Duty, Honor, Country & Life by William H. McRaven

DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY & LIFE by William H. McRaven (Sea Stories, Make Your Bed, and others) takes its title in part from a speech by General MacArthur. In fact, this new book is filled with speeches that McRaven himself has delivered over the last decade or two. In that sense, it harkens to a more hopeful time and lives up to its subtitle: “A Tribute to the American Spirit.” Examples of the texts that appear include a National Football Foundation Speech (2016), a New York Historical Society speech (2023), and commencement speeches from MIT (2020), UT Southwestern Medical School (2015), and University of Texas at Austin (2014) to name just a few. McRaven had an amazing 37-year career as a Navy SEAL followed by time as the Chancellor of the University of Texas. A patriotic and thoughtful person, he prefaces each speech with a brief commentary and has also included several pieces of his own poetry, plus some from his grandmother. Readers will readily see the values, including family, which are so important to him and those he feels define the country (“liberty, equality, self-government, individualism, the rule of law, and religious freedom”). 

Like McRaven’s other writings, this is an inspirational text – in fact, I was at a local Barnes & Noble yesterday where a customer was requesting it. PBS NewsHour also filmed a recent interview:

If your spirits need a lift, look for DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY & LIFE and other titles by McRaven.

Freeze Fresh Meal Prep by Crystal Schmidt

Soon-to-be-released FREEZE FRESH MEAL PREP by Crystal Schmidt offers “160 Meal Starters and Make-Ahead Dishes for the Freezer.” The photos are lovely – very colorful and appetizing. The recipes themselves are relatively straight-forward, and Schmidt includes many comments offering helpful advice (e.g., type of containers to use for freezing). I did think this type of cooking might require a bit of a mindset shift.  Honestly, I would rather cook and freeze a complete meal for some future time than cook, freeze, and still have to prepare a meal (even something as simple as Sloppy Joes) based off the frozen “starter.” It is worth a try, though, and Schmidt nicely splits this cookbook into categories like soup starters (full of nutritious vegetables and usually requiring a blender), meal starters, vegetable side dishes, and pie, crisp, crumble and cobbler fillings (based on fresh, seasonal fruit treats). A few sample recipes? How about Versatile Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce or Egg Roll in a Bowl? Booklist called FREEZE FRESH MEAL PREP “perfect for beginners. … This is a must-have for readers who enjoy eating fresh, homemade meals that cut down on prep time.”

Bumblebee Season by Eileen Garvin

BUMBLEBEE SEASON by Eileen Garvin (Crow Talk) is the sequel to her debut novel The Music of Bees. She provides an update on the progress that wheelchair-bound Jake Stevenson is accomplishing with his bee hives and Queen of G Honey business located near the Hood River in Oregon. But there is much more to the story as Garvin introduces us to other characters. One is Abigail Elizabeth Plue, a young teaching assistant at the local university; she is interested in insects and nature, but she has difficulty with self-regulation and cooperating with others, resulting in a transfer to study bees. Flaco (“skinny”) is the nickname of Sebastian Santiago Luna Lopez; he’s only fourteen and has been sent North (entering the US without papers) by his mother to keep him away from the cartel in his hometown. Along with Jake, each is struggling with personal issues and rejection by a loved one, but Garvin unites them through a shared desire to protect the environment and a growing respect and care for each other. Belonging and community are key ideas in this book which she has dedicated to “anyone who’s ever longed for home.” BUMBLEBEE SEASON received a starred review from Booklist (“Undoubtedly inspired by her own experiences as an Oregon beekeeper, Garvin is a master at creating hive-like communities vibrating with characters readers will enthusiastically embrace.”).

The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown

Somehow, I kept hearing about THE LOST BOOK OF ELIZABETH BARTON by Jennifer N. Brown prior to its publication and I am glad I was able to read a preview of this historical fiction debut. The story is set in two time periods, the 1500’s when Elizabeth Barton (a real person regarded as a visionary and saint by some) and 2023 when fictional academic Alison Sage has discovered a bound copy of Barton’s prophecies and is invited to an exclusive conference to discuss her research. From the beginning something seems off, but Alison is new to the professional attention and gladly shares with other professionals (Roger, Charles, Westley, Marla, Brian and Arjun) whose work tangentially relates to her own. They actually stay at a Manor House within walking distance of the priory where Elizabeth (The Holy Maid of Kent) lived. Brown alternates the time periods so as to provide background about the dangers surrounding the religious conflicts when Henry VIII was planning to divorce/annul and (re)marry. She also describes possible motivations and actions of the prioress and Elizabeth’s benefactors, basing her writing on texts, letters or sermons and families who lived at the time. It is a fascinating look at that period. Modern day Alison, however, seems a bit naïve especially when she rekindles a romance with a fellow scholar. THE LOST BOOK OF ELIZABETH BARTON received starred reviews from both Booklist (“Recommend to fans of Wolf Hall and all readers consumed with the treacherous Tudor times.”) and Publishers Weekly (“excels at depicting the manipulation of women across the centuries … . Fans of historical suspense will be wowed.”).

