Short Description: Peter Blood, an Irish physician and soldier in England in the 1680’s, is wrongly convicted of treason and sentenced to indentured slavery in the Caribbean. He escapes and becomes the most feared pirate captain on the Spanish Main, but all the glory of his adventures cannot help him, for the woman he loves cannot love a thief and pirate. Even when he destroys England’s enemies, even at his most triumphant…but wait! What’s that…
~ Goodreads
Wow! I loved this story of Peter Blood, gentleman pirate! 6 stars ⭐️ from me! If you enjoy historical fiction, adventure stories, or Treasure Island, you will love this Robin Hood- like tale of loyal friendship, ingenuity, and high seas stakes. I bet it would be wonderful as an audiobook! I’ll have to see if I can find one! I definitely will be trying others of Sabatini’s books.
Do you have any good recommendations for high seas or pirate stories with a classic feel?
Hello 👋 Friends ~ a few of you expressed interest in my 50 books off of my owned shelf that I’m trying to read by the time I’m 50! A few stipulations. Two of these are on my Kindle owned shelf, as they hard to find physically. I also reserved the right to use any form to read these as long as I own a physical copy. For example, I own Moby Dick, but if I want to check out the audiobook version from the library, that is fine. I also gave myself two switch outs. If for some reason, I really can’t read a book, I’m allowed to switch it out from my shelves. I started this project in mid-2025?, so I have till June 2030 😅😳 to complete it. The huge nonfiction are the ones I’m mostly concerned about! 😂 I tried to balance a few lighter things, while still challenging myself. I kept most? if not all of these books out of the great book pack-away for our remodeling. ♥️📚🥰
50×50 List ~
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Dante: Poet, Political Thinker, The Man by Barbara Reynolds
Biography of A Cathedral by Robert Gordon Anderson
Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery ☑️
Any of my Victor Hugo
A Dark Night’s Work by Elizabeth Gaskell (Kindle) ☑️
Tempest Tost by Robertson Davies
Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar
The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories by Jenny Uglow
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott ☑️
Dr. Wortle’s School by Anthony Trollope
Vicar of Bullhampton by Anthony Trollope
The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding
Any of my unread Ray Bradbury
The Virginian by Owen Wister
A Pale View of the Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
Thoreau and the Language of Trees by Richard Higgins
Any of my Elie Wiesel
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas ☑️
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Revelation by C.J. Sansom
Jane Austen Bookshelfby Rebecca Romney☑️
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ☑️
Van Loon’s Lives by Hendrik Willem van Loon
A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond
Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond
Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson
A Chaplet of Pearls by Charlotte Mary Yonge (Kindle)
Any of my Edgar Allan Poe
Any of my Nathanial Hawthorne
Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
You are A Tree by Joy Marie Clarkson
The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults by Cheryl B. Klein
Any of my unread C.S.Lewis nonfiction
One of my folklore collections
The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton
Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
The Divine Comedy by Dante ☑️
Any of my unread Russian authors
A Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield
Any of my unread L.M. Montgomery short story collections
Make Believe by Elizabeth Goudge
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
What do you think of my list ? Have you read any of these authors or these specific titles? Do you have a list of books you want to read in the near future? Chat books with me below! 👇 🥰📚♥️
Is A River Alive by Robert MacFarlane ~ MacFarlane is a beautiful nature writer and poet. He tells the story of three? major rivers interspersed with stories of a small river that he has a personal connection with!
Beneath the Haunting Sea by Joanna Ruth Meyer ~ I remember loving this fantasy years ago and want to revisit this water-based world!
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery ~ I’m hopeful about a long-time-overdue reread of this series!
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery ~ slowly making my way through again! Montgomery is my favorite author, so I’m loving it!
Sisters of the Earth edited by Lorraine Anderson ~ I’ve been interested in this nonfiction collection from my shelves for awhile! It’s a collection of prose and poetry about nature by various women writers.
