52. Ladies of the Lake

Ladies of the Lake. Cathy Gohlke. 2023. [July] 384 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: It had been easy to set aside the engraved invitation to the July graduation fro Lakeside Ladies Academy, less easy to ignore persistent letters from my beloved Bernadette with her daughterly pleas to attend the "most important event" of her life. Still, I never expected a call from the United States when Portia summoned me to the phone in the downstairs hallway. 

Premise/plot: Rosaline Murray, our heroine, has a tough decision to make: attend her daughter's graduation ceremony and face the demons of her past OR disappoint her daughter and perhaps damage their relationship forever. 

The novel is set in two timelines (for the most part) and has multiple narrators. The "past" is circa 1905 to 1917. Adelaide Rose MacNeill, an orphan from Prince Edward Island, is sent to a boarding school in Connecticut where she befriends three others--Ruth, Susannah, and Dorothy. The four become the "Ladies of the Lake" and vow to be lifelong friends who meet every several years in the gazebo at Lakeside Ladies Academy. The "present" is 1935 (and an epilogue set during the Second World War, 1943???). The narrators are Dorothy and Addie/Rosaline. 

Friendships are front and center in this historical novel. 

One of the BIG, BIG, BIG events in this historical novel  is the Halifax Explosion of December 1917. This was a real event that had a big impact (literally and figuratively) on our main character.

My thoughts: I really LOVED this one so much. If the novel has a flaw, then perhaps it is the complete and total lack of chapters. (To be fair, perhaps this is just in the Advanced Readers Copy I previewed.) One pro to that being is that I read for LONG periods of time. If I could have managed it physically to read in one sitting, then I would have. I read it in about three or four sittings. I always wanted to read more, more, more. 

I enjoyed the story, the time period, the dual narration, the suspense, the characterization. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: A Big Year for Lily

A Big Year for Lily (The Adventures of Lily Lapp #3) Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher. 2013. Revell. 267 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Lily's toes felt tingly.

This is the third book in this contemporary Amish middle grade series. When the series first started Lily was oh-so-precious and just six years old. In this one she turns ten years old. She's matured so much since that first book. Which is both good and bad. Good because maturity is to be expected and appreciated. One can't stay frozen in time. It's impossible. Bad because I miss the Lily-that-was. The little-Lily made me laugh time and time again.

Lily at home. Lily at school. Lily at church. That's what we get to see in this newest book. Lily continues to struggle to "get along" with her two archenemies--Effie and Aaron. Lily has a VERY HARD time understanding why her cousin Hannah thinks Aaron is oh-so-dreamy.

I am still loving the series. I am. I am a little sad that there's just one more book in the series. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: The Ladies of Ivy Cottage

The Ladies of Ivy Cottage. (Tales from Ivy Hill #2) Julie Klassen. 2017. Bethany House. 448 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Rachel Ashford wanted to throw up her hands.

Premise/plot: The first book in this giddy-making series is The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill. In that book, readers are introduced to a small, yet complex, community. Within that community, several women are striving to maintain their independence and make a living. Jane, one of the main characters, has an inn. Mercy and her aunt have a school. And Rachel is venturing forth in this novel with a circulating library--using her father's collection of books which she inherited when he died.

The main characters of this second novel have shifted a bit to Rachel and Mercy, though Jane still factors into the novel quite a bit. (Especially towards the end of the novel--swoon!!!)

Each woman is at a crisis point--though none of the character truly hit rock bottom because of the resourcefulness of friends and family and a supportive community.

Rachel is living on charity, and she absolutely hates it. The only thing she owns is her father's library. She doesn't read. One of the stipulations of the will was that the collection could never be sold. Fortunately, a friend suggests that she could open up a circulating library. She's staying with Mercy and her aunt, Matilda. They graciously agree to allow two of their rooms to be dedicated to that library.

Mercy is a teacher, and she absolutely LOVES it. Part of her still aches for a child of her own, but she's past thirty and if she didn't find love when she was young, what are the chances of her finding it now? But she's given the opportunity to become a guardian to one of her pupils, Alice. But is this too good to be true? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Regardless, her crisis is of a different sort. Her parents have given her an ultimatum: marry Mr. Hollander, a gentleman they've set her up with, OR her home will be given to her brother, George, and his new wife. It seems the new year will bring unwelcome change no matter what.

