I'm reading Mirrors & Smoke by our member @Adrienne Stevenson for fiction. It's about a herbalist and midwife in Niagara, Upper Canada, before and during the War of 1812. For non-fiction, I'm re-reading The Pinks by Chris Enss. It's about the first women detectives in the Pinkerton Detective Agency in the 19th century. Do you read outside when the weather's nice? I always like the *idea* of it, but rarely do it these days, even though I used to love reading in parks when I was a student.

This original N. C. Wyeth painting hangs in the student dining hall of the school I now work at. Yes, there's been a history of ketchup stains on this beauty, worth millions even after all the spot-removal treatments. But the story behind the painting is so touching. Commissioned by students to honor a classmate who studied art, but died young. https://www.westtown.edu/about/history/archives/the-giant/

Even well-loved, super-popular, award-winning books have their serious haters! 😂 This is historical fiction. All guesses are encouraged (no googling, though!). This is meant to be fun. Don't be dismayed if you disagree with the review. Any spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors are copied directly from the review. I’ll post the correct answer tomorrow (25th June 2026). ⭐ There was so much potential in this story and all of it was unfortunately ruined by poor writing and quick cleanup and just...uuuugggghhhhhh. I kinda want to throw this book in the trash. I really enjoyed [Character 1]’s and [Character 2]’s stories, but [Character 3]’s was so ridiculous. [Character 3]’s character was immature, clueless, and terribly underdeveloped. Actually, I hated [Character 3] throughout the book but by the end, I wished she’d jumped off the bridge instead of [Character 2]. • [Character 3] can’t remember the emergency number in England to help her sick husband, but instead of asking her new English friend who’s right in front of her face, she instead decides to run back to the hotel, thereby wasting precious time. • [Character 3] applies to Cambridge Univ online one night and the next day begins making plans on how to divorce her husband, quit her job at the family business, secure student housing, etc. She’s an American. Does Cambridge accept foreign graduate students that quickly? PROBABLY NOT. • She blabbers on throughout the entire book about being a historian then ends up choosing a grad degree in British Literature - a subject that is NEVER mentioned in the book but once, and only as an aside. • And maybe because she chose to be a Brit Lit major, this is why she feels like it’s appropriate to fling the vial back into the Thames and keep certain things to herself...BECAUSE HISTORIANS CANNOT DO THAT. EDITED TO ADD: [Character 1], the 18th-century feminist apothecarist, keeps a ledger of the names of all the women who’ve come to her for assistance in taking out the men who’ve wronged them. And I’m okay with that. Except when she knows the end is near and the police are closing in on her...so she decides to leave the ledger OUT to be discovered? Claiming that not acknowledging the women publicly erases them from history, but not considering that those women could all be hanged if their crimes are discovered???? That’s cowardice, not feminism.

This was a Book Club read. It’s a well-written historical novel that includes a lovely romance. I’ll be honest, I went in expecting “historical romance.” You know the type. Pretty setting, a little longing, tidy ending, close the book, move on with life. Nope. This one lingers. Set in Depression-era Appalachia, the story follows Ada, a widow who moves back home with her aging parents to care for them and keep the small farm going. She takes a job as a Pack Horse librarian, riding books deep into the mountains to people who have little access to… well, anything. And somewhere along those rugged trails, she crosses paths with Jonah, a widower raising two children in near isolation. Now here’s where it could have gone predictable. Thank goodness it didn’t. The romance shows up slowly, like trust does in real life. These are two people carrying grief like it’s set in their bones, figuring out if there’s room for something more without betraying what they’ve lost. And that slow-burn, layered build is exactly what we in my Book Club enjoy. And the setting? It’s not just a backdrop, it’s practically a character. The weight of those mountains is real. The scarcity. The grit. The way people made do with what they had and somehow still managed to create community, connection, and moments of unexpected tenderness. This world was vividly written, like stepping through a door into 1937 and staying awhile. But what stayed with me most wasn’t just Ada and Jonah. It was the idea at the heart of it all: carrying the world to someone who doesn’t have access to it. Books, yes. But also kindness. Attention. Care. This story is full of that quiet kind of giving. The kind that doesn’t announce itself but changes everything anyway. Final verdict? It’s a love story. It's a survival story. It's a story about second chances. It's a story about the fragile, stubborn way people find their way back to life after loss. And it’s one I’m really glad our Book Club chose, because it’s the kind of book you don’t just read…

Hi all! I came across this interesting article about how HF isn't dead and using this series as a case study. Has anyone read it? Skimming the article, I can't tell if it's my cup of tea or not. :P