"The First Fast Draw" by Louis L'Amour

Well, this was not a new favorite L'Amour book, but it was still fun.  And I read it in like three days, so you know the pacing was excellent.  Kept me turning those pages like crazy!

Cullen Baker returns home to Texas after the Civil War ended.  He didn't really participate in the war, but everyone assumes he did.  The people who hated him when he was a kid living there still hate him.  Seems like the only people who don't want to punch or shoot him are outlaws... and Katy Thorne.  Katy is from one of the best families in the area, but even her friendship can't save him from greedy carpetbaggers and a variety of other creeps.  Cullen just wants to farm the land he already owns, but everyone keeps blaming him for all sorts of crimes he didn't commit, just because he makes a handy scapegoat.  Eventually, Cullen takes after the people who hate him, and the sparks fly fast and furious.

I know this is an earlier L'Amour book, so I'll cut the too-fast ending some slack.  It's a fun read, and I liked Cullen and Katy a lot.

Particularly Good Bits:

A really rough man never has to prove anything to anybody, he knows what he can do and he doesn't care even a mite whether anybody else knows it or not.  With a youngster it's otherwise.  He figures he's got to show everybody how tough he is or nobody will believe it, so he winds up in plenty of grief (p. 9).

One thing I'd learned was it mattered mighty little how much money a man had as long as he was contented (p. 13).

For a man to be a peace with himself was important, Will said, not what people say.  People are often wrong, and public opinion can change, and the hatreds of people are rarely reasonable things.  I can hear him yet.  He used to say there was no use a man wearing himself out with hatred an dill-feeling, and time proved it out (p. 13).

A few men riding into the street meant nothing to anybody, not those days.  There were loose men from everywhere, just drifting, hunting they knew not what, men who had lost what they had i the war and were hoping, away back inside their skulls, to find it somewhere else (p 53).

To have friends a man has to be friendly, and to get others to think of you, you have to think of others (p. 145).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for violence and threats made to a woman.  Some cussing, obviously a good bit of western violence, but no smut.

"Sitka" by Louis L'Amour

Basically, Sitka is an origin story for the state of Alaska.

I'm not even joking.

Jean LaBarge grows up in the swamps of Pennsylvania before heading off into the wilderness and ending up a young man on the California coast.  He spends a lot of time on sailing ships.  He gets big and tough and true-hearted, like all the best L'Amour heroes.  He keeps in touch with his childhood best friend, who stays in the East and becomes an important politician.

And he obsesses over Alaska.

Now, having been obsessed with Alaska myself since I was 11 years old, I understand that last bit.  There's something kind of magical about even just the name.  Alaska.  

I actually bought my copy of this book while in Alaska last August.  (I bought it in Skagway, not Sitka, but that doesn't matter.)  It took me thirty-four years to get there -- quite a bit longer than it takes Jean LaBarge.  He gets there while it still belongs to Russia and helps to open up to the possibility of Russia selling it to the United States.  He also spends several months crossing Russia from the Pacific to the Atlantic.  He falls in love with a Russian princess, with a sort of classic Medieval courtly love, since she's already married to a really great guy.  He makes enemies and defeats them.  Lots of really exciting stuff happens in the best style of L'Amour's sweeping epics.

It took me six months to read the first 60 pages of this book, and three days to read the last 250.  Make of that whatever you want.

Particularly Good Bits:

It gleamed there on his calloused palm, heavy as sin in the heart of a man.  "If that isn't gold, what is it?" (p. 55).

To a fool time brings only age, not wisdom (p. 78).

It was a pity, he reflected, that the men of good will are so poorly armed, for at times it was a handicap not to hate (p. 169).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-10 for some brawling and other non-gory violence, some references to bawdy houses, alcohol consumption by adults, scenes of children in peril, and mild innuendo about men's intentions toward women.  

This is my first book read and reviewed for my fifth Classics Club list!