My thoughts: This is very much a romance novel. I found it to be giddy-making or even swoon-worthy. I loved it. I think you will too. (Even if you don't enjoy love triangles. Rachel is being courted by several men. But it's fairly obvious which is her true love.)

I usually don't like my romance novels so peopled--so many main heroines, so many stories--but in the case of this series I wouldn't dream of leaving anyone out. I love them all. Klassen even has a few more 'minor' characters that I enjoy quite a bit.

If you enjoy watching miniseries like Lark Rise to Candleford and North and South, or reading the works of Jane Austen, I think you will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one as much as I do.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: The Christmas Joy Ride

The Christmas Joy Ride. Melody Carlson. 2015. Revell. 176 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Did I enjoy reading Melody Carlson's The Christmas Joy Ride? Yes. For the most part. It was a quick and satisfying read. Don't pick it up expecting to find the real 'reason for the season' in it. It's not a wow-worthy read perhaps. But is it fun, in its own way, and uplifting? Yes, it is. Christmas books should be uplifting, in my opinion. I have a low tolerance for depressing, sad, Christmas books.

So Miranda is the heroine of The Christmas Joy Ride. She's in a tough place financially, and that's a bit of an understatement. She decides on the spur of the moment to accompany her neighbor, her good friend, Joy, on a trip across the country. Joy, the other heroine, is eighty-five years old. She's driving her way across the country in an RV. The end of the trip will bring her to her new home, a retirement village, I believe, nearer to her grown-children. Along the way, she'll be spreading Christmas joy--literally--as she gives away her Christmas decorations and helps makes dreams and wishes come true.

The Christmas Joy Ride is one of those magical books that you think would make a GREAT movie that you could--you would--happily watch every Christmas season. Especially if it was cast right. This one has plenty of charm and good will in it. It's just a novel easy to recommend.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Out With The In Crowd

Out With The In Crowd by Stephanie Morrill. 2010. [January 2010] Revell. 252 pages.

All winter break, I'd planned for this moment, the one about to happen.

Skylar Hoyt may be beautiful--her mom is Hawaiian--and popular, but that doesn't mean her life is perfect. Far from it. A senior in high school, Skylar should be preparing for college, making plans for living her own life. Instead, Skylar is spending most of her time worrying about her family. Her younger sister, Abbie, is pregnant. And her mom and dad are separated and talking divorce. Add to the mix some seriously complex and conflicted relationships with her friends, and it's no wonder Skylar is feeling lost.

There is just something so high school about Out With The In Crowd. Here are just a few of the complications in Skylar's life: Eli--her ex-boyfriend; Jodi--her ex-best-friend, and the current girlfriend of Eli; and Connor, her current boyfriend, but Jodi's ex-boyfriend. Of course, that's just the very beginning...

Out with the In Crowd is the second novel in the series. Me, Just Different is the first. (I haven't read it.)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Until We Reach Home

Austin, Lynn. 2008. Until We Reach Home. Bethany House.

Elin Carlson walked into the barn and everything changed.

Elin is the oldest of three sisters. Her younger sisters, Kirsten and Sofia, don't always appreciate their older sister looking out for them; her bossing them around. But since the death of their mother and father, Elin has taken this burden or responsibility upon her young shoulders. True, Uncle Sven and Aunt Karin came to "help" the Carlson family run the farm. But as Elin sees it, the two--especially Uncle Sven--have been far from helpful. In fact, she blames them for her brother, Nils, deciding to move away to Stockholm. Life on the family farm and in this small Swedish village is far from ideal...to Elin.

Elin's dreams include finding a way to bring herself and her sisters to America...to Chicago. And Uncle Lars and his wife seem to be providing the way for Elin's dreams to become a reality. But this journey--both physically, spiritually, and emotionally--will be troubling for all three girls in three very different ways.

Set in Sweden and the United States near the turn of the twentieth century, this family story has it all--love, loss, heartache, joy, sorrow, fear, hope, peace, and turmoil. The novel illustrates patience, perseverance, grace, compassion, and above all else hope and faith in the midst of uncertainty.

Lynn Austin is one of my favorite Christian authors. I tend to love, love, love her books. Until We Reach Home is no exception. I'd definitely recommend this one to fans of historical fiction or historical romance.

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© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews