When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford legend and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and against all odds, finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy. My daughter suggested I read Becoming Mrs. Lewis, so I added it to my ridiculously long TBR pile. I’m really glad I did. I’ve long been […]
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The Tobacco Wives Book Review
This historical debut set in 1946 North Carolina follows a young female seamstress who uncovers dangerous truths about the Big Tobacco empire ruling the American South. Maddie Sykes has just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. She is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt’s clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives. But she soon learns the town isn’t quite the carefree paradise; it seems a trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems. Maddie wants to report what she […]
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Vortex Book Review
Seven years ago, Mia Briscoe was at a frat party with her best friend Serena when a fire broke out. Everyone was accounted for except Serena. She was never heard from or seen again. When an old photo taken at the frat party gives her clues, Mia realizes she knows just where to look. She enlists FBI agent Sherlock’s help to uncover a sinister string of events going all the way back to that disastrous party. But some very powerful—and very dangerous—people will do anything to keep the past buried. CIA Operative Olivia Hildebrandt is a team leader on a mission in Iran to exfiltrate a betrayed undercover operative. She’s […]
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The Women’s March Stumbled
It’s always frustrated me it took women so long to gain the vote. More than a dozen countries gave us the right to vote before the United States; that’s mind-boggling to me. I’d like to think I would have been a suffragist back in the day, but I’m a sissy. The leaders of the movement—including Alice Paul, Maud Malone, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Lucy Burns, and Jane Adams—risked life and limb to secure passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. I was excited to read this novel and learn more about the women’s suffrage movement in the United States, but what I got was a boring book by an […]
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Songs in Ursa Major Book Review
The year is 1969, and the Bayleen Island Folk Fest is abuzz with one name: Jesse Reid. He is poised to tip from fame to legend with this one headlining performance until his motorcycle crashes on the way to the show. Jane Quinn is a Bayleen Island local whose music flows as naturally as her long blond hair. When she and her bandmates are asked to play in Jesse Reid’s place at the festival, it almost doesn’t seem real. But she plants her bare feet on the Main Stage and delivers the performance of a lifetime. A star is born. Jesse stays on the island to recover from his near-fatal […]
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The Collective – A Dark Thriller by Alison Gaylin
If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart. I’ll stay there forever. ~ Alison Gaylin, The Collective Camille Gardner is a grieving—and angry—mother who, five years after her daughter’s death, is still obsessed with the privileged young man she believes to be responsible. When her rash actions attract the attention of a secret group of women—the collective— Camille is drawn into a dark web where these mothers share their desire for justice in a world where privilege denies accountability and perpetrators emerge unscathed. Fueled by mutual rage, these women orchestrate their own brand of justice through precise, anonymous, complexly plotted and perfectly […]
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Creatures of Habit
“So how do you know if you are self-centered? Ask yourself if these things are true in your life: Do you often become defensive? Do you blame everyone else for your problems? Do you have a hard time cooperating with others at work? Are your conversations usually about yourself?” ~ Steve Poe, Creatures of Habit. In Creatures of Habit, Pastor Steve Poe helps Christians identify and break free from the destructive patterns that are keeping them from the joy-filled, flourishing life Jesus promised. True transformation is God’s work—our job is to listen, obey, and put into practice what he’s already directing us to do. Steve Poe has been a pastor […]
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All That We Carried
“Always being on guard against what might happen to you seems like kind of an exhausting way to live. When you block out the possibility of bad surprises, don’t you lose the possibility of good surprises too?” ~ Erin Bartels, All That We Carried Ten years ago, sisters Olivia and Melanie Greene were on a backcountry hiking trip when their parents were killed in a car accident. Over the years, they grew apart, each coping with the loss in her own way. Olivia plunged herself into law school, work, and an atomistic view of the world—what you see is what you get, and that’s all you get. Melanie dropped out […]
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J. P. Morgan’s Personal Librarian
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a […]
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Not for the Faint of Heart
Leigh Coulton has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defense attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilized – her life is just as unremarkable as she’d always hoped it would be. Then a case lands on her desk – defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It’s the highest profile case she’s ever been given – a case which could transform her career if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realizes it’s no coincidence that he’s chosen her as his attorney. She knows him. And he knows her. More […]
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