Category Archives: Book Blogging

Wish-list 5: Beautifully Written Literature

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I haven’t posted a wish-list of books in a while, and when I explored the books I’ve added to read, and to group together to read back to back, I knew this would make a marvelous Wish-list 5 post.

All Creatures Great and Small is a classic and I feel I know it well but haven’t read it-I believe. At least, not that I can remember, but who would forget a story like this one? Anyhow, I can’t wait to pick up a copy and get started on the “unforgettable world of James Herriot.”

I love reading stories that take place in Ireland and certainly “Foster” by Claire Keegan is the perfect story to read during the summer months.

The artist and creative side of me finds “Theo of Golden” by Allen Levi an intriguing premise and Theo who visits a coffeehouse and purchases the portraits on the wall to give them back to their “rightful owners” sounds fascinating!

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather sounds like an intriguing read, particularly because I love stories about vicars or vicars that are included in stories. This story centers around Father Jean Marie Latour 1851 comes to serve as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico…

When I came across Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry and read the first few lines of the description, “This is a book about Heaven,” says Jayber Crow, “but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell,” I knew I had to read this story to find out more about this statement the author wrote.  

Be sure to read the book descriptions below! Have you read any of these stories before? Or are they any that grabs your attention? Do share!

Stephanie

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

First published January 1, 1972 / Then Published      April 15, 1998 by St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world’s most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.

For over forty years, generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot’s marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.

In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are heart-wrenchingly difficult, such as one to an old man in the village whose very ill dog is his only friend and companion, some are lighthearted and fun, such as Herriot’s periodic visits to the overfed and pampered Pekinese Tricki Woo who throws parties and has his own stationery, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening, such as Herriot’s recollections of poor farmers who will scrape their meager earnings together to be able to get proper care for their working animals. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.Foster

Foster by Claire Keegan

Published August 18, 2022 by Faber & Faber

It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas’ house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household – where everything is so well tended to – and the summer must come to an end.

Adapted into the Oscar-nominated film adaptation, An Cailín Ciúin / The Quiet Girl

From the author of the Booker-shortlisted Small Things Like These, a heartbreaking, haunting story of childhood, loss and love by one of Ireland’s most acclaimed writers.

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Published October 3, 2025 by Simon & Schuster

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…

His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers.

Theo visits the local coffeehouse, where ninety-two pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits of the people of Golden done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their “rightful owners.” With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered.

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Published June 16, 1990 by Vintage

Willa Cather’s best-known novel is an epic–almost mythic–story of a single human life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert. In 1851 Father Jean Marie Latour comes to serve as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour spreads his faith in the only way he knows–gently, all the while contending with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Out of these events, Cather gives us an indelible vision of life unfolding in a place where time itself seems suspended.

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

Published August 30, 2001 by Counterpoint

“This is a book about Heaven,” says Jayber Crow, “but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell.” It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town’s barber. Orphaned at age ten, Jayber Crow’s acquaintance with loneliness and want have made him a patient observer of the human animal, in both its goodness and frailty. He began his search as a “pre-ministerial student” at Pigeonville College. There, freedom met with new burdens and a young man needed more than a mirror to find himself. But the beginning of that finding was a short conversation with “Old Grit,” his profound professor of New Testament Greek.

“You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out―perhaps a little at a time.”

“And how long is that going to take?”

“I don’t know. As long as you live, perhaps.”

“That could be a long time.”

“I will tell you a further mystery,” he said. “It may take longer.” Wendell Berry’s clear-sighted depiction of humanity’s gifts―love and loss, joy and despair―is seen though his intimate knowledge of the Port William Membership.

Book Review: The Parisian Chapter by Janet Skeslien Charles

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Expected Publish Date May 5, 2026 by Atria Books

Paris, 1995: It’s been five years since Lily Jacobsen and her best friend Mary Louise arrived in Paris from their small town of Froid, Montana. Determined to establish themselves as artists—Lily, a novelist, and Mary Louise, a painter—they share a tiny walkup and survive on brie and baguettes.

When Mary Louise abruptly moves out, Lily feels alone in the city of light for the first time and must find a new way to support herself. She lands a job as a programs manager at the American Library in Paris, following in the footsteps of Odile, her beloved French neighbor in Montana who told her stories of heroic World War II librarians when Lily was growing up.

