Category Reviews

The book cover depicts a girl with blonde hair and a peach-colored dress or cloak and dark boots, in the blue of a darkened woods with black trees casting shadows on the ground. One tree conceals a bear, who is looking at the girl and whose shadow more closely resembles that of a human.

Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

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The book cover depicts a girl with blonde hair and a peach-colored dress or cloak and dark boots, in the blue of a darkened woods with black trees casting shadows on the ground. One tree conceals a bear, who is looking at the girl and whose shadow more closely resembles that of a human.

By Piyali C.

Riveting, dark, and deeply atmospheric, Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey took me straight into the untamed wilderness of Alaska. I walked the difficult yet vibrant terrains of several mountains, trails, and streams with strong and resilient Birdie, delightful little Emaleen, and quiet, enigmatic Arthur Neilsen.

Birdie is a single mother as a 26-year-old, who is trying her best to give her six-year-old daughter, Emaleen, a good life. Birdie works at a roadside bar in a small town in Alaska and lives in a little cabin given to her by the bar owner, Della. She tries her best to toe the line that is expected of her as a mother and an adult. But this life feels constrained; Birdie wants something bigger and better for herself and Emaleen. She aspires to live the life that she knew as a young girl – happy and free in the wilds of nature. 

Birdie had heard about the mysterious Arthur Neilsen, who lives a quiet and solitary life in the black woods. She gets to know him better when Arthur brings little Emaleen back to safety after she gets lost in the woods looking for Birdie. Arthur is somewhat of a legend in the small hamlet where Birdie lives. He grew up in the village but left his parents to live as a recluse deep in the forest, far from human civilization. He visits the village very rarely. His quiet presence, his knowledge of the local flora and fauna, the mysterious scar on his face, and his inscrutability pique Birdie’s interest in him. She feels a certain reticence in Arthur which she cannot seem to breach when she tries to get close to him. Arthur does not stay away from her either, as he keeps coming back from the woods to sit in silence next to Birdie.

Arthur’s quiet life in the great unknown appeals to our young protagonist and she decides to move into Arthur’s shack, along with Emaleen. The shack is nestled deep in the forest and only accessible via flight. At the beginning, there is immense joy in discovering each other and making a good life amid expansive natural beauty. Gradually, however, Arthur disappears for days on end without an explanation, and an inexplicable darkness creeps in along with the approaching winter. Birdie is afraid for her safety and the safety of her daughter, but she finds the freedom of this new life irresistible. Birdie is caught between her desire to live her life on the edge and her instinct to bring her daughter back to safety and lead a predictable life. The choice that Birdie makes will have life-changing consequences. 

The masterful blend of fairy tale with stark reality makes this book unpredictable, enigmatic, and unputdownable. The characters come alive on the pages and the voice of each character sounds authentic. Emaleen talks to us in the voice of a six-year-old. Birdie’s voice reveals the conflict within her, trying to be a responsible mother but also yearning for freedom and fulfillment as a young woman. Arthur doesn’t say much, but the dark secret that he carries within him becomes clear in the paucity of his soft-spoken words.  

Some reviews mention that this story is inspired by the popular fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Personally, I did not find many similarities except the fact that a pretty young woman falls in love with a physically unattractive, quiet man. This story is a powerhouse in its own right, one that I believe would be a good choice for a book club. The flawed characters, the formidable and beautiful wilderness of Alaska, the gorgeous prose, the plot, the relationship between man and nature, the whiff of fairy tale infused within the story, Birdie’s choices and the consequences of those – all of these would spark a great discussion. 

Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey is available in print and as an e-book and e-audiobook from Libby.

Piyali is an instructor and research specialist at HCLS Miller Branch, where she facilitates two book discussion groups: Light But Not Fluffy and Global Reads. She keeps the hope alive that someday she will reach the bottom of her to-read list.

An illustrative cover shows people dressed in formal evening clothing looking over a harbor full of boats.

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Angie Engles Leave a comment
An illustrative cover shows people dressed in formal evening clothing looking over a harbor full of boats.

by Angie E.