Reading Goals Past and Future

I've got a bit of time this evening, so I'm ready at last to look over my reading goals from 2024, and set some for 2025.

I set myself the goal of reading 55 books in 2024, and I read 68, so hooray!  I didn't just meet, I exceeded that goal!

I wanted to read 48 books off my shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Challenge.  I failed.  I did read 41 books that I owned this year, but only 28 of them counted for that challenge because their rules insist they have to be books you owned before the beginning of the year.  Oh well.

I joined the #DisneyOriginsBookClub2024 on Instagram again this year, but I quit after the first couple of months because I simply had less reading time this year!  A lot of that is due to my younger daughter's ballet lessons now overlapping with my older daughter's gymnastics lessons, so I spend a lot of time driving between those instead of sitting and reading while I wait/watch.

Also, I don't have a photo here to illustrate this, but I participated in the #JaneAustenDeepDive2024 reading group on Instagram this year.  I read all six of the annotated editions of Jane Austen's major works (edited by David M. Shapard -- one review still to come) and had a wonderful time learning about Austen's works and world.  But those annotated editions are not light reading!!!  They soaked up a lot of my reading time.

I wanted to read twelve books for my fourth Classics Club list.  I read ten, so didn't really hit that goal.

I wanted to read twelve books about people substantially different for myself.  The image here only shows eleven, but I realized after I took these photos that I left two books off, so I actually read thirteen for that list! 

Back in 2023, I decided to read all of the Sackett books by Louis L'Amour over the course of 2023 and 2024.  I read the Sackett short stories included in War Party and End of the Drive at the very end of December, thereby completing that goal!  You can read my reviews of all the full Sackett novels under the label My Years with the Sacketts.

I absolutely loved the Sackett books.  I've become a firm L'Amour fan over the past two years, and I am particularly fond of Tell Sackett, though I very much like quite a few of the other Sacketts too.

Now for my 2025 goals!

Once again, I want to read at least 55 books.  That's slightly more than one a week, and even when I have "low" reading years, I can still manage that, so I like that goal.  Achievable, but not inconsiderable.

I am NOT setting myself a goal of numbers of books to read from my TBR shelves for the first time in years.  I will read what I read.  My house will be full of books.  I like that life.  Time to stop obsessing over how many books I own and haven't read yet -- I think keeping a careful count of them for the past few years has actually made me buy MORE books, oddly enough.

Once again, I want to read twelve books for my fourth Classics Club list, and I aim to read twelve books about people who are substantially different from myself in some way.

And I have a new challenge for myself this year!  I'm joining Andy at @places_and_books in picking #25for25 -- 25 specific books I want to read this year.  From my list above, 8 are rereads and 17 are books I haven't read before.  I like that mix.  

How about you?  Have you set yourself some bookish or reading goals for this year?  Share a link if you've blogged about them!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2024

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Best Books I Read in 2024."  It's been a while since I joined up with this weekly event, but I'm hoping to get back to participating a lot more in 2025.

I read a lot fewer books this year than I did in the past couple of years, for a variety of reasons.  I have two kids in high school now.  My middle-schooler participated in two different ballet productions.  I published four books.  My dad died, and my mom now lives with us part of the time.  But I still managed to read 68 books!  

So, here are my two annual lists: my top ten new reads and my top ten re-reads, with a bit of info about each one, and what I personally rated them, movie-style.  I've linked all the titles to my reviews (for re-reads, those reviews may have been written after a previous reading, not this year).