The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge ~ another reread that I’m craving. A older career woman gets a fresh start when an aunt bequeaths her a country cottage.
Into the Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer ~ another beautifully written Meyer reread! I really love her atmospheric fantasy! I remember enjoying the tree spirits etc.
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman ~ gorgeous poetry I want to keep plugging away at!
The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas ~ I so enjoyed The Robe earlier this year and want to try this Biblical Historical Fiction about the Apostle Peter by Douglas as well.
As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Eugene Peterson ~ nonfiction collection of thoughtful and inspiring sermons by Peterson. He was a wonderful writer/speaker.
Have you read any of these? Do you have a favorite nature-themed read? I’d love to hear!
June is coming to a close and with that I realized that I have another quarters reading favorites to pick! I’m grouping them by loose genre for your convenience!
♥️🌿✨CLASSICS✨🌿♥️
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery ~ continues the story of Anne Shirley! Marilla and Anne have a new challenge of raising two young children of Marilla’s cousin. Davy seriously scares me! 😱 Lavender Lewis and Echo Lodge, The Mrs. Morgan Visit, Paul Irving, the freckle juice, the blue willow ware platter, Mr. Harrison and Ginger, his parrot, not to mention the Avonlea Improvement Society aka A.V.I.S! This book is one of my absolute favorites of the series!
Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery ~ sequel to Pat of Silverbush. Just a delightful story of a young woman dreading change and growing up. The characters, nature, and sweet simplicity are wonderful. A wee repetitive and I don’t love love-triangles, but Judy Blum and the cats make it all worth it!
Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame ~ A timeless story of friendship, bravery, and how anything out of order in our lives can rule us if we aren’t careful. Looking 👀 at you, Toad. I loved listening to this (again) with my children.
♥️🌿✨CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHICAL✨🌿♥️
What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Mishima Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts ~ this is an unique novel of individual stories tied together through random connections and a rather mysterious, cookie-eating, felting librarian. I love how each book helps that individual person find something they needed and how each person randomly shows up in the lives of the others in a way that really helps. Some might find this simple, but it really touched me and made me think. The light splash of magic realism was lovely, too.
Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech ~ Gorgeous, heart wrenching story of a marriage, parenting, love, and contentment. Twins in a group home have had a horrible childhood and get taken in by Tiller and Sari who are disillusioned by the mundane. Dallas and Florida need a home and help the couple realize the beautiful life they truly have. The twins are shown unconditional love for the first time. They all work together to stop villainy they uncover at the children’s home!
♥️🌿✨COZY MYSTERY✨🌿♥️
1. Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave and Tower of the Five Orders by Deron R. Hicks ~ delightful adventures involving a brother and sister trying to help their father save the family publishing company! This is set between Georgia, USA and London, England! Clues, puzzles, mysterious graves, Shakespeare, bookish etc! Just so fun!
2. Gladwynne Grant Gets Her Footing and Takes the Stage by Lisa R. Howeler ~ I absolutely love Gladwynne and her grandmother! Gladwynne comes to live with her grandmother and gets a job as a reporter for the small town newspaper. The mysteries and scrapes Gladwynne finds herself in are intriguing! I love the wonderful town’s people who made these two cozies so sweet! Light faith elements. I have the third on my kindle, I can’t wait to continue!
✨🌿♥️MYSTERY/THRILLER♥️🌿✨~
1. Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon ~ A great installment of this long police mystery series following Venice police detective Guido Brunetti! He follows his nose in this one and uncovers corruption in a religious order! Very creepy and I absolutely loved Guido’s family, coworkers, and the Venice setting. These are gritty with explicit crime violence, fyi.
