Total Books: 3 Total Pages: 1094 Longest: 391 Shortest: 319
Genres: 3 (Biographical/Historical Fiction – 1, Mystery – 1, History/Religion – 1)
Anthony Horowitz – A Deadly Episode
A Deadly Episode is the 6th novel in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series. The Word is Murder (the first book in the series) is being made into a feature film, but Hawthorne dies – as you might surmise from the title. Ok, not the real Hawthorne, but the actor playing him in the movie. But then Hawthorne is a not “real” either, while Horowitz is definitely the actual real-life author. But I digress.
Was the actor, David Caine, the intended victim or was it the “real” Hawthorne that someone wanted dead? Hawthorne and Horowitz must investigate a movie set filled with intrigue as well as finding out more about Hawthorne’s background. But will Horowitz dig too deep into Hawthorne’s past this time?
Kate Quinn & Janie Chang – The Phoenix Crown
I’m a big fan of Kate Quinn’s historical novels, especially The Rose Code, one of my all-time favorites. In this collaboration with Janie Chang, the setting is San Francisco in the weeks before and after the great earthquake of 1906.
The novel brings together women from across multiple spectrums – an aspiring operatic soprano who grew up on a farm in Nebraska, a New York-born artist, a Canadian-American botanist (based on the real life Alice Eastwood, chief curator of the California Academy of Sciences), and a first-generation Chinese-American seamstress/embroideress who grew up in San Francisco’s Chinatown and is trapped between her Chinese heritage and Western education. It’s also a time when the wealthy patrons of the arts often believed they “owned” those they funded (they probably still do today). Enter magnate Henry Thornton – a collector of rare Chinese artifacts, rare botanical specimens, and beautiful, highly gifted women.
I may have to add some of Janie Chang’s novels to my reading list.
Brent Gentzel, et al – Great Begins With Good
And now, for something completely different!
In celebration of the United States of America’s 250th anniversary, pastors Brent Gentzel, Jay Abernathy, Todd Gentzel, and John Whitten, collaborated on this call to spiritual renewal.
Don’t worry, it is NOT a call for Christian Nationalism, nor is it any kind of political manifesto!
The title comes from a 20th-century paraphrase of one of Alexis de Tocqueville’s conclusions in his 18th-century work Democracy in America that America was not good because it was great, but great because it was good. de Tocqueville undertook his study to learn why democracy was succeeding in America where it had failed in France. One of his conclusions was that the social habits, religious beliefs, and cultural norms mattered more in preserving freedom than the laws and U.S. Constitution did.
From the Amazon book description: Great Begins with Good is a historically grounded journey through the virtues that shaped a nation: faith, humility, respect, ingenuity, compassion, stewardship, conviction, courage, equality, and grace. Drawing from Scripture and the stories of real men and women, from Jonathan Edwards to Harriet Tubman, from Samuel Morse to Chuck Colson, this book makes the case that goodness is not a civic afterthought. It is the root from which greatness grows.
Each chapter ends with questions, Scripture passages, and curated books for further study of that chapter’s topic. This book is designed to make you think – not tell you what to think.
Until next time, read what pleases you!
Notes By Nancy 
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