Today I am joining with Carolyn Astfalk and CatholicMom.com for An Open Book. Here is what I’ve been reading and planning to read!
On sale for only .99 this week! A World Such as Heaven Intended by Amanda Lauer!
Amazon Synopsis: WINNER in the 2016 Catholic Arts and Letter Award (Young Adult Category)! Heaven Intended (Book One) Amara McKirnan and Nathan Simmons share a devotion to their Catholic faith but their loyalties lie on opposite sides of the Civil War. Dedicated to the Confederate cause, Amara offers to help out at her uncle’s makeshift hospital in Atlanta. Fate brought Nathan to their doorstep and into Amara’s life. Little does Amara know that the wounded soldier she cares for harbors a secret that will not only jeopardize his life but hers as well.
Follow Amara and Nathan’s story from the heart of war-torn Atlanta to the Northern Georgia battlefields to the plains of East Texas as their lives become intertwined in a way that shatters the separate worlds they once knew.
Amazon Synopsis: In this blockbuster bestseller we meet Hannah Blau, the midwife, who fought savage religious prejudice to gain medical training in Moscow’s legendary Imperial College. She fought her own doubts and fears as she plunged into a forbidden love affair and an even more hazard-filled marriage. She fought the awesome odds facing a Jewish immigrant and the bitter hostility of male doctors in turn-of-the-century New York. She fought for her burning dreams and desires. She fought and she won. This sweeping novel follows the courageous and passionate Hannah from the corridors of the Imperial Palace to the Lower East Side, and finally to New York’s Fifth Avenue mansions — recreating a whole world of striving, of love, of lust, of life, death and birth.
My review: I’ve read this book numerous times, but it’s one that I enjoy reading over and over again because I enjoy the time period (early 1900’s) and the topic (midwifery).
The author doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulties and challenges of being a midwife and a Jew at this time period in Europe. There are underlying themes, but in the end, Hannah is a believable, well-developed person of the time period. 5 out of 5 starts.
The Lance and the Veil by Kevin Rush
Amazon Synopsis: “[A] richly imagined novel…A big, bold Biblical saga to fire the Christian imagination!” Kirkus Reviews
On the fateful road to Calvary, his part was cruelty; hers was compassion. The Lance and the Veil tells the story of Veronica, a princess of Rome, and Longinus, a career soldier. Each, alone in a violent world, comes to a holy land during a time of miracles.
Veronica wiped the face of her Lord moments before His death. Longinus pierced his captive’s side, then declared, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”
The Lance and the Veil imagines how these two witnesses to salvation came to their moment in history. Kevin Rush weaves imperial history, Holy Scripture and forgotten Christian folklore into a fast-paced, romantic adventure that uplifts, educates, edifies and entertains.
Kevin Rush has mastered a seemingly forgotten art…the ability to write engaging, faith-infused historical fiction in the tradition of Taylor Caldwell.
– Cary Solomon & Chuck Konzelman, screenwriters for God’s Not Dead
My review: on my To Read shelf.
Warrior of the Kizan by Ann Margaret Lewis
Amazon Synopsis: To save a princess, he must first save himself.Star Wars meets Edgar Rice Burroughs in this techno-magic tale of war and redemption!
Dakhar Talin, a member of a cursed, telepathic people, who is the new head of security for the Royal House of Emun. When the princess, Tasia, is kidnapped, Dakhar’s investigation leads him to a sinister planet called Earth. But inner demons from his military service torment him, threatening his sanity, integrity, and the success of his mission. Can he bring the princess home before he loses his soul to ever-corrupting madness? Read Warrior of the Kizan, the new space opera adventure by former Star Wars author Ann Margaret Lewis!
My review: Warrior of the Kizan by Ann Margaret Lewis is a highly entertaining, well-written sci-fi tale that brings aliens and humans together in one story. The two main other-world characters, Dakhar and Tasia, are from a planet that uses soul speak (can talk without words). Tasia is the heir to the throne and is kidnapped. It is Dakhar’s job to find her and bring her safely back home. Dakhar has unresolved issues of his own. She ends up on earth, where she meets friends and enemies alike. Lewis builds both the alien world and the earth settings with excellent precision and her characters are well-developed and multi-dimensional. Even if you aren’t into sci-fi or space operas, you’ll enjoy this story. Highly recommend.
Three to Get Married by Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Amazon Synopsis: One of the greatest and best-loved spokesmen for the Faith here sets out the Church’s beautiful understanding of marriage in his trademark clear and entertaining style. Frankly and charitably, Sheen presents the causes of and solutions to common marital crises, and tells touching real-life stories of people whose lives were transformed through marriage. He emphasizes that our Blessed Lord is at the center of every successful and loving marriage. This is a perfect gift for engaged couples, or for married people as a fruitful occasion for self-examination.
My review: I recently watched a biography of Fulton Sheen and it renewed my interest in reading some of his books. This has been on my To Read shelf for many years so I’m in the process of reading it. Loving what I read so far!
Blind Justice by James Scott Bell
Amazon Synopsis: Jake Denney has hit rock bottom. His wife has left him. He’s drinking again. And his five-year-old daughter is in the middle of it all. When a judge calls him “a disgrace to the legal profession,” Jake starts thinking things might be better for everyone if he wasn’t around anymore.
Then a childhood friend’s mother phones him. Her son, Howie, has been accused of murdering his wife. Jake takes the seemingly hopeless case in a last-ditch effort to save his client and his fading career.
Meanwhile, Howie’s little sister, Lindsay, has grown into a beautiful woman. Though Jake is drawn to her, there’s something about her he doesn’t understand, even though it may be the very thing he needs to reclaim his humanity.
With the evidence mounting against his client, and a web of corruption closing around them both, Jake Denney faces the fight of his life–not only in the courtroom, but in the depths of his own soul.
“Move over John Grisham. James Scott Bell has done it again with Blind Justice. A must read!” – Nancy Moser, author of The Invitation and The Quest
My review: Downloaded this for free on Kindle. On my To-Read shelf!
Plot Line and Sinker (Ellen Gable, Author) 
So many good selections! I’ve been wanting to read Fulton Sheen too – the book you mentioned in particular, but they seem hard to find. I’ve been reading The World’s First Love little by little at adoration. There’s so much wisdom in there! I loved The Kizan Warrior too, even though it’s not a genre I often read. I’d also be interested in reading James Scott Bell’s fiction, since I’ve seen so much of his writing advice. Thanks for linking up!