As The Great Gatsby celebrates its 100th anniversary, I cannot help but think of how I much prefer Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned. Anthony Patch, a Harvard-educated layabout with vague literary aspirations, lives off his expected inheritance from his wealthy grandfather. He falls in love with Gloria Gilbert, a dazzling, self-absorbed socialite whose beauty is everything. They marry, expecting a life of ease, but as the years stretch on and Anthony’s grandfather withholds his fortune, their glittering existence falls apart. 

The relationship between Anthony and Gloria Patch is troubled, a slow, mutual unraveling. Their love, filled with glamour, indulgence, and lofty dreams, gradually turns toxic, dragging both of them into emotional and moral decay. The novel explores how two people, when consumed by vanity and selfishness, can end up feeding each other’s worst impulses rather than lifting each other up. They drift through parties, affairs, and petty resentments, their youth and charm wearing away alongside their bank account. Anthony descends into alcoholism and bitterness; Gloria clings to her fading looks. When Anthony finally wins his inheritance through a legal battle, he is a broken man, physically and spiritually ruined. 

Maybe I’m wrong, but I see The Beautiful and Damned as something messier and more personal than The Great Gatsby. At 27, I saw Anthony and Gloria as victims of love gone wrong. At 55, I see them as victims of something much less romantic and whimsical: the delusion that youth and beauty are infinite, that happiness is something you receive or deserve rather than create. When I first read The Beautiful and Damned in the late 90s, on a rainy cozy Sunday (I remember this vividly, somehow), I fixated on the tragedy of what I saw as dramatic love and loss. Despite my not liking either character, I somehow still felt sad. Now, though I still love the writing and the gripping tale itself, Anthony and Gloria, both bright, attractive, and full of possibility, strike me as people who wait for life to happen to them, assuming wealth and happiness are entitlements rather than pursuits. 

Revisiting this novel decades later, I realize Fitzgerald wasn’t just writing about the Jazz Age or the idle rich. He was writing about the human condition, about how easily we mistake privilege for purpose, charm for character, and time for something we can outrun.   

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald is available in print and as an e-book and e-audiobook from Libby.

For more about The Great Gatsby, check out a previous blog post about the original and a variety of adaptations.

Angie is an Instructor & Research Specialist at Central Branch and is a co-facilitator for Reads of Acceptance, HCLS’ first LGBTQ-focused book club. Her ideal day is reading in her cozy armchair, with her cat Henry next to her.

Broad red banners with the title and author in black lettering appear acroos the image of a minaret.

Damascus Station by David McCloskey

Kristen B. Leave a comment
Broad red banners with the title and author in black lettering appear acroos the image of a minaret.

by Kristen B.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a really good stand alone spy thriller. Damascus Station kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering how it was all going to end. Sam Joseph is a CIA agent, with a specialty in recruiting assets and a penchant for high stakes gambling in Vegas. He’s managed not to become too cynical about his work. We meet him while he’s trying to get another CIA agent and a scientist out of Syria before the scientist is arrested. The operation goes bad, and it fuels the rest of the story.

Mariam Haddad is the privileged daughter of a Christian family who works in Assad’s government in Damascus, but not entirely happily. She’s aware enough to understand the deal with the devil her family has made for its own survival. When she is asked to coerce an opposition member to come back to Syria, mostly by threatening the woman’s family, Mariam begins to ask serious questions about what she’s doing with her life.

The book spends close to the first hundred pages setting all the pieces on the board, and there are a lot of them beyond our two main characters. Author McCloskey does a great job of making the secondary characters well drawn and interesting, from Mariam’s rebellious cousin to the CIA station chief. My favorites are the three BANDITOS brothers who help Sam run surveillance. The Syrian players are equally interesting, including rival factions within the regime’s security offices and a pair of Sunni rebels from Douma who carry out assassinations. Ali Hassan is a top level Syrian counter-intelligence operative, who is feuding with his brother Rustum, the man in charge of secret prisons and political interrogations. Ali is a good man caught in a bad situation, whereas Rustum is a monster planning to use sarin gas against his fellow Syrians.

