Can't Wait Wednesday: In the Great Quiet: A Novel by Laura Vogt

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, In the Great Quiet, by Laura Vogt. I thought this story looked unique and loved that it is based on the author's ancestors' lives. The Oklahoma Land Rush doesn't get represented in much literature but I've always thought it interesting. This book looks to be part history, romance, saga, and survivalist. It is unlikely to be boring.

Historical Fiction, American Historical Fiction

April 1, 2026

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

A pioneer unwaveringly endures the Oklahoma frontier in an epic adventure about a woman haunted by secrets and searching for home.

A cannon booms at high noon, and the race begins in the Oklahoma land rush of 1893.

Amid the crowd is Minnie Hoopes. Tenacious and fiercely independent, she is determined to endure the brutal frontier and create a life of her own. Guarding her solitude, she distances herself from bordering homesteaders and finds peace under the starry nights of the vast frontier. But this is outlaw country, and Minnie soon has the blood of two gunfighters on her hands. After a renegade outlaw named Stot discovers her secrets, she forms an unlikely friendship with him. With each passing season, Minnie’s past grows more haunting and threatens the future she has risked everything to build. Minnie raced into the Wild West alone, but her grandest journey in the frontier wilderness is one she never saw coming.

Based on the true story of the author’s great-great-grandparents, this sweeping and transportive survival story explores a woman’s connection with the land, her reconciliation with the past, and her elemental search for home against all odds.

Top Ten Tuesday: Buzzwords or phrases that make me want to read (or avoid) a book

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is "Buzzwords or phrases that make me want to read or avoid a book." I thought I'd list them in one list because I couldn't think of ten each. So here they are, want to read and/or avoid! I know if I see this in the tagline I will either love it or lump it, lol. 

Happy reading y'all!

1. Cozy- Read- I love anything listed as cozy, especially mysteries.

2. Pirates or the Caribbean- Read- Anything with these vibes or just the beach in general will get me every time.

3. Baking or cooking- Avoid- It isn't that I don't like recipes or baking or cooking per se but not in the book I'm reading. It just isn't how I want to spend my reading time.

4. Fantasy- Avoid-  I do not like anything fantasy based including Harry Potter books. Even as a child, I preferred stories that really happened or could have.

5. Egypt and the pyramids- Read- I am such a sucker for this location that I have read some truly awful books because I was hoping for that Egyptian feel.

6. Mysteries, clues- Read- you almost don't have to say anything else to get me to at least check out the book. I love all things mysteries.

7. Dogs- Avoid- okay dog lovers don't kill me! I am just not a dog person so any story with this as the focus is not going to be on my list.

8. Cats- Read- hence the reason I love any book with cats as the focus. I have three at home that I love dearly.

9. Enemies to lovers- Avoid- I don't like romance books in general but this particular trope annoys me. I think because most of the time you see it coming a mile away.

10. Based on a true story- Read- whether it's history or mystery based I love books that include characters who were real or could have been. I also love knowing the setting is realistic.

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Case of the Christie Curse by Kelly Oliver (The Detection Club Book Three)

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, The Case of the Christie Curse, by Kelly Oliver. I am almost finished with her other series, Fiona Figg Mysteries. I really like them and so I eventually want to read these books too. Her writing is funny and engaging and although the premise of this series is very different I'm willing to give them a try. This third book is the latest coming out this month.

It is set in Mesopotamia which hooks me right away and involves famous digs and famous characters like Dorothy Sayers and Max Mallowan. It should be a lot of fun!

Historical Mysteries, Cozy Mysteries

February 21, 2026

Book description courtesy of Goodreads

Mesopotamia, 1930: 

When Agatha Christie invites fellow members of the Detection Club to witness the famous excavations at the ruins of Ur, Dorothy L. Sayers, her quick-witted assistant Eliza Baker, and Theo Sharp expect ancient wonders not fresh corpses.

But when an archaeologist is found dead in the sand, whispers of a deadly curse sweep through the camp. Eliza suspects something far more dangerous than superstition. Amid glittering artifacts and fragile alliances, every guest harbors the Woolleys, whose marriage is shadowed by tragedy; a journalist hungry for scandal; even academic Max Mallowan, whose loyalties are not what they seem.

As theft, forgery, and coded messages surface, the line between archaeology and espionage blurs. And when Eliza and Theo find themselves in danger, they not only must face the truth about the murder, but also the truths they’ve long denied about each other. Can they uncover the killer before the desert claims another victim? Or will this dig unearth secrets too dangerous to survive?