New Reads

1. Up from Dust by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, historical fiction, clean romance (PG-10)

2. Break the Beast by Allison Tebo -- young adult, Beowulf retelling, historical-esque fantasy, adventure, platonic friendship, heroic characters, found family (PG-13)

3. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling -- middle-grade fiction, diverse reads, disability rep -- limb difference, humorous (PG)

4. The Sackett Brand by Louis L'Amour -- western, historical fiction, heroism, strong family ties, heroic characters (PG-16)

5. The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery -- cozy vibes, family fiction, slice-of-life, childhood friendship (G)

6. Kill the Dawn by Emily Hayse -- young adult, Hamlet retelling, historical-esque fantasy, Old Norse vibes, heroic characters (PG-13)

7. Snowhawk by Deborah Koren -- high fantasy, platonic friendship, save-the-kingdom quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-16)

8. Summon the Light by Tor Thibeaux -- young adult, Shakespeare's The Tempest retelling, fantasy, heroic characters, found family (PG)

9. The Midnight Show by Sarah Pennington -- young adult, "Twelve Dancing Princesses" retelling, historical-esque fantasy, Jazz Age/1920s vibes, mystery, detectives, entertainers (PG-10)

10. The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim -- epistolary, humorous, classic (PG-10)

Re-reads

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien -- classic, high fantasy, save-the-world quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-13)

2. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton -- young adult, hoodlums, coming-of-age, heroic characters, found family (PG)

3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin -- middle-grade fiction, mystery, humorous (PG)

4. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen -- classic, parody of Gothic fiction, humorous, clean romance (PG)

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen -- classic, humorous, clean romance, coming-of-age (PG)

6. Balefire by Deborah Koren -- high fantasy, platonic friendship, save-the-kingdom quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-16)

7. Up from Dust by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, historical fiction, clean romance (PG-10)

8. King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry -- middle-grade fiction, historical fiction, horses, diverse reads, speech impediment rep, based on a true story, found family (PG)

9. A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White -- Christian fiction, historical fiction, eve of WWI, spies, intrigue, mystery, book lovers, diverse reads, speech impediment rep (PG)

10. Streams to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O'Dell -- young adult, historical fiction, diverse reads, American Indian culture, based on a true story, adventure (PG-10)

If you're wondering why Up from Dust is on both lists, it's because I read it for the first time this year, and then read it again a few months later.  It's just that good!

(From my Instagram)

"Lonely on the Mountain" by Louis L'Amour

Well.  Hmm.  What in the world is up with the ending of this book?  It's a cracking good Sackett adventure for 23 chapters, and then it's like someone else finished it off from Louis L'Amour's notes.  Everything gets wound up ridiculously quickly, and the writing gets patchy.  As in, it jumps from first to third person within paragraphs or scenes, with zero reason.  There were other Sackett books published several years after this one that weren't that way at all, so it's not like this was L'Amour's last book and he just didn't get it edited properly or something.  Maybe the editors were on strike?  I don't get it.

Aside from the vexing last two chapters, I liked Lonely on the Mountain a LOT because it has Tell, Orrin, and Tyrel all working together to help their cousin Logan, and Cap Rountree is there too, and yeah... I love it when the Sacketts assemble to help one of their own.  In a lot of the books where that happens, we focus on the guy in trouble and the assembling Sacketts just show up to help, but this is like the reverse, where we get to see the helpers heading out to rescue the one in trouble.  That was nifty.

But, man, those last two chapters.  They feel like first drafts that never got revised. What in the world.

Particularly Good Bits:

"There's two kinds of people in the world, son, those who wish and those who will.  The wishers wish to be rich, they wish to be famous, they wish to own a farm or a fine house or whatever.  The ones who will, they don't wish, they start out and do it.  They become what they want to or get what they want.  They will it" (p. 95).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for lots of western-style violence, as well as danger from nature and animals, and a smidgeon of cussing.

This is my 27th book read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.  AND I have finished my own personal challenge to read all of the Sackett novels in two years!!!

"Ride the Dark Trail" by Louis L'Amour

I'm coming close to the end of my personal "My Years with the Sacketts" challenge.  Only one true Sackett novel left, and one that's tangentially related (or so they tell me).  

