Beginning ~ with their only hope

The Orphanage (Shilling Grange Children’s Home Book 1) ~ by Lizzie Page, 2021, historical fiction (England), 402 pages

She was their only hope.  Now they are hers.  Clara Newton is the new Housemother of Shilling Grange Orphanage, 1948.  Many of the children were bombed out of their homes and left without families, their lives torn apart by the war.  Devastated by the loss of her fiancé, a brave American pilot, she is just looking for a place to start again.

The orphans are in desperate need of her help.  Funds are short, children cry out in the night, and tearful Rita tells Clara terrible stories about the nuns who previously ran Shilling Grange.  Clara cannot bear to see them suffer, but what does she know about how to look after eight little ones?  Clara can’t get anything right, and then accidentally ruins Rita’s only memento of her mother.  Overwhelmed, she wonders if they’d be better off without her.

Living next door is Ivor: an ex-Shilling Grange resident, war hero, and handyman with deep brown eyes.  He doesn’t trust Clara, who is fiercely independent, but he has a way with the children.  With his support and the help of other locals, Clara begins to find her way.  As she heals from her grief and adjusts to her new life, Clara wonders if she has finally found her home and family among the orphans.  Can she find the strength to fight for them when nobody else will?

This is historical fiction and counts for my Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2022.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Sunday Salon ~ books for this week and next year

What I've been reading

Cat Tales: A Catty Concoction of Quotes, Poems and "Dear Tabby" Advice ~ edited by Suzanne Beilenson, 1992, gift book, 48 pages, 7/10

CAT-NIP = Feline love nip (p. 14)

CAT-CALL = Feline 'fone conversation (p. 15)

CAT-SKILL = Tabby talent (p. 16)

CAT-TAIL = Kitty legend (p. 17)

Nothing Ever Happens on My Block ~ Ellen Raskin, 1966, children's picture book, 8/10

Chester Filbert is sure that his block is the most boring in the world.  Other blocks have haunted houses, ferocious lions and tigers, monsters, astronauts, even fireworks.  His block has nothing.  See what really happens on Chester's block.

My Sister's Keeper ~ by Jodi Picoult, 2004, fiction, 423 pages

Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for her leukemia-stricken sister Kate, a life and a role that she is now challenging.

Reading Challenges

I'm ready to start 2022 with two reading challenges, listed at the top of the right sidebar:  Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2022 and Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2022.  I'll choose cozy mysteries already on my friend Donna's Kindle, which her sister let me "inherit" after Donna died.  I have always been much more into historical fiction.  Let's see how I do in each category

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts Sunday Salon, a place for us to link up and share what we have read and done during this week.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2022

Marg of the Intrepid Reader blog is hosting the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge of 2022.  Here are the goals Marg suggested:

• 20th Century Reader ~ 2 books
• Victorian Reader ~ 5 books
• Renaissance Reader ~ 10 books
• Medieval ~ 15
• Ancient History ~ 25 books
• Prehistoric ~ 50+ books

I know I'll read a lot more than 50 books in a year's time, but it is not at all likely that they will all be historical fiction.  So I will aim lower and hope I guess fewer historical fiction than I actually read next year.  Let's see, maybe Renaissance Reader, with 10 books.  Yes, I'll read at least that many, and I think "Renaissance Reader" has a nice ring to it.  If you want to join us in reading some historical novels, click on the link in the first line.

Books I've completed:

1.  From the Dark We Rise ~ by Marion Kummerow, 2021, historical fiction, 281 pages, 7/10

2.  A Light in the Window ~ by Marion Kummerow, 2021, historical fiction, 280 pages, 6/10

3.  War Girl Lotte ~ by Marion Kummerow, 2017, historical fiction (Germany), 180 pages, 7/10

4.  West with Giraffes ~ by Linda Rutledge, 2021, historical fiction, 381 pages, 7/10

5.  The Titanic Sisters ~ by Patricia Falvey, 2021, historical fiction, 320 pages, 8/10

6.  Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre ~ by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, 2021, children's history (Oklahoma), 32 pages, 10/10

7.  Maus I: My Father Bleeds History ~ by Art Spiegelman, 1986, history (Poland/New York), 160 pages, 7/10

8.  The Lighthouse Sisters ~ by Gill Thompson, 2022, historical fiction, 439 pages, 10/10

9.  Where the Desert Meets the Sea ~ by Werner Sonne, translated by Steve Anderson, 2019, historical fiction (Israel), 258 pages, 8/10

10.  One Crazy Summer ~ by Rita Williams-Garcia, 2010, YA historical fiction (California), 240 pages, 9/10

11.  Last Train to Istanbul ~ by Ayse Kulin, 2002, historical fiction (France and Turkey), 417 pages, 4/10

Hey!  I slid right past my goal of ten books of historical fiction!  Yay, me!