Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie


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Why This Book Left One of Us Speechless

Strangers in Time

By David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, 2025)

Genre: Historical Fiction

Via: Library

Pages (Print): 431

Kimber here. Telling you to hold on to your kibble. Or whatevs. Cuz Her Momness and I? We just finished one of them thar “barn burner” thingies. It’s historical fiction. Set in an oft-overlooked epoch. By an author who’s not exactly known for historical fiction. But this fella? Even though David Baldacci’s an acclaimed, best-selling author of action/thriller tomes, he doggone outdogg-ies his-self with Strangers in Time.

I know. I’m adorable.

I’ll let Mom tell ya more:

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For the 4th: Stand Up & Cheer With This AMAZING True Story of Courage & Hope

Back in the Game:
One Gunman, Countless Heroes, and the Fight For My Life

By Congressman Steve Scalise with Jeffrey E. Stern (Hatchette Book Group, 2018)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Via: Library

Pages (print): 281

That one small entry wound belied a massive, mostly internal hemorrhage that was about to kill me. I’d be dead in a matter of minutes, unless someone with some kind of x-ray vision happened to show up and was somehow able to see all the bleeding that couldn’t be seen. I needed a miracle.

In gripping You Are There fashion, Back in the Game tells what happened when one man opened fire at a baseball practice for Republican members of Congress on the morning of June 14, 2014, wounding five and nearly killing one: Louisiana congressman and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. And how Scalise fought his way back to the people’s House.

It’s Scalise’s moment by moment account of not only what happened to him, but of those who emerged in the seconds after the shooting began and worked to save his life and the lives of his colleagues and teammates when a lone gunman attempted the greatest political assassination in U.S. history.

The gunman came within a hair’s breadth of succeeding.

Kimber: Let me just say right out of the kennel that Back in the Game is a book about heroes. Like:

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Surprised in Spades by ‘Legends of the North Cascades’

Legends of the North Cascades

By Jonathan Evison (Algonquin Books, 2021)

Genre: Fiction

Pages (print): 338

Via: Library

Ever grab a book that surprised the stuffin’ outta you? You thought it was about one thing. But it turned out to be something else entirely?

That happened to Her Royal Momness and I the other day. Swooping into The Book Place, Mom only had about five minutes to snatch some new-to-her titles off the shelves. So, cuz she loves the Northwest and the Cascades are like, Totally Pawesome, she took a chance on an unfamiliar title and an author we’ve never heard of.

When the cloak of night descended, and they were awash in the light of the stars, spattered cold and white across the bowl of night, the world seemed all at once larger and more mysterious.

Were we ever surprised. Like this:

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Book Review: Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

Paperback Grace (eventually) - Thoughts On Faith Book

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

By Anne Lamott

Riverhead Books, 2007.

We were going to write a review of Anne Lamott’s autobiographical collection of nearly two dozen essays and reflections, Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith.  No, really.  We were.  We have four pages of notes to prove it- double-sided!  Then we thought we’d just to the chase.  So here it is:

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New MG Sci Fi a Kick in the Pants

Rieden Reece and the Dark Shadow

By Matt Guzman (Mindfast Publishing, July 2025)

Genre: Middle Grade/YA Fantasy

Pages (Kindle): 257

Via: Author Request

“We’ve got a million things to do and ten seconds to do them.”

Rieden Reece is busy. He must save his big bro. His Mom. Himself. And rescue humanity from AI “integration” (think The Borg). As in, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. So no pressure, broseph in this delightful and uber absorbing sci fi adventure for middle grade readers and up.

Here’s the 4-1-1:

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New Holocaust Novel Packs a Punch!

The Ruins in Which We Bleed: A Gripping Holocaust Novel Inspired by a Heartbreaking True Story (World War II Historical Fiction Book 3)

By Steve N. Lee (Blue Zoo, June 2025)

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages (print): 356

Via: Author request

“Run, Helena. Run!”

