An Open Book: March 2025

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

Welcome to the March 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:

Courtney Wash’s My Lucky Charm is the second in her Holidays with Hart series of low-spice rom-coms featuring professional hockey players and the Hart sisters. This one, tied loosely to St. Patrick’s Day, uses the grumpy/sunshine trope to good effect. Gray's grumpiness would make him unlikeable were it not for how the author allows the reader a look behind his scowls and reticence. He's a man of few words and few smiles, but Eloise, in all her babbling hilarity, can see through his facade. Eventually. When it comes to her sunshiny attitude and her attraction to Gray, she just can't help herself. 

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson has been on my to-read list for a long time, and, due to life’s distractions, it’s taken me much longer than I’d like to finish. I have to guess at some of the dated vocabulary, but I’m enjoying the story of a young man betrayed by a greedy uncle and kidnapped aboard a ship bound for America. The protagonist, David Balfour, has teamed up with a Jacobite rescued from the sea and some ship-board swashbuckling ensues. 

Real Life with Mary: Growing in Virtue to Magnify the Lord by Kelsey Gillespy is a relatable look at the Blessed Mother’s life, examining her role in Scripture, the virtues she exemplifies, and how we can live as she did, magnifying the Lord. Both new and seasoned moms will particularly enjoy the personal stories the author shares and benefit from the reflections presented. Good for either personal study or a group read/reflection. 

My college son has been reading C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters with a group that meets weekly at a coffee shop off campus. They read and then discuss several letters at a time. It’s his first time reading this spiritual classic, and he’s found Lewis’s demon perspective very clever. 

For a history class, he’s also read Matilda: Empress. Queen. Warrior by Catherine Hanley. From his review: “Good historical overview ... and an interesting analysis of Empress Matilda, who has unfortunately often been buried beneath her female successors Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, and Victoria and hidden behind her father and son.” He was wary of “imposing our modern views of society on Matilda's own time, but Hanley treats Matilda and her contemporaries with a great deal of respect and genuine interest and curiosity that not everyone is able to provide. “ 

Rodney Stark’s God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades “isn't really a military analysis or focused historical account of the crusades (although these do heavily factor into the book) but more of a thesis that Christians really have little to apologize for, arguing that the Crusades were for the most part justified and reasonable.” This was a different perspective on the Crusades than what’s often taught, even in Catholic schools. 

My middle school daughter tore through Leslea Wahl’s In Plain Sight, enjoying opening up a series of small surprises that are tied to the text as she read. I had the pleasure of reading this new YA Christian mystery/adventure, too, and I loved the Minnesota setting, the secret rooms and passages, and the main character, Emerson’s, delightful dog, Zuri. In Plain Sight includes fun twist and turns, some sweet romance, and familiar characters from other books in the Finding Faith series. 

September 17 by Amanda West Lewis was my daughter’s research novel for a short fiction competition she entered. The novel tells the story of the City of Benares, a British luxury liner used to transport 90 British children from bombed British cities to Canada in 1940. The ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk within a half hour. Thirteen children survived. This fictionalized account follows three of those children and the tragedy they endured. 

Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen tells the story of Audra, a Lithuanian girl living under Russian occupation. When Russian Cossack soldiers arrive, Audra flees with an important package she must deliver, leaving her parents behind, eventually being caught up in the resistance movement. My daughter has enjoyed several historical YA novels by this author. 

My daughter also read the first two books of the Off the Itinerary series by M. Liz Boyle, Avalanche and Chased. (The third book is waiting on the Kindle.) In this series, teen Marlee and family/friends encounter adventure, disaster, and danger. Amidst the adventure are Christian lessons in strength and virtue. 

The Catholic Schools Week book fair always means more novels, and my son thoroughly enjoyed the book he picked up there: The Architect by Jonathan Starrett. I think this was his first exposure to steam punk, and he enjoyed it. Phantom City is in the clutches of a villain, and twelve-year-old Charlie gets some help from the mysterious Architect in the fight against evil. 

My middle school son has also quickly read more than half of The Tapper Twins Go to War by Geoff Rodkey. In this first in a series, a pair of 12-year-old twins engage in a prank war told from their alternating points of view with some illustrations — that’s why my son is zipping through. 

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Copyright 2025 Carolyn Astfalk
Images: Canva
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