2. The Crown Conspiracy by Connie Mann ~ I found this one free in my Audible Plus catalog! A morally gray Robin Hood art forger type 🤣, Sophie returns stolen art work to rightful owners by stealing it herself and leaving behind convincing forgeries! The money funds her and her best friend’s rescue group getting women and children out of trafficking. Sound weird? It gets even stranger! 😂 A missing royal painting shows up that has far reaching implications. Lisa and Sophie find themselves running for their lives! A secretive group of women show up to help! Charlie’s Angels anyone? 🤣🙃 This was a bit far-fetched and convoluted, but I ate the audiobook up! 😅♥️ Heavy violence, just fyi.
♥️🌿✨FANTASY/SCI-FI✨🌿♥️~
Deathmark by Kate Stradling ~ Fantasy retelling of The Blue Castle! I found this so intriguing with the cleric/religious villains being extremely disturbing. This one looks kind of dark from its cover, but actually had a sweet, gentleness to story even though the characters found themselves in a difficult situation.
Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine ~ Space-punk pirates running between London and colonized Mars. Great found family, autonomous, strange creatures, and more! This really worked for me! Highly recommend!
Huntress by Carrie Cotten ~ This took me a minute to get into due to flashbacks and story set up, but then I loved it! Told through the eyes of Duncan and Cyrene, two opposing local leaders, one hidden from the other after treachery and betrayal, a generation removed! This was so well-written, and the Christian Faith themes, while heavier, pretty seamlessly woven in. Loved the characters, slow moving, Celtic, medieval world. No overt magic. I’m continuing the series soon with The Viking!
Flame Theory by C.F.E. Black ~ Slow start to this rags to riches, high-stakes, hidden identity dragon rider school story! 😂 I really ended up loving the characters and the sacrifices one character makes for another! Friend group was so great! This has some lovely Harry Potter vibes and it was well-written and the dialogue good!
🌿♥️✨HISTORICAL✨♥️🌿~
Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer ~This was an absolutely ridiculous Regency-era story that I really enjoyed! It just worked for me. Another story where the main male character is secretly a good guy, but comes across cold or indifferent. The jibes at the weathy English. “ton” and the familial relationships were great.
Arabella by Georgette Heyer~ Regency-This was a delightfully silly story about an impoverished beauty who lies to two wealthy gentlemen after overhearing them disparaging her! Hilarious happenings ensue!
Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley ~ Slow start, but lovely story set in the Scottish Highlands based on the life of Martha, one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s ancestors. Loved the family, cozy, home-y-ness of this!
✨🌿♥️NONFICTION ♥️🌿✨~
1. Homeschooling: You’re Doing Right by Just Doing It by Ginny Yurich ~ Slow start (again) for me but I grew to love this former public school teacher’s thoughts and evidence on the benefits of homeschooling. Reassuring and encouraging!
Whew! 😅 ♥️ That’s a lot! Hopefully, you will find something for yourself or your family that you’d like to check out! Happy Reading!
I’m loosely participating in five? July specific Booktube Readathons! I really enjoy just marking off prompts! 📚✅
I decorated some of my July pages ahead in my to-do pocket Moleskine because there’s some travel and family stuff going on. I usually decorate this one the day of use because it’s so small, but I don’t pack all my journaling supplies when going on trips! I especially love the Jane Austen stickers I saved for the start of Jane Austen July! 😍♥️🌸
Deck-a-TBR-a-Thon! Summerween! Private Eye July! Jane Austen July! Zoom in for Prompts, if interested! 😅📚📚📚
These are some summer long prompts! I made a great dent in them in June!
Two June Read-a-Thons that I had a lot of fun with! I just read what I’m in the mood for and make them fit mostly, but I do tailor a few of my choices depending on topic. Read a couple American Revolution type books with my kids etc.
June Reading Journal pages almost full!
I purchased coffee stickers and cute yellow bakery type washi so my July theme is Yellow Coffee & Flower Shop! 🤪😅😍💛🤎💛🤎💛
VERY ambitious health/mental/spiritual/relational goals for July! 🙃😱😂
What are you creating lately? I so enjoy working in my journals.