Ride the Dark Trail is a galloping good time.  You've got Em Talon, a fiery old woman holding off a host of greedy landgrabbers.  You've got Logan Sackett, a somewhat shiftless gunfighter discovering he's related to the old woman and coming to her aid.  You've got the Sackett version of the Bat Signal going up, and the Sackett version of "Avengers, Assemble!" happening, which is never anything less than delightful.  Smart and savvy folks on both sides, pert young woman to keep everyone on their toes, and a batch of rousing fights and brawls -- good stuff, friends.

Particularly Good Bits:

Now we Clinch Mountain Sacketts ain't noted for gentle ways.  The way I figure it is if a man is big enough to open his mouth he's big enough to take the consequences, and I was getting tired of talk (p. 11).

If This Was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for mild cussing, lots of violence with guns and fists, and very mild innuendo about a young woman leaving an employer because he made improper advances.

This is my 24th book read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Challenge.

"Bowdrie's Law" by Louis L'Amour

Well, this was fun!  Like its predecessor, Bowdrie, this is a collection of ten short stories starring Chick Bowdrie, a Texas Ranger who rides a mean hammerhead roan and always gets his man... eventually.  The stories range from a bit humorous to very serious, and some have more action than others.  But they're all enjoyable.  I read the whole book over a couple of very stressful weeks, savoring one short story every evening or so as a way to unwind and recharge, and they were perfect for that!

Interspersed among the short stories are several historical notes about real people and places from the Old West.  I loved those!  They were always short and to-the-point, but informative.

Particularly Good Bits:

He realized what a fool he had been.  There could be no tolerating of evil.  One stamped it out or the evil grew worse (p. 140, from "The Outlaws of Poplar Creek").

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some mild cuss words, some western violence, and some vague hints about what could happen to good women at the hands of bad men.

This has been my 22nd book read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

"Treasure Mountain" by Louis L'Amour

It's so convenient that Tell Sackett is my favorite Sackett, because L'Amour uses Tell as his narrator for a LOT of the Sackett books.  And Tell never fails to delight me, with his keen observational skills and dry humor.  Treasure Mountain is no exception!  Also, I love the books where multiple Sacketts and their friends pop up, and this has Tell, Orrin, Tyrel, and random friends bopping in and out as well.  Very good fun!

In Treasure Mountain, Orrin Sackett goes to New Orleans looking for any possible clues as to where his dad went twenty years earlier when he left New Orleans and was never seen again.  It's a very cold trail to follow, but these are Sacketts, people.  They're part bloodhound.  And they're all smart and savvy and wise to the ways of the wicked.  

Except Orrin is always falling afoul of witches women.  And he goes missing.  So then Tell shows up in New Orleans looking for Orrin.  And, because Tell really just never fails to find what he's seeking, he and Orrin then head off on the cold trail of their dad, who, it turns out, left N.O. looking for a million dollars in gold someone had buried in the Southwest.  But there are bad guys, and bad women, and dubious food, and extreme landscapes, all standing in the way of the Sacketts and their quest to find any remains of their dad, who was on a quest to find gold.  Which, of course, makes for a great yarn.  I enjoyed it.

Today just happens to be actor Sam Elliott's 80th birthday.  Sam Elliott played Tell Sackett in the 1979 TV miniseries The Sacketts, which my husband and I happen to be planning to finish watching this weekend.  So this seemed like the perfect time to finally post this review.  Happy birthday, Sam Elliott!!!

Particularly Good Bits: 

"Once a man has lived with mountains you can't offer him a home with a prairie dog" (p. 34).

"Mountains are hard upon evil," I said.  "They don't hold with it" (p. 175).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for a smattering of cuss words and some violence.

This has been my 18th book read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

"Galloway" by Louis L'Amour

Why is this one called Galloway when it's mostly about Galloway Sackett's brother Flagan?  I mean, Galloway is in it, lots -- but it starts out from Flagan's point of view, and he gets to narrate it in first person here and there, whereas Galloway's chapters get told in third person.  I'm not saying the title makes no sense, because Galloway does play a key role here -- but it's really Flagan's story.  That's Flagan on the cover, even.  Huh.  I wonder if the publisher titled this one, or L'Amour himself.

