Book Reviews

 Here are a few things I've been reading recently.

My Friends by Frederick Backman, Adult fiction, 2025.

What it's about: The story revolves around a painting done one summer 25 years ago that shows three friends in the sea and captures the feelings of the group when they were 14 years old. Present-day Louisa (17) feels a connection to the painting and runs away from her foster home to see it in person. She ends up taking a train trip across the country with one of the boys in the painting and learning about their past. All of the main characters in the story have tragic lives, but Backman is able to paint a powerful story of friendship despite the realities of the boys' lives.

What did I think? Backman is famous for his first novel, A Man Called Ove, and I have read a few more (3 or 4) in addition to the first one. Each book has dark subject material and specifically talks about suicide. However, in this darkness, he is able to bring humor and hope into each situation. This book is no exception. I found the book disarming at times, but enjoyed it. I recommend it.

What did others think? This book was on many of the Best of lists for 2025 (NY Times, USA Today, NPR, Marie Claire, Bookpage, Libby, Fallon Book Club, Goodreads) 

The Secret, Book, and Scone Society by Ellery Adams, Adult mystery, 2017.

What it's about: This is the first book in the nine-book series by the same name. In this story, four women bond over trying to solve the murder of a visitor to Miracle Springs who was part of the group building a new housing development in the area. 

Each woman has trauma and secrets from her past and is trying to start over in Miracle Springs. The women decide that if they are going to trust each other, they should reveal their secrets. One by one, we learn their pasts and watch as they become true friends.  

The main character, Nora, runs a bookstore and thinks of herself as a bibliotherapist as she recommends books to people to help them deal with their difficulties. Thus, there are many references to books throughout the story.

What did I think? The first one of this series I read was #8, and I liked this one better because I learned more about the characters' backgrounds. That made for a richer story. However, I can imagine that if I read the books in order and grew with the characters, I would have liked #8 better. The Secret, Book, and Scone Society has a decent mystery, and I enjoyed it. I will read others in the series when I'm looking for a fill-in book. 

What did others think? Ellery Adams is a best-selling author of several other mystery series. The debut novel in this series earned starred and positive editorial reviews. Amazon readers gave it a B+, and Goodreads readers gave it a C.

The Astral Library by Kate Quinn, Adult fiction, 2026.

What it's about: Alix is down on her luck and has been since her mother left her at age 8 and she entered the foster care system. Now at 26 years old, everything is going wrong, and she is about to be homeless. 

Throughout her life, reading and books have been her escape. So she retreats to the Boston Public Library, where she opens a random door and enters the Astral Library, which can transport you to live in a book to escape the horrors of your real life. It's a magical world with rules of its own, and here she meets a crusty librarian and goes on many book adventures as she helps save the Astral Library from evil.

What did I think? This was a very clever book with an interesting premise. However, there were many literary references, mostly to classic books, and occasionally I thought the book bogged down in descriptions of the scenes they escaped into. But perhaps if I had read the referenced books more recently, I might have appreciated the details more. However, about halfway through, the story picked up and became an exciting read. 

The author's mother was a librarian, and there's a bit of library politics in the book. And from working in a public library for 20 years, I would say they were accurate.

What did others think? Ward also read this book and enjoyed it. There were parts that he didn't think quite made sense; however, those were secondary to the story. He felt the author had an idea and then rushed to finish the book, but he recommends it.

The book received both positive and mixed reviews, with the main complaint being that it could have had more character development. Amazon readers gave it a B and Goodreads gave it a C.

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, Adult fiction, 2026.

What it's about: The Calamity Club is Kathryn Stockett's second book, the first being The Help. It takes place in 1930s Mississippi when there were hard economic times and cruel practices in the name of morals and religion. The story has several plotlines, but they all, in one way or another, relate to Meg, an 11-year-old orphan.  

Meg is one of the unadoptable older girls at the orphanage and is treated worse than any other girl by the director.