Here in the storied halls of the ALP, she meets an incredible cast of characters—her favorite author, quirky coworkers, broke students, trailing spouses, haughty trustees, and devoted volunteers—each with their own stories… and agendas. Lily often seeks solace in the Afterlife, the library’s attic that’s home to hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, and there, she discovers a box of archives that may be a link to the past: to Odile’s own Parisian chapter.

This moving, propulsive story offers a panoramic view of a real historic institution, and revisits characters from both of Janet Skeslien Charles’s beloved novels. Lily’s story is a love letter to the artist’s life, friendship, and leaving home only to find it again.

My thoughts:

Having read and reviewed “The Paris Library,” I was thrilled to receive a kindle copy of “The Parisian Chapter” from the Publishers. This book is a continuation story about the library and its employees, volunteers, trustees and members. The library has a history and despite the employees and others grumbles, they must work together to save the library.

In the beginning of the chapters, presents a brief story of the characters connected to the library, with Lily Jacobsen being the protagonist. While there are a lot of characters introduced, I was able to keep up with each one of them and their point of views helped developed their views and personalities. My favorite characters were Tolstoy, Meg, David, Marius, and Lorenzo.  Not Lily, you ask? While protagonists are often a favorite, and despite seeing her growth and wiliness to self-reflect and change the errors of her ways, there is something about her that bothered me that I can’t explain. That said, I was cheering for her and I admired her hard work and determination to help with the survival of the library.

There are so many beautiful elements to this story, including healings of relationships and forgiveness. I do hope we will be seeing more stories that centers around the library, and the people from different walks of life it has brought together. A must read!  

Stephanie

Side Bar: This story contains open door romance, which I skipped over. I prefer closed door romance.

Thank you, Atria Books for an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

Check out my review for The Paris Library HERE.

Book Review: In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer

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Timeless #2

Published May 2, 2023 by Bethany House Publishers

Maggie inherited a gift from her time-crossing parents that allows her to live three separate lives in 1861, 1941, and 2001. Each night she goes to sleep-in one-time period and wakes up in another. Until, that is, she turns twenty-one, when she will have to forfeit two of those lives–and everyone she knows in them–forever.

In 1861, Maggie is the daughter of an influential senator at the outbreak of the Civil War, navigating a capital full of Southern spies and wounded soldiers. In 1941, she is a Navy nurse, grappling with her knowledge of the future when she’s asked to join a hospital ship being sent to Pearl Harbor. And in 2001, she’s a brilliant young medical student, fulfilling her dream of becoming a surgeon, yet unable to use her modern skills in her other paths.

While Maggie has sworn off romance until she makes her final choice, an intriguing man tugs at her heart in each era. The mysterious British gentleman. The prickly, demanding doctor. The charming young congressman. She’s drawn to each man in different ways, only complicating the impossible decision she must make, which looms ever closer.

**********

I can’t quite find the right words to describe how deeply moving, thought provoking and a wonderfully written this story is told. One must read the book for themselves to experience its offerings. Meyer has a God given gift to reach readers’ hearts and she deftly pulls you into the story as if you were the time crosser, experiencing firsthand the realities of the deeply layered events that was unfolding and the potential risks of losing everything you hold dear in life with a single life altering decision.

Often times with multiple timelines, world building often feels like a massive pile on, and the narrative is weighed down with too many complex moving parts. In this story, Meyer effortlessly weaves not one or two, but three different frameworks of world building in highly charged historic events in America history.

Meyer’s knowledge of historic events is shown throughout the story and how the theme of multiple wars converged in this story with life altering effects, was well conceived and thought provoking.

Meyer examines human traits, that too often, people are uncomfortable with talking about in an open and honest way. Especially for Christians in fear of judgment from others. For example, Maggie has an internal emotional conflict with being angry at God and the raw human side one may feel with that experience was honest, refreshing, and I highly appreciate Meyer for including this in the story.

I appreciated the family connections and historic implications from the first book to this book. I wonder, will the family connections be part of the whole series? I can’t wait to find out!

As the story built, the decision Maggie would have to make about which life she would choose was intense! I kept weighing the path she would choose and wondered how she would say her goodbyes in the others, left pondering what I would have done if I were in her shoes.

I felt such emotional intensity throughout this story and I have to admit, at first, I was a bit taken back by that fact. I didn’t expect the story to impact me that way on a personal level. That certainly shows how engaged I was with Maggie’s’ time crossing, the events unfolding, and the other characters’ lives.

