MARCH/APRIL 2026

 Hello All,

It's time for another blog post. We have had some great books reported on in the past few months. Here is a list of some of them.  Enjoy!

KARLA COX

The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride  by Joe Siple 

This is THE book you want to read this year. 

100-years old Murray McBride wonders why he’s still alive, when everyone he loves is gone. But he finds out why when he meets 10-year old Jason, and learns of his five wishes. 

This story is A Man called Ove, Me Before You and maybe The Natural, rolled into one beautiful story of redemption and love where it’s least likely to be found. Funny, surprising and tears-inspiring. Everyone wants to live, but how many get the chance to really live, just when life seems to be at an end? 

The Aviator’s Wife  by Melanie Benjamin

This interesting story is well-researched historical fiction, written as though Anne Morrow Lindbergh were telling her own story of love, power, heartbreak, courage and tenacity. 

When one learns anything about Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a couple almost as famous and pursued as Prince Charles and Lady Diana, it’s easy to get lost in the details.  This book does a good job of sorting those details into order, sharing the thrill of flying and their unique relationship as a flying team, the pain of a kidnapped and murdered child, and the irreparable damage suffered by this couple from fame they did not want. Humanizing and true to historical diaries and other writings by the pair, it is nevertheless told through Anne’s eyes. An equally honest and historical book through the eyes of the man from Minnesota, raised to be tough and heroic, would probably be much different. I learned a lot. And I felt sympathy for both, along with other people caught — and often lost — in the crosshairs of public attention that can be  adoring but is always too curious and is not often kind. 

The Promise of a Pencil  by Adam Braun

“Listening intensely is a far more valuable skill than speaking immensely.” That’s one of the first lessons learned by Jewish student of the world and author of this book, Adam Braun, who, in his travels, asked a young beggar on a street in India what he wanted if he could have anything; the boy replied, “A pencil.” 

The book is composed of  30 mantras, life guides Braun learned along the way. Each is followed by the explanation of its power in Braun’s life. 

Braun narrates his efforts to launch a non-profit, which he now refers to as a For-Purpose, since NPs are often looked down upon by the business world; For- Purpose denotes the inherent motivation behind the efforts. He shares his passion for building schools in Laos (his first school) and other countries, and declares that anyone can find their passion and then bring about extraordinary things through a purpose-driven life. A heartwarming and worthwhile account. If I was a millionaire and 30-something, I would want to do something similar. As life is, I’m grateful for the Church’s humanitarian efforts, where I can contribute monthly and know 100% of the funds are helping. But I also contribute to various NPs and NGOs, depending on their overhead and purpose-driven percentage. That has been my guide since I got involved in a similar charity-driven NP in ND, long before I read any of the several books I’ve read about NPs and NGOs. 

Winter  by Val McDermid

This Scottish author of crime and mystery novels steps aside from cranking out what the public demands to write an ode to winter.  And what a luminous ode it is! It’s pensive, poetic, and a little scientific and cerebral. It is, most of all, a writer’s memoir. 

I was 2/3 into the book before I knew Val is a woman; her musings and educative anecdotes gave no indication until she told about talking to herself as she walked the beach and having others say, “Oh, it’s her, the writer.” 

McDermid takes the reader on a hygge-filled journey through all things Scottish, from the firths and flowers and festivals to the paintings and parties and castles and ceilidhs. And then there are always the dinners, from indoors with traditional foods or a “rummage” thrown together,  Burns poetry and singing, to outside in the long dark and damp cold, warmed by bonfires, “neeps” (the original Jack o’ Lantern), Christmas lights, and stargazing. 

Just so you can appreciate this crime writer’s poetic heart, here is the last paragraph of the book I’ll miss most at winter’s end…

“And so I celebrate the end of the winter … because it promises not just the light returning but also that the darkness will come back to be illuminated by words.” Amen, Scottish sista. 

The Frozen River  by Ariel Lawhon

Set in the second century of European presence in America (late 1700s), this story nevertheless reads like a modern-day murder drama, and the heroine is a master sleuth. But most remarkable: though it’s labeled historical fiction, much of the story is historical fact. 

Martha Ballard is a midwife in the small New England town of Hollowell; but she’s called upon to do much more than birth babies. While she’s cherished by her husband of 35 years, and revered by most people of the region, she’s also hated — mostly for her honesty. As her recognition of high-level crime increases, the danger to Mistress Ballard also increases. 

Martha Ballard was a real midwife in the 1780s and 90s, who delivered 1,000 babies live — truly miraculous in her time. She’s actually an ancestor of Clara Barton. But the author, with a masterful imagination, fills in the gaps of remarkable Martha’s diaries and brings a truly exciting page of history to life. A thrilling, tense, and tender story, as well as a fascinating and meaningful look at Revolutionary era life. 