The ever increasing stakes are ratcheted by questions of who has been “made” and who is safe. The emotional stakes are high, too, as Sam and Mariam have an immediate, mutual attraction. The rules forbid their entanglement, but their hearts know differently. The book moves quickly, from Syria to the US to France and Italy, then back again. As the plot moves from setting up the board through to the fast-paced, brutal end game, you have to race to keep up with all the characters and figure out what’s really happening. The payoff is worth it!

The author leavens the tension with enough humor and personality that I really invested in the story and the characters. Station Chief Artemis Proctor is a Class-A Character! She seems to be the recurring character in other books by McCloskey (Moscow X and The Seventh Floor), which are now at the top of my summer reading list. His background with the CIA informs his novel with detailed spycraft and knowledge of how things work, but doesn’t slow down the story too much. After all, the trade of espionage is part of what makes the genre so much fun to read.

Damascus Station by David McCloskey is available in print.

Kristen B. is a devoted bookworm lucky enough to work as the graphic designer for HCLS. She likes to read, stitch, dance, and watch baseball (but not all at the same time).

The book cover depicts a Panda walking on all fours beneath a tree with a tiny dragon on its back. The border of the cover is comprised of branches of a cherry tree.

Mental Health Awareness Month: Big Panda and Tiny Dragon

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The book cover depicts a Panda walking on all fours beneath a tree with a tiny dragon on its back. The border of the cover is comprised of branches of a cherry tree.

By Eliana H.

Times are hard for many, if not all, of us. As we struggle to navigate a landscape that is changing socially, physically, and economically, finding guides that feel true to our inner selves can be enormously helpful. 

When I saw a coworker return a book called Big Panda and Tiny Dragon, I was drawn to the cover and asked if I should read it. She gave an enthusiastic, unequivocal yes. Apparently another coworker had recommended it to her. I recently passed along the recommendation to a group text full of people I was confident would appreciate it as well. And now, I am recommending it to all of you. 

Big Panda and Tiny Dragon is a simple, beautiful book. Only a few words or sentences fill each page, accompanied by lovely watercolor illustrations. As they move through the seasons, companions Big Panda and Tiny Dragon share tidbits of wisdom inspired by Buddhism. While there is often a literal interpretation indicated by the illustration, each one clearly has a deeper meaning when applied to life more broadly. The comfort and wisdom shared in the pages of this book are a warm hug that is welcome during many stages of life. I expect this is a volume I will return to again and again – when things feel challenging or I find myself too caught up juggling modern-day stressors. 

An afterword from the author shares some of his journey from mental health struggles to helping others, and what led to him creating this book. As readers from around the world have shared with him, people from all different backgrounds and experiences have found connection with and meaning in this unassuming little volume. I venture to guess that you will, too. 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. If you need immediate support, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Explore more mental health services in Howard County.

Big Panda and Tiny Dragon is available in print and as an e-book.

Eliana is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at the Elkridge Branch and co-chair of the HCLS Equity Committee. She loves reading, even if she’s slow at it, and especially enjoys helping people find books that make them light up. She also loves being outside and spending time with friends and family (when it’s safe).

The book cover is a colored illustration of a hare in profile, with its ears alert and its whiskers extended. The viewer sees one golden-brown eye staring back at them.

Raising Hare: A Memoir

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The book cover is a colored illustration of a hare in profile, with its ears alert and its whiskers extended. The viewer sees one golden-brown eye staring back at them.

By Julie F.

Chloe Dalton, the author of Raising Hare: A Memoir, is a writer, political adviser, and foreign policy specialist who decided to escape London during the pandemic. In February 2021, while still getting used to the lay of the land and the run-down home she purchased in the dead winter landscape, she discovers a leveret (a baby hare) in her garden. Not knowing anything about the species, but determining that the mother is not close and may not return, she brings it in and sets about trying to keep it alive.