When I finished reading the story, I couldn’t help think how will this series would get better because this book is outstanding. My hope for this series is that Meyer keeps adding to it!

Stephanie  

An Early Glance: When Mikan Road Was Ours by D.K. Furutani

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Expected Publication July 28, 2026 by Atria Books

This past Monday, I received an invite via email to read and review, “When Mikan Road Was Ours” from Atria Books,and I am truly thankful, and honored for the invitation to be an early reader for this story. I enjoy reading multi-generational family stories and I’ve been wanting to look more into how Japanese American Citizens were treated during World War II. I am already certain this story is going to be powerful and thought-provoking.

This book is available for pre-order!

Stephanie

Winner of Simon & Schuster’s Books Like Us contest!

Amidst a sweltering Los Angeles heat wave, Murano, a reclusive high school English teacher, is muddling through life. Reeling from his father’s death as well as his own recent cancer diagnosis, he spends his days grading papers and appeasing disgruntled parents while painstakingly counting down the days until summer vacation.

However, the monotony breaks when he inherits his great-uncle Benjiro’s unpublished memoir. He expects the pages to be a grim reminder of his position as the half-white son of the black sheep of the family. Instead, as he reads, Murano is whisked away to 1930s California, to a time when the Murano family was inseparable, relishing life on their bucolic farmland. As Murano is introduced to family members he never knew existed and confronted with the hidden complexities of the past, he is pulled close to the Japanese identity he’s dismissed all of his life.

Ultimately faced with more questions about his fractured family than answers, Murano becomes determined to discover the reasons behind his family’s dissolution following their incarceration in American concentration camps during World War II, no matter what hidden truths he might uncover about his ancestors or himself.

About the Author:

Born and raised in Southern California, D.K. Furutani is the author of When Mikan Road Was Ours, winner of Simon & Schuster’s third-annual Books Like Us contest. His work has received support from the Periplus Collective and the Tin House workshops. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and three cats.

Reader’s Log 69: A Weekend of Reading and Studying

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This morning, I have been reflecting on the season change and the warmer weather we have been experiencing in the South and I’m looking forward to what summer will bring. This weekend, I plan on reading and studying with a renewed sense of gratefulness for God’s Word and the access to seminary books from my father’s theological library that I would otherwise not be able to afford.

This weekend, I’m also reading two fiction books and one of them I had started a couple weeks ago-I think-and had to put aside temporary to finish up two others for a review deadline. The days were getting away from me. I feel like that tends to happen when you are engrossed in books, and you will not get any complaints on that score from me.

I’m also starting an in-depth Bible study in the book of Hebrews this weekend, so I may share what that looks like a little later in the month or next month.

Have a blessed weekend!

Stephanie

The two books are as follow:

You Belong Here Now by Dianna Rostad

Published April 6, 2021 by William Morrow Paperbacks

In this brilliant debut reminiscent of William Kent Krueger’s This Tender Land and Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours, three orphans’ journey westward from New York City to the Big Sky Country of Montana, hoping for a better life where beautiful wild horses roam free.

Montana 1925: Three brave kids from New York board the orphan train headed west. An Irish boy who lost his whole family to Spanish flu, a tiny girl who won’t talk, and a volatile young man who desperately needs to escape Hell’s Kitchen. They are paraded on platforms across the Midwest to work-worn folks and journey countless miles, racing the sun westward. Before they reach the last rejection and stop, the kids come up with a daring plan, and they set off toward the Yellowstone River and grassy mountains where the wild horses roam.

Fate guides them toward the ranch of a family stricken by loss. Broken and unable to outrun their pasts in New York, the family must do the unthinkable in order to save them.

Nara, the daughter of a successful cattleman, has grown into a brusque spinster who refuses the kids on sight. She’s worked hard to gain her father’s respect and hopes to run their operation, but if the kids stay, she’ll be stuck in the kitchen.

Nara works them without mercy, hoping they’ll run off, but they buck up and show spirit, and though Nara will never be motherly, she begins to take to them. So, when Charles is jailed for freeing wild horses that were rounded up for slaughter, and an abusive mother from New York shows up to take the youngest, Nara does the unthinkable, risking everything she holds dear to change their lives forever.

