Bekkie's Book Reviews

The $64 Tomato

2009-03-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

The $64 Tomato
by William Alexander
****

How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden.

Gardening time is here, is it not? And if you are a gardener, then this is a must read. As the title suggests, we who deign to plant and attempt to grow things sometimes do not know the actual cost of the fruits of our labors. This book is one man's experience at gardening (or really, small-scale farming), working in concert with nature to provide his family with fresh, healthy produce.

But the best-laid plans, and all that.

The author tells us how his family moves to a small, rural town in New York where his wife sets up her medical practice. They buy an old house, pay too much for it, and then pay even more to renovate it. Scarcely finished with that, the author looks longingly at the wild acreage surrounding the hosue and begins plannning for a fantastic garden.

Our hapless gardener becomes a victim first of landscapers, then of pests of the large and small variety, disease, weather, and simply exhausting labor. Nevertheless, he pushes on and year after year manages to produce for his family wonderful fresh produce.

The cost is great when he sits down to calculate the cost of his home-grown produce. But he does not give up -- the benefit is too important.

The author tells his experiences with humor and interesting detail, including helpful information to other gardeners. I enjoyed this book, though I am no vegetable gardener --flowers only, for me. But for anyone who likes to dig in the earth, and enjoys the hopefulness of planting a seed or seedling and seeing where you can go from there, wiill enjoy this book as well.

What Remains, a Memoir of Fate, Friendship & Love

2009-03-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

What Remains, a Memoir of Fate, Friendship & Love
autobiography, Carole Radziwill
***

I began reading this book just at the time Caroline Kennedy was being considered as the replacement senator from New York. Carole Radziwill is a cousin, by marriage, to Caroline, and reading the book served somewhat as a historical reference to current times.

I say somewhat as Carole does not refer a lot to the Kennedy family in her book except to John F. Kennedy, Jr., who was cousin to Carole husband, Anthony Radziwill. John's mother Jacqueline, and Anthony's mother Lee were sisters.

The story should have been a fairy-tale with a happy ending. A girl from a lower-middle class family achieves success on her own and ends up marrying a handsome prince. But instead, it's a sad story, indeed. The book starts out as Carole and Anthony are sitting at the beach in Martha's Vineyard awaiting the arrival of John and his wife Carolyn Bessette who is also Carole's best friend. It was that fateful day we all remember when the plane John was piloting crashed into the bay, killing John and Carolyn and her sister.

To make the story even more sad, as they waited on the beach, not yet knowing the terrible news, thoughts were of Anthony who was in the final throes of a fatal bout with cancer. Carole would shortly lose the three most important people in her life in a very short span. She quotes Orson Welles, at the start of her book, If you want a happy ending, it depends on where you end your story.

The book then turns to Carole's childhood, growing up in a family that lived a marginal lifestyle, providing sometimes unsavory role models for young Carole. I won't elaborate on the journey from childhood to princess, but it is an interesting story, and I'll offer no spoilers here.

I am not a follower of the famous, and this book would probably hold more interest for one who is. I found it more historically interesting as it fit into the nooks and crannies of things I already knew. The book is very well-written -- a beautiful use of language and style. I always enjoy a book so well-written.

I only gave this book three stars because I felt it was a book with a limited audience - those who like to peer into the lives of the rich and famous. However, it was, I hope, a cathartic book for the author, as she did have three very tragic losses to deal with.

A Girl from Yamhill, and My Own Two Feet

2009-02-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

A Girl From Yamhill
My Own Two Feet
two autobiographies by Beverly Cleary
****
My own introduction to Beverly Cleary was in the mid-50's at perhaps age 9 or 10, when at a weekly visit to the Emerson Stone Branch Library I came across Henry Huggins. I became an immediate fan and went back looking for more from this author. I read the few available Beverly Cleary books in our little library and re-read them from time to time.

When my friend passed these two autobiographies (published in 1988 and 1995, respectively) to me to read, I was not sure I was interested (and I wondered why two autobiographies). I did enjoy them, however. A Girl from Yamhill takes Beverly from her earliest memories only to junior high school. My Own Two Feet picks up from there, taking you through public school, the Depression, college, marriage, World War II, and finally the publication of her first book.

As you read of her life, you soon realize that her children's books are so successful because her stories come from real life experiences.

