Reading

Nonfiction, Reading, Reviews, Young Adult

Measuring a Year – New Fave Author Reviews

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“Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.
How do you measure- measure a year?” -Rent

The answer is, of course, in books read!

I was sorry to have paused on sharing books here in 2025, but I have changed my mind! As I look back on the whole year, I can see themes of authors and series emerge in a way I wouldn’t have if I were reviewing book-by-book every few weeks/months. Turns out, in 2025 I discovered some top-notch new-to-me or actually new authors. These are the kind of authors who write books I want to hug when I’m done reading. Here’s a rundown of who kept me company last year; I’ll start with the new current authors I loved and round out the list with some vintage authors that have won my reading heart.

New and Current Authors

Kristen Perrin – Perrin writes The Castle Knoll Files, and I cannot think of a more sparkling, witty, charming, and perfectly paced present-day mystery series than this one. The third book comes out in April and I cannot wait.

Elizabeth Lowham – I listened to the audio books of the Casters and Crowns series and I loved it. The first book was especially good on audio! I really appreciated the fully developed characters and the way Lowham put together a completely believable and realistic fantasy world that did not take much effort to feel at home in as a reader.

Elisabeth Aimee Brown – What Comes of Attending the Commoners Ball was one of my favorite books of 2025. I adored the main characters, the setting, the twisty plot, all of it. It isn’t mind blowing and it isn’t going to make it onto a classics-everyone-should-read list, but it is a just-right, slightly fantastical novel to keep you company and in good spirits. You might have gathered that I like a gentle fantasy novel, but don’t want to commit to 500 years of reading a series OR get drug through a lot of gore or “spice,” AND if I have to memorize a complicated family tree, I am probably out. This book read more like a Dickensian setting novel with some magic thrown in. I am putting Brown on this favorite author list even though I only read one of her books because she was just that good and I am eagerly awaiting Brown’s second book coming out in April.

Gabrielle Meyer – The Timeless series by Gabrielle Meyer was surprisingly absorbing from page one. Honestly, I was not expecting a five star read when I picked up When the Day Comes last January, but that is what I got! Books 2-4 were more like 3.5-4 star reads, but I still enjoyed them and was pleased with the depth of historical detail; the time periods involved came alive to me. I haven’t been so fully immersed in history since I read Meet Molly at age ten.

Joy Marie Clarkson – I gained a great deal of solid perspective from Aggressively Happy, and went on to enjoy the thoughtfulness of You are a Tree. Joy Marie Clarkson’s writing style makes her the friend I didn’t know I needed. It’s amazing how she can write about what she has learned in a conversational way, without sounding like she is trying to teach you something. I loved both her books.

New-to-me Vintage Authors

O. Douglas – Since I adore D.E. Stevenson, I am not sure how I ignored this writer who was her contemporary and close friend for so long, but what a delight that I am just now beginning to enjoy her books. I started with Penny Plain which was wonderful, but when I found The Proper Place and the other Rutherford Novels, I became a die-hard fan. They are full of the kind of bright and steady, Scottish (or border-country English), midcentury characters that I love, and the focus on home as the center of the world speaks to me.

Susan Scarlett – Try as I might, I always end up despising winter by the end of January, but last winter was one of the coziest, happiest I can remember and I credit Susan Scarlett and this puzzle for much of that. Together, they taught me I can almost enjoy winter. I now own three of these literary world puzzles and they are the best puzzles ever. But I digress! Susan Scarlett is actually a pen name for Noel Streatfeild of The Shoe Books fame (and many other books). Under the Rainbow hooked me as a fan forever, and though Scarlett’s books can be a tad formulaic, and you might know what you expect to occur by the last page, how the stories unfold is always entertaining and enjoyable. The characters and settings are so likable.