Mama’s terror-stricken shout echoes through the Warsaw sewers as Mama and daughter Helena flee marauding Nazis while the Warsaw ghetto goes up in smoke in this uber engaging and thoroughly absorbing historical fiction read set during World War II.

Having lost her entire family to disease and German brutality when the Sliwickis are forced into the infamous Warsaw ghetto, Helena hesitates when Mama tells her to run. But when the Germans grab Mama, Helena obeys. Running for her life, Helena soon realizes she’s lost everything. And everyone. Everyone.

Except Sparkle the cat.

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New YA Adventure Rocks – or – Scraps to the Rescue!

Within the Crystal Mountain

By. J.L. Putney (Indie author)

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages (print): 295

Via: Author request

When you feel most alone, not alone, are you…

Kimber here. Being all Magnificent and everything. Telling you about this really cool Young Adult fantasy-ish book Mom and I just finished. It’s called Within the Crystal Mountain. By J.L. Putney. And it is absolutely de-barkful! (Mom: That’s Kimber speak for “delightful.” Go figure.)

Naw….

Now. Most hoomans will probably think this book is about magic and some kind of epic quest thingy. Naw. It’s really about my new best friend, Scraps the dog. Yeah. Scraps. More on that in a min. So kindly keep your shirt on, Toots.

Squirrel!

Wait. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Basic plot and stuff. Well:

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Joseph, Tennis Shoes & ‘Wear’ Everybody Knows Your Name

Joseph Wore Tennis Shoes

Stories From Small Town Journalism

By Dale Kovar

Genre: Non-fiction/Biography

Pages (print): 197, Inc. Appendices and Index

Via: Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pour yourself a lemonade. Grab a chair. Sit down. Put your feet up. Breathe. And treat yourself to a stroll through small town Americana via this cogent and convivial look at events, people, places, and perspectives from a seasoned news pro with a 50-year career in newspapers. Brimming with warmth and wit, Jospeh Wore Tennis Shoes is part news. Part biography. Part trip down Memory Lane. And all heart.

The book covers the author’s 50-year career at Minnesota weekly newspapers with reprints of the best stories from over the years. Kovar takes you beyond the nuts and bolts of a weekly newspaper and into a wide variety of behind-the-scene stories and anecdotes. What emerges is an entertaining mix of Eureka! moments, belly laughs, guffaws, colorful reportage, and a few You have got to be kidding me-s. This collection may also have you grabbing a tissue or two.

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‘Divine Justice’ an Adrenaline Rush!

Divine Justice

By David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, 2008)

Genre: Fiction- Thriller, Action/Adventure

Via; Library Book Sale

Pages (Print): 387

He’s lost beloved friends. His wife. And his daughter. And with two pulls of the trigger, Oliver Stone has become the most hunted man in America. Meanwhile, whoever thought a sleepy little coal mining town in the hinterlands of Virginia would end up like the Wild, Wild West? But it doesn’t take long in this David Baldacci page turner.

Well. At least “John Carr” is finally dead. But can the same be said about the shadowy “Camel Club” and the even shadowier “Triple Six Division of the CIA” – aka: the agency’s “political destabilization arm”?

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5 Thrillers: Which Are High Octane, Which Run Out of Gas?

Fort Knox

Mom and I recently came back from a trip to Fort Knox. Aka: The lobal library book sale. We brought home a boatload of titles on everything from high altitude climbing and historical fiction to action/adventure, whodunits and murder mysteries. Thirty-two titles for under ten buckaroos.

Oh yeah.

On that last book category. We nabbed some authors we’ve never heard of. And one we offered a second chance. Cuz we’re all nice and gracious-y. Sometimes. (Tip: The last James Patterson book we read was coma-inducing. Just sayin’.)

Anywho. The thriller thingies we’re gonna look at today are Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn. Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman. 21st Birthday by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. Unfinished Business by J.A. Jance. And The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. Which are worth reading? I’ll let Mom tell ya more: Continue reading