American DirtAuthor: Jeanine Cummins First, let me say I enjoyed reading this story. In addition to being an Oprah Book Club selection that was just released in January, it rated 4.32 stars on Goodreads and 4.8 stars at Barnes & Noble. In choosing to read this book and discussing it among friends, I inadvertently stumbled into a controversy I was not prepared for. I am … [Read more...]

The Book Woman of Troublesome CreekAuthor: Kim Michele Richardson This is the second book I’ve read in the last few months about the Packhorse Library Project of Kentucky and the women who delivered library books by horseback (or mule) in the Kentucky mountains during the Great Depression. This project was part of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and was championed by … [Read more...]

The Dutch HouseAuthor: Ann Patchett This book received so many accolades, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read it. It scored over four stars on both Barnes & Noble’s and Goodreads’ websites, was a New York Times Bestseller, and made several “best book of the year” lists for 2019. Because I had read Ann Patchett’s novels Bel Canto and Commonwealth and since much of … [Read more...]

The Silent PatientAuthor: Alex Michaelides This book was another recommendation by a friend. Before I decided to read it, I checked the typical websites and found it was rated 4.07 at Goodreads and was their #1 Choice for 2019. It was rated 4.5 at Barnes & Noble and was listed as a New York Times #1 Best Seller. I also stumbled across some websites indicating Brad … [Read more...]

Miracle Creek Author: Angie Kim This book was recommended to me by a friend who reads way more than I do. It’s the first novel for this author, so first, I checked out the reviews – it scored 3.94 on GoodReads, and it’s labeled a bestseller on Barnes & Noble with an average of 4.3 in positive reviews. Given all that, I was disappointed to find it just a bit hard to … [Read more...]