Margot Benary-Isbert – How to put into words the loveliness I found in Benary-Isbert’s accounts of the Lechow family in post-WWII Germany? Germany was a grim place at that time, and that is clear in The Ark and Rowan Farm, but these are gentle books full of kindness and courage. The tone and content gives The Sound of Music vibes. I liked how these books gave me a sense of what life was like for a middle-class German family. The shift in Germany to communism is just starting to make its effects felt in the form of laws and new government, and it’s not a huge part of the story, but those details stood out to me and stuck with me. There are two more books in the series I need to get my hands on!

Honorable mention goes to Molly Clavering – I liked Susan Settles Down and Touch Not the Nettle pretty well, and would definitely recommend if you are a D.E. Stevenson fan, but I will admit Clavering’s books are slower-paced and the dialogue a bit dated so possibly hard to connect to for modern readers. Still, I will read more of her works! Even if the titles seem like odd choices to me…

That rounds out the new favorite author discoveries of 2025. If you’ve read any of these or are adding them to your TBR, let me know! For authors whose works I just read one of last year, look for a post next week. Also upcoming will be a review of middle-grade novels, some I read to myself and some I did for read-alouds.

Happy reading!

Reading, Reviews, Summer Reading

Books for Summer 2023

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I am so grateful for June. The ribbons that must make up my soul and mind get wrapped together tighter and tighter through the gloomy winter and busy spring months. And then comes June. In the fresh, hot, school-less days, I can feel the tangled ribbons loosen and iron out, straightening my thoughts and feelings. For the past two years, I have physical proof that I am healthier by June 30th. My resting heart rate is down, my insomnia is so much less, I am exercising for the joy of it. And! I remember that I have a blog and actually could think straight enough to write something!

Well, this little reading update won’t be a literary gem. But I do want to share some ideas for books you might enjoy when you find yourself with time to sink into a good read. Today, I’ll be running through some quick reviews of newer releases I have read in the last six months. In the next few days, I hope to publish another post recapping some older titles I have read (and loved because old books have my heart), and I’ve got some nonfiction titles and family reads to post about, too, so be optimistic with me and stay tuned!

New(ish) Release Recs for Your Summer TBR

Remarkably Bright Creatures – Raise your hand if you are wary of overhyped books! That’s me, too. I’m always torn between the urge to ignore overhyped books and the fear I will miss a really great one if I don’t give it a chance. I’m happy to say this one is actually worth some of the hype it received last summer. The unique narrative is what really sells it. Have you ever read a book narrated in part by a wise, old octopus? No, me neither. But it is wonderful. I also loved Tova, a no-nonsense, Scandinavian woman who is one of the main characters in the book. She gave it an A Man Call Ove vibe. I didn’t love all the main characters, mind you, and there is some adult content and language to be aware of, but overall this new release is a rare gem. 4 stars.

The Star That Always Stays – This is a lovely coming of age story, and not just because it has a most excellent title. The best way I can describe it is Eldrich’s The Birchbark House combined with Anne of Green Gables or one of the Betsy-Tacy books when Betsy is older. It’s a comfortable read but with deep questions and answers from the characters. I enjoyed it from start to finish, and gave it to my 14-year-old daughter to read when I was done. 4.5 stars.

Homecoming – If you’ve liked Kate Morton’s books up to this point, you’ll like this one, too! Morton always has a bit of a disturbing mystery centered in her plots, so fair warning on this one as well, but the rich storytelling and masterful weaving together of timelines is on point here and I always love her Australian settings. 4 stars. (Psst – my favorite Morton is still The Secret Keeper!)

Fellowship Point – Beautiful writing, and as grim as they come! The Maine setting is entrancing, and the relationship between two life-long friends so intricate and developed, but, man, is the stark New England vibe strong here. I couldn’t stop thinking about the historical Puritans and their fear of any pleasure being a set up for certain tragedy to follow as I read this book. It’s definitely worth a read if you like the style of Anne Tyler or Ann Patchett. 3 stars.

