Lydia Gray had a harsh life growing up and at the age of sixteen she was forced by her father to marry a man twenty years older.  Her father had a business arrangement with the rich man and she was part of the deal.  Lydia had to be a step-mother to four children, who hated her.  It was a sorrowful ten years for Lydia and she was losing her faith. One day her husband and father are killed in a horrific accident.  This leads to the step-children wanting her out of the house, while they keep the family fortune. Lydia leaves Missouri with little money, personal items and her violin heading to her Aunt Zerelda in Sitka, Alaska.  On her arrival, Lydia realizes she is having a baby by her dead husband and becomes very bitter.  The friendship of Kjeli Bjorklund, the handsome sawmill owner, helps her overcome her anger.  When her husband’s family realizes that Lydia inherited the family fortune, there is a battle to regain it.  Their search for Lydia will bring danger for her and the baby.  Will Kjeli be able to protect Lydia and the baby from their evil plots?  What will happen when they learn about the baby?

This book does a good job of describing the beauty of Alaska and is a good historical fiction.  It is inspirational to see Lydia become whole and break the chains that held her down for years.  This is the first book in the series Song of Alaska and I hope to continue on with the trilogy and a new generation from Sitka, Alaska.

Written by James Spada, a man who also wrote about Barbara Streisand and Marilyn Monroe, his book explodes the myth of the sterling image of Grace Kelly.  The author genuinely admired Grace Kelly as an actress, a princess of a small county, Monaco, and an author and artist.  However, in his research he spoke first-hand with her co-stars and former lovers.  These facts dissolved any impression Grace Kelly may have given of being straight-laced person.  Prior to becoming a princess Ms. Kelly led a fairly charmed life.  Her family was extremely wealthy and lived in Philidelphia.  Her parents did not encourage Grace to become an actress and did not believe she could make a living supporting herself.  Grace Kelly proved them wrong.  Very early in her film career Ms. Kelly won an Academy Award for Best Actress in the movie Country Girl.  Her family did not realize it was on the same level as winning an Olympic gold medal.  If Grace Kelly had continued acting or been allowed to act after she married, she would have left an amazing legacy.  Prince Ranier forbade Princess Grace to do anything aside from her royal duties.  Even as Princess Grace was offered choice movie roles after her children were grown, her husband would not allow her to accept them.  As time passed, the princess ignored the constraints placed on her and she began to lead a life separate from her family.  Princess Grace moved exclusively to the family apartment in Paris.  Unfortunately, she grew quite fond of alcohol.  Many good things also transpired during this time: she wrote a book on her pressed flower arrangements, she held an art show, she toured giving poetry readings, and she made a movie reading her poetry.  Sadly, Princess Grace was killed in a tragic car accident on September 13, 1982.  It is believed she suffered a stroke and lost control of the car in which she and Princess Stephanie were riding.  In quick succession, her children, Prince Albert and Princess Caroline assumed the duties of both their parents.  To me, the book was not uplifting.  I do not believe I will read a book about a movie personality in the future. 

When Henry, a New York writer, and his wife Charlotte inherit his ancestral home on Cape Cod, they decide to move away from New York to the quiet of the beach.  To renovate the family home, they decide to sell a portion of the land with it to the Narvilles, a rich couple from Georgia.  This opens a big can of worms. The Narvilles seem to think they own all the beach and proceed to run the local oystermen off the beach.  Charlotte feels guilty so she goes all out to research the deeds for the plots and the laws governing the use of the beaches.  The Narvilles actually spend a month a year there, but feels like they need to run the place.   Mrs. Narville has a surveillance camera and even tells Charlotte and her small daughter, Fiona, to stay off "her" beach.

There are several side stories to the search for the true owners of the beach.  Charlotte, who is a lot younger than her husband, is tempted with a romance with a younger local man, Darryl Stead.  The mystery of some of the townspeople and how they came to the island is also explored, especially Ada Town, an eldery lady who showed up at the local church as a foundling.  To tell any more would ruin the story for the reader, but the book is very good and full of surprises. I guess I liked it because I indentified with rich neighbors moving in and trying to tell the rest of my neighborhood how to conduct their lives.

The Spider’s Web (Wind River Series) by Margaret Coel

Ned Birdsong says he is turning his life around and is preparing for the annual Sun Dance.  Marcy Morrison is a white girl who comes to the Reservation and says she is Ned’s fiancée.  Rosemary Birdsong is his former Arapaho girlfriend.  Even so, this story is not a love triangle, but a murder mystery, with some other criminal activity and blackmail thrown in.  Vicky Holden is an Arapaho Indian attorney who left the Reservation to get her law degree and returned to do legal work for her people.  Father John O’Malley is the Catholic priest who currently runs the local St. Francis Mission.  Their paths cross as they investigate many varied mysteries, crimes and injustices.   

