"The Fighting Ground" by Avi

Well, that was different.  I'm not entirely sure I liked The Fighting Ground, but I definitely found it interesting!  Especially the idea behind the format of the story.  Instead of having chapters, it's broken up into sections by time, each section relating what happens every five minutes or so.  Depending on your reading speed, that can make this feel like it's happening in real time.  That was a nifty conceit.

The book focuses on a thirteen-year-old boy, Jonathan who aches to join the Patriots and fight against the British.  His father was wounded in the war and has come home to recover, but Jonathan doesn't see his father as a hero.  He sees him as a boring and tired adult who doesn't want Jonathan to have any fun.

So, Jonathan seizes his chance when there's an opportunity to borrow a gun from a neighbor and go fight some Hessians in the neighborhood.  Except the skirmish he ends up taking part in has little glory or excitement.  It's noisy and confusing and scary, and Jonathan decides he has had enough of war.  Unfortunately, the war has not had enough of him.  Before he finds his way back home, he faces some terrible people and learns some uncomfortable truths about himself and about war.

This is probably not a book I'll keep on our shelves.  But I think it was a timely thing to read right before the 250th anniversary of our nation's birthday.  It's a good reminder of the toll that the war took on ordinary people of all ages, and of the fact that war isn't glorious or fun -- it's dirty and dangerous and uncomfortable and scary.  For me, that's a good reminder of how much respect I owe those who choose to serve our country in the military, both now and in the past.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG-10 for several cuss words, a scene of battle and bloodshed, and lightly described encounters with death and dead bodies.  This is a middle-grade book, but some younger readers may find it too scary or disturbing.

This is my sixth book read for my #RevolutionaryWarReads challenge that I've set myself.  You may notice I've made a new graphic for this challenge... and I probably will need to make another new one before the year is over, because I keep acquiring more books about the American Revolution!  This will do for right now, though.

"Pigeon Post" by Arthur Ransome

Every time I read an Arthur Ransome book aloud to my kids (who are now teens, but I still call them my kids), I think I can't possibly love it more than the previous Swallows and Amazons books.  And I am usually wrong.    They tend to be better and better the farther we get in the series.

(We actually didn't like Coot Club much and decided to skip it for now after a few chapters, but that was because it was mainly about Dick and Dorothea, and we wanted to read about the Swallows and the Amazons, not the Ds.)

We adored Pigeon Post.  First of all, it was a jolly good adventure.  One part toward the very end made us all laugh so much that I had to stop reading, wipe my eyes, and blow my nose because I was crying from laughing so hard.  And it took several starts before I could really move on, because the laughter didn't want to stop.  Man, what good stuff.  And the final quarter or so of the book was absolutely thrilling -- I read until I was hoarse and we still didn't want to stop.  

Pigeon Post is all about the Swallows (John, Susan, Titty, and Roger) and Amazons (Nancy and Peggy) and Ds (Dick and Dorothea) deciding to go prospecting and find gold so that Nancy and Peggy's Uncle Jim (aka Captain Flint) would settle down near home and stop wandering all over the world having adventures.  They figure if they find gold, he will be too busy gold-mining to go galivanting.  

Being their typical resourceful selves, they figure out a way to convince their parents to let them go camp far away from the lake to do their prospecting, using carrier pigeons to relay messages every day assuring the Natives that they are well, safe, and happy.  And, in the end, one of those carrier pigeon messages ends up saving the day for more people than just the prospectors.

I'm not sure kids ever have been this awesome and jolly and free to roam around doing cool things.  But I like to believe there was a time and place when it was possible.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some perilous and intense things happening at the end.

This is my 5th book read and reviewed for my fifth Classics Club list.

Top Ten Tuesday: Coming Soon to My Bookshelves

This week, our Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is most-anticipated books releasing in the second half of 2026.  So, here are ten twelve books I am eagerly looking forward to releasing!  Some of them are parts of series I am reading, some of them are stand-alones, and the genres are definitely all over the place.  They don't have much in common, except for the facts that they are all by Christian authors, and I would like to read them!

I am linking the titles to their Goodreads pages so you can learn more about them.  And providing a little description of why I want to read them, too.

As You Were by Hannah Hood Lucero -- July 1 (TOMORROW!!!) -- I want to read this because I enjoyed one of Lucero's YA books and want to try some of what she is famous for, her romantic military suspense books.

Getting Real with God by Aubrey Reiss Taylor -- July 1  (TOMORROW!!!) -- I am interested in this devotional because it promises to be filled with Godly wisdom in approaching difficult topics.