Small Things Like These – Maybe not a beach read, but add this Christmas novella to your winter read list. Set in Ireland in 1985, it is thoughtful and aching, one of those looks into the souls of humanity through the lens of a small village. 4 stars.

Beth Brower books – I got into The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion series by Beth Brower thanks to a Goodreads friend’s rave reviews and have loved it so much (thanks Dianna!). This series and Brower’s book The Q, which I also enjoyed, are included in a Kindle Unlimited Membership you can get for free for 3 months right now as a Prime member!). Emma M. Lion is perfect for fans of historical fiction with a Jane Austen vibe, and The Q is also great historical fiction in a Dickensian England. (Side note for anyone who cares, they are also very clean books, too). 4-5 stars.

And that wraps up the new release reviews from me from the last few months. I hope you are having a full summer of fun and wonderful books and that you’ll share some recommendations with me, too!

[Bonus DNF Section]

Here are two popular books that I chose not to finish and why I am okay with abandoning them after putting some time and energy to them.

First up, a Did-Not-Finish Manifesto – I fully believe that if you are reading fiction for enjoyment and/or personal edification, you must reserve the right to quit a book at any point when you’re non-negotiables arise. Those are different for every reader, but I have seen over and over again that when people go into reading with the mindset that they have to finish every book they start, they end up watching TV instead. To expect yourself to finish every book is a heavy contract between you and the book, a promise that you will let whatever the book holds in to your mind and soul. Yes, I firmly believe that, too, that we guard our souls by guarding our minds. Start a book to try it out, but quit if it doesn’t meet your criteria, no matter who recommended it to you (even me! haha). Again, everyone has different non-negotiables, and that is fully up to you, but let me encourage you to approach fiction with respect for yourself and what you want to allow in your life, because this is the power of stories – they become alive in you. That’s a truth we have to take seriously. Okay, heartfelt plea over.

A World of Curiosities – It saddens me to tell you I did not finish this Inspector Gamache book. I adore the characters in this series; I want to believe they are actually living in this world in Three Pines right this minute (but I have to tell everyone that the series isn’t all that great til book three or four and you have to stick with book one til about a third of the one in to really like it (and the audiobooks are so good)). The content in the latest installment, about child abuse and pornography, was too much for me this time. I believe Louise Penney included these topics in her series to take a stand against them, but the book was not for me.

Demon Copperhead – I read several of Kingsolver’s books for college classes and learned then she is a brilliant writer. This book won the Pulitzer prize for Fiction in 2023, but I have to admit, I quit about halfway through. The child abuse, drug abuse, treatment of women in conversation and in subject matter, and generally much of the content left me feeling icky every time I picked it up. There are important ideas raised on Appalachian poverty and the foster care system and oxycontin, among other huge and hard themes, but I prefer Hillbilly Elegy or All the Pretty Things for similar subject matter.

Children's Books, Homeschooling, Quick Lit, Reading, Reviews, Young Adult

Reading Recap – Read-Alouds Up First!

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Hi, bookish friends! It’s time for a reading recap. As promised in my last post, I’m starting off with the books we have read aloud so far this school year. For context, my kids I read to are 13, 11, 8, and 5. Below are books I have read myself in the last couple of months and some I’m in the middle of now.

Sweep – Most recently, we finished Sweep: A Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier, and wow, what a wonderful book. I loved the Victorian London setting, the perfect balance of magical realism, and the delightful characters. It is a little bit hard on the emotions, with child labor and terrible living conditions a very big part of the story, so ideally I’d recommend for eight or nine and up unless your younger children are used to drama and some sadness.

Half Magic and Magic by the Lake – We started the school year with these two books by Edward Eager and they were big hits. We particularly like this series for the old fashioned yet not dated settings and fun filled adventures, and also that the stories are about a brother and three sisters, which is the family dynamic we had going until 2020, and still feels very relatable since our little toddler brother isn’t part of all the fun and games around here quite yet. Recommend for all ages, with a content warning of a bit of cartoonish violence in book one.