In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer

Timeless #2

Published May 2, 2023 by Bethany House Publishers

Maggie inherited a gift from her time-crossing parents that allows her to live three separate lives in 1861, 1941, and 2001. Each night she goes to sleep-in one-time period and wakes up in another. Until, that is, she turns twenty-one, when she will have to forfeit two of those lives–and everyone she knows in them–forever.

In 1861, Maggie is the daughter of an influential senator at the outbreak of the Civil War, navigating a capital full of Southern spies and wounded soldiers. In 1941, she is a Navy nurse, grappling with her knowledge of the future when she’s asked to join a hospital ship being sent to Pearl Harbor. And in 2001, she’s a brilliant young medical student, fulfilling her dream of becoming a surgeon, yet unable to use her modern skills in her other paths.

While Maggie has sworn off romance until she makes her final choice, an intriguing man tugs at her heart in each era. The mysterious British gentleman. The prickly, demanding doctor. The charming young congressman. She’s drawn to each man in different ways, only complicating the impossible decision she must make, which looms ever closer.

With so much on the line, how can Maggie choose just one life to keep and the rest to lose?

Reader’s Log 068: Upcoming Nonfiction Reads

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Read Lots and Read Widely

I am thrilled about reading these nonfiction books this late spring and through the summer. They have been on my wish-list for some time now and one of the many things I like about Strauss’s and Ibrahim’s works are how accessible they are to readers across the board-if you will.

If you would like to check out interviews with these historians, first check out Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster at Triggernometry interview with Strauss, and interview the interview Ibrahim.

Are you a nonfiction reader? How often do you read nonfiction?

Stephanie

The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry S. Strauss

Published March 21, 2023 by Simon & Schuster

Following Caesar’s assassination and Mark Antony’s defeat of the conspirators who killed Caesar, two powerful men remained in Rome—Antony and Caesar’s chosen heir, young Octavian, the future Augustus. When Antony fell in love with the most powerful woman in the world, Egypt’s ruler Cleopatra, and thwarted Octavian’s ambition to rule the empire, another civil war broke out. In 31 BC one of the largest naval battles in the ancient world took place—more than 600 ships, almost 200,000 men, and one woman—the Battle of Actium. Octavian prevailed over Antony and Cleopatra, who subsequently killed themselves.

The Battle of Actium had great consequences for the empire. Had Antony and Cleopatra won, the empire’s capital might have moved from Rome to Alexandria, Cleopatra’s capital, and Latin might have become the empire’s second language after Greek, which was spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt.

In this “superbly recounted” ( The National Review ) history, Barry Strauss, ancient history authority, describes this consequential battle with the drama and expertise that it deserves. The War That Made the Roman Empire is essential history that features three of the greatest figures of the ancient world.

Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine by Barry S. Strauss

Published March 5, 2019 by Simon & Schuster

Barry Strauss tells the story of the Roman Empire from rise to reinvention, from Augustus, who founded the empire, to Constantine, who made it Christian and moved the capital east to Constantinople.

During these centuries Rome gained in splendor and territory, then lost both. By the fourth century, the time of Constantine, the Roman Empire had changed so dramatically in geography, ethnicity, religion, and culture that it would have been virtually unrecognizable to Augustus. Rome’s legacy remains today in so many ways, from language, law, and architecture to the seat of the Roman Catholic Church. Strauss examines this enduring heritage through the lives of the men who shaped it: Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, Vespasian, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Diocletian and Constantine.

Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World’s Mightiest Empire by Barry S. Strauss

Expected publication (Paperback) August 18, 2026 by Simon & Schuster

I have pre-ordered the paperback. Can’t wait to get it in the mail!

A new history of two centuries of Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire, drawing on recent archeological discoveries and new scholarship by leading historian Barry Strauss.

Jews vs. Rome is a gripping account of one of the most momentous eras in human the two hundred years of ancient Israel’s battles against Rome that reshaped Judaism and gave rise to Christianity. Barry Strauss vividly captures the drama of this era, highlighting the courageous yet tragic uprisings, the geopolitical clash between the empires of Rome and Persia, and the internal conflicts among Jews.