More Than Fine by Kim Griffin -- July 29 -- I want to read it because it's set in Charleston, SC, a place I have fond memories of.

Beaux and Dragons by Candice Pedraza Yamnitz -- August 3 -- I want to read this because it's marketed as Persuasion by Jane Austen meets How to Train Your Dragon, and I am so here for that.

A Lot Like Lavender by B. R. Goodwin -- August 3 -- I want to read it because it's book three in the cute Happy in Honey Hill series, which I have been enjoying.

The Roman Holiday Rule by Andra Loy -- August 4 -- I'm interested in this one because I love the movie Roman Holiday (1953), and this is supposed to refer to and riff off the movie.

Setting Time Free by Sarah Everest -- August 11 -- I want to read it because it is book three in a YA trilogy about time travel, the Netherlands, and World War II, all of which fascinate me... and because I'm almost done reading book two!

Everlasting Love by Latisha Sexton -- August 25 -- I want to read this one because I have read other books by Sexton and liked them, and because it's a sequel to a book of hers that's on my TBR shelves.

Braving Red Waters by Sarah Hanks -- August 26 -- I'm interested in it because the whole series looks fascinating, since it involves time travel, and this one involves the American Civil War.

Raise My Ebenezer by Jennifer Q. Hunt -- September 29 -- I am interested in this one because I have only read one book by Hunt, and I liked it, so I would like to read more.  This is book two in a series, so I will have to read book one first, obviously.

Of Assassins and Pirates by Sarah Everest -- October/November TBD (please note that the cover has not been revealed yet, so I just mocked one up because it felt weird not to feature its with the others in my graphics) -- I want to read this because is the next book in the Games of Greed and Ruin series, which I have been enjoying so very much!

Soul of the Revolution by Megan Soja -- November 10 -- I want to read it because this is book four in a series about the American Revolution, and I am working on reading the whole series this year as part of my #RevolutionaryWarReads challenge.

Are any of these on your wishlist too?  Have you read anything by these authors?  Do tell!

Did you share a Top Ten Tuesday list this week?  Drop a link in my comments!

Top Ten Tuesday: Summertime TBR 2026

This week, our prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is Books on my summer 2026 reading list.  Here are ten books I really would like to read this summer!

I'm including publication years and genre tags for them as found on Goodreads, since I haven't actually read any of these yet.

The Dogs of War by Emily Hayse -- 2025, new adult, fantasy, coming-of-age

The Fighting Ground by Avi -- 1984, middle-grade, historical fiction, American Revolution

Lady Agatha Speaks Her Mind by Elisabeth Aimee Brown -- 2026, young adult, fairy tale retelling, fantasy

The Lady and the Loyalist by Stephanie McRae -- 2024, Christian, historical fiction, American Revolution

The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katherine Green -- 1877, classic, mystery, detective fiction

Major Fireworks by B. R. Goodwin -- 2024, Christian, clean romance, humorous

The Secret of Sarah Revere by Ann Rinaldi -- 1995, young adult, historical fiction, American Revolution

Secrets of the Revolution by Megan Soja -- 2025, Christian, historical fiction, American Revolution

Serve Love Mend by Jenni Sauer -- 2026, YA, Shakespeare retelling, fantasy

Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose -- 2006, non-fiction, American Revolution

Do you have books you want to get read this summer?  Have you read any of these?

"Strange and Obscure Stories of the Revolutionary War" by Tim Rowland

This book was so much fun!  I absolutely loved Tim Rowland's writing -- he had such a slyly funny writing style, and I laughed aloud multiple times while reading this.  I made my family listen to me reading selections aloud because they tickled me so much.  When I finished reading this, I ordered his similar book about the Civil War because I am sure I will enjoy it too.

Was every one of these Strange and Obscure Stories of the Revolutionary War new to me?  No.  Were they all super strange?  No.  But they were a great way to explore some of the less-touted events and aspects of the American Revolution.  It's kind of hard to explain really -- this isn't exactly revisionist history or trying to ruin your view of the Founding Fathers, but it does point out some foibles here and there.  But not in a mean way.  It's funny and... almost a British humor flavor, if you know what I mean? 

If you like to learn trivial and little-known facts and stories, you would probably dig this book.  I'll share a couple of my favorite passages below so you can get a taste of this book's specific flavor.