There is a lovely, intimate prologue from the perspective of the mother hare that offers one explanation for how the leveret, which she has carefully hidden from predators, might have come to be separated from her. Dalton is clearly the kind of person who listens to the landscape and tries to discern what it wants to communicate. She tries very hard to ensure that the leveret stays wild. She bottle-feeds it and then offers it porridge oats, but then she plans to release it into the wild. Although the leveret ventures into her garden, and then eventually over the garden wall, it never becomes fully wild (nor fully tame), and it returns again and again–delivering the next litters of baby leverets in the garden, and even later in the house, where she feels safe and they grow up feeling even safer, having been born on the floorboards.

The memoir is a lovely meditation on what is tame and what is wild, the tenuous but loving connection between humanity and nature, and how slow, deliberate observation can teach us so much about a species. Dalton knew next to nothing about hares when she began and is surprised to learn that there’s not that much information out there; most of what she learns is gleaned from the poet William Cowper, whose period of depression in 1774 was relieved when he was gifted a three-month-old hare and later acquired two more, all of whom he adored. She says, “I doubt that Cowper imagined his poems might be used as a guide to raising a leveret nearly 250 years later, but his words were in many ways the most useful of any I found” (53). This is particularly true in relation to feeding and shelter; though Cowper kept his leverets in pens at night, she didn’t keep the leveret locked in, “never want[ing] it to feel trapped inside, nor barred from coming in” (53).

This is a tour-de-force–beautifully written, resonant, humorous, and charming at times, but full of emotional and philosophical heft. I can’t say enough good things about it, and it’s such an accomplished first book from a thoughtful, skilled, and talented author. If you enjoy audio, the narration by Louise Brealey is also accomplished and is a beautiful accompaniment to the text (if you like to listen as you read along as I did). The illustrations by Dublin-based artist Denise Nestor are also full of wonder and beauty. Near the end of the book, she talks about the impact of the hare on her life, and her description is a wonderful summation of the emotions you feel while reading her story. I’ll conclude with her words, because my own are inadequate in comparison:

“She has taught me patience. And as someone who has made their living through words, she has made me consider the dignity and persuasiveness of silence. She showed me a different life, and the richness of it. She made me perceive animals in a new light, in relation to her and to each other. She made me re-evaluate my life, and the question of what constitutes a good one. I have learnt to savour beautiful experiences while they last–however small and domestic they may be in scope–to find the peace to live in a particular state of feeling, and to try to find a simplicity of self. The sensation of wonder she ignited in me continues to burn, showing me that aspects of my life I thought were set in stone are in fact as malleable as wax, and may be shaped or reshaped. She did not change, I did. I have not tamed the hare, but in many ways the hare has stilled me” (275).

Raising Hare: A Memoir is available in print and as an e-book and e-audiobook from Libby.

Julie is an instructor and research specialist at HCLS Miller Branch who finds her work as co-editor of Chapter Chats very rewarding. She loves gardening, birds, crime and espionage fiction, all kinds of music, and the great outdoors.

Title art that features pirate symbols appears above a square panel filled with people in extreme action.

AAPI Month & Visual Storytelling

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Title art that features pirate symbols appears above a square panel filled with people in extreme action.
A woman sits alone in a brightly lit traditional tea house, drawn in a muted palette.
Cover illustration show a white sheet ghost seitting between two people, who are screened in bright green and blues.

by Ian L-F

As we celebrate the library as a space of learning and community, and honor AAPI Month as a time to uplift Asian voices and stories, it is worth asking: what makes something literature? The shape of the story, the seriousness of its tone, its prestige? Or is it about seeing something deeper, something about the world or the human condition? Across corners of every continent, stories take shape in countless forms: in prose, poetry, images, screens, and panels.

Perhaps, literature isn’t defined by medium or legacy. It’s shaped by how we engage with a work. When we treat literariness as something a reader brings to the page, not something a story inherently owns, we begin to find meaning in places we’ve often overlooked, like one of those Japanese comic books you might find in the teen section.