Between 63 BCE and 136 CE, the Jewish people launched several revolts driven by deep-seated religious beliefs and resentment towards Roman rule. Judea, a province on Rome’s eastern fringe, became a focal point of tension and rebellion. Jews vs. Rome recounts the three major the Great Revolt of 66–70 CE, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, culminating in the Siege of Masada, where defenders chose mass suicide over surrender; the Diaspora Revolt, ignited by heavy taxes across the Empire; and the Bar Kokhba Revolt. We meet pivotal figures such as Simon Bar Kokhba but also some of those lesser-known women of the era like Berenice, a Jewish princess who played a major role in the politics of the Great Revolt and was improbably the love of Titus—Rome’s future emperor and the man who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.

Today, echoes of those battles resonate as the Jewish nation faces new challenges and conflicts. Jews vs. Rome offers a captivating narrative that connects the past with the present, appealing to anyone interested in Rome, Jewish history, or the compelling true tales of resilience and resistance.

Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West by Raymond Ibrahim

Published August 28, 2018 by Grand Central Publishing

A sweeping history of the often-violent conflict between Islam and the West, shedding a revealing light on current hostilities

The West and Islam–the sword and the scimitar–have clashed since the mid-seventh century, when, according to Muslim tradition, the Byzantine emperor rejected Prophet Muhammad’s order to abandon Christianity and convert to Islam, unleashing a centuries-long jihad on Christendom.

Sword and Scimitar chronicles the significant battles that arose from this ages-old Islamic jihad, beginning with the first major Islamic attack on Christian land in 636, through the occupation of the Middle East that prompted the Crusades and the far-flung conquests of the Ottoman Turks, to the European colonization of the Muslim world in the 1800s, when Islam largely went on the retreat–until its reemergence in recent times. Using original sources in Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Turkish, preeminent historian Raymond Ibrahim describes each battle in vivid detail and explains the effect the outcome had on larger historical currents of the age and how the military lessons of the battle reflect the cultural fault-lines between Islam and the West.

The majority of these landmark battles are now forgotten or considered inconsequential. Yet today, as the West faces a resurgence of this enduring Islamic jihad, Sword and Scimitar provides the needed historical context to understand the current relationship between the West and the Islamic world, and why the Islamic State is merely the latest chapter of an old history.

Book Review: Murder at the Highland Games (Ally McKinley Mystery #4) by Dee MacDonald

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Expected Publish Date: April 16, 2026 by Bookouture

The story begins with the annual Locharran Highland Games in Scotland where Ally McKinley, the villagers and many others are enjoying the competitions, and all the sudden, they hear a shot fired and an unpopular competitor, Archie Armstrong, is killed while in the middle of tossing the caber, and from there on, tensions are running high, many of the villagers are not empathetic to the mans death-which makes many of them a suspect to the murder-including a few members of Archie’s family members- and Ally must discover the killer to not only one murder but two before the killer strikes again!

I have now read two books in this series -not in order- and I’m enjoying reading them thus far. Dee MacDonald cleverly weaves a good murder mystery and her characters are well developed. Her whodunits are so well plotted, I’ve had and entertaining time trying to solve the crimes along-side Ally. I can’t wait to solve another crime alongside Ally!

Stephanie

Full Description of the Book:

When a fun day out in the Scottish Highlands turns fatal, there’s only one solution: call for Ally McKinley!

It’s the annual Locharran Highland Games and Ally McKinley has never seen her little village so busy or excited. Everyone’s enjoying the Scottish dancing, the bagpipes, and cheering the competitors on. But there’s a hitch in the proceedings when champion challenger Archie Armstrong drops dead in the middle of tossing the caber. Rushing to the scene, Ally is the first to spot that Archie’s death was no accident – this was murder!

Ally finds herself into a new investigation and soon discovers that more than one person may have had a murderous motive, including some of the current residents of her cosy little guesthouse. Patti, Archie’s glamorous wife, seems intent on acting like the perfect widow, but rumors of infidelity have been flying. Is her performance too good? Could her uncle, cranky gamekeeper Angus, have finally snapped, furious at Archie’s treatment of his niece? Or was it one of the frustrated local competitors, desperate to end Archie’s winning streak?

Determined to crack the case and fueled by more than one piece of her famous shortbread, Ally begins to narrow down her list of possible culprits, but is thrown for a loop when her chief suspect is found dead by the loch, a mysterious and threatening note clutched in their fingers. With a killer at large, can Ally finally uncover the truth? Or, as the sun sets over the highlands, will this game be her last?

Side Bar: There is some profanity in this story but not so much, it is scattered through the book.

