The Snow Lies Deep by Paula Munier

 

I have a few favorite series that I religiously keep up with--reading the latest book as soon as it comes out--and Paula Munier's Mercy Carr series is one of them. I love Mercy and her Belgian Malinois, Elvis, and her husband, Vermont Game Warden Troy Warner and his Newfoundland, Suzie Bear. In this one, their daughter, Felicity, is nine months old and about to celebrate her very first Christmas. Too bad Mercy's "Uncle" Lazlo just got murdered. 

Christmas abounds in this book from yule log traditions to a ceremonial Winter Solstice bonfire (complete with Druids), a town sing-along, Christmas Eve dinner, and "more is more" decorations. The author even works in that Russian fairy tale, The Snow Maiden. There are a lot of characters to juggle, too, with Mercy's extended family and all her friends, which Munier handles well. But I felt like the mystery itself got a bit overshadowed by it all. And their murder investigation didn't feel as tautly plotted or as compelling as in her earlier novels. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this one, because I did. Mercy and Troy and their dogs are engaging characters and I like the quirks and charms of their small Vermont community. I just didn't love the mystery as much as I usually do. (Though I'd still give it 4 stars.) And if you want that Christmas-in-Vermont setting, this is the book! 

Happy Reading!

  

Other Munier books I've reviewed:

A Borrowing of Bones (#1) 

Blind Search (#2) 

The Hiding Place (#3) 

The Wedding Plot (#4) 

Home At Night (#5) 

The Night Woods (#6) 

A bookish goal...

Over Christmas break I was contemplating what, if any, bookish goals I might want to set or reading challenges I might want to do in 2026. I've seen some bookish bingos that look like fun. And Deb@Readerbuzz has come up with her own Back to the Classics Challenge for 2026 with 12 great categories; I'm still considering that one. And since I have a list of at least 10 historical fiction books I'm hoping to read this year, Marg@The Intrepid Reader's Historical Fiction Reading Challenge is also a possibility. 

But in the end, I decided what I really want to do this year is honor/celebrate America's 250th by reading at least 10 books about the Founding Fathers, the Revolutionary War, and the courageous men and women who helped build this country. It's an idea I got from my sister and is my own personal reading challenge for 2026. And I already have a great list of books I'm excited to read:

➧Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom by Christopher Wren

➧John Hancock: Merchant King and American Patriot by Harlow Unger

➧Bunker Hill by Nathan Philbrick

➧American Rebels by Nina Sankovitch

➧American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution by Walter R. Borneman

➧Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence by Jospeh J. Ellis

➧Henry Knox's Noble Train by William Elliott Hazelgrove

➧Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution by Eric Jay Dolin

➧Band of Giants: The Amateur Soldiers Who Won America's Independence by Jack Kelly

➧God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America's Most Hated Man by Jack Kelly

I also own a bunch of Little Maid books that my parents purchased from various used library sales when I was growing up that I'd like to reread. Alice Turner Curtis does an excellent job of capturing colonial life and portraying small but important moments in the Revolutionary War in her classic series of historical fiction books for children. Plus, they're fun reads. I've already reread Little Maid at Valley Forge and am looking forward to reading the rest this year. 

What are some of your bookish goals and reading challenges for 2026? 

Whatever they may be....

Happy Reading!

Welcome to 2026!

 

For the past couple of years, instead of making resolutions, I've been coming up with a word...kind of a theme for myself to focus on for the upcoming year. I always write down several words and then choose the one that 'speaks' the most to me. 

This year I considered Mindful and Intentional, because those are two words I have already been focusing on in my life. I also want to continue to put Gladness and Gratitude in my everydays. I even thought about going with a fun word like Sparkle or Whimsy. But in the end, the word that resonated most was

LEAP!

I tend to overanalyze decisions, hesitate, and put things off; and I end up feeling frozen, and stuck. And I don't want to do that any more. I don't want to procrastinate life or get paralyzed by 'what ifs'. And I don't want to regret not doing the things I really want to do. So this year, I'm going to take that leap, embrace the adventure, risk failing, try new things, and not be afraid to live out loud. Even in very small ways. 

What are you hoping for in 2026? 

My wish is that it's a good year for all of us!

 

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

 

Wishing everyone a joyous and peaceful Christmas full of love and cheer. I'll be taking a brief blogging break to catch my breath, enjoy the quiet, and spend some time with family and friends. See you next year! 

Merry Christmas!

12 Favorite Reads of 2025...

I love doing this end-of-the-year post, but I always find it challenging to narrow my list of favorite books down to just 10 or 12. Because I read a lot of books...and always have so many that I loved...too many to list them all here. So I tried to look back at each month and pick just 12 of my favorite 5-star reads from 2025. Here they are: 

Frank & Red by Matt Coyne

Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffin

Only In Your Dreams by Madison Wright

The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro

Head Cases by John McMahon

Summer Romance by Annabel Monoghan

Some Like It Scot by Pepper Basham

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

Do No Harm by Robert Pobi

Tears of the Wolf by Elisabeth Wheatley

Patton's Prayer by Alex Kershaw

The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell

If you want to see why I loved any or all of these 12 books, just click on the link to see my original review. There are also two series I started this year that I fell in love with because of their humor and engaging characters, so I wanted to mention them here as well: 

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower (Vols. 1-8) 

The Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman

I look forward to seeing which books were your favorite reads this year. 

Happy Reading!

What day is it?

 I've been a bit scattered this week what with planning my mom's funeral and everything else you have to figure out when a loved one dies. Death is exhausting! Needless to say, I haven't done much reading this week. It's been hard to focus on anything. I did manage to finally finish Kristin Beck's Winter Orphans which I started at the very first of this month. 

It's a well-written historical fiction novel based on two real life Swiss Red Cross workers who helped Jewish refugee children escape from Nazi-controlled France during WWII. It was interesting and compelling and a book my mom would have loved. Historical fiction novels were her favorites. And I'm sad that I can't tell her all about it. Winter Orphans is a good read, I just don't have the energy to write a real review of it. 

My hope for next week is to make the rest of the calls I need to make in regards to my mom's death and maybe read a few of the Christmas romances I checked out of the library. Light, frothy escape reads with guaranteed happy endings are what I need right now. And I'd like to try and post my list of favorite 2025 reads next week, too. Until then, take care of yourself, give your loved ones a big hug, and enjoy this holiday season.

Happy Reading!

The Bustle in a House...

 The Bustle in a House 

By Emily Dickinson

The Bustle in a House

The Morning after Death

Is solemnest of industries

Enacted upon Earth –

The Sweeping up the Heart

And putting Love away

We shall not want to use again

Until Eternity –

This was not the post I was expecting to write this week, but then life never goes quite like you plan. My mom passed away last Tuesday. She was in her 90s and getting weaker and more frail these past few months, so we knew she wouldn't be around much longer, but it was still a shock to come home from work on Tuesday and find her gone. Such a wrenching loss. But even in death there are still things to be glad and grateful for. I'm glad her death was peaceful and painless...to die in her sleep was what she wanted. And she's with my dad, who passed away seven years ago, once more. And that also makes me glad.


My mom always viewed death as a kind of graduation...a returning home to our Father in Heaven after finishing this test of life. And I am very grateful for the knowledge and belief I have that there is life after death. That our loved ones are not lost to us forever. That families can be together for all eternity. And that I will see my mom and dad again someday. Though that doesn't keep me from missing them now, or stop the tears from coming. It's hard, but I know it will be okay. And if I'm not around much these next few weeks, you know the reason why.