Manga is Japanese graphic storytelling that pairs image and text across serialized chapters. It continues a long East Asian tradition of visual storytelling. Its reach, however, is global. Manga is a major literary and commercial force in France, a cultural touchstone across Latin America, and a stylistic influence on everything from fashion to hip-hop. Its narratives, aesthetics, and emotional tones have shaped how stories are told, and who gets to see themselves in them.

One vivid examples can be found in One Piece by Eiichiro Oda. What begins as a chaotic pirate adventure becomes a vast meditation on justice, memory, and history. The series offers a reminder that joy can be defiant, and freedom contagious. Manga’s depth doesn’t end with epics. Nana by Ai Yazawa offers a raw portrayal of friendship and identity, or Goodnight Punpun by Inio Asano, a surreal coming-of-age spiral, shows how the medium holds hope, loss, and emotional complexity with equal grace. These stories speak to something real and something human, but we need to be willing to listen.

You can find them all at the library — where stories of every kind wait side by side, ready to be read with curiosity, care, and imagination.

History of Comics in Asia
Tue, May 6 | 7:30 – 8:30 pm
HCLS Savage Branch
For adults.
Explore the world of comics new and old! East Asian comics have exploded in popularity and dominate today’s reading environment. Whether you’ve read them all or have never picked one up, learn about their history before getting a chance to draw your own.

Ian Lyness-Fernandez is not quite used to being Instructor at the East Columbia Branch. He hopes his passion for learning can somehow translate into a skill for teaching.

A person in armor, hiding another person, appears in black and white against a red background with golden lettering.

Meet the Author: Neon Yang

Kristen B. Leave a comment
Photo of the author looking seriously straight at the camera.
A person in armor, hiding another person, appears in black and white against a red background with golden lettering.

Meet Author Neon Yang
Wed, May 7 | 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Online. Register at bit.ly/Author-Yang to receive the link for the event.
For adults.

Neon Yang is a queer non-binary author based in the UK. They have been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Lambda Literary, Ignyte, and Locus Awards, and their Tensorate series of novellas (The Black Tides of Heaven, The Red Threads of Fortune, The Descent of Monsters, and The Ascent to Godhood) was an Otherwise Award Honoree. In previous incarnations, Neon was a molecular biologist, a science communicator, a writer for animation, games and comic studios, and a journalist for one of Singapore’s major papers.

The Black Tides of Heaven & The Red Threads of Fortune

Review by Kristen B.

A person with long black hair and a determined scowl, dressed in black robes, sits cross-legged upon a cloud. The art is ornate and swirling like classic Asian paintings.

How do fate and free will coexist? Can they? Is a person’s fate preordained no matter their actions, or can they swim upstream against the current? The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang examines this conundrum through a set of turning points in Sanao Akeha’s life. Born an unexpected twin, Akeha lives their life always in the shadow of their more famous sibling, Mokoya the prophet, who has visions of future events. This novella considers Akeha’s opposition to the roles and responsibilities of being a member of the ruling dynasty. In a series of vignettes from childhood through early adulthood, Akeha makes choices that affect himself and his relationships, his twin, his mother, and maybe the entire nation.

In these books, the magic system is based on elemental powers, such as air, water, and earth, that weave through the Slack. Magic users “tense” to employ the energies available. I really like the idea of tense/slack as a way of projecting power. In another interesting piece of world-building, children are genderless. Each person confirms their chosen gender as they approach adulthood. The twins’ mother, the Protector, rules as a complete authoritarian, with an iron fist in the form of Tensorate pugilists who train at the Great Monastery. Akeha discovers a rebellion of Machinists, who employ physics and chemistry to rival the Tensors. Yang does an excellent job building a rich world that seems both familiar and foreign.

The Red Threads of Fortune follows Mokoya, after the devastating and tragic events of the first book. She has moved on from her role as prophet and now hunts magical beasts in the desert. She’s following rumors of a particularly large and dangerous naga, a dragonish serpent from the Quarterlands where gravity is lighter so the monsters can fly. Rider, who comes from the Quarterlands astride a tamed naga, hunts the same creature, and they team up with Akeha and the Machinists rebellion after the naga attacks a small city. Moyoka eventually finds an answer to the unwanted prophecies that seem to ruin her life. I look forward to reading the next two installments in this complicated world.

