The Big White Farmhouse

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#60. THIS TENDER LAND by William Kent Krueger // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

I’ve read a lot of WKK this year and his writing is top notch.  This sweeping epic about four orphans was no different, but the pacing lagged for me somewhere in the middle.  Still a worthwhile read!  3.5 stars, rounded up.

#61. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather // ★★★☆☆
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The first book club pick of the year!  I enjoyed the very atmospheric and interesting look at Catholicism during the early (and wild) days of American Western Expansion.  I was especially struck by the contrast of good priests and horrible ones…some things are just perennial, I guess.  (This one also counted toward my 20th Century in Literature Challenge for 1927.)

#62. THE GREEN EMBER by S.D. Smith // ★★★☆☆
(amazon)

Our first read aloud of the school year!  This is a story about rabbits in the midst of a falling kingdom while tyrants and terror abound.  Homeschoolers all over rave about this book and while it had an exciting beginning and end, the kids felt like it significantly lagged in the middle.  To me, this felt like a “world building” first book in a series, so I’m curious to see if the pace picks up in the next novels.  (This is probably an unpopular opinion, but Redwall is similar but considerably better.)

#63. TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD by Eowyn Ivey // ★★★★☆
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A random pick up that I ended up really liking!  The blurb calls this one a “breathtaking story of discovery and adventure, set at the end of the nineteenth century, and of a marriage tested by a closely held secret.”  I loved how the story was told through letters and photos and other ephemera.  So creative.  3.5 stars, rounded up.  (I read this as part of the Alphabet Reading Challenge.)

#64. THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL by Anne Bronte // ★★★☆☆
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Whew…this book!  I read through it relatively quickly, but found it to be a slog through the middle…  If it were 100 pages shorter, I think it would have been a much better book.  That said, most women in my book club loooved it and especially loved the middle section, so don’t take my word for it, ha!

#65. THUNDER BAY by William Kent Krueger // ★★★☆☆
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After a doozy of a book, I needed something easy, so back to the Cork O’Connor series I went! This one is number seven, was a good story and a fast read, but some of the others in the series have been better.  Solid three stars.

#66. MISS GRAHAM’s COLD WAR COOKBOOK by Celia Rees // ★★★☆☆
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This historical fiction novel really had so much potential.  The post-WWII setting was interesting, you could tell the author did a ton of research and the culinary spy message idea was really clever.  Unfortunately, it took about 100 pages for the story to really pick up and what followed was a faster paced, but really confusing story line.  So many characters!  So many pieces that seemed unbelievable!  The abrupt ending after almost 500 pages!  2.5 stars, rounded up.

#67. PADRE PIO: THE STIGMATIST by Rev. Charles Mortimer Carty // ★★★★☆
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You often hear of all of the incredible mysteries of Padre Pio: the stigmata, bilocation, reading of souls in the confessional, the miracles, etc.  This book did a great job of also showing the amount of suffering he endured behind the scenes.  This is an older book and the way it’s laid out is a tad disorganized, but still has many good stories and nuggets of wisdom.  3.5 stars, rounded up.