Anyway, I liked this book a LOT.  Flagan Sackett escapes from some angry Apaches, stark naked and on foot, and manages to not only evade them, but survive in the mountains alone, and eventually find other people... and more trouble, which is where the actual plot takes place -- there's a mean guy and his mean followers who want to take over and control a whole section of the country, and Flagan and Galloway Sackett like the looks of that area and want to ranch there too, and so other people take sides, and more Sacketts get involved, and there's not quite a range war, but it gets close to one.  Since one Sackett is a whole lot of Sacketts, and there are four involved here, it's pretty clear who will win in the end.  The fun is in seeing how they do it.

Particularly Good Bits:

Back up at the forks of the creek in Tennessee they don't raise many foolish children, and the foolish men don't live long enough to get knee-high to a short sheep (p. 26).

There's a saying in the mountains that if you harm a cricket his friends will come and eat your socks (p. 28) (This made me laugh so much!)

I had lived long enough to know that nothing lasts forever, and men torture themselves who believe that it will.  The one law that does not change is that everything changes (p. 46).

There's a saying that when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns (p. 52).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-10 for some brief discussions of torture, scenes of survival in harsh conditions, a little mild cussing, and western violence.

This is my 14th book read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Challenge.

"Mustang Man" by Louis L'Amour

I liked this one all right.  It was an enjoyable and fast-paced read, but I didn't love it.  I'm not sure why, either, as the story was solid, and Nolan Sackett was an interesting character.  But he felt a little detached, as a narrator, or maybe like he was trying to distance himself and the readers from the story in a way?

The storyline is good stuff -- Nolan Sackett, who could be a hero but is often labeled an outlaw, falls afoul of a witch.  Well, not a witch, really, but a sociopathic woman who likes to poison people and torture people and kill people.  Anyway, he escapes her clutches and then encounters a Wise Old Mentor who gives him tools and advice.  Then he finds a Woman in Distress and helps her seek out a treasure.  It's very myth-based storytelling, if you can't tell, and I usually really like that! 

You know, now that I've been mulling over it a bit, I think I know what the problem is.  I didn't really like the main female character, Penelope.  She didn't get as well-fleshed-out as most of L'Amour's heroines, and so I never got a chance to know her, and that means I didn't get invested in Nolan's desire to help her and his secret hope that she might see him as more than a crooked-nosed outlaw.

Oh well -- not every Sackett book needs to be my favorite!

Particularly Good Bits:

I knew I wouldn't get anywhere now trying to run; and when it comes to that, I am not a man who cares to run, unless it's toward something (p. 37).

It was always as Ivanhoe that I saw myself, and always as the Norman knight that I was being seen by others (p. 73).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG-13 for violence, non-detailed descriptions of someone who has been tortured, and a brief mention of prostitution.  Also some mild cussing.

This has been my 13th book read off my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

"The Lonely Men" by Louis L'Amour

Not my favorite Sackett book, I'm afraid.  Even though it stars Tell Sackett, who IS my favorite Sackett!  Mostly, I think I disliked it because it had Laura Sackett for a villain, Orrin's ex-wife, and she is poisonous and spiteful and horrid.  I just wanted to get myself (and Tell) as far away from her as possible.  She's really just in bits here and there, but ugh, I hated having to deal with her whenever she cropped up.

I did love how Tell and three friends risked everything to rescue some children.  I love protective characters, and that is no doubt why I love Tell Sackett.  Also, Dorset was another of L'Amour's wonderful female characters filled with grit and grace.  She was the direct opposite of Laura, which was refreshing.

Particularly Good Bits: 

With none to share our sorrows or regrets, we kept them to ourselves, and our faces were impassive.  Men with no one to share their feelings learn to conceal those feelings.  We often spoke lightly of things which we took very seriously indeed (p. 17).

