The Day The Falls Stood Still

by Cathy Marie Buchanan


This story takes place in Niagara Falls beginning in 1915. The main character is Bess Heath.
Bess is a warm and gentle young lady who loves her family, and is especially close with her sister Isabel. She is a student at Loretto Academy for young ladies, and has a pleasant and genteel life.

Things begin to fall apart for her family early on in this book. The end of the school year is being celebrated at Loretto, and Bess finds that her father and sister have not come to participate in the festivities.
As the ceremony ends she begins to learn just why and what that is going to mean to her.

Tom Cole is introduced soon after, but is not fully explained immediately. He is a fascinating and important character in this story.

Interspersed between chapters are newspaper stories about the area both at that time, and stories from the past. They are fictional, of course but add a lot to the story.

We follow the effects that progress, grief, war and depression have on Bess' family. Each of the characters is given enough background to round them out and make them three dimensional and believable. I found myself caring what happened to these good people.

When I first read the blurbs for this book, I thought it sounded interesting, and it was. It was however, so much more, in a way that is difficult to explain. Perhaps the fact that the setting is one that is so familiar to so many is part of that. The authors gift for drawing the reader into the story is no doubt another.

Recommended.

Year of Past Things

by M.A. Harper

Adrien died 3 years ago. He died but he didn't actually leave.
The reasons are not immediately apparent, but his presence is.
This creates a situation that is not comfortable for Adrien's widow Michelle and her new husband Phillip. Perhaps, not even safe. Things happen in the household that range from curious, to chilling. Complicating matters is the fact that Michelle is more than a little bit still in love with Adrien. Their son Cam has never come to terms with the death of his father. Nichole, the younger child is troubled as well.

Phillip is trying to be understanding, but when the things that go bump in the night become more substantial and in fact detrimental to not only his marriage but his health and safety. Or does it?

Phillips brother, Father Dominic is not only an important factor to the story, but someone that I would like to know. In fact I found most of the characters to be compelling and likable. There is one in every crowd, they say and in this story it was... well, I will let you come to your own conclusions.

Heart In The Right Place

by Carolyn Jourdan



I hardly know where to begin. This is a beautiful story of a loving family and a very special community. It is a story of a woman who finds her truest self.

Carolyn Jourdan was a high profile attorney who worked on Capitol Hill. She drove a Mercedes, and had a high profile circle of friends. She knew all of the important people, and they knew her.

A family emergency sent her back to the hills of Tennessee, for a few days. It wasn't easy. She missed her place in DC from almost the first moment she was away. Her best friend was there. Her life and work were there. She was somebody there...or was she.

As the days and then weeks passed, far longer than she had expected or planned, Carolyn began to see things just a little differently. She had always wanted to help others, but had seen it more as a grand scheme. Helping many at one time. Making a difference . But is is more important to make a difference to many people at one time than it is to do so one by one. That was a conundrum she had trouble solving.

I loved each and every one of the people I met in this book. There were tears in my eyes more than once. A story filled with compassion, love and faith that will have a firm place on my small self of books that are to be read again and again.

Goldengrove

by Francine Prose

I'd allowed myself to drift into that hushed and watery border zone...

Is an example of the word pictures created by Francine Prose. This is a story of sadness and loss, grief and discovery. A story told in the voice of Nico, the sister left behind.

Nico's family struggles to survive the death of a beloved child. A whimsical, talented and loving girl just beginning to become a woman. The angst and the fear that it could have been prevented if only something were different, or someone had done or not done this or that.

To be honest, this is a story that has been told before, but rarely in such a compelling and beguiling way. I read Goldengrove in one sitting. I had to know how it ended for Nico. It is her story.

The Dinner Diaries

by Betsy Block

A real family, a real dilemma. How to eat in a healthy way, and still enjoy food. And what is healthy eating anyway? Who to listen to?

Betsy Block's enchanting family and endlessly witty presentation made every page an adventure!

Not only does she tell the story of her family's journey to good health, but she honestly admits to her own foibles and stumbles along the way. Every chapter made me laugh. Confounded by the picky eaters, and her family's, and secretly her own, love of fried foods she struggles to find the perfect groove for her family.

But, besides entertaining you, this book will educate you. You will learn about additives that go into our food supply and how what we eat makes its precarious way to our tables. Sometimes you will feel it is way too much information, but it is information we all need.

I not only recommend this book, but it will become one of the books I give to friends with families.. and those without.

The Birth House: A Novel by Ami McKay

The Birth House: A Novel by Ami McKay

This is one of the best books that I have ever read.
I hated to finish it. It is a compelling story of a girl, a village, a family. It is a time of change for women.It is the story of a wise women, generous and loving.

Dora will be you, your daughter, your mother and your teacher. You will feel that you know her, or wish that you did. Marie.. so much wisdom, love and compassion. Knowledge passed down through a family. Magic implied, healing a gift she gives generously. You will not just read this story, you will fall into it....and when it is over, you will wish for more.

Buy it. Read it.

Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard

I have read all of Mitchard's books. I read a books in most every genre, as I am an avid reader with a wide array of interests, yet I am rather choosy. There are so many good books to be read, I do not want to waste time ( or money) on badly written books.

I no longer bother to read the book description, or review of a book by Mitchard. They can never do her justice in any case. Somehow they all come out making the story sound less than it is.

The characters in Still Summer ( as in all of Mitchard's novels) are so rich, the story captivating, that you will find it hard to put this book down. A cruise that is meant to be a little bit of paradise for the four women in the story ends up being anything but.

The storm at sea, and the personal storms within the lives of these women combine to make a story that is compelling and extraordinary.

read it.

Then pick up another of her books and read it too!