CLASSICS Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery Pub. 1923 | Middle grade | Read September 2017 Emma by Jane Austen British lit., romance | Pub. 1815 | Read ? (discussion was at Holmes Lake) Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy British lit., romance | Pub. 1874 | Read December 2024 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Pub. 1818 | Read 2018? (discussion was at Nicole’s house)
HISTORICAL FICTION 1st Century The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd Nazareth | Pub. 2020 | Read October 202 12th Century Godric by Frederick Buechner England | Pub. 1980 | Read November 2021 16th Century Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell England | Pub. 2020 | Read May 2023 | Watched movie February 2026 17th Century North Woods by Daniel Mason
CONTEMPORARY FICTION Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Pub. 2013 | Read January 2015 Anxious People by Fredrik Backman Pub. 2019 | Read May 2021 Beartown by Fredrik Backman Pub. 2016 | Read July 2018 Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata Japanese lit. | Pub. 2016 | Read March 2021 Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner Pub. 1987 | Read March 2015
Finished reading: Awake by Jen Hatmaker 📚
2025 | Memoir
📖 (library)
✭✭
Finished reading: Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen 📚
2020 | Christian, mental health
I know you’re not really supposed to do so, but I read this primarily with someone else in mind (not toxic thoughts about this person, but helping her overcome her own toxic thoughts). Overall, I thought it was pretty solid. I am not recommending it, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it either, if this kind of book is your jam.
🎧 (Libby)
✭✭✭
Finished reading: The Black Wolf by Louise Penny 📚
2025 | Mystery, number 20 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series
I’m ambivalent about this series. Twenty books in, there is too much repetition, too little character growth, and too much really cheesy writing (I was going to flag examples to complain about, but I didn’t bother). And yet, I like the familiarity of the characters and the reliability of the setting. I keep thinking I might be done with the series, but what I do like about it still outweighs what I don’t.
📖 (library)
✭✭3/4
Finished reading: The Kitchen Madonna by Rumer Godden 📚
1967 | Children’s
I was so taken by this sweet story. And the illustrations were gorgeous as well.
📖 (library)
✭✭✭✭✭
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.
Finished reading: The Blizzard Voices by Ted Kooser 📚
1986 | Poetry, historical fiction (The Children’s Blizzard, January 12, 1888)
I picked this up at Bluestem a few weeks ago, and a post reminded me of the anniversary of the blizzard (137 years), so I ended up reading it on that day. Having grown up in Nebraska, I have been fascinated and haunted by the stories of the devastating blizzard. These poems were, with one exception, stories I had not heard before, and I really enjoyed reading them.
📖 (own)
✭✭✭✭✭
Finished reading: Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) by Leigh Bardugo 📚
2015 | YA, fantasy, heist
I do love a good heist story. And this cast of characters was really fun. I don’t love that it ended on a cliffhanger because by the end of the book I felt like I needed a bit of a break from the genre–nothing bad, just need a breath after 450+ pages.
📖 (library)
✭✭✭✭
Finished reading: Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda 📚
2013 | Mystery/thriller (but very much character-driven and not at all plot-driven)
This book is set in Red Hook, Brooklyn, just as it was beginning to be gentrified, and has such a strong sense of place–the neighborhood feels like a character itself. The large cast of characters reminded me of a James McBride book (a good thing). Though the premise seems like this will be a thriller (two fifteen-year-old girls take a raft out on the river, only one returns), it’s much slower-paced than a proper thriller (an interesting and good thing), and even the mystery takes a backseat to the character development.
🎧 (Libby)
✭✭✭
Finished reading: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy 📚
1905 | Historical fiction (French Revolution), classics January bookclub pick
This was my second time reading this, and I liked it again, but not quite as much as the first time I read it (several years ago). Baroness Orczy is aggressively pro-aristocracy, and it’s a bit much at times. Setting aside actual politics and going along with the which-is-which of good guys/bad guys within the story as it is written, I do love stories of tricksters outsmarting their opponents. My husband learned that the Scarlet Pimpernel is widely considered the first costumed superhero, which is an interesting way to read this one. I also learned that it was originally written as a play, and that tracks.
📖 (own)/🎧 (Hoopla)
✮✮✮ 1/2
Finished reading: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans 📚
2025 | Epistolary novel, contemporary fiction
I absolutely loved this one. I found myself processing long after, as if Sybil were someone I had actually known. Also, it made me want to write letters. A new favorite.
📖 (library)
✭✭✭✭✭
Finished reading: The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis 📚
2025 | Historical fiction (Hatshepsut-like pharoah), mystery/thriller (but lowkey), dual timeline (1930s, 1978)
🎧 (Libby)
✭✭✭✭
A bit more than a week into thinking about a longer-term reading project, I have thoughts. What is working: I have started both War and Peace (first time) and The Brothers Karamozov (again!), reading at the pace of one chapter a day. W&P is 361 chapters, and TBK is 96 chapters (in the edition I’m reading). I am loving them both at this pace–just enough that I’m not forgetting day-to-day what is happening and also leaves me wanting a little more without getting overwhelmed.
I’ve been thinking for a while about starting another long-term reading project. I know about myself that I don’t necessarily need to complete a reading project to enjoy it, but I like the idea of planning it out and following as long as it remains enjoyable. As an example of what I mean, here’s a list of reading projects I’ve had going in the past (I doubt this is a complete list):
Today I had an appetizer that I wanted to add to my Favorite Appetizers in Lincoln list. Up to now, that list has lived exclusively in my head. but now I’m giving it a place on the blog. Beet Fries at Piedmont Bistro Togarashi seasoning / kewpie mayo / chili apricot sauce / cilantro oil Chicken Tempura at The Blue Orchid Tempura-battered chicken sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.
Currently reading: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury 📚
This book is different than I remembered–more strangely written and more sinister. It feels like a good October read, but I’m not loving it as much as I did the first time through.
A confession of sin:
Father, you tell us in your Word that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. We confess that we have frequently relaxed our faith. We have allowed ourselves to become cynical, and our cynicism has boiled over with slander, criticism, prayerlessness, and pessimism. How easily we’ve allowed ourselves to crumple under the stresses of our lives. Forgive us for our smallness of faith. In your mercy, hear us, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
— from The Worship Sourcebook
Flowers from a dear friend’s garden this morning. Beauty is a balm.