I’ve taken these last few days of June to catch up on listening to Booktube for a birthday month finale! Still eking out as much celebrating as possible! 😂 I hope to start listening to this audiobook on walks soon! A classic P.I. mystery that I’ve never tried, The Maltese Falcon. If I enjoy it, I hope to watch the Humphrey Bogart film.
~watching~🌿♥️Booktube, mainly, and I hope to try the 2020 Emma film adaptation to kick off the Jane Austen July readathon! I’m very hesitant about newer Austen adaptations, because I love the old ones so much. Have you seen this one? Is it any good? 😅
~reading~🌿♥️ I’m mostly loving my L.M. Montgomery rereads and diving into Moby Dick. I have a lot of slower nonfiction going, too! I have many kindle books that I got via a gift card from my dad for my birthday! 😍♥️
~Noticing~🌿♥️The world is blooming and so fluffy and feathery! Sigh. I saw a Belted Kingfisher on a bridge the other day, which made me so happy!
How about you? What are you listening to, watching, reading, and noticing? ~ 🌿♥️
I’m an extreme mood reader, but will make heaps of hopeful piles! Many of these are rereads or books on my 50 books by 50 list! I’m in a cozy, domestic fiction mood with a side of nonfiction and a vague feeling of something else reading mood. 😅🤪😎
I’m slowly rereading the Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery series because my Ann with an E is getting married this year! 😭♥️I’m on the 3rd book now!
Moby Dick by Herman Melville ~ I love the gorgeous word-smithing and hilarious situations Ishmael finds himself in! I got 3/4ths through this a few years ago, but never finished so determined to now.
Unmaking the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth ~ VERY out of my wheelhouse, but an interesting look at the dismantling of Western cultural foundations and the dehumanization of man. This is so fascinating and honestly, a bit sobering. I’m not sure what Mr. Kingsnorth is totally trying to say, 😂 but there’s enough in here to make me really think.
4. The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge ~ I’m due for a reread of this beautiful story of an older woman moving to an inherited house in the countryside and asking herself if she has ever truly been living.
5. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery ~ been craving a reread of this one . If you felt you had a short time to live, how would you live your life? Valency Sterling has lived a stifling existence up to this point and jumps at the chance to buck against it!
6. Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery ~ yes, another Maud book! I’m really leaning into the domestic, cozy fiction. Young Emily Starr is taken in by aunts when her beloved father passes away. Her writer’s soul aches with growing pains and trying to find a kindred spirit in her new situation. I’m finally feeling ready to really dig into my reread of this sadder trilogy.
7. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh ~ this is for my in-person book club! We are all busy moms so reading it slowly, but so much to discuss on fading English aristocracy, religion, family and societal pressures.
8. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot ~ this is a book from my 50×50 list and my friend who I trust implicitly with book recommendations said it’s a good summer read! I don’t really know what this is about but looking forward to trying another Eliot!
9. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney ~ I’ve been hoping to read this for a long time and the Booktube reading event Jane Austen July would be perfect. I’m much slower at nonfiction, so we’ll see if I can get to it!
10. Habits for a Sacred Home by Jennifer Pepito ~ I’ve been interested in checking out this home educating title for awhile and am looking for a title to read with our homeschool mom’s group this autumn!
~These are just a few of the ones capturing my attention currently! What about you? What books are on your stack this summer? 🌞✨☕️📚♥️😍
I’ve enjoyed Jessica’s blog for awhile now and I saw she was joining in a bookish blog hop about our 2026 reading! I used to blog hop a lot and really enjoyed linking up with others over a common topic. 😍 I’m joining her at Words & Peace for this reading meme reflecting about your first six months of reading.
Instructions from Emma at Words & Peace:
In 2021, Jo at The Book Jotter started hosting the meme Six in Six. She stopped blogging in 2025, so I have decided to host it myself.
What is 6 in 6?
The idea is to look back at the books you have read so far in the six months of this year. Now, I love plays with numbers, so I’m extending this meme: you can post any time in July, or as early as 6/6, June 6th.
