Book 46 (2011): Then Came You

Then Came You is told in the voice of 4 women, all with different stories, who are joined together by infertility.

India re-makes herself and find her dream husband but the only thing lacking is their ability to have a child. Jules needs money to save her father so she sells her eggs while she's a poor college student. Annie is a young women with a family who's been beaten by the economy and she and her husband decide she can be a surrogate to bring in extra cash, and there's Bettina, India's step-daughter who is unsure of her place in her family's life after he parents divorce, and who wants to protect her beloved father from making a terrible mistake of having a late in life child.

All four women come together with unexpected twists and turns. Not only does this novel explore their own individual stories but of how these characters meld together. Great work by Jennifer Weiner! (352 pages)

B

Book 45 (2011): The Good-bye Quilt

The Goodbye Quilt is a quick little read about a mother who drives her only child, her daughter, across country, to go to college. As she and her daughter drive this journey they try to grow their relationship while the mother pieces together a memory quilt to give her daughter upon arrival at the university.

Sweet story and an easy, short read. (250 pages)

C-

Book 44 (2011): Like Dandelion Dust

It's been awhile between reading and posting so pardon my poor writing. I also didn't care enough about the book to Google info to get it right so...

Some woman gave her baby boy up for adoption because her abusive was in prison for domestic violence. She never even told him she was pregnant.

Fast forward ahead 5 years. The guy gets out of prison and the woman thinks he's changed so she confesses. He wants his son back so he starts the process, even though the boy is in a loving home with 2 parents and he doesn't know he adopted.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Due to a snafu in the adoption paperwork the judge grants the return of the 5 year old boy to his birth family. he's to visit them 3 times and on the 4 visit he's to stay permanently. His adoptive parents are crazy over the decision and decide to run away to Europe, to a country with no extradition.

Then the birth mother sees her husband be abusive to the boy and before the 4th visit she has the husband arrested again and they sign the papers saying they don't want him after all.

It's religious fiction- the boys prays to God to not have to stay with the "mean" people and the adoptive mother is a faithful Christian who tries to convert her sister who does find God by the end of the book.

It was okay, predictable, and i still felt I was being hit over the head with religion. (384 pages)

C-

Book 43 (2011) The Bird Sisters

Twiss and her sister are spinsters, living together, hobbling around in the house they grew up in. The Bird Sisters explains how they came to be a pair of single old ladies in their childhood home, told in flash backs to their summer of 1947, the summer cousin Bette came to visit, the summer their daddy lived in the barn, and the summer of first loves and heart breaks.

This is a really sweet story, nice character development, and a nice blend of flashback story telling, with just enough twist to keep interest and without the reader forgetting the "modern" story.
(pages 304)

B-

Book 42 (2011): The Postmistress

The Postmistress is 2 stories that eventually overlap into ton tale.

In a small American New England coastal town in 1941, the small town worried about the War and whether it would come to America. The postmistress dated Henry, the man who kept watch over the ocean, watching for the Germans, watching to protect the town. No one seems to believe the War will come to the States, though they do keep a close eye on the lone German man who suddenly appeared.

People all over the town listen to the reports on the radio of what's happening during battle, of the Blitz in London. They hear the horror stories as told by Ed Murrow, and of young woman reporter and journalist Frankie Bard.

The other story is of that of Frankie and her life in London as a reporter and about her trip into the Field, as she rides the trains trying to capture the voice of the Jews and other refugees.

The folks back in America listen to these report and Dr. Fitch, after a tragedy he couldn't prevent, goes to London to try and help, leaving his young wife, alone and pregnant, waiting for him. He's drawn by the stories he hears from Frankie's voice, and he's running from the horror he feels he caused.

The two stories come together.

It's a sad story and full of tragedy. It is well written, but still so sad. (336 pages)

B