Reader’s Log 067: Reading in Those Dreary Moments

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This past Monday, the weather outside was dreary and cold in the south. One’s mood could turn down the melancholy road, and I was heading in that direction by the afternoon. Before that feeling rooted itself, I told myself it was a good day to settle down with a book and a cup of tea. I started reading, “Out of Time” by Irene Hannon this past Sunday night, and I was trying my hardest to keep my eyes open to continue reading. I couldn’t wait to pick it up back. One would think by reading the book description, this story would not be a cozy read. The weather is hot and concerning incidents that set the mood, occurred immediately and continued. Perhaps, those details distracted me from the weather outside. Whatever the case, I couldn’t put this book down. I was completely immersed.

I love a good suspense story that entails a small town, an old mystery, treasure, isolated estate, and journals with cultural, historical elements. Irene Hannon’s story is just the ticket.

Don’t you just love it when you find an author whose stories you haven’t read before and then you get excited about searching other books by them? I do!

Most likely by the time you see this post, I will have finished this story and I look forward to sharing my thoughts more on the book and what other stories I’ve chosen to read by this author.   

Stephanie

About the Book:

Book #3 in the Undaunted Courage Series

For historical anthropologist Cara Tucker, the chance to spend a sabbatical semester on a remote country estate–with full access to its vast library and centuries-old journals–is a dream come true . . . until a series of strange incidents begin to turn her dream into a nightmare. Someone, it seems, does not want anyone diving into the past and unearthing old ghosts.

Sheriff Brad Adams has seen his share of suspicious activities during his law enforcement career, but what’s happening at the isolated estate is out-of-pattern in his quiet, rural Missouri county. Beset by danger, Cara and Brad work together to try to untangle the clues. But when the peril turns lethal, the situation takes on a new urgency, and their mission is Find out who is behind the string of menacing incidents before the perpetrator strikes another deadly blow. 

About the Author:

Irene Hannon, who writes both contemporary romance and romantic suspense, is the author of more than 65 novels. Her books have been honored with three coveted RITA awards from Romance Writers of America (the “Oscar” of romance fiction) and she is a member of that organization’s elite Hall of Fame. She has also received a Career Achievement award from RT Book Reviews for her entire body of work. Other awards for individual books include National Readers’ Choice, HOLT Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, Retailers Choice, Booksellers’ Best, and Reviewers’ Choice from RT Book Reviews. She is also a two-time Christy award finalist.

Millions of her books have been sold worldwide, and her novels have been translated into multiple languages.

A former corporate communications executive with a Fortune 500 company, Irene now writes full time. To learn more about Irene and her books, visit www.irenehannon.com.

Book Review: Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict

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Publish date: March 24, 2026 by St. Martin’s Press

1920’s London was enthralled by the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Filled with priceless statues, jewels, and the gold-encased mummy of the boy Pharaoh himself, the burial site unleashed a fascination with the ancient world and revolutionized the world of archeology.

The discovery was made by Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle and his associate, famed archeologist Howard Carter. What no one knows is that without the pioneering spirit of Lady Evelyn Herbert, Carnarvon’s daughter, the tomb might never have been found. As a young woman, Evelyn was fascinated by the story of Hatshepsut, a woman who had to assume the guise of a man in order to rule Egypt. Although she brought peace and prosperity to Egypt, her male successors ruthlessly and thoroughly erased her name from history.

Lady Evelyn’s ambition to find the tomb of Egypt’s first woman ruler exposes her to life-threatening danger and pits her against archeologists who refuse to believe the tomb can be found―and certainly not by a woman. Refusing to give up, Evelyn is on the verge of success when she is suddenly forced to make an agonizing choice between loyalty to her beloved father and Carter and realizing the dream of a lifetime.

My thoughts:

I believe it is safe to say that I’m among thousands-if not millions who has a deep fascination of ancient Egypt stories and its archaeological findings. My first experiences with ancient Egypt stories are through the Old Testament of the Bible when I was a child, and from there it grew to discovering more stories through movies, documentaries, fiction and nonfiction books. Whenever I spot new books on the subject or historical fictional stories that take place in Egypt, I’m there for it. I was absolutely thrilled to come across “Daughter of Egypt” by Marie Benedict on NetGalley.

Alternate history stories are among my favorite to read and the story of Hatshepsut’s life is probably one of my favorites to explore out of all the other pharaohs and I’m always intrigued to read more about her life and an alternate look on how she was as a co-ruler with her half-brother Thutmose II and to speculate other theories as to why her statues were defaced after her death and so forth. More importantly, are these alternate stories worth exploring? In my opinion, it most certainly is worth it. 