This series is set on the Wind River Indian Reservation in the American Southwest. The settings are real. The social issues and problems are those faced by the Arapahos on the Reservation.  The crimes are also taken from the headlines—some current and some taken from Arapaho history.  Margaret Coel beautifully describes the Southwest landscapes, the rich cultural traditions, and history of the Arapahos. This is the 15^th book in this series and the library owns all of them.  I tend to like series books, especially about modern day Native Americans, where you really get to know the main characters’ feelings and relationships.  I got hooked on the Tony Hillerman series about Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo tribal police.  Coel is a worthy successor to Hillerman.

The Wonder of Charlie Anne by Kimberly Newton Fusco

Set in the south during the poverty and bigotry of the Depression, Fusco tells the story of Charlie Anne who confronts the hardships and unfairness of life.  She gradually becomes aware of the impact and unfairness of prejudice and her power to make changes in the world and her own surroundings. Her good humor, kindness and courage triumph.

They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney

Cooney writes the story of a girl who was deserted by her parents at the age of ten.  Murielle’s past and Cathy’s present are presented in alternating chapters.  The reader will no doubt guess early on that Cathy and Murielle are indeed the same person, but the suspense comes from wondering if Cathy will find a way to reunite with her parents.  Action is centered on the issue of whether she has an obligation to society and its justice system or to her own family.   It is a story of selfishness and self-sacrifice and the deep connection of family.

A Girl Named Mister by Nikki Grimes

Mister is a good student…looking forward to college, enjoying going to church, and blessed with a great relationship with her single mother.  Then after one sexual encounter, she finds herself pregnant.  The free-verse format of the novel communicates her deep emotions and her struggle to deal with explaining her pregnancy to her family and friends.  Grimes communicates in language that is intimate and immediate…one that avoids over-moralizing while driving home the big issues of teen pregnancy.

The Keening by A. LaFaye

The Keening is a dark, chilling supernatural tale.  It has a dreamlike feel that is in keeping with the time period.  LaFaye’s lyrical writing draws the reader into the novel.  It takes place in a village in Maine in 1918 when influenza struck Lyza’s family.  She knew her mother and father shared a secret.  Now that her mother has died, she assumes the task of protecting her father and his gift.  As the she takes on this responsibility, Lyza struggles to find a way to save her father, remember her mother’s wishes, and discover who she really is. Lyza and the reader grow to understand that things are not always as they appear to be.

This is "the life and tale of a dog, his thoughts and musings.  A Parody"   Jason the dog takes the reader through his thoughts and activities bound to make his owner crazy.  There are directions for dogs to build all sorts of objects and Jason talks about how dogs think and how they are trying to make us humans scratch our heads and wonder how dogs ever thought of the things they do.  Some of the book is stupid, some silly, and some is actually instructional.  Note:  There's a version for cats, too!

Picked this book up in a bin at Tractor Supply of all places.  Tractor Supply has some of the most unexpected things to buy!

  Another book by Jeannette Walls about her family.  This book deals with the author growing up in her dysfunctional family.  Jeannette's parents, Rex and Rosemary are the parents from hell.  Neither one seemed much interested in providing the necessities for their family, Lori, Jeannette, Brian and Maureen.  Rosemary was nothing like her mother, Lillian Casey Smith, who could make a meal from almost nothing.  Rosemary couldn't be bothered with cooking, washing or parenting.  She would rather read or paint.  She would only work if forced to do so.  The father, Rex, was a drunk and and was abusive to the family.  He would peridoically disappear or run off with  the grocery money and could not hold down a job. 

After living off Rosemary's inhertitance and working a few jobs, the family loads the car with their few possessions and heads to Rex's hometown, Welch, WV.  They move in with Rex's parents and his brother.  When that move doesn't work out, their father finds them a shack to live in.  The children are cold, hungry and have few clothes and terrible shoes.  The shack has a coal stove but they have no coal except what the children are able to pick up along the road after it falls from the coal trucks.  School is their savior; there they can get food, a warm place, and instruction, which all three take advantage of.  When Lori graduates, she leaves the town for New York City.  She soon sends for Jeannette, then Brian and finally Maureen.  Later their parents arrive in New York.

The book is packed full of hardships for the children.  I don't know how they survived.  It is unbeleivable that their parents did very little to support them and that they still turned out to be great people.  The three oldest made successes for themselves. 

I enjoyed the book very much except that parts horrified me.  I am glad for the family that they were able to make something of their lives despite their terrible upbringing.