This Is Where It Ends
As a kid in the 1960s, I had great respect for my grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles. So did my friends. Overall, grandparents and their wisdom were valued. I enjoyed hearing their stories. I asked questions, wanting to learn from them. I always figured that when I was older, I’d get the same kind of respect....
More Than Grit
Have you ever heard a grandparent’s or older person’s story and thought it should be written as a memoir or a novel? I have. And so has Gretchen Carlson, author of More Than Grit. It’s based on an event in her grandmother’s life—one her grandma kept secret for decades. The blurb and the fact that the novel is based...
Polly
We all have our favorite family recipes with the memories and nostalgia they stir in us (pun intended). I especially value the recipes my mom and grandma wrote by hand. With the world wide web and dozens of cooking websites, do people even hand write recipes on cards anymore? I do. But I’m surely in the minority. I...
Night Songs
Two months ago, my husband and I drove through Bedford County, Tennessee. After meandering through the charm of downtown Bell Buckle (population 410 in 2020), we explored Shelbyville. We took a picture of the sign “Audrey’s on the Square” and sent it to our daughter Audrey. Shortly after returning home to...
The Healing of Natalie Curtis
In the early 1900s, the U.S. government pushed immigrants to assimilate into American culture. Authorities frowned upon immigrants using their native language or keeping their particular customs. Schools were taught in English; students were required to speak it. All in the name of Americanization: to promote patriotism,...
Between You and Us
Who wouldn’t want to exchange grief and its source for a happier life? Have you ever wished for a do-over regarding a difficult choice or a deep regret? How many times do we ask “What if?” What if my dad had taken a different job in a different city? What if I’d been the youngest kid instead of the oldest? What if I’d...
Seashells in My Pocket
With so many World War II stories set in Europe or America, Seashells in My Pocket by Terri Wangard is a breath of fresh air—both figuratively and literally. The unique setting is Brazil. Several scenes take place on the Atlantic seashore by Recife or Natal—vivid enough to feel the wind, inhale the salty air, sink your...
Appalachian Song
I’ve never had to consider giving up a child up for adoption, but Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee shows what it might feel like—and reveals possible motives that enter such a decision. While some mothers give up their babies as an inconvenience, others are wrought with anguish over parting with a loved child for his...
Up From Dust: Martha’s Story
For many years, my diet of Biblical fiction consisted of authors Francine Rivers, Angela Hunt, and Tessa Afshar. More recently, I became acquainted with the ones listed below, which includes Barbara Britton. Now, after reading Up From Dust: Martha’s Story, I’ve added a new one to my reading menu: Heather Kaufman. Heather...
What I Promise You
With all the thousands of World War II novels out there, sometimes I wonder how novelists keep coming up with fresh new stories. But considering all the people and places impacted by that world-wide catastrophe, even decades later, I suppose World War II authors will never run out of material. Author Liz Tolsma is one of...
The Secret Book of Flora Lea
I've read numerous World War II novels. Yet all I know about London’s evacuation of children is from C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Which is ironic, because author Patti Callahan Henry’s novel, The Secret Book of Flora Lea, was inspired when researching C.S. Lewis for another book. (See the Q & A...
My Bookshelf—All the Titles in One Place
Since November 2021, I featured and reviewed 80 books on my Standout Stories blog (as of February 2024). Time to “organize” them all! Here's a convenient index for easy reference. Titles are categorized according to genre as well as setting, era, topics, and themes. Due to overlap, some may be listed multiple times....
Only the Beautiful
I think most people are aware of the eugenics movement through Hitler’s experiments in WWII Germany. But fewer people know that the United States had its own eugenics “pioneers” from the late 1800s to the 1940s. The goal was to eliminate undesirable genetic human traits through selective breeding. This evolved to forced...
The All-American
Some of my favorite middle school memories are bicycling to the baseball diamond and keeping score for my cousin’s team. It was a boy’s team, of course. It was the 1970s. No option for girls to play in my small Michigan town. But this was the closest I could get to the heartbeat of the game. I also wanted to be a batboy...
The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip
During the last few days of my mother’s life, she was in a hospice facility which proved to be the best possible place she could have been for receiving care, comfort, and compassion. My sister and I stayed with her—even overnight—for four days straight. We reminisced, read scripture, encouraged her, pondered about...
The Songs That Could Have Been
I appreciate authors who tackle difficult topics. Amanda Wen is one of those. In The Songs That Could Have Been, she takes on three issues: bulimia, alcoholism, and a mixed race romance. Each occurs in separate timelines of a split-time novel. A few facts about bulimia nervosa: It’s a mental disorder Its hallmark is...
The Choices She Made
Writing a novel is challenging enough. But tackling issues that nobody likes to talk about can take that challenge to a whole new level. Especially when an author wants to give those topics a sensitive treatment, incurring empathy for the protagonist while conveying the difficulty—sometimes horrors—of what she has...
The Lost Manuscript
Who doesn’t love a castle setting for a novel? Especially in the British countryside. Reading The Lost Manuscript by Mollie Rushmeyer gave me the opportunity for a little armchair travel to a spectacular castle in Northumberland in northeastern England. It’s called Alnwick Castle (pronounced a-nik, A as in apple,...
Under the Magnolias
How has your life been touched by mental illness? Do you know someone who struggles from depression, anxiety, OCD, ODD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, or eating disorders? Maybe that person is in your own family. But if not, you don’t have to look far. Facts from National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) 1...
Hope Between the Pages
Decades ago, on my first trip to Southern Appalachia during college, I visited the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. That’s when I fell in love with the Smoky Mountains, the surrounding area, and its people—as an outsider and a Northerner. But author Pepper Basham is the real deal, born and bred in the Blue...
Trailer for A Hundred Magical Reasons, a novel
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