I figure I was shaped to be a wallflower, but I don't mind.  I sort of like to set back and listen to folks, to drink coffee, and contemplate (p. 20).  (ME TOO, Tell!)

The desert is the enemy of the careless (p. 40).

"It is easy to destroy a book, but an idea once implanted has roots no man can utterly destroy" (p. 94).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-16 for a lot of violence, including torture, and kids in peril.  The violence is not gory, but it isn't too glossed-over, either.  There is a smattering of bad language.

This is my 10th book read from my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

"The Sky-Liners" by Louis L'Amour

Two Sackett boys that I first met in The Sackett Brand are the heroes for The Sky-Liners.  Flagan and Galloway Sackett are about to head west to make new lives for themselves when they take a disliking to the rowdy way a bunch of riders arrive in a small Tennessee town.  They decide the rowdy bunch needs some settling down, and they make good on their decision, but doing so embarrasses the leader of the riders, Black Fetchen.  

Worse yet, Flagan and Galloway then promise an elderly gent to escort his feisty granddaughter Judith to her father's home in Colorado.  Guess who Judith is set on marrying if she can just manage to get away from her grandfather?  Black Fetchen, of course.

By the time the Sacketts reach Colorado, they've had multiple run-ins with Fetchen and his gang, and they end up in a regular feud with his bunch before the book is over.  Of course, the Sackett boys come out on top in the long run... and one of them even falls in love with Judith.

This was not my favorite Sackett book, but it was a lot of fun anyway.

Particularly Good Bits: 

I went for coffee.  It was hot, blacker than sin, and strong enough to float a horseshoe.  It was cowboy's coffee (p. 80).

A man with nobody to care for is as lonesome as a lost hound dog, and as useless.  If he's to feel of any purpose to himself, he's got to feel he's needed, feel he stands between somebody and any trouble (p. 83).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It PG-10 for violence and a few old-fashioned cuss words.

This has been my 8th book read off my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Challenge.

"The Sackett Brand" by Louis L'Amour

Ladies and gentlemen, I now have a favorite Sackett, and his name is Tell.

I am probably going to have to go back and reread Sackett and Mojave Crossing now because they also star Tell Sackett, and since I now love him, I must go back and appreciate him in those.  Though, truth be told, I will probably wait to do that until I have finished reading all the Sackett books.  Then I will go back and read all of Tell's books again.  Because I have 9 books left to read yet -- he may very well be in more of them!  (Please, if you know he's in more of them, don't list them all off to me.  I want to discover who each book is about on my own.)

Anyway.  Poor Tell Sackett.  Poor, dear Tell Sackett.  He finally marries Ange, the girl he met back during Sackett and fell in love with.  And then someone kills her.  And tries to kill him.  And nearly gets away with both.  So the whole book here is Tell recovering from almost dying and then figuring out who murdered his wife and why.  And getting himself repeatedly almost-killed in the process, until he's pretty well cornered by his wife's murderer's henchmen and going to die any minute...

...and then the cavalry arrives.  Only they aren't the U. S. Cavalry, they're a whole heap of Sacketts from all across the western half of the country.  (This is not really a spoiler, because they start to congregate about halfway through the book.)  Tell's brothers Orrin and Tyrel, their cousin Lando, and some spiffy new Sacketts I hadn't met yet but look forward to meeting -- they find out there's a Sackett in trouble, and they hustle over to help as fast as they can hustle.

This book, y'all.  It hit SO many big sweet spots for me!  Cavalry arrives to save the day?  Check.  Assemble a team of heroes?  Check.  Vow to avenge someone by bringing their killer to justice?  Check.  One dude taking on a huge force and slowly whittling down their numbers through superior skills and intelligence?  Check.  Bad guys turning on each other?  Check.  Surviving by making do with what you can find in the environment around you?  Check.  I mean, it's like this book was written for me.  Wow.