Save the Date by Mallory Kass

SAVE THE DATE by Mallory Kass is, as several members of my book club would say, “a palate cleanser.” Kass, who has written previous bestsellers as Kass Morgan, offers a romantic comedy set at a wedding in Maine as her adult fiction debut. The action revolves around three women: bride-to-be Marigold who discovers she still has feelings for an ex-husband; Matron of Honor Natalie who is suppressing long held feelings for the groom; and lawyer Olivia who is Marigold’s sister and out to find her own perfect match. It is all a bit ridiculous and fairly predictable, but as Publishers Weekly says, “Fans of romantic comedies with a Hallmark Channel vibe will enjoy this heartwarming tale.” Cute and undemanding, if a bit slow paced and full of fluff, SAVE THE DATE will leave readers smiling. Below is a great graphic summarizing all of the confusion; the fact that none of the characters are shown with faces simply confirms how little they know themselves and their feelings. 

Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe

STAY FOR A SPELL by Amy Coombe is a cute, cozy fantasy that received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Library Journal. The main character in this debut novel is a princess, Tandy (Tanadelle de Courcy, fourth in line for the throne of the Widdenmar), who loves books and reading, but whose sense of duty keeps her on the road for most of the year. She falls under a curse and gets trapped in a bookstore while travelling in her royal role. Her parents arrange for the seven princes of the Shining Realm to try to break the curse with a kiss. Each arrival offers some amusing diversion, but, for me, the story moved too slowly. I was curious instead to see the relationship between Tandy and Bash, a pirate cursed with fear of water, develop. That took quite a while and meanwhile, two local teens worked with Tandy to rebrand and revitalize the bookstore. I agree with Booklist that teen readers may find those characters and even Tandy to be relatable. Overall, however, I would have preferred a faster pace and a chance to see Tandy make more of her own decisions and really grow. Interested readers should also look for titles like Travis Baldree’s Bookshops & Bonedust or Julie Leong’s The Teller of Small Fortunes.

Does My Child Need Me to Lead or to Follow?

DOES MY CHILD NEED ME TO LEAD OR TO FOLLOW? by Claudia Schwarzlmüller is an international best-seller which covers “A Radically Simple Way to Parent Children from Infancy Through Age 6.” Schwarzlmüller is a child psychologist with over twenty years of experience. Her tone is wonderful – calm, compassionate, nonjudgmental, and definitely striving to represent the child’s viewpoint. For example, in the Your Toddler section, she describes behavior which is SO familiar (e.g., a toddler “loves taking things out and putting them away”… and “needs to repeat behaviors many times in order to learn … repetition is the name of the game”). She discusses thinking and playing (when a child “learns about objects by putting them in his mouth, banging them against something else, studying, turning, rubbing, or throwing them”), as well as feelings and relationships, movement, and speech. To me (a relatively new grandmother), the insights Schwarzlmüller offers are spot-on, valuable and actionable (e.g., she lists a series of play schemas and what your child learns from practice like Positioning (a sense of length, height, distance), Transforming, Connecting, Enveloping, Transporting, Dividing/Scattering (geometry/math, quantity, shapes, volume), Sorting, Filling, and Orientation). She writes about allowing your child to lead (“give them the freedom to try things out and as much free time to play as possible”), but also notes, “Children need to find their bearings and to feel safe. You are the missing partner in this social dance if you don't assume your role in moments of leading. Your child is searching for balance between moments of leading and moments of play, just like the rest of us.” Additional parts of the book deal with Your Baby, From Toddler to Preschooler, From Preschooler to Kindergartener to First Grader, plus introductory material, a list of references, and further reading suggestions. Publishers Weekly called this text “a valuable resource for parents of young children [in which] research-based insight meets practical guidance.” I heartily concur and I am highly recommending DOES MY CHILD NEED ME TO LEAD OR TO FOLLOW?

THE MIXED + MULTIRACIAL GUIDE TO WELLBEING by Namalee Bolle is subtitled “Navigating Family, Identity + Healing.” Bolle divides the text into three parts: Unpack, Discover and Thrive. She describes her own history (British born of Sri-Lankan and Dutch-Jewish heritage) and that of other multi-racial people as she encourages readers to reflect on their unique situations. It felt at points as though this text was more about therapy-type exercises and less about actual research findings (of which there may not be many). However, I did gain insights from reading about children who are multiracial – as she says, they are racially different to both parents. That may seem obvious, but it is worth pausing and contemplating that idea along with how difficult it is for all of us to find our identities as adolescents and how these children must learn to recognize/accept that “I am this and this and that.” I plan to look into the children’s books that she recommended (e.g., The Truth about Dragons) and also to watch 1000% Me, an HBO/Max documentary. Overall, an interesting starting point for more discussion and research.