It’s Not Her  by Mary Kubica

Always starting her stories with a jolt, Ms Kubica keeps the pace terrifying and haunting, and no matter which details I didn’t like, I was glued to the book til the end. And there’s no redemption; like Local Woman Missing, this story leaves some people alive but permanently scarred. And the surprises last til the last pages. She’s a top-tier thriller writer, but I’m staying away from now on. Too grim, too awful, too sad. 

Messenger of Truth  by Jacqueline Winspear

I’ve decided to read all of the Maisie Dobbs series. So this is #4, and thanks to JoAnn I should be able to do it! As a Maisie Dobbs fan, it’s obvious that I enjoyed it. But I loved Maisie’s introduction to art, along with her personal growth, in this installment. 

An incomplete Revenge  by Jacqueline Winspear

#5 in the Maisie Dobbs series, the gifted young woman is doubly challenged to solve crimes in a small community in Kent, and cope with the passing of her beloved Simon. She also shows kindness to a band of Gypsies (Roma), acknowledges her genetic ties through her mother’s mother, and brings forth a startling truth that ties the Gypsy band the small town together. 

I always learn something from the fictional Maisie; this one, about hops growth and harvesting! 

Among the Mad  by Jacqueline Winspear 

Again, thanks to JoAnn, I’m moving through Maisie Dobbs’ life and adventures. In book #6, Maisie goes deeper into human suffering and faces some brutal challenges as she sees a man commit violent suicide and becomes embroiled with Scotland Yard in a race against time with a mentally ill, murderous but brilliant chemist soldier. As always with the Maisie Dobbs stories, it’s about much more than solving a case; it’s understanding and having compassion for oneself and for humankind. 

Burn Down Master’s House  by Clay Cane 

This was the most unique, hard story this month. It’s really historical fiction, but all of the characters are based on real people, many of them from the author’s own heritage. He fills in the story line with haunting, graphic details of 1800s slave life and the possibility that sometimes slaves took revenge on their truly cruel and evil masters. He connects these real people into a fictional timeline that is believable and profoundly courageous, even in its ghastliness. 

Clay Cane is a journalist, podcaster and author; this is the story he has been wanting to write for 20 years, he declares. 

A powerful, and in some ways disturbing book, but I’m glad I listened to it in the author’s strangely cadenced voice that added impact and reality to the story. 

MARYANN STEVENS

Stories from Suffragette City 3️ A collection by various authors. Some stories are engaging. I returned early.  

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware 4️ not a typical murder mystery. Journalist Lo Blacklock gets a dream assignment: spend a week on the maiden voyage of a luxury yacht from London to northern Norway. Lo sees someone she shouldn’t & then later hears a cry for help & a big splash. The head of security disbelieves her, throwing back that she drank a lot that night and she’s on antidepressants etc. someone writes a message on her mirror, Stop Digging. What follows is a dark story of imprisonment, escape, & recapture. 

Fly Away by Kristen Hannah 3.5️ two families fall apart when mom dies of cancer. So many mistakes. So many missed opportunities to listen & show love.  

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng 4 ️ two very different families: Mia is an artist who creates unique & sometimes strange art with photography. Apparently her art has an high end market as selling one funds 6 months of living. She & her daughter, now 16-year old Pearl move frequently, at Mia’s whim, packing all their belongings into their VW Rabbit. Thé Peterson family has lived in their town for multiple generations in a perfect suburban subdivision with rules about the color of the houses, thé size of the yards, etc. the collision of these two families & their disparate values form the basis of the story. 

The Checklist  Manifesto by Atul Gawande 4️ of course a checklist is valuable- the surprise to me was that anyone would challenge the use of one. reviewed earlier by Beth & Karla, Joann?

BETH HEDENGREN

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
Personal essays by one of my favorite authors (Bel Canto, The Dutch House, Commonwealth). Insightful. Transcendent. Beautifully written. She writes about her three fathers—one biological and three steps—with both honesty and generosity. Other essays address friends, her mom, and her husband. The last essay movingly covers the last months of a dear friend who lives with Ann while undergoing experimental cancer treatment. A lovely book!
Doing Small Things with Great Love by Sharon Eubank
Sharon Eubank, leader of the Church Humanitarian Program, writes convincingly of why the best service happens close to home. She tells of how the Church has moved more to providing help from local markets and with local helping hands. She also speaks of how those who want to help need to ask those they want to help what is the best way to help them. Outsiders often don’t know what is really needed.
Oscar from Elsewhere by Jaclyn Moriarty
Middle school fantasy novel by Liane Moriarty’s (Big Little Lies) sister. A skateboarding 12-year-old boy from Australia is suddenly transported to a magical land where he joins characters we’ve met in previous books in the series (see The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone) on a quest to save a village of tiny (and hilarious) elves. Charming, delightful, funny, but with an important message about how children should not have to do it all without parental support.