Beverly was an only child, born in 1919 and still living today. She was well cared for despite many financial struggles her family faced. She recalls a happy childhood filled with fun and adventure that kids are bound to find when left to their own devices. Her parents were not restrictive in her younger years while they lived on a large farm in Yamhill. Beverly enjoyed less freedom after they moved to Portland when the farm could no longer support them during the Depression. As Beverly grew older, her mother become more and more possessive and even jealous of her daughter's youth and friends and fun, but Beverly rarely rebelled until college age. Beverly was always eager to leave home and become independent, and in college studied to be a professional librarian. At an early age she discovered a desire to write, and found she had a knack for storytelling, especially to children. She was offended when teachers asked her if her stories were original, thinking a young girl could not have written so well. She was in her late 20s before she finally sat down and started her first novel, Henry Huggins.

If you are a fan of Beverly Cleary books, you will enjoy both of these well-written books, which also include pages of photographs of Beverly and the people in her life during those growing up years.

Counting the Cost

2009-02-14T05:21:00.000-08:00

Counting the Cost
by Liz Adair
*****

It's a coincidence, but seems entirely appropriate that I would write a review of this love story on Valentine's Day. The book cover tells us:

Counting the Cost by Liz Adair is "a novel that will break your heart and elevate your spirits . . . a closely-etched picture of life in a hard country in hard times, filled with memorable people, and a love story as poignant as it is beautiful."
- Ronald Shook, PhD, Associate Professor of English, Utah State University

The story is fiction but is based on the lives of real people, with the author's uncle and aunt the main subjects of the story. Along the way you will find characters Lucy and Jimmy who I know are the author's parents. The places, the lives they lived, the hard times, and the heartbreak are all taken from real experiences.

Liz has a beautiful fluid style of writing that draws you into the story and makes you lose all track of time as you read. I was first introduced to Liz's work with her book of her mother's compiled letters, Lucy Shook's Letters From Afghanistan which I highly recommend as well.

In Counting the Cost, a New Mexico cowboy, Heck Benham, meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman newly arrived from back east. But Ruth is married, and nothing good can come from that secret love. Ruth is a complicated person, part charming and helpless, part scheming and disloyal, she is accustomed to the comforts of life and finds herself trapped in a marriage of convenience. Heck is a true cowboy - honest, hard-working, with traditional moral values and beliefs guiding him - he would never dream of interfering in another man's marriage. But life does not always work out according to plan, and a desperate situation causes Heck to go against his better judgment and run away and set up life with a married woman.

I'm going to avoid any spoilers here as it is a story that needs to unfold in its own way and I would do a great disservice to the reader to reveal too much. There are twists and turns along the way and it isn't all heartache. There are some very happy times in the humble lives of these people. With historical honesty Liz paints vivid pictures of New Mexico and Arizona country during that period and the people and their manner of living.

I recommend this book both for its story, but also for the interesting setting so beautifully interwoven throughout the book.

The book isn't available in bookstores at this time, but is easily obtained by ordering online: www.inglestonepublishing.com. A portion of the profits go to the SWAN organization, helping women in third world countries.

Sky Burial

2009-02-02T05:13:00.000-08:00

Sky Burial
by Xinran
*****

UPDATE: I have learned this is not a true story after all, and am somewhat disappointed at being led to believe it was. Still, I recommend the book, it is a good read. The book jacket says:

It was 1994 when Xinran, a journalist and the author of The Good Women of China, received a telephone call asking her to travel four hours to meet an oddly dressed woman who had just crossed the border from Tibet into China. Xinran made the trip and met the woman, called Shu Wen, who recounted the story of her thirty-year odyssey in the vast landscape of Tibet.

Shu Wen and her husband had been married for only a few months in the 1950s when he joined the Chinese army and was sent to Tibet for the purpose of unification of the two countries. Shortly after he left she was notified that he had been killed, although no details were given. Determined to find the truth, Shu Wen joined a militia unit going to the Tibetan north, where she soon was separated from the regiment. Without supplies and knowledge of the language, she wandered, trying to find her way until, on the brink of death, she was rescued by a family of nomads under whose protection she moved from place to place with the seasons and eventually came to discover the details of her husband's death.

