With the holidays approaching, Liz Lantz is dedicated to using her Hickory Hollow buggy tour business to share God's love with the Englisher tourists who visit her Lancaster County community. But when her father and brother are called away for a while, Dat finds a young Amishman to assist her on the tours in her brother's place, much to Liz's dismay. Regardless, the popularity of her Christmas House Buggy Tour means she could use the help, so as the countdown to Christmas begins, she works alongside Matthew Yoder, who quickly takes a genuine interest in the tour customers--and Liz.As an Englisher family in Hickory Hollow expresses their festive spirit with a lavishly decorated house for the second year running, Liz's Amish community becomes increasingly concerned about attracting unwanted traffic and attention, and Liz wonders if there is any way to bridge the gap to help the new neighbors feel welcome. At the same time, she grapples with her growing feelings for Matt, whose position with her is only temporary. Can she find a way to bring harmony to Hickory Hollow in time for Christmas?
When a vineyard accident during harvest season leaves Lucie Montgomery without a valuable employee, it’s her worst nightmare. But before she can search for a replacement, there’s more bad news: Paul Merchant, her winery manager’s husband, is found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool.Police rule Paul’s death an accident, but his wife insists he was murdered because of his leadership of Don’t Pave Paradise, a conservationist group lobbying to keep the region’s beautiful country roads unpaved. And six weeks ago, Paul’s predecessor also died under mysterious circumstances.As Lucie is drawn into investigating Paul’s death, she discovers more than one motive for the crime—and more than one person in their close-knit community who wanted Paul dead. And when she finds an old photo of a beautiful local heiress who died tragically in a fire eighty years ago among Paul’s papers, she starts to wonder if the modern-day crime might have roots in the past.Either way, someone is determined to make sure Lucie, who’s agreed to continue the work of Don’t Pave Paradise, hits a dead end before she even gets started. Even if it means committing murder. Again.
As a child living in exile during the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei often found himself with nothing to read but government-approved comic books. Although they were restricted by the confines of political propaganda, Ai Weiwei was struck by the artists’ ability to express their thoughts on art and humanity through graphic storytelling. Now, decades later, Ai Weiwei and Italian comic artist Gianluca Costantini present Zodiac, Ai Weiwei’s first graphic memoir.Inspired by the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac and their associated human characteristics, Ai Weiwei masterfully interweaves ancient Chinese folklore with stories of his life, family, and career. The narrative shifts back and forth through the years—at once in the past, present, and future—mirroring memory and our relationship to time. As readers delve deeper into the beautifully illustrated pages of Zodiac, they will find not only a personal history of Ai Weiwei and an examination of the sociopolitical climate in which he makes his art, but a philosophical exploration of what it means to find oneself through art and freedom of expression.Contemplative and political, Zodiac will inspire readers to return again and again to Ai Weiwei’s musings on the relationship between art, time, and our shared humanity.
Freida McFadden had a new book published just last week. She is the best psychological thriller author out there these days and I couldn't resist getting the book as soon as it was published. The Intruder meets the requirements of the Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge for the publication month category as it was published on October 7, 2025.
The publisher's summary:
Who knows what the storm will blow in…
Casey's cabin in the wilderness is not built for a hurricane. Her roof shakes, the lights flicker, and the tree outside her front door sways ominously in the wind. But she's a lot more worried about the girl she discovers lurking outside her kitchen window.
She's young. She's alone. And she's covered in blood.
The girl won't explain where she came from, or loosen her grip on the knife in her right hand. And when Casey makes a disturbing discovery in the middle of the night, things take a turn for the worse.
The girl has a dark secret. One she'll kill to keep. And if Casey gets too close to the truth, she may not live to see the morning.
In this taut, deadly tale of survival and desperation, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden explores how far one girl will go to save herself.
I LOVED this book! It's another gripping psychological thriller from Freida McFadden. Like all her previous books, it engaged me from the first page and kept me reading until the last page. I could not put it down. The story has a shifting dual timeline, about twenty years apart and from four character perspectives. This made the plot more suspenseful and with short 2 or 3 page chapters, the pacing was quick.
The story opens with a dark and stormy night and the main character Casey living in a dilapidated rural cabin. She begins to see faces looking in her cabin. This gave me that deja vu sensation. When Casey offered to give the blood covered girl a place to sleep for the night, I was shocked. Who does that? I thought the girl had just murdered someone and I would never personally allow Ella inside my home. Casey, however, let the teacher inside her allay her fears and only considered how she could help Ella. Ella was rude and I half expected Casey to send her back outdoors after making her dinner. I would have been too scared to let her stay. Casey was naive and I didn't think much of her as a character. Ella, on the other hand, played the villain well. She is a victim, though, but the reader does not know this fact in the beginning.