Particularly Good Bits:

The idea that Americans might one day make a break for it was as old as America itself, and a veritable cottage industry arose in Britain out of speculating on the American future.  The British were well aware of a couple of points.  One, there were certainly people who sailed overseas for adventure and to seek fortune, but in the main, few people cam e to the New World because they were tickled with the way things were working out for them in the old.  This wasn't shaping up to be a territory that longed for leadership from across the pond.  Two, from the British perspective, the colonies were becoming a collection of every screwball sect and religious mutation on the face of the planet, and good luck governing that (p. 18).

When the British first arrived on the Carolina coastline in the spring of 1776, the patriots were in the process of throwing up a log and sand fort at the entrance to the Charleston harbor.  Washington's man, General Charles Lee, didn't like the looks of the forward position and ordered Colonel Moultrie to abandon the fort and regroup closer to town.  Moultrie thanked the colonial commander for his suggestion, which he summarily ignored.  This caused the predictable cries by lee of insubordination, and the intervention of Rutledge, who sternly told Moultrie he was to obey the commands of General Lee unless he didn't want to (p. 132).

If This was a Movie, I would Rate It: PG-10 for discussions of wartime wounds and violence, and a little bit of rough language.  Kids probably wouldn't get the humor anyway.

This is my fifth book read for my #RevolutionaryWarReads challenge that I set myself as part of my celebration of our country's 250th birthday this year.

"Honeysuckle Breeze" by B. R. Goodwin

Do you read multiple books at once?

If you do, does that ever cause you to finish two or three books about the same time?  And does that then cause you to develop a giant backlog of books you need to review, usually right when you have almost zero time to blog?

Or is it just me?

Anyway.  I swear it was still springtime at our house when I read Honeysuckle Breeze, the springtime book in the Sugartree Romance series by B. R. Goodwin.  It was May.  I finished this book a little over two weeks ago.  And two others at the same time, and two more right after that, and and and... I'm catching up at last, but yeah, it's kind of been a struggle.

About the book!  It's really cute and funny... but also drove me a little nuts in the middle because the main characters were avoiding talking to each other instead of just saying, "Hey, what is going on with you?  I am confused" like... well, I was going to say "like adults," but what I actually mean is "like I wanted them to."  However, I am particularly allergic to the miscommunication/non-communication trope, so that probably won't bother other people.

Honeysuckle Breeze picks up shortly after the end of Southern Snow, but focuses on a different Remillard sibling.  And a different Lovett sibling.  This time, it's Kindergarten teacher Caroline who is trying to figure out her complicated feelings for Griffin, who was her best-friend-with-flirting-benefits until they kissed each other at Christmas, and now he is ghosting her entirely... and then suddenly returning to her life and turning it upside down.  I do love second chance romances, so this book was overall a hit for me :-)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for discussions of single-parenting and the decisions that led to that, lots of flirty banter, lots of thinking about being attracted to another person, and some lightly described kisses.  No smut, no cussing, no violence.

"Of Pastries and Vengeance" by Amber Lambda and Lydia Mae

Another great addition to the Games of Greed and Ruin series!  Of Pastries and Vengeance focuses on one character from the first book, One Must Die, plus adds a new character, while also expanding the world in which the series is set.

If you read One Must Die, you probably remember Maple, the sweet baker whose peach scones gained her several friends, though they didn't convince quite everyone in the deadly Sky Manor game that she was a good person. As I recall, several people were sure she was not as pure and uncomplicated as she wanted to appear.

And they were right.  Maple has a big secret: she may bake delicious cinnamon rolls and peach scones and other bakery delights now, but she was once a notorious and feared member of the city's underground no-holds-barred prize fighting circles.  Not only that, but she believes her father was murdered during one of those illegal fights.

Maple meets Rory Evander, a brand-new law enforcement officer who is intent on capturing a killer.  No matter who that killer may be.  Rory and Maple team up, albeit with reluctance on both their parts, and begin hunting for clues.  And start to develop feelings for each other in the process, as you might expect.

Since I love a good murder mystery, I really enjoyed this.  There were enough surprises to keep me guessing and enough clues to keep me satisfied.  I look forward to seeing where these two characters end up in the next book.

Like the other books in this series, this is Christian fiction, though the Christian themes are maybe a bit less overt in this than in some of the books.

This book WILL make you hungry...

Particularly Good Bits:

I cringed.  This guy was going to stick out like a burnt tea biscuit (p. 31).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for scenes of hand-to-hand violence and non-gory descriptions of murder.  No smut and no cussing.