Judge Stone is definitely a fast-paced, thrilling read, but it's not an easy or light because it deals with hot-button, divisive issues. Abortion. Racism. Religious fervor. Political power, abuses of justice, and the Ku Klux Klan.

Maybe my attraction to the rough and desolate Australian outback started with Colleen McCullough's novel The Thorn Birds, a book that captured my heart in the late 1970s. I was mesmerized by the idea of living in an isolated place, connected to the land but fighting with it daily to survive. The fictional sheep station of Drogheda felt like a real place to me, and I was heartbroken over the tortured relationship between a young Meggie Cleary and an attractive priest named Ra

This book rocked me. Purchased because I'd heard others say it was good, I thought the book would focus on how names change people. That, my friends, is not truly what the story is about. It's not about how names change people but about how domestic abuse changes outcomes and imprints on people's names.

Unexpected developments happen to each member of the family throughout the week. As Willa says, "This week is proving to be very revelatory!" But with each event, Rocky is forced to confront her own memories and history, dealing with her painful past.

Ridgeline by Michael Punke is an awesome historical novel, a recap of the sad, fraught relations with the indigenous tribes, an education in battlefield strategy, and a brilliant example of writing from multiple viewpoints.

Patrick Ryan's 2025 novel, Buckeye, is a vivid slice of Americana during WWII, depicting small-town life in Ohio and shedding insight on the human condition.

Crow Mary is a compelling story with strong characters, an interesting plot, and a feeling of what it must have been like to be a Native American woman at a time when her world was irrevocably changing.

A little old lady walks into Simon Latch's small-town law office, claiming she needs a new will because another lawyer in town has done some devious dealings in the law she had him update. Simon begins to understand why a colleague across the street may have adopted some unscrupulous tactics based on what this unassuming widow claims. She and her husband have lived very simply, frugally, for decades, amassing a fortune of about twenty million dollars. Maybe.

if you like the idea of giving a "good read" to someone you love, here are just a few ideas. I'm including a brief summary of what the book was about and a link to the full article where you can buy the book on either Amazon.com or Bookshop.org.

The framework of the novel is based on the real “Rajah” quilt, the appliqued coverlet now in the care of the National Gallery of Australia. The quilt depicted in Dangerous Women is the only extant, historically documented quilt made by convicts.

The Dictionary of Lost Words is a look at not only how the Oxford English Dictionary was created under the direction of James Murray, but also how it omitted the words of women.

What happens when five Chinese American students receive an offer to steal back five pieces of valuable art that has been misappropriated by the best art museums of the world?

Do you keep reading a book you don't like thinking it will get better? For the first time in years, I quit, deciding that too many books await that will delight me!

Clare Leslie Hall's Broken Country is a bestselling novel dealing with love, grief, and the impacts of trauma on a marriage with a plot twist that shocks you!

Classic Art with Bold Fonts One of the joys of lingering for hours in bookstores is looking at the cover art. Such fun! All those books flashing designs filled with color, words, illustrations, and graphics, lined up like masterpieces in a miniature art gallery, each one shouting for me to notice it. While I often know the books I want to buy when I walk in, I don't always choose the ones on my pre-planned purchase list because I'm distracted by those pretty books with catch

Timothy Egan's, Fever in the Heartland, about the rise of the KKK in Indiana in the 1920s, is a powerful account of D.C. Stephenson and political power gone awry.

Fredrik Backman's, My Friends, is a poignant, funny, beautiful story of art, youth, and the redemptive power of love. You will laugh, cry, and be glad you read it!

Sheila Williams' Novel, "Things Past Telling," is a moving, memorable story about the wrongs committed by slavery as well as a tribute to the survival of one hundred+ year old woman named Mama Grace.

The Correspondent focuses on an older woman who has spent her life writing letters, dribbling out her story in missives to others, a lasting legacy of a complicated woman.

Amity Gaige's novel, Heartwood, is the story of Valerie Gillis, a hiker lost on the Appalachian Trail, and the dedication of other women who work to find her.