This week we feature the revealing chronicles of a young woman’s life in 19th-century London and a cozy murder mystery, taking place in the library with a stiletto as a murder weapon.
Fiction
‘The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion’
By Beth Brower
It’s 1883, and in this first of eight volumes, with more on the way, a penniless Emma arrives in London and goes at once to her beloved Lapis Lazuli House, where she is quartered in an attic. She records her struggles and everyday life in her journal, promising not to self-censure, and so we become acquainted with her eccentric neighbors and demanding relatives. Blend together P.G. Wodehouse and Jane Austen, spiced with Brower’s talent, and you have this delightful British treat of a novel.
Rhysdon Press, 2022, 119 pages
History
‘Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart’
By John Guy
The story of Mary, Queen of Scots, is one of the most dramatic and unsparing tales of a monarch. Crowned queen of Scotland at nine months old and queen of France at 16, her rule was tumultuous to say the least. She married three times, including to the man who assassinated her second husband. In the face of Scottish lords and her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary did all she could to hold onto power, even leading her armies into battle. Guy’s retelling captures the ruthless era of Queen Mary.
Houghton Mifflin, 2004, 608 pages
Mystery
‘Murder at a Spring Wedding: A 1920s Historical Cozy Mystery’
By Magda Alexander
When Kitty Worthington and her Scotland Yard chief inspector husband are invited to an early spring wedding at Langford Hall, curiosity leads them to attend. The bride is a daughter of an American tycoon. The groom, heir to a destitute English estate. The event yields more surprises than expected. London’s most feared gossip columnist, invited by the bride’s mother, is found murdered in the library, the morning of the wedding. It is up to Kitty and Robert to find who did it.
Hearts Afire Publishing, April 2026, 302 pages
Military History
‘Dead Man’s Ridge: The Bravery of American Paratroopers at the Battle of the Bulge’
By Peter M. Hanrahan
The European Theater’s forgotten airborne division, the 17th Airborne, first saw combat in the Battle of the Bulge. Committed late, its exploits were overshadowed by its more famous counterparts, the 82nd and 101st Airborne. This book tells the history of the Golden Talons. Its focus is the battle which took place in Flamierge, Belgium, a six-day conflict fought in January 1945. The 17th fought a Nazi armor unit to a standstill on what the unit’s historian named “Dead Man’s Ridge.” A gripping tale of a desperate fight.
Stackpole Books, 2026, 240 pages
Classics
‘The Lost Tools of Learning’
By Dorothy L. Sayers
Though best known for her crime novels, this 1947 essay helped revive today’s interest in classical education in home schools and private academies. Sayers breathed life into the Trivium, that three-stage approach to education practiced in medieval times. Grammar, logic, and rhetoric are the stages, each building on the other and each including subjects from composition and history to science and mathematics. The idea is to give the student the equipment for a lifetime of learning. Excellent.
Martino Fine Books, 2026, 32 pages
For Kids
‘Kermit the Hermit’
By Bill Peet
Kermit the crab of Monterey Bay lives the life of a stingy and grumpy hermit. That is until a kind boy saves him from disaster. This twist of fate softens his heart and he goes to great lengths to repay the boy’s kindness. This entertaining, funny, yet heartwarming story is told in melodic verse and accompanied by delightful illustrations.
Clarion Books, 1980, 48 pages
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