Birdie, an unmarried twenty-something, comes to town to ask her sister, Frances, for money. Frances married into a rich family, and Birdie hopes she can help so that their mother and grandmother won't be foreclosed on. One day Birdie visits the orphanage where her sister volunteers and meets Meg. She takes a liking to her and sets out to see whether she can help. The story blooms from there.

The tale is complex and would be difficult to describe in a short summary. However, there are many well-drawn characters that are woven into a compelling read.

What did I think? I loved this book. I wasn't going to read it because it's over 600 pages long, but I put it on hold anyway. When it came in, I decided to at least start it, with no expectation of finishing it before it was due, given our busy schedule. Well, the story drew me in, and I finished it in three days. (And yes, I did get a few other things done.) You root for the main characters and understand the motivations of the evil ones as their backgrounds are slowly revealed. About two-thirds of the way into the story, there was a development that at first I thought slowed the story down. But as it was developed, I came to understand the need for what was included. 

What did others think? This is on the NY Times and Amazon best-selling list. All of the many professional reviews I could find were positive. Some individual reviewers thought the book was too long and thought it slowed down in the same place I did. Both Amazon readers and Goodreads give it an A.

Until next time...

Back at it.

 It's been a week since we returned from vacation, and we've been busy catching up and visiting. 

These fall-blooming irises survived the freeze well.

We were pleased to find that even though there were some freezes while we were gone, most of our plants weren't affected too much. That means I was able to get a few more ripe tomatoes off the vines, although it has been a stiff competition between me and the bugs. 

Among other things,
we found Aunt Wilma's Avon necklace. 

Shortly after we got back from the Poconos, my sister and her husband from Maine arrived for a week's visit. It's been a few years since the four of us sisters have been together, and we have enjoyed seeing each other. For a couple of days, we were sorting keepsakes and papers from our parents and other relatives. The work was tedious at times, but special all the same. It was curious sometimes to hear the different stories about various relatives or try to guess why our parents or grandparents saved certain items. 

At the end of one of our sorting sessions, I had a special memento for my sisters. I had Ward make totes with old license plates from my parents' cars. I was lucky that I happened to have ones that had dates of significance to my family. Also, they were made from oak from my uncle's farm, adding another bit of nostalgia.

Last weekend, we went to my FIL's house for a cookout with Ward's family. The weather cooperated, and a good time was had by all. The next night, we had all of my family over for supper. Both events had littles, who always provide a lot of entertainment. 

The anemones are still going strong.

In the meantime, we're trying to move forward with getting our stovetop fixed (it's been a saga) and the outdoor drainage around Ward's shop taken care of. 

I guess that's about it for now.

Until next time...

Poconos 2026, Day 7, Lakes and Back Roads

My family and I are on a week-long trip to the Poconos which I am recording parts of here. Join me and follow along, if you'd like.

Another beautiful day

Vacation fatigue is starting to set in, so we didn't have an ambitious day planned. Theo decided since we were in the Poconos, we should visit Mount Pocono. It turns out that Mount Pocono is a town (borough, in Pennsylvania speak) and there is no individual mountain called Mount Pocono. The town of Mt. Pocono is actually on a plateau. But they are very proud of an overlook and trail that the opened just a year ago. So that's where we went. Both were very nice.

Next we took back roads and headed north through several small towns ending up at the Country Cafe in Daleville. It was a diner in the best sense where the food was good and customers were friendly.

During our travels, we also stopped at two state parks that were centered around lakes. There seem to be a lot of man-made lakes around these parts. I guess there's been a lot of flood control going on.

On our way back to our Vrbo, Ward and I decided that we had just enough time to go back to Jim Thorpe to tour the Asa Packer mansion that we didn't get to do last Thursday. We called ahead to make sure the tour was still on and were very frustrated when we learned the tour was sold out. They gave out the last tickets in front of us. To console ourselves, we got a hot fudge sundae instead.

