Images of America: Historic Baker City, Baker County Friends of the Library

Images of America: Historic Baker City, Oregon

Baker County Friends of the Library

I have been collecting locally-written books about Baker City and Baker County, where I live. I have a project I hope to start on soon based on Baker's history, so I am reading these as research. This particular book was produced about 20 years ago by the Baker County Friends of the Library and starts out with how the library was formed, and the different changes and locations of the library over the decades. It then shows many photos of the beginnings of Baker City and its buildings, along with current, or 20 years ago current views of the buildings and locations. It also gives a little history on areas outside Baker City, such as Sumpter, Auburn, Halfway, Richland, etc.

I think this is a good book to start with if you want an overview of Baker's history and buildings. I am thankful for the group of people in Baker dedicated to preserving our history.

 

The Little White House, by Odille Ousley and David H. Russell

The Little White House, by Odille Ousley and David H. Russell

If you have followed my blog for long, you will know that I really like vintage primers and readers, especially the "Dick and Jane" types. This one, The Little White House, was printed in 1953 by Ginn and Company, and was illustrated by Ruth Steed and Ellen Segner.

This book is full of easy to read stories about siblings Tom, Betty, and Susan, their parents, their dog and cat, and also extended family that live out on a farm. We learn about their house, their pony, visits to the toy store, birthdays, and much more. I just love the illustrations in this book, very appropriate for the time period in which it was published, and lovely use of colors. This one will be going into my collection.

 

Apprentice to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Apprentice to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer

This is the second book in this series, the first being Assistant to the Villain, which is about a young woman who finds herself in the employment of a dashing villain, who may not be as evil as he lets on. This book picks up where the last one left off, with Evie, the assistant, going to rescue Trystan from the clutches of King Benedict, and we learn more about his wicked plans for the magical country of Rennedawn. 

We also get a deeper look into Evie's family members, as well as the uptight secretary to the villain, Becky, which I enjoyed getting to learn more about what made her the way she is.

This book was a fun one to read. I did notice the F word being used quite a bit more in this one, I don't really remember it as much as the last one. Just something I noticed...

This book is one my daughter got for Christmas, and she loaned it to me along with the Villain bookmark. I was really excited to find a bunch of Assistant to the Villain merchandise for sale at Barnes and Noble over the Christmas season...so of course I had to get it for her!

The third book, at the time I write this review, has just been written and is not yet published, but I have heard it will be called Accomplice to the Villain. I can't wait! 

 

The Interior, Lisa See

The Interior, Lisa See

This is the second book in the Red Princess Mystery series, about Liu Hulan, a Chinese investigator in 1990s China. This book deals with murders, coverups, American corporations outsourcing to China and sweatshop conditions, using sex as a means to get what one wants, land grabs, and betrayal. 

Liu Hulan receives a call from an old friend who lives out in the country on a farm, she knew her in their young Communist days. But this friend's daughter was murdered and called a suicide. She was pregnant, and she also had some interesting information that could incriminate the American company she worked for. 

Meanwhile, Liu's American boyfriend, David, a lawyer in the States, receives a new job and upon digging into his first case, calls upon an old friend, also a lawyer, for some information. His friend is killed in front of him, and he narrowly escapes death. David is sent to China, and it is discovered that there are ties between the two murders. Hulan and David both look into it, while also trying to protect client privacy, which makes things even more difficult. Both of them are put in danger as they get closer to revealing the truth about each case and the way they intertwine.

Lisa See is one of my favorite authors right now. I am really fascinated with Asian cultures and learning about them in story form. I appreciate the lengths she has gone to in order to make a great story and let us peek into the culture of another way of life.

 

Books I have Read in 2025

The Great Wide Somewhere, altered art oil painting by me

prints available in my Etsy shop, AmyVanGaasbeckArtist

I thought I was doing alright with reading last year, then the last couple months all reading came to a halt, as we were working (still are) on renovating a room in our house, and I also started working on a mural for a local museum, which between those things and a portrait commission, have been taking a good chunk of time. So new year, time to start over again.