The Moffats – Another family story but less magic adventure and more true to life in 1930s America, we loved being a part of the Moffats’ and getting to know their beloved yellow house and all the ups and downs of life inside it.

For the rest of the year, I am reading aloud selections of the 2-week curriculum Christmas Around the World by A Gentle Feast and doing some of the videos and crafts included instead of most of our normal school. I still have to pick a read-aloud for the coming New Year, so suggestions are very welcome!

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As for my own reading, I am currently in the middle of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry, The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama, The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, and The Dean’s Watch by Elizabeth Goudge. Reading four books at a time is pretty normal for me. I rotate them like this: early morning reading, Willard; after Willard, a bit of Goudge; then in the evening, a little bit of Obama, and then the Uriah Heep book for as long as I can keep my eyes open, which can be quite a while with such a page turner, much to my morning self’s chagrin. I get up about an hour or an hour and a half before my kids and spend way too much time in books to accomplish all the things I should, but there it is. Winter is for reading, amiright? ; )

A few others I finished since the last update:

The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Five stars! Not sure how I missed out on this as a kid or teen, maybe because it has “witch” in the title and that was not a popular topic at my house, but this Newberry winning book is amazing. I read that it is the only book to receive an unanimous vote for the medal. It’s assigned reading for my two oldest kids this spring at our homeschool academy, so it was high time I read this classic.

Miss Clare Remembers – Book 4 in the Fairacre Series by Miss Read was…a bit gloomy. I felt like impending doom settled into my thoughts during the duration of this reading. But, the strength of characters wins out, making it worth the read in the series; my longing for pictures of steadfastness and faithful hearts in literature is staying put!

That’s all for now! I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading lately, and hope you and yours have a very Christmas.

Reading, Reviews

Autumn Catch Up

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Hi, reading friends! Are you enjoying all things fallish where you are? I am always resistant to the dying of summer, but the sweetness of a new season is breaking through. My children are pumped about Trick or Treating and pumpkins on the front porch, and that is the cozy and fun kind of stuff I can delight in. Anything spookier than It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! and I’m out! =) Chillier weather and darker evenings mean we’re getting into the best time of the year for reading and reading and reading. You know I’m okay with that! In my fall reading wrap up I have one new mystery that I can highly recommend to anyone who likes to keep things on the light side when it comes to eeriness (or really, anyone, these books are hugely popular!), along with a couple more new releases that somehow tempted me out of my “old books only!” pursuit, but then I eagerly returned to the vintage books that have my heart. Those reviews are at the end of this post.

New Releases

The Bullet That Missed ~ First up, the light mystery I promised! This is the third installment of the Thursday Murder Club series, my current number one recommendation for light mysteries. I love all the characters and wrestle between speeding through the books to find out what happens and savoring my time with Joyce, Ron, Ibrahaim, and Elizabeth (my favorite character). This third book doesn’t quite hit the mark that the first two did, largely because it focuses on a few side characters that aren’t as enjoyable and the setting is less in the retirement village that is so quaint and inviting (are you getting worried that I am looking forward to senior citizenship in my thirties? Never fear, if you read the books, you’ll understand the appeal of this particular setting). Still, a top notch fun series with another book to come next fall. (Note – PG-13 content rating)

The Librarian Spy – Though quite different from Martin’s The Last Bookshop in London, which was just the kind of book I love – totally absorbing, set in one place, focused on one character, and a WWII home front story – many historical fiction fans will love The Librarian Spy. Set half in occupied WWII France and half in Lisbon, it falls into the wrenching “for fans of The Nightingale” category. The Lisbon half was gorgeous, and though I generally dislike split/alternating storylines, I can see the contrast of the two settings as critical to the story. The main characters took a while to care for, and I confess I had a hard time separating the main character in this book with the one in The Last Bookshop in London, but the second half of the novel was riveting. Violent elements in this wartime story would make it rated R on a movie rating scale, but the language and other adult content are on the PG level. Martin’s end notes about her research were one of my favorite parts of the whole book.