So, yeah.  I loved it.  A lot.  I'm already looking forward to re-reading it.

Particularly Good Bits:

One thing I've learned over the years: never to waste time moaning about what couldn't be helped.  If a body can do something, fine -- he should do it.  If he can't, then there's no use fussing about it until he can do something (p. 23).  (This is basically my entire attitude toward worry.)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG-16 for quite a bit of violence and deadly peril, plus an off-page assault of a woman that, if it wasn't rape, was going to be except she died first.  The word 'rape' is never used, but intent is there in the subtext.

This is my third book read off my TBR shelves for the 2024 Mount TBR Reading Challenge. 

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2023

Our first Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl for 2024 is all about looking back over our reading from the past year and picking our top reads.  As usual, I am doing two lists, one of my top ten favorite new reads, and one of my top ten favorite re-reads.  I've linked each title to my review here on my blog, and provided a little info about each book as well, including its publication year.

My Ten Favorite New Reads:

1. Code Name Edelweiss (PG-16) by Stephanie Landsem, 2023 -- Christian historical fiction spy story set in Hollywood during the build-up to WWII

2. A Deed of Dreadful Note (PG) by Patricia Meredith, 2023 -- Christian historical fiction murder mystery based on the life of mystery novelist Anna Katherine Green

3. High Lonesome (PG-16) by Louis L'Amour, 1962 -- western adventure about strangers banding together against terrible foes

4. Murder on Black Swan Lane (PG-13) by Andrea Penrose, 2017 -- historical fiction murder mystery set in Regency England

5. A Right to Die (PG-13) by Rex Stout, 1964 -- a Nero Wolfe murder mystery involving the Civil Rights Movement

6. Beauty (G) by Robin McKinley, 1978 -- gentle and wholesome fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast

7. The Lilies of the Field (G) by William E. Barrett, 1962 -- sweet story of finding common ground despite outward differences

8. And Then There Were None (PG-16) by Agatha Christie, 1939 -- classic murder mystery about people trapped on an island

9. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (PG) by Bette Bao Lord, 1984 -- middle grade book about a Chinese immigrant family in the 1950s

10. The Vanderbeekers on the Road (G) by Karina Yan Glaser, 2022 -- middle grade book about a family road trip

My Ten Favorite Re-reads:

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (PG) by A. Conan Doyle, 1902 -- classic Sherlock Holmes mystery

2. The Blue Castle (PG) by L. M. Montgomery, 1926 -- classic about a woman stepping out into life from the shadows

3. Shane (PG) by Jack Schaefer, 1949 -- western about a loner who adopts a family

4. The Black Stallion (PG) by Walter Farley, 1941 -- middle grade classic about a boy and wild horse who rescue each other

5. Playback (R) by Raymond Chandler, 1958 -- hardboiled detective mystery starring Philip Marlowe

6. The Enchanted April (G) by Elizabeth von Arnim, 1922 -- classic about four women who discover their true selves in Italy

7. Borden Chantry (PG) by Louis L'Amour, 1977 -- western murder mystery

8. Jane of Austin (PG-13) by Hillary Manton Lodge, 2017 -- Christian fiction retelling of Sense and Sensibility set in modern-day Texas

9. By the Great Horn Spoon! (PG) by Sid Fleischman, 1963 -- middle grade classic tall tale about the Gold Rush

10. Big Red (PG-10) by Jim Kjelgaard, 1945 -- middle grade classic about a boy and the dog he loves

You can see all my lists of favorite reads since 2014 on this page.

Check back later this week for a more fulsome look at my 2023 reading, including how I did with various challenges and so on!

