I hope you agree that late is better than not at all! It seems the last few weeks have slipped through my hands like water. I’ve been diligently working on the almost ready to launch second book in the Willow Lane series. And those of you who signed up for the Newsletter, it is still coming and will be launched with the new book. I will keep you posted, I never expected it to take this long!
Life has been super busy, a beautiful new great granddaughter joined our growing family on August 17th. Her happy and proud parents named her after my mother and the mother’s grandmother. A beautiful old fashioned name for an extraordinarily beautiful baby girl, if I do say so myself!
My family reunion was the second Sunday in August as always on the family farm in Clarion County. It was a wonderful day of laughter, catching up and reflecting on the memories of those no longer with us. My generation is almost exclusively the oldest generation now, only one uncle is still with us of the seven original siblings of my mother’s generation. Next year will mark our 50th Family Reunion. I was expecting my first son at that one… and now he is a grandfather! How time flies.
My husband and I attended an entire weekend wedding celebration for the son of our Indian/American friends in Buffalo. It was a fabulous cultural experience, the groom arrived at the first wedding ceremony on a white horse, the state police had to close one lane of traffic to accommodate all the well wishers in the procession surrounding the groom and horse! Later in the afternoon, he arrived at the second wedding ceremony in a flower covered rick-a-shaw with throngs of well-wishers. All the women wore bright colored saris for both services. It was a WOW experience! The dancing at the reception on Saturday night was like something out of the movies. And several of us decided to join the fun by imitating their dance moves. One celebration after another made the weekend fly by!
We hosted my husbands much smaller family for the Labor Day weekend. There were ten of us and we had fun, the predicted rain held off for most of the weekend. Our city cousins could sit on the patio and watch the stars at night, something they can’t do in Toronto - too many city lights efface the stars.
My birthday always follows Labor Day and I am treated like a queen for a day many times over, during my birthday week. Sometimes it makes me wish I could have several birthdays in one year… Wait a minute not really, then I’d be ancient by now!
I’ve read several books, here is a list of most of them:
Here’s the link to my review posted on Story Circle from last month’s review book, Trouble The Water: http://www.storycirclebookreviews.org/reviews/troublethewater.shtml
The Dry, EXCELLENT book! It’s a debut novel by Australian author, Jane Harper. Suspense, Mystery, Fiction. She rec’d the 2017 Australian Indie Book of the year, 2017 Australian and U.K. Victorian Premier Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, as well as winning the CWA Gold Dagger. (It was a surprise gift form my Australian friend.) Who really killed the Hadler family? This question keeps the reader turning the pages. The pace never lets up, tensions are palpable in the small farming town. It hadn’t rained in Kiewarra for two years. It is a story about heroism, the sins of the past, and the struggle to atone, a beautifully told Australian tale.
A Dying Note, by Ann Parker. Historical Fiction. It is part of the Silver Rush Mystery series and was a very good read. (It reminded me a bit of Isabelle Allende’s Daughter of Fortune, it is about San Francisco in the late 19th century.) This novel begins in Leadville, Colorado as the co-owner of the saloon moves to San Francisco to establish herself as a respectable business woman. She is raising a street urchin she acquired in Colorado, as her niece. Their courage and resourcefulness keeps the reader turning the pages! *This novel was sent to me by Story Circle for review.
The Trail to TINCUP, by Joyce Lynnette Hocker. Memoir. This is a very detailed family memoir written by a PHD psychologist. Her story will likely cause readers to reflect more on their own lives, as memoirs so often do. Her resiliency and excellent writing ability makes her childhood and early life come to life on the pages. If you are a memoir enthusiast, this would be a great choice to add to your list. *This book was sent to me by Story Circle for review.
The Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Futuristic Fiction. This was our book club’s choice for August. It was a disturbing book about a group of post nuclear war survivor. Few of the members liked this novel, while we all felt it was a worthwhile read. Atwood is an excellent writer, of course. The underlying anti-religious and political tones of the novel and the treatment of women made for difficult reading.
Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear. Historical Fiction, Mystery. The latest in the Maisie Dobbs series. The author is British but lives in California. Her novels are set in England; the author has won the Agatha Award and been nominated for the Edgar Award. This was a another well written, page turning, suspense filled novel. The murder of an rising star artist the night before his big exhibition in London, sets in motion one unexpected event after another. Extraordinary character development and plot twists made for a great read. One of my cousins at the family reunion told me about this writer, his wife’s favorite. After reading one, I have to say she has great taste in books!
Fidelity, by Wendell Berry. (Anthology of five stories.) Fiction. Rec’d this book from my best friend as a birthday gift; it’s the first I’ve heard of this multi-award winning author. But I will certainly remember him. His stories of rural life are simple yet deeply layered, a real literary genius. Each story in the collection reveals the true connectedness of the farmers and their families to one another.
The only good movie we have seen this month was a Netflix movie, The Guernsey Island Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, starring Lilly James and an accomplished cast of British actors. (If you watched Downton Abbey, you will remember many of these actors.) We read this book in book club several years ago, it has long been on of my favorite stories. A new member of our book club actually visited the Guernsey Islands after reading the book!
Till next time, keep reading my friends. Maybe you could even send me a message at authorannmccauley@gmail.com and share your favorite books with me.