The Boy in the Alamo by Margaret Cousins.

In the Shadow of the Alamo by Sherry Garland.

Search for the Shadowman by Joan Lowery Nixon.

Moonshiner’s Gold by John R. Erickson.

Buffalo Moon by G. Clifton Wisler.

I read all of the above while working on a project for our homeschool co-op next year. More information here.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I liked this one as much as everyone else did. For fans of L.M. Montgomery and Jan Karon, this book set in the Channel Islands during and after WW II is a keeper.

After the Fire by Robin Gaby Fisher. Recommended by Melissa at 5 Minutes for Books. A nonfiction title about two young men, Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos, who survived a fire at their Seton Hall dormitory in January, 2000 but were burned almost beyond hope of recovery. The details about burn treatment and arson investigation and recovery from serious burns are all fascinating, but the emotional and psychological portraits of the two young men who were burned and of their families and friends lack depth. Ms. Fisher probably tells all that could be told, but I found myself with lots of questions about these two friends and their recovery process.

The Resistance by Gemma Malley. Not as good as the first book in this series, The Declaration, simply because the purpose of this book is different. The first book introduced readers to the premise of a world in which human reproduction is, for all practical purposes, against the law. The first book also introduced characters who were engaging and promising and a moral dilemma that mirrors the moral abyss into which our own culture has descended, carried to its absurd, but logical, conclusion. The Resistance is more of an action, plot-driven, continuation of the first book. I can’t wait to see what happens next, especially how Ms. Mally resolves the seemingly insoluble problem of an entire culture that has lost its moral and ethical bearings. (Semicolon review of The Declaration).

The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante. Semicolon review here.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Semicolon review here.

The Deadliest Monster by Jeff Baldwin. Frankenstein’s monster versus Jekyll/Hyde. Rousseau versus Locke. The world versus Christianity. I think in some ways Baldwin over-simplifies and twists both Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson as he uses the two books to exemplify a man-centered worldview versus a Christian, God-centered worldview. Nevertheless, the basic thesis is valid. Either we believe that society makes us do evil and we need a better society, or that we are born in sin and we need a Saviour.

The Love Letters by Madeleine L’Engle. Semicolon review here.

Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman. Fictional treatment of Henry II and his tempestuous reign.

Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer.

Best book read in February: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.