Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer (published 1954) is a romantic mystery in Heyer’s traditional style, and with a strong emphasis on mystery. It’s 1817, and Captain Staple happens to stop at a toll gate in the rain only to discover a very afraid young boy has been left to mind the gate. He’s alone, and
Kristin Hannah has done it again. Her novel, The Four Winds (published 2025) captures a unique era of America history within a loveable story about strong a strong woman overcoming hardship. The Four Winds is a primarily a novel of the Dust Bowl, and how one family sought for their own American dream in the
The Sky Beneath Her by Mary Ellen Taylor (published 2026) was a short impulse read for me, a historical fiction mixed with contemporary fiction novel that I normally wouldn’t pick up. It alternates between Tula in the modern day and a number of characters in 1942 who are on board the Oceanus ship, hoping to
The marsh is a key player in Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (published 2018). The marsh hides the footprints and possibly other secrets behind the murder of Chase Andrews, a popular young man in the small town of Barkley Cove, North Carolina. But when the isolated Marsh Girl, Kya Clark, is suspected of
The titular Lady in Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary by Ruby Ferguson (published 1937) had a childhood of wealthy bliss in her Scottish estate in the 1860s and 1870s, as told by the housekeeper Mrs. Memmary, who welcomes the American tourists for a tour of the rundown castle in the 1930s. The tourists are enthralled
Talk about meta! The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (published 2022) is a novel written as if a writer (Hannah) is writing a novel about a writer (Winifred) writing a novel. While Winifred, or Freddie as she known, is writing her novel, she must solve a real mystery of her own about a
Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! Yes, I’m writing about Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (published 2021). I read it in 2022 shortly after it came out, and I desperately wish I’d reviewed it before the movie came out, so I could give you my movie-free perspective. After I watched the movie, I did listen to it
Radicalized by Cory Doctorow (published 2019) contains four short stories that encompass concepts of rebellion and social action. Dystopia is the common theme, although all of them seem to be pertinent and modern at the same time. He did an amazing job of condensing real issues from society today into fictional societies that still feel
The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer (published 1951) is almost more mystery than romance. In this story, it seems like the new Earl of St. Erth is being targeted by his younger half brother, Martin, who would inherit all if not for Gervase. With the help of the others in residence at Stanyon, including the
The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer (published 1936) is a mix of mystery and a Georgian-era romance story, with a huge dose of humor. The main characters try to solve a mystery of who killed the cardsharp who had won Ludovic’s heirloom ring (the titular “Talisman ring”). Ludovic has fled the country to avoid trial
The Foundling by Georgette Heyer (published 1948) is another satisfying romp set during Regency England, with a light romance and a whole list of adventures for our main character, the Duke of Sale. I really could only read/listen to it by renaming it The Duke in my mind. It irritates me that the “foundling” is
The Convenient Marriage by George Heyer (published 1934) features the very languid and lazy Lord Rule’s marriage to the very young 17-year-old Horatia Winwood, the youngest daughter who seeks to financial save the family while allowing her older sisters to marry as they please. Stuttering Horatia wants a life an exciting life of wealth, while
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