Now we're all back at the Vrbo. Ward is finishing his puzzle, Theo is doing laundry, and Wally is somewhere in the house doing something. Soon, we'll start gathering our things and cleaning up before we go home tomorrow.

Below are some photos from today. 

Perhaps if I hadn't stopped for this quick picture, we would have made the tour. 

Until next time...

Poconos 2026, Day 6, Delaware Water Gap

 My family and I are on a week-long trip to the Poconos which I am recording parts of here. Join me and follow along, if you'd like. 

The morning was brisk and clear and warmed up into the 50s F. It was a perfect day for hiking, so we headed east to the Delaware Water Gap in search of a hike and a waterfall. We looked at various areas and ended up taking hikes on the Hornbecks Trail and in George W. Child's Park. We found beautiful woods and more than one waterfall. Everyone we passed on the trail was smiling. It was that kind of day.

Below are some pictures from our day.

We stopped in Stroudsburg on the way home for dinner at the Sarah Street Grill before heading home to puzzles, books, and naps.

We're still not sure what we want to do tomorrow, our last day before heading home. We will see where the spirit takes us.

Until next time...

Poconos 2026, Day 5, Reindeer and stuff

 My family and I are on a week-long trip to the Poconos which I am recording parts of here. Join me and follow along, if you'd like. 

The rain and wind yesterday brought down a lot of leaves.

Yesterdays storms ushered in a cold front, and we saw temperatures in the 30s when we awoke. But, while cold, the day was supposed to be clear. So in the morning, we were off to visit a local reindeer farm with discussions of hiking in the afternoon.

Spruce Ridge Reindeer was a very interesting experience. There are very few reindeer farms in the lower 48 US states because they are not adapted to the warmer climate. Raising them involves several extra procedures to keep them safe and healthy. For instance, they have no immunity to ticks and other bugs that live in the warmer climate. Also, they don't do well with humidity. The tundra, the natural habitat of reindeer, is too cold for many bugs and very dry. We had to walk through special disinfectant on the way in so we wouldn't carry in any hazards for the reindeer.

We learned some basic facts like both males and females grow antlers and they shed them every year. The blood supply to grow them is on the outside of the antlers under velvet, unlike the blood supply in the middle of horns. Reindeer and caribou are not the same, but similar - caribou are wild while reindeer have been domesticated for a 1000 years and are very docile (because of this, Spruce Ridge takes them around to visit schools, nursing homes and community events). 

This reindeer was about a year old.

After the informational talk, we got to go into the pen with some of the herd. As promised, they were calm, friendly animals that we got to pet and feed. 

We were given willow leaves to feed the reindeer. This 4 month old girl knew how to work the crowd to get them.

We got our picture taken with Curly, named because of his curly coat which is unusual for a reindeer. 

While we were with the reindeer it started to rain. Not hard, but enough to get wet. And just enough, that I decided it was time to go back to the car. I was not alone with this decision. There we had to rethink what we wanted to do next, because there's nothing more miserable than a cold rain. We decided that we would make this a reset day. 

We went back to our house for lunch, laundry, and vegging. However, by mid-afternoon, we decided we were bored. Thus, we ventured out to get another puzzle. Ward had already worked the two we brought and was ready for another.

That led us to the Country Junction The World's Largest Country Store in Lehighton which some say is a must see attraction in the area. The store was huge with an additional arcade, petting zoo, hay rides and who knows what else. We didn't explore everything they had to offer. It was definitely an experience, but not one that I need to do again.

Here are a few pictures from the store.

There was a Wizard of Oz theme throughout the store using old animatronic figures.

The store had a little bit of everything for sale including these 3' high Rolling Stone statues for only $3,700 each.

and this taxidermy deer for only $35,000.

However, the only thing we bought was this puzzle.

We will see what the weather brings, but tomorrow we hope to see some waterfalls.

Until next time...