Courage on Wheels: Tillie’s Big Race by Cate Martin

January 31, 2026January 29, 2026Leave a comment

Tillie’s Big Race
by
Cate Martin

Illustrated book cover shows the front of a black, vintage car. Link leads to Goodreads page.

Fan art by Nadine C. Keels: not an official book cover

| Description

• Historical Fiction | Short Story

Tillie longs to one day become a record-breaker racing on her bike. But even now that the Great Depression is over, her home deep in the farmlands of Minnesota offers few opportunities to test her. Then a car full of city folks blows into her town. City folks in a fancy city car, carrying very city weapons. Their target? The town’s bank. And when the gangsters’ getaway seems imminent, all Tillie has is her bike.

| My Thoughts

Yup, this author has some short story collections, but I’ve been picking stories of hers to read at different times when I need something quick.

Quick and good.

The Blurb, and the Bank

In this case, I’m glad I didn’t read (or at least didn’t remember?) much of the blurb from the publisher first, since I liked finding out certain key details once I got there in the story.

There’s also interesting context regarding the townsfolk that makes the bank robbery situation more than a basic one.

More from This Author?

Hey, I knew that in one way or another, the tale of Tillie’s race would be delivering a satisfying win—something this reader really needed this week. I’m looking forward to trying even more of this author’s short reads.

| Content Note

gun violence
no profanity
no explicit sexual content

A Valiant Pursuit of Destiny: Where Freedom Grows by Bonnie Leon

January 23, 2026January 19, 2026Leave a comment

Where Freedom Grows
by
Bonnie Leon

| Description

• Christian Historical Fiction

In 1930 Russia, Tatyana and Yuri lose their parents to the Soviet State. Three years later, Yuri chooses to stand against communist oppression at home, but he sends Tatyana away to America. With danger gathering closer in Russia, Yuri must valiantly pursue his destiny, while Tatyana faces what she didn’t expect to find in America: the Great Depression.

| My Thoughts

On a random, nostalgic basis, I feel like trying a ChristFic oldie, especially if it’s historical fiction.

A Russian Tie

I wanted to try this novel in particular because the bit of the blurb I skimmed made me think of The Russians by Michael Phillips and Judith Pella. Although I wasn’t big on the writing style(s) in that partly co-authored series, I enjoyed the reading overall for the historical events and for the chance to really immerse myself in the period setting.

Plus, I really liked the series’ book covers and epic titles.

Here are five of the seven books in the Russians series, with resounding titles like The Crown and the Crucible, Heirs of the Motherland, and White Nights, Red Morning.

Immersed in the Past, and Skipping Past

Similar to my experience with the Russians series, I didn’t get attached to the characters in Where Freedom Grows, but I got into the international period settings and different aspects of the history.

The characters’ dialogue is pretty stilted in a lot of places, sometimes leaning toward the melodramatic. And while in an older ChristFic novel especially, it doesn’t surprise me to come across passages or scenes aimed on teaching faith and salvational lessons, I admittedly skip past those parts to get back to what else is happening in the story. Hence, I did some skipping during this read.

Wrapping Up with Romance

Now, leaving plenty that’s meant to be resolved later on in the series, this novel doesn’t have much of a climax or a strong resolution. It makes its ending through a phase in one of the romantic storylines, which isn’t my favorite kind.

That is, if a character has to persuade, argue, and basically beg their love interest into finally giving in to become a couple—and even after that, their love interest still has doubts about being in the relationship—then the whole situation feels conflictive and iffy to me. Not so compelling or…romantic.

Continuing the Series?

The novel’s events in general kept this lover of historical fiction interested. Also, the series’ old-fashioned cover artwork appeals to that nostalgic side of mine. So I plan on continuing the series.

| Content Note

heavy themes of violence and death

The Sowers Trilogy

3D book image of Rain is Not My Indian Name

Healing by Camera: Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith

January 16, 2026January 15, 2026Leave a comment

Rain Is Not My Indian Name
by
Cynthia Leitich Smith

| Description

• Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

It’s been six months since Cassidy Rain Berghoff lost her best friend, and up until now she has succeeded in shutting herself off from the world. But when controversy arises around Aunt Georgia’s Indian Camp in their mostly white midwestern community, Rain decides to face the outside world again, with a new job photographing the campers for her town’s newspaper. But does Rain want to keep a professional distance from her fellow Native teens?

| My Thoughts

I might or might not have read or skimmed the book blurb back when I first came across this novel. Don’t remember. But, because I started it without any knowledge (or remembrance) about the plot, I was able to step in and just take the story as it came.

Thoughtful and Poignant

Granted, the experience required a little patience on my part. I admittedly started the novel with work deadlines and other stuff looming in front of my psyche. And this isn’t a loud read to grab your brain and pull you through the pages at breakneck speed.

Still, as I let this thoughtfully delivered, ultimately poignant story of grief and healing come to me, it became something rather beautiful.

| Content Note

no profanity
no graphic violence
no explicit sexual content

Illustration of an open book, a clock, and a reel of film

Critical Times for This Book and Film Blogger

January 15, 2026January 25, 2026Leave a comment

“We clung to books and to our friends; they reminded us that we had another part to us.”
~from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, a novel set on the island of Guernsey during the aftermath of World War Two

Nadine C. Keels

I, a Black American woman in the United States, am an author as well as a book and film blogger.

Some folks who see my blog and social media posts might wonder on certain days, “Why/how can she go on talking about entertainment so much—books and movies and stuff? Doesn’t she know or care about all the injustices and violence and crises happening in America right now? And in more of the world?”

But whether the novels and films and such that I post about are raw and heavy or light and upbeat, please don’t mistake my arts and entertainment blogging for ignorance or indifference in regard to current events.

Bear in mind that many people who do a lot of reading, writing, and critical thinking have read much about history—so they’re likely to care all the more about what’s going on in the U.S. and around the globe at present. They’re aware of how various aspects of the present resemble what’s already happened in the past.

It would take more than one blog post to go into all the ways that art and literature have been and remain crucial parts of society and of our humanity, including in times of crisis. Just know that many of us are continuing to read, to write, to create, and to appreciate and share art and literature on purpose.

To teach and to spread awareness. To nourish and replenish hearts and minds. To give hope and to strengthen morale. To speak to fellow human beings’ souls—reminding us that there’s “another part to us.”

A part that we need. For today, and for tomorrow.