Their latest book, Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame, is a stunning queer novella about a dragon hunter finding home with a dragon queen. New York Times bestselling author Olivie Blake calls it, “A lovely, intricate gem of a fairy tale about finding yourself in another person and traveling distant lands to finally come home. I loved it.”

Kristen B. is a devoted bookworm lucky enough to work as the graphic designer for HCLS. She likes to read, stitch, dance, and watch baseball (but not all at the same time).

A blue skull and type appear ghostly against a black background. An X and a heart appear in the eye sockets.

Lights Out by Navessa Allen

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A blue skull and type appear ghostly against a black background. An X and a heart appear in the eye sockets.

by JP Landolt

“Mmm-kay?! Make it work!” I said in my best Tim Gunn voice, cackling and carrying on with my girlfriends. Missy and Rachel are crumpled against me on either side. We’re squished together on the bottom mattress of their dorm room’s bunkbed. Thelma’s hair spills over the top of the bunk framing her face in a dizzying array of red and black. She’s upside down and laughing hysterically. Jen is folded in half, bracing her side after falling on the floor. She’s silently laughing, red-faced, and breathless. Everyone was thoroughly amused by my overly dramatic storytelling, especially when describing a particularly racy scene in one of Jen’s romance paperbacks. Unfortunately, the dean lived directly below this room, and soon the stern knocking from below forced us to freeze. “Oh dear!” I remarked, as a sultry Tim Gunn, and another boisterous round of laughter ensued.  
 
That was me. A naive eighteen-year-old exploring the genre we shall refer to as “super spicy romance.” Embarrassing, exciting, and 100% for adult readers only.  

Now that my prefrontal cortex has fully matured (LIES) and I have more than 20 years of distance from blushing on the bottom of that bunkbed (OMG), I’ve explored nearly every genre of spicy, adult romance: Fae, gangsters, dragons, hockey players, fractured fairy tales, hackers, Hollywood, vampires, wolves, rockstars, gargoyles, cowboys, billionaires, and psychos. If you’re not familiar with this genre, let me assure you that the list is immense and overwhelming – and constantly growing. Seriously, romance can be anything from wholesome and cozy to downright sadistic. I literally just put down a book whose jacket described it as a cozy racoon-shifter polyamorous romance.  

Today, I submit Lights Out for your dark romance reading pleasure. Lights Out is spicy, with morally gray characters, and packed with trigger warnings. In fact, after reading these trigger warnings, some readers may consider another title. Not me! There was one trigger that hit squarely in the center of my morbid curiosity. Which one? Not telling. Let’s just say if you enjoy true crime or serial killer docuseries, this book could be a good fit. 

I opted to listen to this book because it’s written in duet and I’m a huge fan of Jacob Morgan (aka Zachary Webber). His voice just makes my heart purr. He voices our main male character, Josh, who has a complicated family history which makes his social media and masked proclivities even more telling. He had me giggling on the bottom bunk all over again thanks to a fast-paced story with a well-written sense of humor set against the silliness of those feelings that come from having crushes…and maybe stalking? I wouldn’t know.  

While our heroine, Aly, is a pragmatic yet bratty trauma nurse who should be more concerned about the unfolding events than she is. She’s got her own questionable tendencies. Not to mention, her suspicious familial relations that definitely slide from morally gray to jet-black. Finally, Josh and Aly’s chemistry is – chef’s kiss! 

Lights Out is the first book of the Into Darkness trilogy by Navessa Allen and book two, Caught Up, should be available in June. I simply cannot wait to find out where this relationship is going and what other crazy situations Josh and Aly get into with his high-tech hackery and her sheer audacity.   

Lights Out by Navessa Allen is available in print, e-book, and e-audiobook.

