I just completed a little reading spurt and was so surprised and delighted that I liked 3 out of 3 of the books.

How to Be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward

From the back cover: To their neighbors in suburban Holt, New York, the Winters family has it all: a grand home, a trio of radiant daughters and a sense of security in their affluent corner of America. But when five-year-old Ellie disappears, the fault lines within the Winters family are exposed. Joseph, once a successful businessman, succumbs to his demons. Isabelle retreats into memories of her debutante days in Savannah, Georgia. And Ellie’s bereft sisters grow apart: Madeline reluctantly stays at home, while Caroline runs away. Fifteen years later, Caroline, now a New Orleans cocktail waitress, sees a photograph of a woman in “People Magazine”. Convinced that it is Ellie all grown up, Caroline embarks on a search for her missing sister, armed with copies of the photograph, an amateur detective guide, and a cooler of Dixie beer. As Caroline travels through the New Mexico desert, the mountains of Colorado, and the smoky underworld of Montana, she devotes herself to salvaging her broken family. With dark humour and gorgeous prose, Amanda Eyre Ward brings us a spellbinding novel about sisters, family secrets and love.

I’ll admit I almost didn’t read this book due to the main character being “Caroline the cocktail waitress,” not something I want to associate with my two year old Caroline. In the end, I’m glad I read this book but admit the subject matter was tough. Missing kids, marital abuse, alcoholism, kidnapping, drugs…definitely not light reading.

I give How to Be Lost  3 1/2 out of 5 stars

A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White

From the back cover: For more than ten years, Naomi and Phil Harrison enjoyed a marriage of heady romance, tempered only by the needs of their children. But on a vacation alone, the couple perishes in a flight over the Grand Canyon. After the funeral, their daughters, Ruthie and Julia, are shocked by the provisions in their will. Spanning nearly two decades, the sisters journeys take them from their familiar home in Atlanta to sophisticated bohemian San Francisco, a mountain town in Virginia, the campus of Berkeley, and lofts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As they heal from loss, search for love, and begin careers, their sisterhood, once an oasis, becomes complicated by resentment, anger, and jealousy. It seems as though the echoes of their parents deaths will never stop reverberating until another shocking accident changes everything once again.

White tackles a topic which I’m sure every parent has worried about. What will happen to my kids if I die? This issue is further complicated for blended families. Ruthie and Julia end up in completely different situations and their relationship suffers as a result.

I give A Soft Place to Land 4 out of 5 stars

Prayers For Sale by Sandra Dallas

From the back cover: Hennie Comfort is eighty-six and has lived in the mountains of Middle Swan, Colorado since before it was Colorado.  Nit Spindle is just seventeen and newly married.  She and her husband have just moved to the high country in search of work.  It’s 1936 and the depression has ravaged the country and Nit and her husband have suffered greatly.  Hennie notices the young woman loitering near the old sign outside of her house that promises “Prayers For Sale”.  Hennie doesn’t sell prayers, never has, but there’s something about the young woman that she’s drawn to.  The harsh conditions of life that each have endured create an instant bond and an unlikely friendship is formed, one in which the deepest of hardships are shared and the darkest of secrets are confessed. 

I loved this book and think you might too. In fact, I was reading it one day at soccer practice and another woman came up to me and told me how much she enjoyed the book. Nit and Hennie, although vastly different in ages, become good friends and confidants through Hennie’s stories and their love of quilting. This book will make you stay up past your bedtime.

I give Prayers For Sale 5 out of 5 stars

 Do you have any recommendations for me?

 I’ve completed a little summer reading and have a few to recommend. Amazingly, all three of these books were chosen while I was walking the library aisles. Enjoy!

Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock

From the back cover: Eleven-year-old Roz (Rosalind) Anthony and her family have just moved to Mills River, Illinois, to escape an abusive situation. Only days after settling into their new home, they are surprised to find the previous owner, Tillie Monroe, on their front porch reading the newspaper. Though her sons have sold the house and sent her to a facility for the aged, she is determined to die in the place she lived her life, and somehow manages to find her way “home” day after day. Feeling sympathy for the elderly woman, Roz’s mother allows Tillie to move back in. Mara Nightingale becomes Roz’s first friend in Mills River. In spite of their many differences, the girls discover they have something in common that binds them together–both are hiding secrets. So they make a promise–“cross my heart and hope to die”–never to tell anyone else.

Although this book is slightly predictable, it was very enjoyable. I was drawn into the characters and especially admired the gumption of Ms. Tillie. Imagine moving back into your house with the new owners! Tatlock writes in an easy and familiar style moving easily through both funny and tense moments. Go ahead and give this book a try.

I give Promises to Keep 4 out of 5 stars.

How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

From the back cover: How to Be an American Housewife is a novel about mothers and daughters, and the pull of tradition. It tells the story of Shoko, a Japanese woman who married an American GI, and her grown daughter, Sue, a divorced mother whose life as an American housewife hasn’t been what she’d expected. When illness prevents Shoko from traveling to Japan, she asks Sue to go in her place. The trip reveals family secrets that change their lives in dramatic and unforeseen ways. Offering an entertaining glimpse into American and Japanese family lives and their potent aspirations, this is a warm and engaging novel full of unexpected insight.

This book was an easy read due to the short chapters which are narrated alternately by the mother and daughter. I was able to read several chapters a night although I never really wanted to put the book down. While the book starts out light hearted, the reader quickly realizes Shoko carries a deep amount of emotional pain which guides the story. Dilloway’s own mother grew up in Japan and came to the United States after marrying her American husband. Her mother’s experiences enable Dilloway to give accurate glimpses into the Japanese culture and some difficulties of adjusting in America.  

I give How to Be an American Housewife 4 out of 5 stars

The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran

From the back cover: When Henry Oades accepts an accountancy post in New Zealand, his wife, Margaret, and their children follow him to exotic Wellington. But while Henry is an adventurer, Margaret is not. Their new home is rougher and more rustic than they expected—and a single night of tragedy shatters the family when the native Maori stage an uprising, kidnapping Margaret and her children.

    For months, Henry scours the surrounding wilderness, until all hope is lost and his wife and children are presumed dead. Grief-stricken, he books passage to California. There he marries Nancy Foreland, a young widow with a new baby, and it seems they’ve both found happiness in the midst of their mourning—until Henry’s first wife and children show up, alive and having finally escaped captivity.

    Narrated primarily by the two wives, and based on a real-life legal case, The Wives of Henry Oades is the riveting story of what happens when Henry, Margaret, and Nancy face persecution for bigamy.

Set in the late 1800s, this book will draw you into the story and make you feel like you are there. I almost turned this book back into the library without reading it and I’m glad I decided to keep it. This book is definitely a page-turner which is now on my all-time favorites list. The unique storyline immediately kept my attention throughout Margaret’s journey and later her integration of Henry’s second family. Throughout the entire reading of this book I pondered “What would I do in this situation?” Place this book at the top of your reading pile.

I give The Wives of Henry Oades 5 out of 5 stars

Do you recommend anything you’ve read this summer?