JANUARY:

The Interior, Lisa See

Apprentice to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer

The Little White House, Odille Ousley and David H. Russell

Images of America: Historic Baker City, Baker County Friends of the Library

On the Edge, The Art of High Impact Leadership, Alison Levine

FEBRUARY

The PMA Method, Faisal Abdalla

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan

Historic Baker City Walking Driving Tour, Historic Baker City, Inc.

Peter's Family, Paul Hanna, and Genevieve Anderson

Historic Homes of Baker City, Volume 1 The Baker's Dozen, Crossroads and HBC

MARCH

Firefly Lane, Kristin Hannah

APRIL

1984, George Orwell

MAY

Oathbound, Tracy Deonn

JUNE

JULY

Fearless, Lauren Roberts

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

Sons, Pearl S. Buck

Monster in the Cave: How to Face Your Fear and Anxiety and Live Your Life, David Mellinger and Steven Jay Lynn

DECEMBER

Jerusalem's Heart, Bodie & Brock Thoene

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause, John R. Lee, MD

Tress of the Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson

Total 19
 

Sisters of the Resistance, Christine Wells

Sisters of the Resistance, Christine Wells

This is a fictional story about two French sisters, Gabby and Yvette, who find themselves involved in the Resistance with Catherine Dior (real life person) who was the sister of the famous fashion designer Christian Dior. Gabby and Yvette help their mother as concierge for the building where Christian Dior resides, they help care for the tenants. Catherine, Christian's sister, often visits or uses Christian's apartment, and one of the sisters hears her late at night coming and going. It is later revealed that she is hiding Allied soldiers among others, who need refuge from the Nazis. The girls end up getting involved, one of them helping care for the wounded soldier hiding in one of the flats, and the other girl assists a movie star named Louise Dulac who is sleeping with the enemy but also gathering intelligence to pass onto the resistance. 

The story is from a dual point of view, and goes back and forth not only between Gabby and Yvette, but also from 1944 to 1947, so it took a bit for me to get into the rhythm of the storytelling. I like stories like this that help flesh out what people went through during WWII, often perspectives we never hear about. I have always heard about how the French never fought and with out the Allied forces coming to their rescue, they would have perished. However, there was a French Resistance who did whatever they could to save their country and save the people, and these people must be remembered and honored in our remembrance.

If you haven't, look up Catherine Dior and what she did in WWII. She is definitely worth reading about.

 

Powerless, Powerful, Reckless, by Lauren Roberts

Powerless, Powerful, Reckless, by Lauren Roberts

My daughter suggested I read this fantasy series by Lauren Roberts. I think it might border on young adult but is totally enjoyable for any adult to read. It's about a land where a mysterious plague came through, killing many of the people, but it had an interesting side effect for some of the survivors and their descendants--special powers. Some can read minds. Some can become invisible. And the list goes on. However, the king decides that those without powers must be killed or banished to keep the lines of power going. 

Paedyn is a teenage girl who has been on her own for a few years, thieving and working the streets in order to survive, her parents having died earlier, her mother at her birth, and her father was killed. Paedyn has no powers, but her father trained her to be extremely observant so she could pass as a Psychic. 

The land has a lottery, kind of like The Hunger Games, where a handful of young people must fight each other in a series of trials, and possibly to the death---and the winner gets to live as nobility with their own estate and riches. Paedyn is chosen for these trials, and must not let anyone know she is ordinary and powerless. 

That's the first book. The second book, Powerful, is about her friend Adena.

The third book, Reckless, without giving too much away, is about what happens after the trials.

There are supposed to be two more books in the series coming out.

I really enjoyed this series. It gave me and my daughter some things to talk about, such as the king's relationships with his two sons, both viewing the other as favored, while neither one of them feeling they were enough for their father; themes of redemption for those who have crossed a line they never wanted to, but felt they had no choice; forgiveness; family, loyalty, creating one's own family group; and the idea of racism and racial purity and genocide.

It's definitely worth reading if you enjoy fantasy and some romance, and it's a clean romance, so no sex scenes, which I found to be nice. I don't care for reading anything sexually explicit.