The story continues with plenty of twists and turns. The big reveal was a surprise that I wasn't expecting. In fact, I started reading it a second time to find all of the clues that I missed. If anything, I was disappointed in myself for missing all of the clues.
The Intruder is a winner. 5 out of 5 stars.
Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn't realize she's heading straight into a blizzard.She never arrives at her destination.Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she's made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle occurs: she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.But something isn't right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn't what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself―and her unborn child.
In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three. A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time.A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory.And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible. An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all.
Robert Langdon, esteemed professor of symbology travels to Prague to attend a groundbreaking lecture by Katherine Solomon —a prominent noetic scientist with whom he has recently begun a relationship. Katherine is on the verge of publishing an explosive book that contains startling discoveries about the nature of human consciousness and threatens to disrupt centuries of established belief. But a brutal murder catapults the trip into chaos, and Katherine suddenly disappears along with her manuscript. Langdon finds himself targeted by a powerful organization and hunted by a chilling assailant sprung from Prague’s most ancient mythology. As the plot expands into London and New York Langdon desperately searches for Katherine . . . and for answers. In a thrilling race through the dual worlds of futuristic science and mystical lore, he uncovers a shocking truth about a secret project that will forever change the way we think about the human mind.
Ginseng Roots follows Craig and his siblings, who spent the summers of their youth weeding and harvesting rows of coveted American ginseng on rural Wisconsin farms for one dollar an hour. In his trademark breathtaking pen-and-ink work, Craig interweaves this lost youth with the 300-year-old history of the global ginseng trade and the many lives it has tied together—from ginseng hunters in ancient China, to industrial farmers and migrant harvesters in the American Midwest, to his own family still grappling with the aftershocks of the bitter past.Stretching from Marathon, Wisconsin, to Northeast China, Ginseng Roots charts the rise of industrial agriculture, the decline of American labor, and the search for a sense of home in a rapidly changing world.
To describe this memoir with one word I would say it is poignant. It is also funny and a visual masterpiece. Thompson gives the story of his life from age seven to the present. His parents were overly strict evangelical Christians and made him work every summer in local ginseng farms alongside his family for twelve to sixteen hours per day. He never had free time the way most American kids have. Thompson grew up in the rural town of Marathon, Wisconsin which is where most of the world's ginseng is grown. When his brother was old enough to join the toil, they worked next to each other telling tall tales and making games out of their labors. The activities included pulling weeds, gathering rocks out of the fields and at the end of summer, harvesting berries. It seemed abusive to me but farm families probably still operate this way. However, I felt sorry for him and his siblings not to be allowed to enjoy in the fun of summer days. Both Craig and his brother left Marathon as soon as they could seeking an easier life. They found it. Craig was lucky to work as a cartoonist, his dream job.
The story gives the reader all the information you could ever want on how to grow and harvest ginseng. When Hmong laborers joined work on a nearby farm, Thompson tells their story from living in Laos, leaving, and starting over in America. After Thompson developed an immune system disorder, his hands were in alot of pain, affecting his ability to draw. We read about his progress with a Chinese medicine practitioner and the difficulty he dealt with in creating this wonderful book.
The artwork is striking. It has been drawn in vermilion ink with intricate details. The red color is what initially drew me to the book. The reason this color was chosen is explained at the end of the story: because he was told it should never be used.
I cannot say how much this book touched me. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.
Eighteen-year-old Arie Kauffman loves to twirl and leap around the barn in her Amish bonnet and dress, practicing ballet moves her English friend taught her. Her parents would be upset to learn that this longtime interest has progressed to her secretly attending ballet classes. Arie even hides her dance skills from her boyfriend, Edwin Chupp, who often invites her to try new things, knowing she has an artistic heart. Her secrecy, however, is causing damage she may not be able to repair. When offered new opportunities to dance, will Arie break from Amish tradition or hold true to the bonds of her faith and family?
The publisher's summary:
In book three of the Mifflin County Mystery series, Rosa Petersheim’s return creates more hurt and confusion in the Big Valley.
Two years since Rosa Petersheim mysteriously disappeared from her Amish home, there has been no word from her. Her family and friends have suffered in the silence, though they have tried to move on with life.
Then one day Rosa just as suddenly reappears at her parent’s home. . with a husband in tow.
Rosa is ashamed of the choices she made that caused her to leave home. And now that she is back, her father is not welcoming and her siblings and friends want explanations that she can’t give.
Will Rosa’s family accept her and Anthony? Can the Big Valley ever be home again?
This is a book that is hard to put down once you’ve started reading it. I was drawn into the story from the first chapter.
The story focuses on how harmful lies can be and how one lie will lead to another one. This focus really grabbed my attention. It made me think. The author illustrated how a lie can have lasting effects on people. We think that if we hide something it will not be found out but it will.
The book is a standalone novel but it would be best to read the first two books in the series first.
5 out 5 stars.