JP Landolt has worked for HCLS since 2006. You may find her gallivanting through Maryland’s parks on beautiful, breezy days.  

A child surrounded by steam full of food items eats lunch with chopsticks in one hand and a bun in the other.

Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo

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A child surrounded by steam full of food items eats lunch with chopsticks in one hand and a bun in the other.

By Megan B.

Intrigued by the front cover, I picked up Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo from the children’s “new books” shelf not expecting to fall in love with this story, to be recommending it to colleagues, and to feel the need to write a book review for Chapter Chats! But, here we are…

Inspired by her own experience of moving from China to the United States as a child, Mo narrates the journey of Jun beginning school in a new country. Through expressive illustrations, bold uses of color, and just a handful of text you are taken on an emotional roller coaster as you witness her first week.

I truly felt Jun’s excitement at the bus stop on her first day, and her disappointment, confusion, and frustration as she tries to navigate the school and the English language. Then, I loved the profound comfort, joy, and love she finds in her delicious homemade lunches, and finally, the acceptance, friendship, and belonging as the story concludes.

With universal themes about belonging, embracing differences, friendship, and the power of food, Home in a Lunchbox is a feel-good, must read for people of all ages.

Home in a Lunchbox, a 2025 Caldecott Honor Winner, is available from HCLS in print and as an e-book on Libby.

Megan B. is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at HCLS Miller Branch. She is constantly curious and loves to learn new things.

The book cover shows a Regency gentleman dressed in blue and a Regency lady dressed in gold, facing each other beneath a theatre curtain. Her arms are crossed and a handkerchief trails from her hand.

To Marry and To Meddle

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The book cover shows a Regency gentleman dressed in blue and a Regency lady dressed in gold, facing each other beneath a theatre curtain. Her arms are crossed and a handkerchief trails from her hand.

By Julie F.

Are you a historical romance fan who is waiting impatiently for the next season of Bridgerton? A reader of Loretta Chase or Sarah MacLean on the hunt for a new author? Look no further than Martha Waters and her Regency Vows novels.

There are five books in this loosely linked series. The first two, To Have and To Hoax and To Love and To Loathe, are delightful stories with witty conversation and clever turns of plot. To Marry and To Meddle, however, is my favorite so far. Not being a regular romance reader (I’m more of a British police procedural fan), I’ve been pleased to find them all so clever and enjoyable.

Lady Emily has always deferred to a very proper mother who is full of (unreasonable) expectations for her daughter; Lord Julian is a ne’er-do-well who owns a theatre and is practically disowned by his father for doing so. When the two acquaintances are thrown together at a country house party, a hasty marriage of convenience ensues. Julian helps her escape her domineering family, and Emily cloaks him in respectability – but will their relationship develop further, and will their families come to accept them as they are? Of course, the lovers are at cross-purposes for much of the novel; Julian, who initially views Emily’s interest in his business as her opportunity “to meddle,” may or may not come to accept and even value Emily’s innovative ideas and contributions to his theatre. Emily, in turn, hopes that her status as a young bride will give her time with her new husband and a chance to make a difference outside the traditional, accepted realms of ballroom and drawing room.

I liked the sharp wit and also the gentle playfulness of the story – including antics involving a stray kitten nicknamed Cecil Beelzebub Lucifer by his lordship. The main characters, who are winsome and intelligent, are exceptionally strong and well-rounded; even though they live in a very different time and place, the author is skilled at making them relatable, creating deft portraits of real people with both dilemmas and personal triumphs through dialogue and description.

Author Martha Waters does a great job of tying the series together through each set of lovers in a broader group of aristocratic English friends, and I’m already looking forward to the next one, To Swoon and To Spar – which will feature Viscount Penvale and his uncle’s ward, Jane Spencer – followed by To Woo and To Wed.

To Marry and To Meddle is available in print and as an e-book from Libby.

Julie is an instructor and research specialist at HCLS Miller Branch who finds her work as co-editor of Chapter Chats very rewarding. She loves gardening, birds, crime and espionage fiction, all kinds of music, and the great outdoors.