My Thoughts On: A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

WOW! I finished this book earlier tonight. I read the blurb on the book cover and was intrigued, but I had no idea the twists and turns these characters would take. I was seriously holding my breath for large parts of this story.

“Abandoning her worldly life, traveling to a remote Wisconsin town in the dead of winter, trusting her future to a man she had never met - such was Catherine Land’s new beginning. But there was an ending in sight as well, an ending that would redeem the treachery ahead, justify the sacrifice, and allow her to start over yet again. That was her plan.” “For Ralph Truitt, the wealthy businessman who had advertised for “a reliable wife,” this was also to be a new beginning. Years of solitude, denial, and remorse would be erased, and Catherine Land, whoever she might be, would be the vessel of his desires, the keeper of his secrets, the means to recover what was lost. That was his plan.” Set just after the turn of the twentieth century, A Reliable Wife is the story of these two people, each plagued by a heart filled with anger and guilt, each with a destiny in mind. But neither anticipates what develops between them - the pent-up longings that Catherine discovers in this enigmatic man and the depth of her own emotional response; the joy Ralph experiences in giving Catherine the luxuries she has never known, his growing need for her, and a desire that he thought was long buried.” (from the book cover)

This book has not a young adult book…I’ll just leave it at that. And there are two different quotes that I added to my secret-list-of-quotes-that-I-read-over-and-over-again. Very complex characters. Very vivid imagery. Nice break from young adult fiction.

Books like this one make me wish I was in a book club.

My Thoughts On: The Walk

I love Richard Paul Evans. I read everything he writes. I finally was able to get my hands on a copy of The Walk at the library, and I couldn’t wait to start reading.

This book was classic Richard Paul Evans. If you’ve never read anything by Evans, his style is sort of like Nicholas Sparks but I think it is just a little more *happy* in the endings.

“What would you do if you lost everything—your job, your home, and the love of your life—all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he’s tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he’s known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida. The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life—and inspire yours.” —(summary from inside the book cover)

I read The Walk in one sitting. I knew I would. Every time I start a book by Evans, I do it when I can read it in one day. This book was so good, and I am super excited to read the second book in this series when it comes out in April 2011 (Miles To Go)!!!

My Thoughts On: The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber

I just finished reading this book a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely loved it. I was, of course, drawn to it because of the pretty cover when I walked by it in Target one day. I found it in the library and couldn’t wait to get started.

“In exchange for a wedding ring, Rachel, hired help in an early-twentieth-century Chicago boardinghouse, agrees to give Isaac, the boardinghouse owner’s son, her share of 160 acres from the Homestead Act, and together they stake a claim in the forebodingly beautiful South Dakota Badlands.

But after fourteen years and an especially brutal summer in this unforgiving land, the cattle bellow with thirst, and supplies are dwindling. Pregnant, and struggling to feed her family, Rachel is isolated by more than just geography. She is determined to give her surviving children the life they deserve, but she knows that her husband will never leave his ranch: land means a measure of equality with the white man, and Isaac DuPree is not about to give it up just because times are hard. Somehow Rachel must find the strength to stake another, altogether different claim-for herself, and for her children.

Reminiscent of The Color Purple as well as the frontier novels of Willa Cather and Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree tells the little-known story of African American pioneers and gives voice to an extraordinary heroine who embodies the strength and spirit that built America.” —(summary from book cover)

It was amazing to read from a non-white perspective in an era of American History that I love and find very fascinating. I highly recommend it to my bookworm friends!!!