This story will grab your attention and grab your heart. It is hard to imagine the twentieth century life in Tibet she describes. Things changed so little from centuries past for the little nomadic family of sheepherders who saved her life and then took her into their family. As you read you become aware there must be some great passage of time, but only a couple of times does the author reveal to you just how many years have passed during Wen's sojourn in Tibet.

The book is just over 200 pages in length, small pages at that, and easily read in a single cozy afternoon. It has all the elements I love most in a book: stories of women and their loves and their friendships, stories of unfamiliar cultures (I am particularly drawn to stories of the far east), stories of love and struggle, and stories that are true.

I won't tell you the outcome of Wen's quest to find her husband as you need to read it in the words told by Wen herself.

After the story was related to her, the author [claims] she lost track of Wen, and has since desperately tried to find her or the nomadic family with whom she lived.

I highly recommend this splendid book

On Writing, a memoir of the craft

2008-07-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

On Writing, a memoir of the craft
by Stephen King
*****

I have read exactly one Stephen King novel. I saw part of Kujo, the movie, and I'm still scared of barking dogs. So, I'm not exactly sure why this book appealed to me. But it turned out to be a really great read, both from the standpoint of a writer and for sheer entertainment.

King tells us this is not textbook, and it's not. But it is full of advice. For example, "Adverbs are not your friend." He tells us how he writes. That he writes constantly when he is writing, even on holidays, lest his characters get "stale". He listens to loud rock music. And he says he does not "plot" his stories. I found this last particularly interesting.

In my view, stories and novels consist of three parts: narration which moves the story from point A to point B and finally to point Z; description, which creates a sensory reality for the reader; and dialogue, which brings characters to life through their speech . . .

. . . my basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves. The job of the writer is to give them a place to grow . . .

. . . I lean more heavily on intuition . . . my books tend to be based on situation rather than story . . .

. . . The situation comes first. The characters--always flat and unfeatured, to begin with--come next. Once these things are fixed in my mind, I begin to narrate. I often have an idea of what the outcome may be, but I have never demanded of a set of characters that they do things my way. On the contrary, I want them to do things their way.

Isn't that a cool concept? I love it so much, I'm going to try it myself if I ever get down to writing my stories.

The book is also highly autobiographical and we learn so much about King's life and experiences starting from a very young age. His story is as compelling as any novel.

If you are a writer, an aspiring writer, or just someone who appreciates good writing, you will love this book.

The Worst Book Ever Written--The Shadow God

2008-06-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Shadow God

by Aaron Rayburn

(no stars)

I didn't read this book. I just read the review of it on Amazon.com. I sincerely enjoyed the reviewer's writing at least, and from the excerpts provided, I'd have to say he's probably close to right in his estimation.

For a chuckle, click this link and read the review for yourself. http://www.amazon.com/review/R1LPA5YOND6TGD/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Here are a couple of my favorites from the excerpts provided:

"Spiers's eyes popped extraneously from their sockets, as his face turned from a deep red to a sickly purple."

"Of all the things to think, he never thought he'd think that."

"Eubanks looked annoyed. He exhaled annoyingly and said..."

As our reviewer said, "It's enough to make aspiring writers want to give up . . . "

Year of Wonders

2008-03-26T04:06:00.000-07:00

Author: Geraldine Brooks
Rating: ***

Our Reel Women movie group decided to take a foray into books and perhaps even alternate between book and movie club each month. Judy's daughter-in-law even thought of a great new name for us: Reel Women with Spine!

So to kick off the book club, March's selection was Year of Wonders, Since I'm writing this review, the rating is solely mine, and would have been higher except for a flaw I'll mention later.

The book is set in a real English town in 1666. According to the book notes, some of the characters in the book are based on real people and others are fictional. The story centers around the main character, Anna Frith, who loses so much and in the end proves to be a strong resilient woman in the face of the tragedies she witnesses.

The town is beset by Bubonic Plague, introduced most likely by fleas carried on fabrics. The town in real life and in fiction, under the leadership of its minister, decides to isolate itself from the world - no-one will leave, no-one will enter - until the plague has passed. They rely on supplies from a nearby wealthy landowner. They leave requests by a boundary rock and stand back while previous requests are delivered.