TESSA RUSSELL

"The Temple Gaining Knowledge and Power in the House of the Lord"

GERI CHRISTENSEN

MURDER ON THE MARLOW BELLE

by Robert Thorogood

Verity Beresford is worried about her husband. Oliver didn't come home last night, so of course Verity goes straight to Judith Potts, Marlow's resident amateur sleuth, for help. Oliver, founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had rented The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, to host an exclusive party for the society, but no one remembers seeing him disembark. And when Oliver's body washes up on the Thames with two bullet holes in him, it's time for the Marlow Murder Club to leap into action.

Oliver was, by all accounts, a rather complicated fellow, with a reputation for bullying children during nativity play rehearsals, and he wasn't short of enemies. Judith, Suzie, and Becks are convinced they'll find his killer in no time. But things are not as they seem in the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, and this case is not so clear-cut after all. The gang will need to keep their wits about them to solve this case… otherwise a killer will walk free.

THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR OF JUDITH POTTS 

By  Robert Thorogood

Someone is killing celebrities in Marlow. First, it's a famous soccer player. Then, a bestselling thriller writer. When two shocking deaths rock their quiet riverside town, Judith, Suzie, and Becks—the unstoppable Marlow Murder Club—must untangle a dangerous web of blackmail and scandal to catch a killer.

But with their trusted police ally DI Malik suddenly suspended, and Judith's own past threatening to resurface, the women are on their own. Suspects are multiplying like tabloid headlines, secrets are stacking up, and time is running out.

Can the Marlow Murder Club crack the case before the killer strikes again—or will this be the end of their crime-solving adventures?

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED 

by Jack Higgins

As the Allied forces slowly begin turning the tide of war, Hitler vehemently orders the impossible—kidnap Winston Churchill, or kill him. A crack team of commandos led by a disgraced war hero must venture into the heart of England to carry out their mission, or die trying.

Meanwhile, in a quiet seaside village, a beautiful widow and an IRA assassin have already laid the groundwork for what will be the most treacherous plot of the war. It begins on November 6, 1943, when Berlin receivs the fateful message...

As the deadly duo executes Hitler’s harrowing plot, only the quiet town of Studley Constable stands in their way. Its residents are the lone souls aware of the impending Nazi plan, and they must become the most unlikely of heroes as the fate of the war hangs in the balance.

THE SHELL SEEKERS 

by Rosamunde Pilcher

At the end of a long and useful life, Penelope Keeling's prized possession is The Shell Seekers, painted by her father, and symbolizing her unconventional life, from bohemian childhood to wartime romance. When her grown children learn their grandfather's work is now worth a fortune, each has an idea as to what Penelope should do. But as she recalls the passions, tragedies, and secrets of her life, she knows there is only one answer...and it lies in her heart. A sprawling saga that is both infuriating and deeply satisfying as we learn how Penelope navigates between her selfish and greedy adult children and her desire to keep her fathers memory alive.  A lovely book that ends all too soon. 

A STRANGER IS WATCHING

by Mary Higgins Clark

Ronald Thompson knows he never killed Nina Peterson—yet in two days the state of Connecticut will take his life, having found him guilty via due process of law. But Thompson’s death will not stop the pain and anger of Nina’s husband, Steve. Thompson’s death will not still the fears of Nina’s six-year-old son, Neil, witness to his mother’s brutal slaying. Not even the love and friendship of Sharon Martin, a journalist who is slowly becoming a part of their world, will ever erase their bitter memories. Only time, perhaps, will heal their wounds. But in the shadows a stranger waits, a cunning psychopath who has killed before, who has unfinished business at the Peterson home...

MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG

Richard Coles

Canon Daniel Clement (Matthew Lewis, Harry Potterfilms), introverted Rector of the picturesque English village of Champton, has his life turned upside-down when his infuriating mother Audrey (Amanda Redman, The Good Karma Hospital) arrives unannounced, dragging up memories Daniel would rather not confront. But a more serious challenge awaits Daniel when he stumbles upon the dead body of his parishioner. Daniel must delve under the veneer of village life to piece together clues and uncover long-buried secrets, navigating the press and public eye and the ire of his superior, the bishop. Daniel is forced to question who he can trust, and whether he himself was the intended murder victim. Based on the best-selling novel by the Reverend Richard Coles. 

“A classic Christie-esque mystery… is as much about the people and the world surrounding the murder(s) than it is about the mystery itself” -

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

Jack Higgins

In November of 1943, an elite team of Nazi paratroopers descends on British soil with a diabolical goal: to abduct Winston Churchill and cripple the Allied war effort. The mission, ordered by Hitler himself and planned by Heinrich Himmler, is led by ace agent Kurt Steiner and aided on the ground by IRA gunman Liam Devlin.

 

As the deadly duo executes Hitler’s harrowing plot, only the quiet town of Studley Constable stands in their way. Its residents are the lone souls aware of the impending Nazi plan, and they must become the most unlikely of heroes as the fate of the war hangs in the balance.

THE CONFORT OF GHOSTS

Jacqueline Winspear 

London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.

Maisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.

The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, readers drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a  fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.