Books Books Books
02-22-2026, 07:17 AM
#41
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,668
I started reading The Water Keeper but couldn't handle the subject matter so returned it to the library early. I was disappointed as I was looking forward to reading the series. I read for escapism these days and for me this book was not it. Oh well back to the drawing board.
02-22-2026, 07:23 AM
#42
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Alberta, Canada
Posts: 1,129
JanieW, the Keeper series is right out of the Epstein Files... it is not easy reading at all and is rather triggering. I have now read the second book and while there was some recap, I think it is best read in order.
For a lighter read that I enjoyed, The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs was fun. I thought it was going to be a simpler romance but I enjoyed it quite a bit! it is perhaps more Legally Blonde/Private Benjamin than The Princess Bride or The Apprentice to the Villain, but if you appreciate any of those you might check it out.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...rincess-knight
ptquilts -- I put Carnegie's Maid on my list. I've read the Other Einstein by the same author, and also in my read someday list is Andrew Carnegie's autobiography. When I lived in Idaho my senior year, the town library was still in it's stone Carnegie Library building, lol it's taken me a few decades to circle those memories.
For a lighter read that I enjoyed, The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs was fun. I thought it was going to be a simpler romance but I enjoyed it quite a bit! it is perhaps more Legally Blonde/Private Benjamin than The Princess Bride or The Apprentice to the Villain, but if you appreciate any of those you might check it out.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...rincess-knight
ptquilts -- I put Carnegie's Maid on my list. I've read the Other Einstein by the same author, and also in my read someday list is Andrew Carnegie's autobiography. When I lived in Idaho my senior year, the town library was still in it's stone Carnegie Library building, lol it's taken me a few decades to circle those memories.
@Iceblossom Thanks for that suggestion. It's on my list for the next library trip which is coming up soon. My insomnia is the worst it's ever been so it's important to me to have a large pile of books . Will check out Carnegie's Maid, too.
02-23-2026, 07:34 AM
#43
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,259
For more light-hearted reading choices, I enjoyed the Magical Cats cozy mysteries by Sophie Kelley --
https://www.goodreads.com/series/535...l-cats-mystery
Also cozy mysteries and also set in Minnesota (as are the magical cats) the Needlecraft mysteries by Monica Ferris aren't too icky.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/409...ecraft-mystery
The formidable Victorian Archaeologist Amelia Peabody by Elizabeth Peters. I didn't care for her other books as much.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/40876-amelia-peabody
If you like Amelia, Lady Trent is a Steampunk version with dragons!
https://www.goodreads.com/series/107...-of-lady-trent
https://www.goodreads.com/series/535...l-cats-mystery
Also cozy mysteries and also set in Minnesota (as are the magical cats) the Needlecraft mysteries by Monica Ferris aren't too icky.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/409...ecraft-mystery
The formidable Victorian Archaeologist Amelia Peabody by Elizabeth Peters. I didn't care for her other books as much.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/40876-amelia-peabody
If you like Amelia, Lady Trent is a Steampunk version with dragons!
https://www.goodreads.com/series/107...-of-lady-trent
03-12-2026, 06:00 AM
#44
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,259
Thought it was time for an update -- thanks to suggestions here my reading list has been pretty full. Plus I've picked up a few new books by a few different authors.
I am continuing with the Keeper books, book 3 should be off hold soon. I have the second of the series by Nevada Barr books on this list for this week. First I'm finishing up a non-fiction, and then have another (reasonably short) non-fiction on totally different subject matter. Rare for me to have two non-fiction in a row.
From the recent books, I did quite enjoy Anne of a Different Island. If you want a nice happy ending story and love books in general and Anne of Green Gables in particular, this is a book for you. This Anne is not an orphan and the island is Mackinac in Michigan.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/b...rginia-kantra/
I am continuing with the Keeper books, book 3 should be off hold soon. I have the second of the series by Nevada Barr books on this list for this week. First I'm finishing up a non-fiction, and then have another (reasonably short) non-fiction on totally different subject matter. Rare for me to have two non-fiction in a row.
From the recent books, I did quite enjoy Anne of a Different Island. If you want a nice happy ending story and love books in general and Anne of Green Gables in particular, this is a book for you. This Anne is not an orphan and the island is Mackinac in Michigan.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/b...rginia-kantra/
03-21-2026, 04:23 AM
#45
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Peoria, IL -- Midwest Transplant
Posts: 7,259
Had yet another non-fiction come off hold, of the three I can recommend Embers of the Hands, Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough. It was engaging and fascinating, the sort of thing that is more like a collection of stories than a collection of facts.
https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324089247
I enjoyed the first of the Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion by Beth Brower, it will take some time before the next book is available for me.
I wasn't so happy with the 3rd in the Keeper books, but will continue on to four and last(??).
Just off hold is the newest book 6 of the Alaska Wilds series by Paige Shelton. Definitely on the cozy side of mystery/suspense things, the protagonist is an author who was kidnapped by an obsessed fan, and once freed ran away to hide at a remote Alaskan small town.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/265529-alaska-wild
https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324089247
I enjoyed the first of the Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion by Beth Brower, it will take some time before the next book is available for me.
I wasn't so happy with the 3rd in the Keeper books, but will continue on to four and last(??).
Just off hold is the newest book 6 of the Alaska Wilds series by Paige Shelton. Definitely on the cozy side of mystery/suspense things, the protagonist is an author who was kidnapped by an obsessed fan, and once freed ran away to hide at a remote Alaskan small town.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/265529-alaska-wild
03-24-2026, 02:38 AM
#46
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,426
I enjoy those Paige Shelton Alaska Wild books, too, and always look forward to a new one. Thanks also for the suggestion of Anne of a Different Island. While I read mostly mysteries, I do enjoy general fiction set in different areas of the states and world. Right now I'm reading a book by Katherine Reay who writes spin offs of Jane Austen's books. The Austen Escape is starting slowly and is about two young women who go to an immersive Austen experience in Bath.