The illness is terrible, the toll is terrible, and the story intersperses some interesting human interactions that might be imagined living under those circumstances. Our group agreed it was particularly of interest how the two main women took over the herbal medicine practice of the town "witch" and through their study provided much-needed medical care.

It was an interesting book and occasionally challenging to read. The author's liberal use of early English vocabulary, many words I'd never heard of before, gave it a ring of authenticity. The subject matter seemed to be well-researched, making the story believable. Some in the group felt that some of the characters failed to show sufficient emotion at their loss, but Judy, our reviewer, suggested it might be more true of that time than we realize, that life expectancy was much shorter and infant mortality much greater, and, in context, it made sense that those people were more accustomed to such losses.

I won't reveal the ending of the book, although we know historically how this devastating illness ran its course. But to mention the one flaw I found in the book, our heroine made some dubious choices at the story's end that I thought were totally out of character. I would have liked the story to have ended differently for our fictional character. I will say that some in our group agreed with me and some did not.

The author is a Pulitzer Prize winner for her book March.

---------------------

Our group enjoyed a lovely evening hosted by Judy and her husband Sydney, with appetizers provided by each member, and joined by Judy's son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Sara. We agreed that perhaps we should stick to movies with our group and not pursue the book club route. I'm relieved as May is my month to choose and the next book club would have fallen on May.

But since that was probably our first and last book club for the group, I'm posting this review here instead of on the Reel Women page.

The Kite Runner

2008-01-21T07:33:00.000-08:00

Author: Khaled Hosseini
Rating: ****

There are two reasons to love this book: A beautifully-told, heart-rending fictional story, and the true background story of the history of Afghanistan from the 1970's to the present day.

Spoilers Ahead:

The story begins in the 1970's with Amir and his friend, Hassan, adolescent boys in Afghanistan. Amir lives a privileged life while Hassan and his father are servants in Amir's household. Their world changes first through a terrible, traumatic incident, and then the Russion invasion of Afghanistan and ensuing decades of war and devastation.

Amir and his father emigrate to the U.S. and lose contact with Hassam. In America, life is very different: Amir's father, a former wealthy businessman, supports the two of them by hard days spent working at a gas station.

The story tells so well the impact of traditions and religion on modern Afghans. Their lives are further complicated and even traumatized by the lifetime secrets eventually revealed.

The book reflects life's reality in the gamut from beauty to horror, and I was pleased the author didn't attempt to tie up all the loose ends perfectly in the end. We are left not knowing some outcomes -- just as it should be, just as it is in life.

Lucy Shook's Letters From Afghanistan

2008-01-11T06:12:00.000-08:00

Editors: Liz Adair, Terry Gifford, and Ruth Lavine (Lucy's daughter and two granddaughters, respectively)
Rating: *****

"In 1965, Lucy Shook went to Afghanistan with her husband, Jim, when he was posted to Lashkar Gah, a town about five hours on a bad road southwest of Kabul. There she became manager of the Staff House, a small hotel that catered to the American community and visiting diplomats. In a world where women are treated as chattel and hidden from view, Lucy, an American woman, was boss-lady to fifteen Afghan men." (http://www.lettersfromafghanistan.com/).

When Lucy's son, Ron, recommended I read this book, I decided to give it a try, but with low expectations. But once into it, I found a well-written and compelling story that I couldn't put down. Liz Adair and her daughters have edited Lucy's copious letters from 1965 and 1966 into a book that is not only an interesting glimpse into the life of a delightful, plucky, resourceful woman of the 60's, but also into the culture and people of Afghanistan in the calmer years before the great disasters of the Soviet invasion and ongoing wars and devastation that continue even to this date.

The story spans travels to places that have been in the news prominently since 9-11, but at a time when the world was thinking about Viet Nam and not Afghanistan. Now, Lucy's letters provide historically-relevant information about this country so unknown to Americans at the time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It contains a great many personal family messages and references to Lucy's Mormon faith, which some readers may not appreciate as much as I did. But these are incorporated in such a way that they become an important and integral part of the story Lucy tells, allowing you to better understand who this remarkable woman was. And Lucy's letters are full of rich descriptions of the Afghan people whom she loved and the countryside, the cities, the customs, the beliefs, and much more.