Top Ten Tuesday: Reading in a Winter Wonderland

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Books On My Winter 2023-24 TBR List."  So, here are ten books from my to-read shelves that I would like to read by the end of February, 2024:

• Best Shot in the West: The Adventures of Nat Love by Patricial C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack Jr. (graphic novel biography)
  
  
• Bluebird on the Prairie by Tasha Hackett (Christian historical fiction)
  
  
• The Bookish Bandit by Erica Dansereau and Britt Howard (Christian contemporary romance)
  
  
• Kling Klang Gloria by Jenni Sauer (cozy sci-fi)
  
  
• The Legend of Bass Reeves by Gary Paulsen (middle grade biography)

• The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham (Christian historical Christmas fiction)
  
  
• The Sackett Brand by Louis L'Amour (western)
  
  
• The Sky-Liners by Louis L'Amour (western)
  
  
• The Vanderbeekers Ever After by Karina Yan Glaser (middle grade contemporary)
  
  
• The Weight of Air by Kimberly Duffy (Christian historical fiction)

Have you read any of these?  Any of them pique your interest?  What books are you looking forward to reading this winter?

"The Ferguson Rifle" by Louis L'Amour

I decided to read this because it had Chantrys in it, and I had just reread Borden Chantry, which remains my favorite L'Amour book.  While I didn't love The Ferguson Rifle as much as Borden Chantry, it was still a very enjoyable read!

This one is set in the very early 1800s -- Lewis and Clark get mentioned as being contemporaries of the characters, so that tells you about what era this would be.  Ronan Chantry lost his wife and son in a terrible fire, and is a broken and haunted man.  Armed with a Ferguson rifle, an early sort of repeating rifle, he heads out into the wilderness to find... something.  Peace?  Himself?  Death?  He isn't sure.

Ronan takes up with some fur trappers, and they make plans to work together in the mountains.  But they run into Spanish soldiers who don't know about the Louisiana Purchase and think that the trappers are trespassers.  Then they run afoul of some Ute warriors.  And then, they rescue a woman and boy who were being pursued by various baddies because the woman might know where an ancient treasure is.  Then the whole book turns into a treasure hunt, which was a lot of fun.

Particularly Good Bits:

As long as one travels toward a promised land, the dream is there, to stop means to face the reality, and it is easier to dream than to realize the dream (p. 17).

"A man is born beside the road to death.  To die is not so much, it is inevitable.  The journey is what matters, and what one does along the way" (p. 99).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for violence and some mild cussing.

This is my 52nd book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfChallenge2023.

"Mojave Crossing" by Louis L'Amour

I say!  This book is a rollicking good time.  It's all about Tell Sackett again, star of the earlier book Sackett, but this time he gets a much more straight-forward and focused story, and I appreciated that.  His narration wasn't quite as drily humorous, though that did return here and there, but I overall liked this book about him better.

Tell Sackett is basically just on his way to exchange a whole lot of gold for some trade goods in California.  Then he'll head back to Arizona and sell the trade goods.  Some of the gold is his, and some of it belongs to friends and neighbors who invested in his idea.

Well, he finds himself agreeing to take a black-eyed "witch woman" across the desert to California with him because she appears to be on the run, and he can't find it in himself to refuse to help a woman in trouble.  Only thing is, that woman IS trouble.  And Tell finds himself in plenty of dire situations before he finishes his errand and heads on back to Arizona.  Some of which involve a distant cousin of his, Nolan Sackett.

Also, there's a really fun, albeit small, twist at the very end that kinda makes me want to flip back through the book and reexamine a few conversations to find clues to it.  And I LOVE that kind of thing.

Particularly Good Bits:  

There are men who prefer to keep trouble from a woman, but it seems to me that is neither reasonable nor wise.  I've always respected the thinking of women, and also their ability to face up to trouble when it comes, and it shouldn't be allowed to come on them unexpected.  Many a man has sheltered his wife from his troubles, until suddenly he dies and she awakens to poverty as well as grief (p. 38).

It was not in me to believe myself fated to die at any given time.  Deep within me I knew, having seen many men die, that no man is immune to death at any time at all (p. 115).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for quite a few cuss words, some western violence, and the brief mention of rape.

This is my 47th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.