Here Goes

Anna Free
I recently read The Wedding Dress by Virginia Ellis. It is an easy read, but a very interesting story about the three sisters after the Civil War trying to put their lives back together. There are some mystical (ghostly) occurrences woven into the story. It's hard to put down once you start reading.

I like the blogging book club idea. It's interesting to know what other people are reading and get ideas about what I want to read next.

Sandra Moore
Karen and I have always agreed that Pat Conroy is one of our favorite authors. I read SOUTH OF BROAD this summer and fell in love with Charleston, S.C. all over again. I must add that I also enjoyed THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELL by David Wroblewski and would love to have an opportunity to discuss it with a group. You don't have to like dogs to enjoy the book!

Mary Ruth Brindley
I also am a Pat Conroy fan and read South of Broad this summer. I thought it was strange, but I couldn't quit reading. I am not sure that realistically the people in the group would have ever come together. It seemed a little contrived to me, but they are certainly a bunch of characters that you can't forget.
My very favorite read lately has been The Help. Tracy Craddock shared the book with me, and I devoured it one weekend. I remember the Civil Rights era well, but this book asks you to look at things from the perspective of "the help." Although serious in content, the book does not weight you down. I has a great deal of humor which I love.

Audrey Beach
Over the summer I read (or actually listened to) Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen. It takes you into the spectacular, yet at times horrifying, world of the circus. It is told from two time periods and settings in the life of Jacob Jankowski, one as an old man in a nursing home and one as a young man on a circus train. This book made me laugh at old man Jacob, who hates being in a nursing home filled with old people even though he is 90 or 93, and it also made me furious at August the animal trainer, under the direction of Uncle Al, the circus impresario, will stop at nothing to make the show bigger and better. I really enjoyed the book, especially the audio book because it seemed to bring Jacob more to life.

DK Baria
Early in the summer I read Bliss Broyard's One Drop. It is non fiction (I know Signe, but I really think you would like this book) and everyone that has read it that I recommended it to, said they really liked it. It is the story of Broyard's search for her identity after she finds out her father, Albert Broyard, longtime book reviewer for the New York Times, "passed" as white for most of his life. As she tells her story it is backdropped against the history of the Broyard family's settlement in the Louisiana wilderness that eventually became New Orleans. Her research reveals the lives of the creoles and the black population of the state and the class struggle that results. I promise it is a mesmerising story that you will not want to put down. I would love to discuss this one with somebody.