiven (nonfiction in which McNiven finally finishes his odyssey of U.S. 20)
 
  Written in Bone, Sue Black (nonfiction by a forensic specialist about the human skeleton with notes from her cases)
 
  Love is a War Song, Danica Nava (fiction about a Native American singer who angers her fans who is sent out to her grandmother's ranch to lie low, but instead learns about her heritage)

  The Earth Shall Weep, James Wilson (nonfiction--Wilson's sweeping narrative about the Native Americans in North America)

Honorable Mention:
  Good Spirits, B.K. Borison (fiction: if The Ghost and Mrs. Muir television series ended happily)

 
Most Disappointing: A tie between James (started off promisingly with James teaching the kids how to talk and act in front of white people, then went off the track with him working at the minstrel show) and Lessons in Chemistry (the real-life struggles of professional women in the 1950s and early 60s clothed in absurdity including a dog named Six-Thirty who thinks like a human, ironically the most interesting character in the book besides Calvin).

Books Completed in December 2025

 A Spell for Midwinter's Heart, Morgan Lockhart

 A Wiltshire Christmas, compiled by John Chandler

 Murder at Holly House, Denzil Meyrick

  Re-read: Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Kathryn Lasky

 Santa Claus Worldwide, Tom A. Jerman

 Re-read: Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot, Frances Frost

 Good Spirits, B.K. Borison

 The Dead of Winter, Sarah Clegg

 Re-read: The Tuckers: The Cottage Holiday, Jo Mendel

 The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, Ally Carter

Books Completed in November 2025

 The Case of the Burgled Bundle, Michael Hutchinson
The third in the "Mighty Muskrats" mystery series. The Windy Lake Crees are hosting the National Assembly of Cree Peoples. Each of the groups will use their "treaty bundle," a collection of memorabilia sacred to each group, to tell the story of their past. But when one of the treaty bundles disappears, the Muskrats pour their hearts into the investigation, knowing that a theft will not only deprive the Crees of an important part of their heritage, but will bring dishonor on the Windy Lake group.

But who would take it? Was it tough Pearl and her gang of undisciplined teens? Or someone else who wished to sow discontent among the different groups?

It was fascinating learning about the treaty bundles and the memories and customs that went along with them. The information is still passed down orally to apprentices who inherit the role of keeper of the treaty.

  The Wild Places, Robert MacFarlane
"Are there any genuinely wild places left in England, Scotland, and Wales?"

Yes, and MacFarlane walks each of them, from Ynys Enlli, an island in Wales, to Ben Hope in Scotland, to the Essex coast, and everything in between, forest, mountain, moor, seashore, describing in beautiful language the breathtaking landscapes still left. This is nature's poetry in prose, dreamy, realistic, tough, gentle.

It is also a tribute to his friend Roger Deakin, who helped him plan his wild journeys.

  Love is a War Song, Danica Nava
This was everything I wanted If I Stopped Haunting You to be.

Avery Fox loved music. She just wanted to write and perform good songs. But her relentless stage mother has driven her into a career where she's the darling of everyone's social media, until an ill-designed music video in which she dresses in a way to insult her Native heritage puts her on everyone's cancel list. Her mother sends her to Oklahoma to lay low with her grandmother, who Avery's never met because her mother is estranged from her. Designer shoes and all, she comes face-to-face with Lucas Iron Eyes, who's never heard of her, and immediately thinks of her as a privileged princess.

As Avery learns more about her heritage, as well as ranch work, she learns to value Lucas and what he wants for his future, and that includes saving her grandmother Lottie's ranch. You'll cheer when she finally decides to make her own future instead of being indebted to her mother.

  The Earth Shall Weep, James Wilson
This is a history of Native America from the "discovery" of America by Christopher Columbus and other European explorers from the point of view of the tribes who were displaced, marginalized, massacred, starved into submission, and killed by European illnesses, plagued by distrust, hatred, broken treaties and broken promises. The Europeans' understanding of the world conflicted with the beliefs of the native population, well-illustrated by retellings of their individual creation stories and later by published writings.

Painful to read, but enlightening. My only wish is that there was an updated version bringing in the resurgence of Native culture via the internet.

  The Case of the Rigged Race, Michael Hutchinson
And the fourth in the "Mighty Muskrats" series, taking on some big adult topics.

The Windy Lake First Nation reservation is hosting the annual Trappers Festival which includes junior and senior dogsled races. Atim is racing a team for his cousin Jody, who was in an accident and can't participate, but when one of the dogs gets ill, he's out of the race, but more worried about Muskwa, the dog. It looks like someone has tried to drug her.

The immediate suspects are an animal rights group who think the dogs are being mistreated, but they discover people heavily bet on the dog races and wonder if someone was trying to meddle with the winners. The kids must figure out the why, and then the who, if the Festival is to continue successfully.

The story discusses subjects like animal rights and vegetarianism/meat eating, gambling, and alcohol addiction.

  The Way of Gratitude: Readings for a Joyful Life, edited by Michael Leach, James T. Keane, Doris Goodnough
I bought this for Thanksgiving reading. There are 46 essays/poems about gratitude, which I read two a day in order to consider thankfulness at this special season.

  Scary Book of Christmas Lore: Forget About Jingle Bells & Jolly Old Saint Nick, Tim Rayborn

Books Completed in October 2025

 In These Hallowed Halls, edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane
A dozen stories of dark academia, from the thievery of research papers and the seduction of graduate students, to the one really chilling, uncomfortable-ending tale called "The Department of Ontography," in which a student's curiosity about the mysterious department leads to a horrifying future. (The story of the new teacher at the isolated girls' school was pretty creepy, too!) This was a perfect book to read before Hallowe'en!

