1. Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser—I'm reading this biography to fulfill a prompt for the Pioneer Book Reading Challenge, but it's one I've been wanting to pick up ever since it came out. It's a biography of Wilder, as a woman, a pioneer, and a writer, with an emphasis on the development of the American West as she experienced it. I'm about 100 pages in and really enjoying the read.

2. Dust by Dusti Bowling (available August 1, 2023)—Bowling is a local author who writes middle-grade novels set here in Arizona. Her newest is about Avalyn, a girl with asthma whose parents relocate to a cleaner town in order to help her breathe better. It's working—until a strange new boy comes to town. Adam's dirty, unkempt appearance makes him a target for bullies. Although Avalyn wants to befriend him, the grit that always surrounds him is dangerous for her lungs. Besides, there's something decidedly odd about the way unlikely dust storms seem to rise up when he experiences strong emotions...

3. It Ends at Midnight by Harriet Tyce—There's been a rash of thrillers lately that involve a group of old friends reconvening, only to have the secrets and misdeeds of their pasts come back to haunt them. It's one of my favorite tropes, as long as it's done well. This thriller brings old friends back together for a glitzy party in Edinburgh, Scotland. The party, naturally, does not go quite as planned.

4. Beer and Loathing by Ellie Alexander—I enjoy the Sloane Krause cozy mystery series, which is set in the Bavarian tourist town of Leavenworth, Washington. (The quaint village is depicted much better on the previous covers than this one, which I don't love.) This newest installment (#6) has the brewer and her business partner investigating a suspicious death on a ski lift during the town's popular Ski Week. The victim's demise looks accidental, but Sloane is not convinced.

5. Murder at Haven's Rock by Kelley Armstrong—This year, I've been binge-reading/listening Armstrong's popular Rockton series. I love the books, so I'm all in for the spin-off series, which starts with this opener. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are building a new Rockton, a place with the same function as the old town but without all the greed and beauracracy. Their excitement is tempered when two construction workers go missing in the woods. When one of their murdered bodies is discovered, it's up to Casey and Eric to figure out what happened.  

6. Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom—This historical novel features a 16-year-old Crow Native woman who marries a white fur trader in 1872. On their travels together, they witness a mob of drunk white traders murder a group of Nakota men in Montana and take half a dozen of their women captive. Although Mary Crow begs her husband to save the captives, he refuses. Arming herself with two guns, Mary rushes in to do the job herself, setting off a string of events that forces a bloody clash between two already warring cultures. The story is inspired by a real woman, making it all the more intriguing.

7. The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate—As a rule, I'm not a fan of books narrated by animals. Applegate's beloved The One and Only Ivan is an exception. I also enjoyed its sequel featuring Bob the dog. Another sequel, this one stars Ruby, Ivan and Bob's elephant friend. Applegate's heartfelt middle-grade novels are always a treat, so I'm excited for this one.

8. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown—This non-fiction bestseller fits several prompts for reading challenges I'm doing. I've been meaning to read it anyway. It tells the story of a rowing team from the University of Washington that was made up of the sons of loggers, farmers, and dock workers. Against all odds, they beat teams of athletes from the world's most elite schools, including Hitler's German rowers.

9. A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones—This series opener sounds super fun. It stars Sunshine Vicram, who returns to her small Nevada hometown after her parents secretly nominate her to be its sheriff. She accepts the position reluctantly, figuring it will be an easy gig. Not so. A teenage girl is missing, there's a kidnapper on the loose, and Sunshine's sexy ex is complicating everything. 

10. In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce—I adore this middle-grade historical series about a perenially curious young girl who loves a good mystery. In this installment (#4), Myrtle's lawyer father is in the hospital with tonsilitis. With him out of commission, it's up to her to decide if a young girl who claims to be the rightful heir to a large fortune is who she says she is. Can she really be the sole survivor of a fatal voyage? If she's not the real heiress, then where is she?

There you are, ten more books I'm hoping to read this summer. What do you think? Have you read any of them? What's on your summer TBR list? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also reply to comments left here.

Happy TTT!

Just to be clear, my father only has one wife. As does my husband. No, I do not have horns hidden underneath my hair, nor am I a member of a cult. Believe it or not, I have been asked all of these questions before!

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In The Indifferent Stars Above, Daniel James Brown mentions Mormons—who, under the direction of Brigham Young, established a colony in Utah's Salt Lake Valley in July 1847, a year after the Donner Party took their ill-fated journey—four times. I chose just two of the passages to talk about here.

"For the next two weeks, they [the Donner Party] rolled northwest, passing and being passed by elements of what had been the Russell Party, now under the leadership of Lilburn Boggs, the fiercely anti-Mormon former governor of Missouri who had taken over leadership when Russell resigned on June 18" (77). 

Lilburn Boggs is a well-known villain in Mormon history. I grew up hearing tales of his hateful persecution of early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From 1836 to 1840, he served as governor of Missouri, where he dealt with heated conflict between members of the Church and residents of Missouri, who were concerned about the influx of Mormon settlers to the area. Many Missourians were outraged by their presence and sought to drive the religious group out of Missouri. Boggs agreed, issuing Missouri Executive Order 44 (known as the "Extermination Order") on October 27, 1838. In part, the order said: The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace—their outrages are beyond all description. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do so to any extent you may consider necessary. Fearing for their lives, thousands of Church members fled the state in terror. This kind of persecution followed them wherever they went, prompting their eventual migration to Utah.

I've never thought about what happened to Boggs after that, so I was startled to see his name in The Indifferent Stars Above. Some say he headed to California because of his fear of Mormon retaliation (someone did try to kill him in 1842, although the identity of his would-be assassin was never discovered). Whatever his reason, he journeyed to the Sunshine State in 1846 with a party of pioneers that included his wife and children. They settled in Sonoma, where Boggs became a store owner and a postmaster. He died in Napa County in 1880. So says that venerable news source Wikipedia, anyway.

"There is anecdotal evidence...that the winter of 1846 was unusually cold across the Northern Hemisphere...At their Winter Quarters in Nebraska, thousands of Mormons suffered terribly, and more than six hundred of them died, in bitterly cold blizzards that swept across the plains" (226).

I also grew up hearing stories about the great suffering of the Saints in Winter Quarters, although none of my Mormon pioneer ancestors were among them. It's a sad chapter in our history. There is now a Mormon Trail Center on the Winter Quarters site in Omaha, Nebraska, where you can learn more about what happened there.