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An endearing tale about the residents of an assisted living community and their attempt to help Carl's struggling granddaughter. Duffy and Carl are friends and roommates who are just trying to toe the line so they don't get kicked out of their cushy retirement home and tossed to the less desirable nursing home. This means not breaking the rules which they do as soon as Carl's young alcoholic granddaughter pops into their bedroom window. Not only are they hiding her from her irate ex-boyfriend but they also attempt to help her get sober and back on her feet. It is a sobering look at growing old and making amends with a spot of geriatric hijinks thrown in. I was a huge fan of NEWS OF THE WORLD and was over the moon to be back in the wilds of old Texas again. This is a story of a good man who doesn't want to be violent (unless you touch his fiddle) but the world doesn't always allow him to stay silent or defenseless. Simon does his best to protect his fellow musicians and earn the love of an Irish governess he falls in love with from afar. He is a gentle soul caught in a violent wind of post-civil war Texas. The story is woven with peppery phrases and soulful ballads with characters you care deeply about. You finish the last page and just want more - it doesn't get any better than that. Every Texan should read this as well as lovers of well written western historical fiction and stories where the kind-hearted hero gets the girl. Zofia Lederman has spent months in a hospital trying to get well after the Allieds liberated her camp and now must find any way possible to find her young brother, the only family she has remaining. She relies on the kindness of a Russian soldier who is in love with her but then realizes that she is the only one who can retrace their steps and find Abek. Zofia's mental health makes her an unreliable narrator but you can feel the desperation and anguish she feels as she is powerless to locate Abek. She is suffering, as is most of the survivors at refugee camps, from PTSD and her health is fragile. The language, adult situations and violence of the camps make this intended for young adults but readers will appreciate her honesty and lack of sugar coating the horrific events of war. This is a story of the best and the worst of humanity told by a young survivor just trying for any remnant of her prior life.
From the master storyteller of BEFORE WE WERE YOURS comes a story of profound loss and hope. Based on an actual collection of newspaper ads that circulated around the southern states after the Civil War, this parallel story takes place in two time periods - post Civil War and 1987 and are related by location and THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS. Hannie has lost her entire large family to slavery and now needs to locate her former owner to find them and ensure sharecropper rights. She travels a very dangerous landscape with the owner's two daughters and will face danger from slavers, the law, riverboat thugs and Indians to reach their destination in Texas. The current story is that of Bennie, a teacher who is using the book and personal history to reach her students. Included in the book are actual ads from THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS which only cements the loss and desperation these former slaves must have felt. Heartbreaking but full of hope this is a must for fans of Civil War historical fiction and family history.
Roxy lives in Austin in 2012 amidst the change from the music-loving hippie culture to the influx of health conscience techies and wannabe rock stars. She is having trouble finding herself and finding enough cash to pay the rent from just her deli counter job at Whole Foods so she invites her ex-boyfriend to live in her spare room. She hardly ever sees him and begins to write letters to him letting him know what she is up to and dispensing her quirky philosophy on life. This is an absolute must-read if you: A. love the weirdness of Austin, B. if you think Sarah Bird's early books are the funniest thing you have ever read and C. you just need a reason to laugh at the absurdity of life. Irreverent, bawdy and so true of Austin.
A sweet story about loss, friendship and a life well-lived. Missy is at a loss. Her husband is gone, her kids are grown living their lives elsewhere and she is hiding from the world. Slowly after giving way to persistent neighbors she begins to put herself out there and becomes a foster parent to a wonderful dog named Bob and pseudo grandparent to the little boy. As her circle expands she finds it in herself to forgive and finds that in helping others, she helps herself. Missy shows us that life is not over at 80 if you have a tribe. Anyone who knows the value of friends, close siblings or a precious furbaby will totally get this book with its quirky characters.
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