Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This time period in our history has always fascinated me. The heart and soul of our country was built on these pioneers that challenged the wilderness and survived. Many people did not as the blizzards arrived unannounced - no doppler radar back then. I can only imagine huddling by the stove to stay warm as the wind blew. These were not southern winters but good old fashion South Dakota snow and cold.

I enjoy her perspective from a child - the joys of Christmas candy and simply walking by the streams in the summer. We take so much for granted compared to the kind of work that had to be done before machines/technology. She shares her personal struggle to act like a girl and not play games with the boys. Laura always struggled to "be good". She was raised to be polite and always obedient to her parents.

I enjoyed this series and it is a great children's book series.

Freefall by Kristen Heitzman

I actually found this on the library shelf as well. I actually really like Heitzman as an author. Her characters are always so realistic with real doubts and fears. She does not allow there to be an easy answer to really complicated situations.

This book is about a rising star actress that falls and gets amnesia at the beginning of the book. She finally remembers who she is but not many of the details of the fall. It is a mystery. She meets a local that helps save her uncle and eventually falls in love with this woman. Her fame adds some difficulty to the relationship. The book does have a few unexpected turns as they struggle with getting to know each other and find the "killer" and the motive.

I liked this book. Not quite the perfect mystery, but enough to make it interesting.

Lost Highways by Curtiss Ann Matlock

I was in the mood for an easy romantic type book. I grabbed this off the library shelf. It looked good without too much of the "porn" descriptions that can be in romance books. I steer clear of books with the covers of half clothed men about to kiss the woman. I really got sucked into these in high school - don't want to go there again.

Anyway, this book was not amazing and possibly forgetable. The characters were both lost - not sure of where they belonged and essentially found each other at this crossroad. The female character was a wandering barrel racer trying to get rid of the pain of losing her mother and the male character was a doctor trying to find his way away from his domineering family of doctors. It was an interesting book to see hearts healed from past hurts by the love of a stranger. Matlock did a good job of portraying family dysfunctions and how they play into our struggle to find one self.

I would read one of her books again.

Vanishings

I was in the mood for a suspense novel. This was not the best one ever, but has some interesting sci-fi type stuff in it that kept me interested. It was actually a second book in a series, but was good as a stand alone.

The book is about the mysterious disappearance of an entire town. It was preceeded by these flashing lights on radar. It includes secrets and conspiracies by the government and who to trust. I could see this one being made into a movie. It is listed as christian fiction and there is some of that and many of the decisions made by the main character reflect his faith. This wasn't a bad book at all - quick read.