An Open Book: August 2025

Carolyn Astfalk hosts the Open Book linkup: Share what you're reading and get recommendations from other readers.

Welcome to the August 2025 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler's Heart AND Catholicmom.com.

An Open Book is all about what my family is reading this month, from the adults down to the little kids.

Share what you're reading by linking up your blog post below.

Simply write about what you're reading. You can make it personal or, as I do, extend it to the whole family. Your post can be as simple as a few lines about the book or as in-depth as a 700-word review. That's entirely up to you. You can even forego writing all together and record a video or simply post cover photos.

No blog? No problem. Please share what you're reading in the comments.

Here are the books my family and I have read this month:

Uneasy Street by Becky Wade is the third book in her Sons of Scandal series. Of the three, this one wasn’t my favorite, but enemies-to-lovers is always a hard sell for me. I was, eventually, mostly won over to the hero, Max. This book wrapped up several threads in the series, including family matriarch Fiona’s story. There are a couple of mysteries in this one, so there’s a lot going on in addition to the romance between wildly successfully entrepreneur Max and his former partner-turned-etiquette expert, Sloane. Some interesting twists and a light Christian theme help make this an enjoyable contemporary romance. 

I read another “third in the series,” Hail Mary Catch by Marie Veillon, part of the Camellia rom-com series set in Cajun country. This one matches grumpy pediatrician Landry with his best friend’s sister, the innocent, optimistic Daisy. This is a marriage-of-convenience story on the spicy end of the clean read spectrum, so there’s a considerable amount of sexual innuendo but no graphic content. 

Joan of Arkansas by Sarah Robsdottir isn’t a retelling of the 15th-century saint’s life, but some similarities are drawn between her and this modern teen who, despite the bleak, often abusive circumstances of her life, has mission and purpose in defending the value of human life. While written for teens, this is a gritty story that includes a wide range of rough elements from child neglect and elder abuse to drug use and sexual crimes. Despite those elements, Joanie exhibits an enduring faith, and the story ends on a hopeful note. 

I loved Catholic Mom writer Leslea Wahl’s latest novel, A Summer to Treasure, which my 13-year-old daughter enjoyed as well. Three teen siblings and their parents embark on a summer road trip in the American West at the behest of their grandmother. Amidst national park visits and treasure hunts, they discover a lot about themselves, each other, their grandmother, and living life in the real world (as opposed to a virtual one). A perfect book for summer reading. 

My oldest son enjoyed Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, an American classic he’d never read. He found this story of boyhood adventures on the Mississippi River not only humorous but filled with important themes in Twain’s unique style. I only read this book well into adulthood myself, but I’d like to re-read it. 

Regular readers of An Open Book know that we often pick up books inspired by or related to our vacations. This year, we visited various Civil War sites in both Virginia and West Virginia, including one of our favorite stops, the Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters Museum in Winchester, Virginia. That’s where my son picked up Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson by Mary Anna Jackson, Stonewall Jackson’s second wife. This isn’t a book about battle tactics, and given the author, it’s not generally critical of the Confederate general. It shares what my son calls “an inspiring example of faith and devotion, showing us how we can integrate our religious faith as Americans into both the public and private spheres of our lives.” He calls the final chapter, dealing with Jackson’s death, a must-read. 

I’ve visited the battlefields in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, more times than I can count, and I still get all balled up trying to pinpoint what action happened where. That’s where The First Day at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863 by James A. Hessler comes in. My son called it “an ideal tour of the battlefield distilled into an illustrated book.” The author’s writing style and maps help the reader understand battle movements and complex maneuvers. 

The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War by Thomas J. DiLorenzo turned what my son has learned about Abraham Lincoln on its head. The author uses Lincoln’s own quotes, speeches, and influences to create a compelling analysis of Lincoln’s motives in going to war. The author shines in his economic analysis and presents Lincolns’ economic vision as a driving factor in his politics. My son was particularly impressed with the book’s respect for and adherence to the U.S. Constitution’s purpose. 

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson concerns the early part of the American Revolutionary War and is the first book in Atkinson’s trilogy. It includes such famous Americans as Henry Knox, Nathanael Greene, Benjamin Franklin, and, of course, General George Washington. This book is more detailed than David McCullough’s 1776 (sometimes too detailed) and is written in an engaging style that made it easy to read while provided a lot of information about the early theaters of the war, including operations in Canada. 

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is short enough that my son read it in only a day. He gave five stars to the classic I long-ago enjoyed, reading it a couple of times in high school. George and Lenny, a simple, childlike man, make an unlikely pair working in the California vegetable fields in the early 20th century. There’s tragedy and misunderstanding in this American classic. 

My oldest son and daughter have formed a small book group (small meaning they are the only two members). They’re currently reading Flannery O’Connor stories from A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories. I crashed their club last week (though I didn’t get a fancy drink like they did) with The Complete Stories. It’s such fun to share these stories, appreciating the quality with which they are written and dissecting their symbolism and meaning. Our selection was “The River.” 

My daughter also read The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, the second book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. She’d seen the movies, so reading the books is eye-opening to her as she discovers scenes and characters that differ from their cinematic portrayal. (The book is almost always better, isn’t it?) 

My younger daughter continues to tear through books at an intimidating pace. I recommended Fawkes by Nadine Brandes, a book that has been on my to-read list for a long time. It’s a fantasy adaption of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. I was curious how the author would portray Catholicism’s role, but according to my daughter, the fantasy managed to sidestep questions of religious practice. She loved the melding of history and fantasy and considers this one of her favorites read this summer. 

She also read two complete series that I saw recommended on Sacrifice of Love’s An Open Book posts. The first is The Secrets of Ormdale series by Christina Baehr. My daughter describes it as a fantasy set in the Yorkshire area at the turn of the 20th century. Just seeing the words “crumbling gothic Abbey” in the description is enough to make me want to read it. 

The second series is The Stolen Kingdom series by Bethany Atazadeh, a series of fairytale retellings starting with a book based on Aladdin. The first book, The Stolen Kingdom, and the third book, The Cursed Hunter (a Beauty and the Beast retelling), were her series favorites. 

I also recommended A Katie Parker Production series by Jenny B. Jones to her based on my enjoyment of so many of the authors’ books (though I had not yet read this series, aimed firmly at the YA audience). The series begins when Katie is introduced to her new foster parents, a pastor and his wife. Hanging out with her new grandma, Mad Maxine, results in some shenanigans and leads to some life lessons. 

Both my middle-school daughter and son read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, which I included recently when their older brother read it. The remainder of the books my two youngest children read have also been featured here recently or in the not-too-distant past. Here they are, in no particular order:  

• The Stolen Princess by Sandralena Hanley 
• Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War by Michael Shaara 
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 
• The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien 
• Great War Great Love series by Catholic Mom writer Ellen Gable 
• A Dark and Desperate Race by Stephanie Weller Hanson

Join the linkup to share what you're reading — or leave a comment below.

Want more details on An Open Book?

You can also sign up for An Open Book reminder email, which goes out one week before the link-up.

Copyright 2025 Carolyn Astfalk
Images: Canva
This article contains Amazon affiliate links, which provide a small compensation to the author of this piece when purchases are made through the links, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting our Catholic Mom writers in this way.