An Open Book: July 2025

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

Welcome to the July 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:

I’m supposed to have more time for reading in the summer, right? I’m not working outside the home and the kids’ activities are diminished. Or they’re supposed to be. So far, my kids have had ample time for reading. Me, not so much, but I’m hoping to make room for more books as we ease into summer. 

I quickly read Karen Witemeyer’s latest, To Love a Beast, a Beauty and the Beast retelling set in late 19th-century Texas. It read so smoothly and was such a pleasant diversion. While the plot and characters had nods to the classic fairy tale, it was infused with a realism I enjoyed. As always, Karen Witemeyer’s books are well-written and include faith themes that resonate. 

My adult son has an ambitious reading plan and has been moving swiftly through U.S. Civil War books, including Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson. The author takes on the daunting task of condensing the war into one volume. If you’re going to read only one book seeking an overview of the war, then my son would recommend this Pulitzer Prize winner. However, other books provide more detail, more engaging style, and varying perspectives. He found this volume to be less objective than he’d have liked. 

He's currently reading the first in a series that he purchased at a local Civil War bookseller. (You have those when you live as close to Gettysburg as we do.) Early Struggles for Vicksburg: The Mississippi Central Campaign and Chickasaw Bayou, October 25-December 31, 1862 covers the early war operations in six states as part of Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s attempt to reach Vicksburg. The level of research and storytelling in the book is more to my son’s liking and the maps are plentiful. 

In preparation for completion of her summer 4H project, my high school daughter is reading Madame Fromage’s Adventures in Cheese: How to Explore It, Pair It, and Love It, from the Creamiest Bries to the Funkiest Blues by Tenaya Darlington. It is an overview of cheese history and cheese varieties, which will be helpful to her as she tries her hand at some basic cheese-making. 

J.R.R. Tolkien is a frequent author shared here. I don’t think I have anything new to say about him or his works, but my daughter read the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, which she loved. She plans on reading the remainder of the trilogy this summer. 

On a long, long drive from Pennsylvania to Minnesota and back, the same daughter had ample time to read another Agatha Christie mystery novel, And Then There Were None. Ten strangers are invited weekend guests on a private island, and each has a damaging secret in their past. In each of their rooms hangs an ominous nursery rhyme, which plays itself out as successive murders occur. 

She also read most of Mark Twain’s Puddn’head Wilson, a short book I’ve been meaning to return to. She particularly enjoyed the humor. This entertaining mystery, which features courtroom drama, stems from a young slave’s swapping her fair-skinned infant son for her master’s. 

My middle school-daughter has already more than completed the library’s summer reading program. It is difficult to keep this young lady stocked with books! She read the four main books in Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter), a sci fi/fantasy series with a fairytale twist. When I read this series years ago, it reminded me in some ways of Star Wars in its style and tone. 

Uprising is a historical novel by an author my daughter enjoys, Jennifer A. Neilson. Lidia, inspired by real Polish teenager Lidia Zakrzewski, is a young girl who becomes part of the Polish resistance during WWII. She smuggles food into the Warsaw Ghetto, then works as a courier delivering messages throughout the city. 

My daughter also read three books in Regina Doman’s The Fairy Tale Novels series: Black as Night, Waking Rose, and The Midnight Dancers. These, the second through fourth books in the series, are inspired by Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I consider these books classic Catholic YA novels by a contemporary author and they remain favorites in many Catholic families. 

Ablaze by M. Liz Boyle is the third book in the Off the Itinerary series. In this adventure, the Stanley sisters and the Miles boys are helping with an outdoor program in the Montana mountains. All is well until a fire divides their group. 

For her school-assigned summer reading project, she read The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. My older daughter read this with her class in eighth grade. The novel, set in colonial Maine, is a Newbery Honor book. Thirteen-year-old Matthew is left to guard his family’s cabin in the wilderness and meets a Native boy, Attean, who teaches him about his culture.  

And yet another series read is underway! This one is Catholic Mom contributing writer Ellen Gable’s Great War Great Love series, starting with Julia’s Gifts, which my daughter read in a day. Julia, an American, has been buying gifts for her future husband for years. When she volunteers for nursing duty in France during WWI, she meets a Canadian man, for whom the gifts are (eventually) intended. 

My middle-school son ended the school year by reading Comeback Catcher, a graphic novel by Jake Maddox. Eddie Jackson struck out last summer and returns to baseball as a backup catcher. He’ll need to find the courage to get back into the game. 

He also read Leopold II: Butcher of the Congo by Tod Olson, part of the Wicked History series that profiles ruthless historical rulers. This edition recounts the life of Leopold II of Belgium from childhood to his rise to the throne, his conquest of the Congo, and his death. 

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Copyright 2025 Carolyn Astfalk
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