Search This Blog








2023 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (2)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (2)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia
- Washington (1)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)





2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge







Thursday, April 09, 2020
Oregon Trail Adventure/Romance Novel Gives Me All the Feels
3:40 PM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Perhaps it's my own pioneer ancestry or the fact that I grew up along The Oregon Trail, but I love me a good wagon trail story. Where the Lost Wander (available April 28, 2020) by Amy Harmon certainly fits the bill. It's an epic, expansive road trip novel that offers adventure, excitement, romance, heartbreak, and joy. Harmon's vivid prose helped me put myself in my ancestors' place and really feel these characters' emotions—everything from boredom with the monotony of walking the trail to frustration with slow wagons and nasty weather to fear of attack by man and beast to the excitement and wonder of first love and childbirth to the sorrow of loss and grief. Harmon doesn't romanticize the pioneer experience, but she does capture it in all its glorious triumph and agony. I loved Naomi and John, with their respective family and friends. While none of them gets an entirely happy ending, our leading lad and lady do receive a satisfying and hopeful one. If you can't tell, I loved this book, which swept me away, making me laugh, cry, and celebrate the indomitable strength and spirit of my own ancestors, who—like the May Family—risked their lives to find a place of safety and refuge far away, in the West.
(Readalikes: Reminds me of The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder; Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee; Heart's Journey by Kristen McKendry; The Gold Seer trilogy [Walk On Earth a Stranger; Like a River Glorious; and Into the Bright Unknown] by Rae Carson; and The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, blood/gore, and mild sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of Where the Lost Wander from the generous folks at Lake Union Publishing via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Subscribe to:
Posts
(Atom)




Reading
All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

Listening
The War Librarian by Addison Armstrong



Followin' with Bloglovin'



-
-
30 in 2023Fun Guide5 hours ago
-
-
-
Buck, Pearl S. "The Patriot"7 hours ago
-
Dogwood8 hours ago
-
-
-
Maureen by Rachel Joyce: Book Review12 hours ago
-
A Death In Jerusalem12 hours ago
-
Graphic Novel Two-fer16 hours ago
-
-
-
My January 2023 Round-up22 hours ago
-
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan1 day ago
-
-
Linkity for Valentine’s Month1 day ago
-
-
-
-
Sunday Post1 day ago
-
-
Sunday News #461 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
A couple of library books2 days ago
-
-
Sunday Post #4902 days ago
-
Books I Read in January 20234 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Review of Matilda1 week ago
-
-
Top Ten Books of 20223 weeks ago
-
Books Read in 20234 weeks ago
-
-
Nonfiction November 2022: New to My TBR2 months ago
-
Thinking Out Loud: Our Wives Under the Sea2 months ago
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?3 months ago
-
-
HEARTS OF BRIARWALL by Krista Jensen6 months ago
-
-
-
-

Grab my Button!



Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ▼ 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)