When I later read "The Kite Runner" (see my next review), I realized "Lucy Shook's Letters From Afghanistan" had provided for me a perfect prelude. "Kite Runner" picks up not long after where "Letters" leaves off, and it made sense to me to review both of these books together.

The proceeds from sales of this book benefit the SWAN organization dedicated to helping women in developing countries. More information about SWAN and how to purchase the book can be found at the website above.

(NOTE: Do not confuse "Lucy Shook's Letters From Afghanistan" with another book of a similar title, "Letters from Afghanistan" by Eloise Hanner.)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

2007-09-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Author: Lisa See
Rating: *****

This author was recommended to me by two friends -- sisters and avid readers. It seems they actually liked another of the author's books even better, but this is the one I happened to pick up first.

The story itself is intriguing and entertaining indeed, as well as terribly tragic and sad. But I found the back story about the ancient Chinese practice of foot-binding to be fascinating. The story was told from the viewpoint of Chinese women who embraced the concept that their beauty and desireability to a man depended on the successful creation of "golden lilies" feet. The process was described in painful detail.

"As the eldest,I went first, and I was determined to show how brave I could be. Mama washed my feet and rubbed them with alum, to contract the tissue and limit the inevitable secretions of blood and pus. She cut my toenails as short as possible. During this time, my bandages were soaked so that when they dried on my skin, they would tighten even more. Next, Mama took one end of a bandage, placed it on my instep,then pulled it over my four smallest toes to begin the process of rolling them underneath my foot. From here she wrapped the bandage back around my heel. Another loop around the ankle helped to seure and stabilize the first two loops. The idea was to get my toes and heel to meet, creating the cleft, but leaving my big toe to walk on. Mama repeated these steps until the entire bandage was used. Aunt and Grandmother looked over her shoulder the entire time, making sure no wrinkles saw their way into those loops. Finally, Mama sewed the end tightly shut so the bindings would not loosen and I would not be able to work my foot free . . . by now growing daggers of pain were shooting from our feet up our legs."

This takes place when a girl is just six or seven years old. Bones are broken repeatedly and the bindings are adjusted to create the perfect lilies. The story goes on to describe life for the cultured Chinese women, doing embroidery confined most of the time to an upper room, having a husband selected for them, with very limited walking as a result of the foot deformities--and the sometimes tragic results of this practice. Apparently, Chinese men found especially erotic the cleft in the foot formed by the toes being bent back to meet the heel.

Lisa See weaves an entrancing story, beautifully written, with wonderful characters and scenes from Chinese history. Her book is well researched and is said to be quite accurate historically, though the characters themselves are fictional.

Just after I read this book, someone forwarded pictures to me that could very well have been the main character in the book in her later years. I don't know where the pictures are from or who to credit for them, but they speak for themselves.

The Jane Austen Book Club

2007-06-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

Title: The Jane Austen BookClub
Author: Karen Joy Fowler
Rating: **

I love books about book groups. I saw this on best seller lists for some time and watched for it to be out in paperback. I finally picked up the book on the "Buy 2 get 1 free" table at Barnes and Noble. I must say all three books proved to be equally disappointing.

This was a story of a group of women and one man who formed a book group in order to read the complete works of Jane Austen. Now I like Jane Austen just fine for light reading, and as the story unfolded I thought maybe this author was writing a parody with her own one-dimensional characters and slow plot. But as the story progressed, I had the sad realization that what it was was simple mediocre writing. And the last straw was when she confused "affect" and "effect". Pg 160, "Being rich doesn't effect the wanting . . ." No writer worth her salt would do that.

The author tells the story in an omniscient voice most of the time; therefore, able to reveal the thoughts of all her characters. However, once in awhile she disconcertingly drops a little comment directly to the reader. Pg 111, "Some bird had shat on the windshield . . . she drove home while peering around a large continent--Greece maybe or Greenland. Using the water and wipers would only make things worse. None of the driving was freeway, and she had mirrors, so it wasn't really as reckless as it sounded." Sounded? To whom? I was sort of like a corny play where the actor stage-whispers an observation to the audience. And suddenly i am no longer a voyeur on their world, I realize the author is quite aware of my presence.

If you can look past the flaws, this book is fine for light reading, but I recommend checking it out from the library. It's not one you'll want to own. But remember, this is only my opinion as it was on the New York Times bestseller list, so somebody liked it.

