A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus. Oh my good gravy. This is one of the best historical fiction books I have ever read, hands down. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this story. SO much. William, Edmund, and Anna are recently orphaned (kind of for the second time) and their Solicitor has a somewhat outlandish idea for them to discover their new, forever home. I cannot tell you how badly I wanted to just curl up with a mug of something delicious and devour this book. As it was, I had to read in snatches of time, but oh so worth it!!! Perhaps my favorite part of this book is the books the characters themselves discover along the way. I love books in which the characters delight in reading as much as you do.
I don't usually buy the hardback of any book as they are so expensive. But I had heard so many good things about this, and Barnes & Noble had a sale on hardbacks one day when we popped in just to have a look-see after a doctor appointment...but what really sealed the deal was the opening few lines of the book:
"Funeral receptions can be tough spots to find enjoyment, but eleven-year old Edmund Pearce was doing his best.
He was intent on the iced buns. Some of them had gone squashy on one side or the other, some had lost their icing when a neighboring bun had been removed, and a few had been sadly neglected in the icing department from the start. Undaunted, Edmund picked through the pile..."
I heartily 5-star recommend this. (I have heard it is even better on Audible, as the narrator has a British accent and apparently does an amazing job!)
And finally Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom. This book is so beautiful. It is a follow up to her first book The Hiding Place, in which Corrie and members of her family are arrested and subsequently sent to concentration camps for protecting the Jews during the Holocaust. Tramp for the Lord picks up with Corrie and what God does through her after she is released from Ravensbruck. This book is a more intimate conversation of sorts with Corrie. It bares her heart in a way that is both beautiful and challenging. I want that type of relationship with God, the conversation, repentance, and obedience. I read this, this week of all weeks, as it has dawned in my heart just how far I have really drifted from fostering intimacy with God.
My favorite chapter was entitled "The Real Corrie Ten Boom" (chapter 15) and my favorite passage is from "Checkpoint Charlie" (chapter 16) - it is about chocolate and SO perfect for me right now - going through the sugar fast:
Corrie is held up in East Berlin and tells the story to a passport guard -
He asks her why she has chocolate bars and she says to gift them to the minister's children, they go back and forth for a minute and then she relates the story of how she used chocolate to preach a sermon one time. She was tasked with meeting with a group of intellectuals who did not want to meet with her, as they found themselves superior to her in theological knowledge. Undaunted, Corrie gifted them chocolate and after they had thoroughly enjoyed it, she began to speak. She chided them on not saying anything about the chocolate, they immediately objected, defending themselves, saying that they did in fact thank her for it. She continues - letting them know she did not mean thanking her for it, but instead wondering at their lack of questioning the chocolate - where it came from, what percentage of cocoa, sugar, vitamins, and minerals it contained. Pointing out to them that instead of analyzing it, they simply ate and enjoyed. She then picked up her Bible and said that the Word of God was meant for the same - to be eaten and enjoyed, not picked apart - bit by bit.
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