The Year of Reading Books I'm Excited About - Blood Brothers + Unearthing the Secret Garden

In 2023 my reading goals were to focus on reading books I was excited to read or had been looking forward to reading.  Here are two recent reads that met that criteria.

Goodreads:  Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

Blurb: In the town of Hawkins Hollow, it's called The Seven. Every seven years, on the seventh day of the seventh month, strange things happen. It began when three young boys--Caleb, Fox, and Gage--went on a camping trip to The Pagan Stone...
It is only February, but Caleb Hawkins--descendant of the town founders--has already seen and felt the stirrings of evil. Though he can never forget the beginning of the terror in the woods twenty-one years ago, the signs have never been this strong before. Cal will need the help of his best friends Fox and Gage, but surprisingly he must rely on a stranger as well.

Reporter Quinn Black came to Hawkins Hollow hoping to make its eerie happenings the subject of her new book. She too can see the evil the locals cannot, somehow connecting her to the town--and to Cal. As winter turns to spring, they will shed their inhibitions, surrendering to a desire that will grow and form the cornerstone of a group of men and women bound by the fight against what is to come from out of the darkness...

My Thoughts:  I skipped this trilogy when it originally came out because it was more paranormal than I enjoyed at the time.  Since that was years ago and my tastes have changed a bit I decided to give this another try and I'm so glad I did!  This is a trilogy with a typical Roberts' quest setup with 6 people who will get paired off in each book as they fight evil of some kind.  I liked Quinn and how research oriented she was as well as how nice she was.  Cal is a typical hometown boy with a solid family and a good standing in the community.  Everyone pretty much likes him but underneath his easygoing nature is a heavy responsibility and sense of guilt for what happened all those years ago and what he knows is going to happen.  There's a lot going on in this first book as the setup is explained and all the characters are introduced and that pushes the emotional connection between Quinn and Cal to the background at times.  That said I really enjoyed the setup and am excited to see how this trilogy develops.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

Goodreads:  Unearthing the Secret Garden: The Plants and Places that Inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett by Marta McDowell

Blurb:  New York Times bestselling author Marta McDowell has revealed the way that plants have stirred some of our most cherished authors, including Beatrix Potter, Emily Dickinson, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her latest, she shares a moving account of how gardening deeply inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of the beloved children's classic The Secret Garden. 

In Unearthing The Secret Garden, best-selling author Marta McDowell delves into the professional and gardening life of Frances Hodgson Burnett. Complementing her fascinating account with charming period photographs and illustrations, McDowell paints an unforgettable portrait of a great artist and reminds us why The Secret Garden continues to touch readers after more than a century. This deeply moving and gift-worthy book is a must-read for fans of The Secret Garden and anyone who loves the story behind the story.

My Thoughts:  This was absolutely lovely.  The Secret Garden is one of my favorite books and never fails to make me fall in love with the beautifully descriptive word that Mary Lennox lives in - most of which comprises of a garden in Yorkshire.  This was a lovely biography of the author through her love of gardens and looks at both her life and her homes and how gardens impacted her.  It's beautifully illustrated with photographs from Frances Hodgson Burnett's life as well as illustrations from different versions of the book itself.  I loved seeing where The Secret Garden was written as well as seeing where the author got much of her inspiration from and plan on rereading my childhood favorite soon.  If you loved The Secret Garden this is a fascinating and beautiful book.   My Rating: Loved It (5 Stars)