Sara and I put out our latest book review podcast this weekend. Click on the Reeding Between the Lines link to the right to listen or watch us on YouTube.

Needless to say, with my husband's health issues, the past month hasn't been my best reading month. However, I did manage to read a few books that were entertaining and easy to focus on. If your taste in books leans more towards less heavy topics, you may enjoy these as well.

The first two books I enjoyed were both by Audrey Blake. I first picked up The Girl in His Shadow and enjoyed it so much that I immediately bought the second in the series, The Surgeon's Daughter. Both books feature Nora Beady, an orphan adopted by a famous surgeon in the 1800s. She grew up assisting her adopted father when he did dissections and surgeries in his clinic. She was also a skilled anatomical illustrator, which was very beneficial to those studying medicine at the time. It turns out that women practicing medicine was not just frowned upon, but was completely illegal, with dire consequences facing those who were caught. 

We follow Nora as she successfully performs forbidden surgeries and actually steps up and takes credit for her work. In the second book, she travels to Italy to study medicine at the University of Bologna, which was legal for women in that country, but not without prejudice. Both of these books illustrate the bravery and resoluteness of women wanting to learn more about science and help others through medical practice. The author writes very well, with well-drawn characters and a great knack for describing the life and times of the early 1800s. I highly recommend both of these books.

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst is a charming fantasy guaranteed to get your mind off your troubles. Our main character is Kiela, a reclusive librarian whose library gets burned down. Along with her sentient spider plant Caz, she rescues crates of magical spellbooks and takes them to a reclusive island for protection. The people on the island aren't in great shape. The crops aren't doing well, the fish aren't as abundant as they used to be, and the weather is unpredictable.  Kiela sets up a jam shop as a front for conducting magical spells that help the residents enjoy better circumstances. In the author's own words, read this book if you want to "escape into a world of kindness and enchantment". I really enjoyed this one!

Hope this is a great week for everyone. My husband comes home Wednesday and I can't tell you how much we look forward to that, although we know it will be full of challenges.