Monday, June 29, 2026

2026 - Second Quarterly Review


To assist my blog readers, I summarize my reading four times a year, providing a brief description, genre, the page count, and a grading scale (💖5 page-turner - highly recommend, 4 page-turner - enjoyed, 3 page-turner - good, 2 page-turner - meh, and 1 page-turner - regret, wishing I could get back the time invested). I read the following books during the second quarter of 2026 (links to full reviews can be found in the side-bar, or after 2026, found through the search bar):

The Life She Forgot by Joanna Davidson Politano - Merryn suffers from amnesia and hopes her new husband A.J. can help her reclaim lost memories. But when she remembers images from another wedding, she is concerned. Historical Fiction. 358 pages, 📃📃📃📃

Triumphs of the Heart: The Promise of Joyful Living by Cheryl Ford - Each mini-biography focuses on a woman of the Bible whom God used in mighty ways. Great addition to my morning devotional time. Christian Living. 222 pages, 📃📃📃📃

The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander - Author of The Littlest Library offers up another book about getting books into the hands of readers, full of obstacles and romance. British Romance. 352 pages, 📃📃📃

Declutter Your Heart and Your Home: How a Minimalist Life Yields Maximum Joy by Julia Ubbenga - If you're a Christian and want to go all in for minimalism as a dedication to focus on God more and things less, this is a motivating book. Christian Self-Help. 256 pages, 📃📃📃

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt - Sobering exploration of the fallout from our dependence on devices. How I wish this book had come out a decade ago, when I was stumbling through the parenting portal of a technological age. Nonfiction. 400 pages, 📃📃📃📃

Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand - A delightful consideration of a life, after mistakenly being presumed dead. I'm rethinking my own life after watching Ray's. British General Fiction. 336 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 10-1/2 hours), 📃📃📃📃-1/2

The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams by Karen Hawkins - A little bit of magical realism in this story of a researcher seeking answers to Dove Pond's pressing mystery and falling in love in the process. Romance. 366 pages, 📃📃-1/2

The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave - This sequel to The Last Thing He Told Me keeps you turning pages, in hopes of finding out what happened to the husband, and if the wife and daughter will ever be safe. Thriller/Mystery. 288 pages, 📃📃📃📃

The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith by Gretchen Saffles - God has repeatedly brought the woman at the well into my line of sight, now again, through this book. Excellent tips and encouragements for living a life tapped into God's living water, to grow and be fruitful. Christian Living. 304 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 7 hours), 📃📃📃📃-1/2

The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay - My first by this author, but won't be my last. Compulsively readable. This novel slowly uncovers the truth about an alleged, forged Picasso painting. Mystery. 286 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 10 hours), 📃📃📃📃-1/2

Strangers in Time by David Baldacci - Two very different teenagers, Molly Wakefield and Charlie Matters, find friendship and support with the owner of a London bookshop during WWII. Historical Fiction. 433 pages, 📃📃📃📃 

Between the Mountain and the Sky: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, Healing, and Hope by Maggie Doyne - A young girl takes a gap year and ends up rearing over 50 children in Nepal. A fascinating and heart-rending story. Memoir. 272 pages, 📃📃📃-1/2

31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew by Ruth Myers with Warren Myers - Great devotional resource for exploring praise during morning quiet time with God. Devotional. 158 pages, 📃📃📃

The Lawyer and the Laundress by Christine Hill Suntz - Amid political rebellion in 1837 Canada, a lawyer marries a laundress to provide care for his ailing daughter. Christian Historical Romance. 368 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 10 hours), 📃📃📃

Marked by Prayer: Five Traits of People Who Pray by G. Dwayne McCrary - Small book that outlines five distinguishing traits of people who spend time communicating with God. Christian Living. 84 pages, 📃📃📃

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy - The unlikely connection between an elderly woman and a mouse. Delightful story! Novel. 226 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 5 hours), 📃📃📃📃

Wings of Faith: The Remarkable Life of Harry Read by Dawn Volz - I encountered Commissioner Harry Read's poetry on Facebook several years ago. Then, I thrilled at the story of his parachute jump at 95-years-old. Biography. 232 pages, 📃📃📃-1/2

The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao - Two individuals board the Elsewhere Express, a philosophical train built from people's daydreams wishing they were somewhere else. Fantasy. 416 pages, 📃📃📃

Tupelo Grove series by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker - What We Hide, Where Secrets Lie, and When Justice Comes. Savannah Webster and her ex-husband Hez try to track down the criminals framing her sister for murder while trying to save the Tupelo Grove University. All 3 books are fast-paced and compulsively readable. Christian Thriller/Romantic Suspense. 1088 page, total (Read 368 pages, listened on Hoopla, 20-3/4 hours), 📃📃📃📃-1/2

Humankind: Changing the World One Small Act at a Time by Brad Aronson - This is a beautiful book about the opportunity to speak into the life of another through small acts of kindness. Would that everyone read and implemented the truths in this book! Inspirational/Self-Help. 256 pages (I listened on Hoopla, 6-1/2 hours), 📃📃📃📃

💖This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page - Absolutely amazing trip through a year of books as Tilly Nightingale learns to read and live again after her beloved husband's death. I loved this book! I wish I could read it again for the first time. Fiction. 403 pages, 📃📃📃📃📃

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline - From early 19th-century London to Australia, this story follows the hardships of two transported convicts and an Aboriginal girl. The bonds of friendship hold women's lives together. Historical Fiction. 400 pages (I listened in audio form, 8 CDs, 10-1/2 hours), 📃📃📃📃

Hearts in Circulation by Sarah Monzon - Hayley Holt is trapped in Turkey Grove until a rockslide can be excavated and her bookmobile repaired. Theological insights flow naturally from this story. Christian Rom-com. 279 pages, 📃📃📃📃

💖God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew - What an impressive story of faithfulness, both by Brother Andrew and by God! It is sure to ignite a fire of faith among anyone whose embers are fading! Christian Autobiography. 240 pages, 📃📃📃📃📃

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