What do you post?
Choose 6 books in 6 categories. You can come up with your own category, or choose among the following examples (copied from Jo’s blog):
Six new authors to me
Six authors I have read before
Six authors I am looking forward to reading more of
Six books I have enjoyed the most
Six books I was disappointed with
Six series of books read or started
Six authors I read last year – but not so far this year
Six books that took me on extraordinary journeys
Six books that took me by the hand and led me into the past
Six books from the past that drew me back there
Six books from authors I know will never let me down
Six books I must mention that don’t fit nicely into any category
Six books I started in the first six months of the year and was still caught up with in July
Six trips to Europe
Six blogging events I enjoyed
Six bookish things I’m looking forward to
Six Espionage or Historical Novels I enjoyed
Six Cool Classics
Six Non-US/Non-British Authors
Six From the Non-Fiction Shelf
Six books that didn’t live up to expectations
Six books that I had one or two problems with but am still glad I tried
Six books that are related to The Great War or Second World War
Six bookshops I have visited
Six books I’ve read in an English translation
Six books which are better than the film
Six books which are worse than the film
Six books that have sport as their major theme
Six favourite places to read
Six books read on kindle and then went and bought an actual copy
Six books I abandoned
Six classics I have read
Six books I have read on my Kindle
Six physical books I have read
Six book covers I love
Six book covers that bear no resemblance to the story contained within
Six books to read to avoid politics
Six books I have read but not reviewed
Six books I have read in lockdown
Six classic mysteries
Six books about Royalty
Six pretty book covers
Six books set in a country other than my own
Six books that feature a Pandemic
Six books that are great when self-isolating
Six books recently added to my wish list
Six mysteries, thrillers or crime novels NOT by Agatha Christie
Six books with titles connected to rivers, seas and storms
Six nature related books
Six books about Librarians and Libraries
Six books I really want to buy in the next six months
Six books that feature a building in the title
My categories I’ve chosen to share about are:
Six favorite genres so far
Six favorite reads so far in 2026
Six favorite Booktube Readathons
Six New-to-Me Authors
Six Mysteries I loved
Six Books I Read from My Shelf
My Six Favorite Genres: (many are a mixture of these below! I’m such an eclectic reader!)
Fairytale/Classic Retellings
Fantasy
Historical Fiction
Mystery
Young Adult
Middle Grade
My Six Favorite Reads so far 2026 (so hard to choose!)
The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco (beautiful, heartwarming Middle Grade)
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas (gorgeous, Biblical Historical Fiction)
The Will of Many by James Islington (wonderful epic Historical Fantasy)
Through Rushing Waters by Catherine Richmond (Heartbreaking Historical Fiction)
Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery (beautifully written classic)
Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw (classic fantasy story of an underdog!)
My Six Favorite Booktube Readathons So Far this Year: (You can still join these! I don’t follow the monthly prompts, I just fill them in as I go!)
We should ask ourselves, Have I really experienced the joy of loving? True love is love that causes pain, that hurts, and yet brings joy. This is why we pray asking for courage to love, and love more deeply than ever before.
Do you have a favorite-of-all-time author? Mine is L.M. Montgomery and I can’t tell you what a joy and delight it is to be back in her books! I finally finished the Pat Duology and Mistress Pat was such a delight. The gorgeously drawn natural world, quirky characters, human-like cats, trees, and houses that she wrote bring me untold delight. I’m currently rereading the Emily Starr books with a group even though I’m savoring them and they are flying through them. 😂 I’m slow. I also picked up Anne of Avonlea to continue my journey through the Anne series this year in honor of my own Anne’s marriage. It’s surprising and wonderful how much my gorgeous surroundings come alive with Maud’s words floating through my heart and mind. It’s actually so life-giving.
Montgomery’s stories make me think GREEN. My favorite color!!! Perhaps because of her love for trees 🌳🌿🌲 and green gables?! 😅