A Sky Painted Gold – When an author manages to write a book that lives up to the back cover claim of “I Capture the Castle meets Gatsby,” she is on the new favorite author list immediately! Laura Wood’s 2018 novel gets five stars from me. I was pleasantly surprised with the symbolism woven throughout the book, and almost every bit of this novel was a lighthearted joy. I’m now on a quest to track down all her subsequent novels. (Side note – I love, love the book I Capture the Castle but if you are only familiar with the 2003 movie, please try to erase that from your mind and read the book instead!).

Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story; Remaking a Life From Scratch – The Maine setting and writing style of this memoir was surprisingly gripping, keeping me, a person who does not love cooking, rapidly turning pages. Finding Freedom, was an inspiring read in an American Dream, pull yourself up by your bootstraps kind of way, but felt a little empty by the end. Content warning for lots of language.

The Wedding Dress Circle – This newest release from Jennifer Ryan follows the trend of The Kitchen Front as a nice, light British home front story in WWII, though a tiny bit on the too sweet, predictable side. I still like The Spies of Shilling Lane best of all her novels.

Vintage Reads

Parnassus on Wheels – This sweet and snappy book published in 1917 about a farm woman who one day abruptly decides to leave her writer/farmer brother on a whim and go on a journey for a change was just lovely. The illustrations were so perfect, I highly recommend a paper copy over Kindle if you decide to read this. Also, definitely read the introduction in order to understand some of the dated pop culture references. I probably would’ve never heard of this book if it hadn’t been mentioned a few times in Sarah Clarkson’s Book Girl, which I highly recommend.

The Foolish Gentlewoman – Margery Sharp 1940s books are a dose of peppery British aristocratic fun with a margin of social criticism that is present but doesn’t overwhelm the story. Her characters are always slightly unexpected, likable though flawed. Sharp’s tendency to leave the situations in her novels not quite to the reader’s satisfaction keep her books from falling into the romance category and more in the comedy category. I can’t quite pin her genre down, but I always enjoy it. =)

The Half Crown House – Don’t you just love a book that happens entirely in one day? I can get into that kind of slow unroll of characters and settings, because by midway through the novel, you can’t help but feel you’re right there in that day with the characters. A one-day-book proves the truth that our lives our made of minutes and our minutes are all connected so deeply to and built upon all the other minutes that have happened to us and our ancestors over years and years. Helen Ashton is an artist I’ve never read, and I loved her detailed writing style about the history of a British estate and its family, and her ability to weave a story of a whole family together in an old house in the course of one of its days. Fans of The Remains of the Day or One Find Day should check out this book.

Winona’s Pony Cart and Carney’s House Party – I love all Maud Hart Lovelace’s books and these did not disappoint. I have officially read everything she has written at least once now! Somehow, I didn’t discover Betsy-Tacy and the rest of Lovelace’s series until I had little girls of my own, but even as an adult I totally enjoy everything she wrote. My oldest daughter (13) finished all the Betsy books this summer and also highly recommends them. If you’re a fan of the Anne of Green Gables series, dive into Lovelace as soon as you can.

Jayber Crow – This 2000 novel really doesn’t count as vintage, but it is old world and firmly in the classic category, so I’m putting it here. I didn’t love Jayber Crow as a character as much as I adored Hannah Coulter, but who can read Berry’s insightful work without being changed somehow? I will never go down an interstate without mulling over how its arrival split neighbor from neighbor again, and that was just a side note to the story that contained so many thoughts on the changes in a post WWII Kentucky community during Jayber’s lifetime spent in a small town. Berry’s work always makes me ache inside at the rush and steam rolling modern age we live in now, and wish for untouched woods and fields and a paradise lost.