Small Wonder

2007-05-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

Title: Small Wonder
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Rating: *****

Barbara Kingsolver is my favorite contemporary author. It’s only appropriate to launch this site with a review of her book. She has a new, non-fiction book out, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.” But I’ll leave that particular review for one of our other contributors, and choose instead for my topic one of her collections of essays, “Small Wonder”.

Many of us came across Kingsolver by way of her fiction, filled with characters and story lines that grabbed you from the first page and stayed with you long after the book ended. Starting with the heart-tugging “The Bean Trees”, I worked my way through all of her fiction. My favorite remains “The Poisonwood Bible”, being a girl who grew up in a rather fanatical religious environment myself. But it was Kingsolver’s collections of essays that gave me a whole new level of appreciation for the depth of her knowledge and work.

On September 25, 2001, following the terrible events of 9-11, Barbara published an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled “And Our Flag Was Still There.” It was intended to be an expression of her own patriotism while at the same time concern about the war toward which we were inevitably headed. Little did she anticipate the furor that would follow her heartfelt and patriotic words.

The backlash from the right-wing punditocracy was fierce. Barbara became a target of the ultra-conservative, pro-war attack machine, accused of being friendly to our enemies and unpatriotic. There was, at the time (understandably), a hysteria across the country, and people were being caught up in the “them and us” scenarios being fed to us by our government. Remember “Wanted Dead or Alive”? Or the deck of “52 Most Wanted”? Barbara even earned the 73rd spot on Bernard Goldberg's list of “100 People Who Are Screwing Up America”. Goldberg says, “In an op-ed she re-tells how she reluctantly let her daughter wear red-white-and-blue after 9/11 because, "the American flag stands for intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism, homophobia . . . Who are we calling terrorists here?"

Well, that’s not exactly what she said. Her words were both taken out of context, and some words conveniently omitted to make a point. But those who misrepresented her words appear foolish when the full text is read:

"Patriotism seems to be falling to whoever claims it loudest, and we're left struggling to find a definition in a clamor of reaction. This is what I'm hearing: Patriotism opposes the lone representative of democracy who was brave enough to vote her conscience instead of following an angry mob. (Several others have confessed they wanted to vote the same way, but chickened out.) Patriotism threatens free speech with death. It is infuriated by thoughtful hesitation, constructive criticism of our leaders and pleas for peace. It despises people of foreign birth who've spent years learning our culture and contributing their talents to our economy. It has specifically blamed homosexuals, feminists and the American Civil Liberties Union. In other words, the American flag stands for intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism, homophobia, and shoving the Constitution through a paper shredder? Who are we calling terrorists here? Outsiders can destroy airplanes and buildings, but it is only we, the people, who have the power to demolish our own ideals. "

She was right. Some of us recognized it at the time, and more of us see it now – now that it’s well known we were lied into a war of aggression (not pre-emption), a war that had nothing to do with 9-11.

“And Our Flag Was Still There” became the anchor for her new (at the time) book of essays, “Small Wonder.” It is powerful and moving. You must read the entire essay to truly understand the genuine patriotism in her message.

"So we sent her to school in red, white and blue, because it felt to her like something she could do to help people who are hurting. And because my wise husband put a hand on my arm and said, 'You can't let hateful people steal the flag from us.'"

Many of the essays in “Small Wonder” appeared previously in print in other venues, and some were updated to reflect current times and subsequent events. They cover a wide range of topics, some humorous, some serious, but all with an important message. It is a collection well worth reading, and I do highly recommend it.

Also see the Barbara Kingsolver web site.

Finally, We Launch

2007-05-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hello readers, today I am posting the first review on this site. I hope you enjoy it and will return for many more. I will be posting some information about our contributors as they sign on. The women who will be contributing are discriminating readers and will bring a diverse range of books for us all to consider. I know they have always steered me towards some of the best reading around.

I don't promise how regularly we will be posting, so you can sign up for notifications of new posts. And please feel free to add your comments. We'd love to hear your opinions, too.

Now, sit back and enjoy!

Bekkieann's Book Reviews

2007-04-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Bekkieann's book reviews. Watch for reviews coming soon! Want to guest post with me? Send me an email and let's talk.