  Written in Bone, Sue Black
Who knew a book about the human skeletal system could be so absorbing?

Black, a forensic anthropologist, has another hit after All That Remains, in which she surveys the human skeleton top to bottom, and how evidence from each of the parts of the skeleton has solved crimes ranging from the heartbreaking death of an abused pre-schooler to the murders of adults. Along the way, you learn fascinating facts about our bones and skeletal structure, all told in Black's lively narrative style. Great for crime buffs and science nerds.

  Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things, Breanne Randall
Thalia, Eurydice, and Calliope Petridi are three sisters, all witches, who live in the charming town of Gold Springs, California. They own a combination bookstore/bakeshop (this sounds familiar...), but are struggling emotionally since their mother disappeared, leaving them in charge of the Dark Oak, a tree in which evil magic has been trapped. The Petridis are members of a group of magic users called Lightcrafters, who use the loss of happy memories to fuel their power; their rivals are the Shadowcrafters, who draw their power from the earth. And the latter—especially their leader Lucien Deniz--wish to draw power from the Dark Oak.

Then Calliope realizes, from a grimoire which communicates with her, that she must release the power from the Dark Oak to keep disaster from happening. Her ally? Deniz, who is abruptly and inexplicably emotionally tied to her.

This has a lot of positives to it, especially the sisters' support of each other, but the plot about the hidden secret of the Dark Oak and the feud between the Lightcrafters and Shadowcrafters seems drawn out. The text has some beautiful imagery, and Calliope's solution at the end is heartbreaking, yet optimistic.

  The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie: A Biographical Companion of the Works of Agatha Christie, Charles Osborne
A history of Agatha Christie's works (not just her mysteries, but her Mary Westmacott books and other writings) against the story of her life, a combined biography and detailed bibliography (down to how many times she reused plot points in different stories!). Presents a nice overview of her life and work.

  If I Stopped Haunting You, Colby Wilkens
This book sounded so promising. Two young writers, Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm, accompany two other writer friends to a haunted Scottish castle. There, they encounter what they believe is an actual ghost. It was billed as a romance/haunted house mystery. I was additionally charmed when I discovered the two protagonists were Native American.

Alas, the execution was...disappointing. Turns out Penelope and Neil are feuding because Penelope wrote an honest book about Native people that no one bought, and Neil sold out his Native lead to his publisher's suggestions, but the book has made him a sensation. After an angry encounter with Neil at a conference, Penelope imagines herself persona non grata in the publishing field. Naturally, once they're together at the haunted castle, they start being attracted to each other—pages and pages of sexual yearning. And that's the way the book goes, Neil and Penelope resisting attraction while investigating the ghostly happenings, with their two friends being continually annoying.

And the kicker at the end is that the ghost story turns out to be a totally ho-hum historical romance cliché. This one goes into the trade-in bin.

  Built on Chocolate: The Story of the Hershey Chocolate Company, James D. McMahon Jr.
Oversize hardback full of color historical photographs chronicling the history of Milton Hershey and the chocolate empire he founded. Hershey was a fascinating man who emulated Cadbury and Rowntree, the two British chocolate magnates, in building affordable, clean housing for his workers, and trying different types of products over the history of the company.

I remember taking the trolley tour of Hershey back in 2009. This book covers all the territory of the tour—and more.

  Mate, Ali Hazelwood
The sequel and companion book to Hazelwood's fantasy romance Bride, about the future of Misery Lark Moreland's childhood companion, Serena Paris, who, the world has learned, is a werewolf/human hybrid. Unfortunately, this means the humans want to exploit her, and the werewolves want to destroy her. Luckily, she's under the protection of Misery's mate/husband's brother Koen—unfortunately, he seems to hate her guts, even though, to protect her, he's claimed her as his mate, which means whoever threatens her risks the wrath of the werewolves.

There are many more twists to the story, including a cult and a promise to the pack. If you're in the mood for a suspenseful romantasy, this will fill the bill.

  Jolene, Mercedes Lackey
Anna May Jones, growing up in a smoky mining town, has always been sickly. Her parents, coal miner Lew Jones and his wife, abruptly send Anna May to live with her mother's sister, a "witchy woman" in a secluded area two-days wagon journey from her home. Her health immediately improves, because Anna May is an Earth Master and the pollution of her hometown made her ill. Anna May spends a happy summer learning to make herbal concoctions, and becoming attracted to a talented young stonecutter, Josh. She also discovers that she, like Aunt Jinny, can see and maneuver "the Glory," elemental Earth power.

This is mostly the story of Anna May's emergence as an elemental Magician and her slow control of "the Glory," her growing attraction to Josh, the discovery of a hidden Cherokee settlement, and the appearance of another "witchy woman," the beautiful—and super-powerful—Jolene. Very late, the book introduces a villain who lusts after Anna May's power, and the climax finds Anna May confronting Jolene for the soul of Josh. Kept my attention, but like the Annie Oakley book, much is world-building before the quick climax.

  What the Owl Knows, Jennifer Ackerman
Another brilliant book about birds from Ackerman. She writes in an engaging style about how humans view owls, and about the owl lifestyle itself, from courtship and parenthood to migration (yes, owls do migrate!). They are fascinating birds, not as "stupid" as has been indicated in many avian texts, yet not as "magical" as the Harry Potter books have made them out to be. The chapters about owls' extraordinary hearing are fascinating: how they can pinpoint prey from the tiniest move of a muscle of a small animal.