In this story, Benedict give us an alternate view of Hatshepsut’s ending and to be honest, it felt a bit disjointed and flat to me even though I thought it was a good one, I am sorry to say. Her whole story throughout the book at times felt rushed, and underdeveloped. We only get glances of her life and rule as co-pharaoh alongside Thutmose III. After all, Hatshepsut’s life reign was prolific and I didn’t get a solid picture of this in the story. That said “Daughter of Egypt” has a dual timeline and perhaps to fully develop her story, it would take a series. Whatever the case, I still respect the author’s endeavor and she is a great story-teller. Despite my misgivings, Hatshepsut’s story held my attention and her relationship with Thutmose, and alternate ending would make for intriguing conversations.

The 1920’s story was the strongest and I’m deeply interested in Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle and archaeologist Howard Carter explorations of the Valley of the Kings, their love for Egypt and preserving its history and artifacts is deeply felt in this story. I appreciated how Benedict portrayed the funding of these expeditions, their personal and professions struggles, and the political landscape of the time, and what it meant for Carnarvon and Carter work, and for the citizens of Egypt.

Lady Evelyn’s story arc was fantastically written and her station in life is how I imagine it would be for women of her class. Evelyn’s love for archaeology and search for finding the tomb of Hatshepsut was at odds with her mother’s focus on seeing her daughter married to the “right” man of good standing, was entertaining and well-drawn out.

I did learn a few historical facts that I didn’t know about beforehand. For example, Lady Evelyn was a real person and she was indeed an important figure in the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb! How in the world did I miss that!

I highly recommend you read this enjoyable and entertaining story and I know without a doubt many readers will love this book. Be sure to read the author’s notes! I plan on getting a physical copy when the book is published. Can’t wait! 

Stephanie

I rated this book four stars.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC through NetGalley.

Reader’s Log 066: A Woman’s Place Is in the Story by Sandra L Glahn (Seeing Women in the Biblical Narrative)

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IVP Academic sent me an invite via email a few days ago, asking me if I would like to read and review “A Woman’s Place Is in the Story,” and I was thrilled to accept the invite. What perfect timing, I thought. I first heard of Dr. Glahn’s work through Dr. Carmen Joy Imes and I have a few of Glahn’s books already on my wish-list, including, “Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament.”

Recently, I have been thrilled to have discovered many female and male scholars addressing this topic, and I’m looking forward to the continuous journey in reading and studying these much needed works.

When I read the book description and the first few pages of “A Woman’s Place Is in the Story,” it was like the author was reading my thoughts I’ve had over the years about women of the Bible, in the Old Testament and New Testament. I am certain it will be thus for many women and men who come across this book. A big thank you to IVP Academic for the advanced copy! – Stephanie

About the book:

Expected Publish Date: Aug 25, 2026 by IVP Academic

We Misread the Bible When Women Are Left Out

Ignore them, marginalize them, or dismiss them as brief cameos—these have long been common approaches to Christian teaching on the women of the Bible. The result? We miss their significance in the biblical story and, in turn, misunderstand Scripture itself. Scholar Sandra Glahn challenges this pattern, calling readers to recognize how biblical narrative actually works. When we do, we see that women are not incidental to the story but essential to it.

In A Woman’s Place Is in the Story, Glahn models how we can better read stories in their literary context and understand why the original authors included what they did. She reexamines both well-known and neglected passages, such as Tamar and Judah, the Hebrew midwives, Abigail, and the Samaritan woman at the well. Even when they appear briefly, women in Scripture move the plot forward and reveal profound truths about who God is.

In this book, you’ll explore how leaving women out of the biblical story changes the plot and meaning that was intended, how distorting women as they appear in the biblical story affects the way we view women in general, and how misunderstanding how women appear in the story affects the way we view God.

Women have always been part of the whole story of God. With A Woman’s Place Is in the Story, discover how rightly seeing women in the biblical narrative leads to more faithful interpretation and application for the benefit of all God’s people.

It’s time to tell the whole story.

Author the Author:

Dr. Sandra Glahn is a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. She is the author or co-author of more than twenty-five books, including Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament and her forthcoming work (August 2026), A Woman’s Place Is in the Story: Seeing Women in the Biblical Narrative.