Posted April 7, 2021 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
A Castaway in Cornwall by
Julie Klassen Publisher: Bethany House (2020 (December 1))
eARC (400 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Also by this author: The Painter's Daughter,
The Secret of Pembrooke Park Reading Challenges: Read 2020 Synopsis
Laura Callaway daily walks the windswept Cornwall coast, known for many shipwrecks but few survivors. She feels like a castaway, set adrift on the tides of fate by the deaths of her parents and left wanting answers. Now living with her parson uncle and his parsimonious wife in North Cornwall, Laura is viewed as an outsider even as she yearns to belong somewhere again.
When ships sink, wreckers scour the shore for valuables, while Laura searches for clues to the lives lost. She has written letters to loved ones and returned keepsakes to rightful owners. She collects seashells and mementos, and when a man is washed ashore, she collects him too.
As Laura and a neighbor care for the castaway, the mystery surrounding him grows. He has abrasions and a deep cut that looks suspiciously like a knife wound, and he speaks in careful, educated English, yet his accent seems odd. Other clues wash ashore, and Laura soon realizes he is not who he seems to be. Their attraction grows, and while she longs to return the man to his rightful home, evidence against him mounts. With danger pursuing them from every side, will Laura ever find the answers and love she seeks?
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2020
Posted March 31, 2021 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Nothing Short of Wondrous by
Regina Scott Series: American Wonders Collection #2 Publisher: Revell (2020 {October 20})
eARC (336 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2020 Synopsis
It is 1886, and the government has given the US Cavalry control of Yellowstone. For widowed hotelier Kate Tremaine, the change is a welcome one. She knows every inch of her wilderness home like the back of her hand and wants to see it protected from poachers and vandals.
Refused a guide by Congress, Lieutenant William Prescott must enlist Kate's aid to help him navigate the sprawling park and track down the troublemakers. But a secret from his past makes him wary of the tender feelings the capable and comely widow raises in him. When her 6-year-old son is kidnapped by a poacher who wants the boy to guide him to the place where the last of the Yellowstone bison congregate, Will and Kate must work together to rescue him, save the bison, and protect the park. In doing so, they may just find that two wounded hearts can share one powerful love when God is in control.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2020
Posted January 31, 2021 in Reading / 0 Comments
If you have been a long-time reader of the blog, you know I love a good reading challenge… and so here goes… these are the challenges that I have picked for 2021.
Last Updated: 20 June 2021
1. Annual Goodreads Challenge
I have actually not been reading very much at all. My 2016 Goodreads goal was 100, 2017 was 75, 2018 was 40, 2019 was 20, 2020 was 25, and this year it is set at 25 again… but I really do hope to pass that!
The list of books for this reading challenge can be found on My Bookshelf page where I list all the books I read each year.
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Tagged as Read 2021
Posted November 24, 2020 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
The Church and the Middle Ages by Steve Weidenkopf
Series: Reclaiming Catholic History
Publisher: Ave Maria Press (2020 (December 25))
eARC (192 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2020
Synopsis
Few periods of history are more maligned and misunderstood than the Middle Ages—three-hundred years of division, shifting centers of power, and tensions both within the Church and also between the Church and the secular rulers of the time.
In an engaging and easy-to-understand style, historian and author Steve Weidenkopf highlights some of our greatest saints—Francis, Dominic, Anselm, Aquinas, and Catherine of Siena—and dispels nine commonly accepted misconceptions about the era, which was an exciting period of enduring faith, reform, cultural achievement, as well as defeat and division.
With vibrant accounts of pivotal events and inspiring stories of the people who shaped the Church during the eleventh through fourteenth centuries, Steve Weidenkopf provides a clearer picture of an era where critics used events such as the Crusades and the relocation of the papacy to France to undermine the Church. The period also provided the hallmarks of Christian civilization—universities, cathedrals, castles, and various religious orders.
Weidenkopf also chronicles the development of Christian civilization in Europe and explores the contributions of St. Bruno, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Bridget of Sweden.
In The Church and the Middle Ages, you will learn that:
- Most Crusaders were motivated by piety and service, not greed.
- Heresy was both a church and civil issue and medieval inquisitors were focused on the eternal salvation of the accused.
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The Church preached against the mistreatment of Jews.
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Priestly celibacy was practiced long before the twelfth century.
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Serfs were never kept as slaves.
Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History series, edited by Mike Aquilina and written by leading authors and historians, bring Church history to life, debunking the myths one era at a time.
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Tagged as 5 star, Read 2020
Posted October 21, 2020 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
Series: Winternight #3
Publisher: Del Rey (2019)
eBook (384 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Also by this author: The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower
Also in this series: The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower
Reading Challenges: Read 2020
Synopsis
Following their adventures in The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya and Morozko return in this stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, battling enemies mortal and magical to save both Russias, the seen and the unseen.
Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.
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Tagged as 5 star, Read 2020