And a confession: I re-read Anne of Avonlea, for maybe the tenth time, maybe the 20th, who’s counting. There’s nothing like a good friendly book for end-of-the-day recovery from the stressful pace of modern life.

And that’s it for this reading round up! Next week, I’ll post the read-alouds we’ve done so far this school year. Until then, happy reading!

Everyday Life, Nonfiction, Quick Lit, Reading, Reviews

A Longing for Faithfulness and A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

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If you read my last reading update, you know I blitzed through a bunch of new releases in the first half of the summer, some good, many not. I walked into the second half of summer with deep longing for what one might flippantly call old fashioned. I was done with the FOMO kind of reading that I get when I see exciting “Summer Reading Guides” or buzzy posts about beach reads. I was craving characters, stories, or nonfiction deeply rooted in the idea of faithfulness.

Faithfulness is the word of my heart right now. Celebrating the legacy of my husband’s grandmother this summer cemented this idea for me, giving me a word for what was a growing idea in my mind. I would love to be known as half as faithful to God, my family, and my every day work as she was. (And I should add that joyful faithfulness is really the longing here, for she was no browbeaten woman, but warm and sharp and capable and kind). There is a lot more anyone who knew her could say about her legacy, but to stay to the point of why this matters in my reading life, I realized that what I am yearning for in my thought life is a kind of mentality that doesn’t thrive in the current age. A courageous perseverance in steadily loving and caring for people, all kinds of people, without chasing after fame and followers, that commitment to something good and true over the long haul whether it’s trending or not is not popular in books, movies, or much of anything right now.

So coming into this second half of the summer, I was tempted to give myself a firm reading line, like, “No books published after 1960!” That would be ridiculous; I know by experience there are good and noble books published here and now. Even so, it’s the old books calling to me now. For fun reading, I’ve been enjoying Margery Sharpe (The Foolish Gentlewoman), Maud Hart Lovelace (my youngest girls and I read the first four Betsy-Tacy books over the school year last year, and now my oldest daughter and I have been collecting and reading all the rest of the Deep Valley books this summer), D.E. Stevenson (always), Frances Hodgson Burnett, and much more obscure titles that I have sitting on shelves all around my house, waiting for me to remember picking them up in thrift stores and book sales and come back to read them finally. There’s a measure of satisfaction I find right now even in just the act of being faithful to go back and read a book I’ve long been meaning to read.

And then I heard this title in a book group setting: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Oh! The very title is soul-filling. Published by Eugene Peterson in 1980, and revised in 2000, it’s a book on what it discipleship, or following the way of Jesus, over a lifetime looks like. It isn’t soul-crushing in its expectations for people or a lecture on what not to do at all, but a look at the way the Psalms of Ascent lead followers of God into understanding and dedication in the Christian life. It’s beautiful and clear, and I can’t recommend it more highly. I don’t know why I haven’t heard of it before, but I tend to think it all comes down to my ears perking up to that title because now is the time I should be reading it.

I also picked up Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World. It was a good wake up call for me to remember how important it is to be intentional in our decisions, not in a confrontational way, but in a guiding and focused way with our kids. Most parents want their kids to be aware of needs around them and generous and loving towards others, and also to have a resilience to face hard things as they grow up and become their own independent people in this world, but we don’t always connect how our parenting can instead make them feel a sense of entitlement that carries them right into unending self-centeredness. This book has a lot of good tips and insights for getting away from entitlement and toward generosity and thankfulness.

I’m planning to pick up a recommended mystery novel soon on audio, finish Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart (but it’s a little eerier than I expected….hoping I can stick with it), also finish Jayber Crow because I need more Wendell Berry in my life, and get back to some Gene Stratton Porter books I’ve been meaning to read for ages. As always, I would love your recommendations and hope you are finding some awesome books to carry you through the end of summer and into the back to school/back to fall season.

Faithfully,

Mia The Reader

P.S. If you’re ever curious, please see the About page for an explanation on my online nom de plume!