Sarah Gordon Weathersby's Blog

Camilla's Roses by Bernice L. McFadden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There was a lot of pain in this story. The mother of the girls in the family gave each one a middle name of "Rose." First there was Maggie Rose who never seemed to grow up even after a tragic automobile accident that killed Lloyd, the love of her life. And there was Audrey Rose who could not shake her addiction. The mother, Velma was

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"An American Marriage" or "American Tragedy" or "American Triangle?" And it happened in the Piney Woods. Roy and Celestial decided not to stay at his Mama's house that night and went instead to the Piney Woods, where Roy went to get a bucket of ice and ran into a woman who needed help with her ice due to a rotator cuff. Roy cautioned

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

BEFORE I READ THIS BOOK:
I just picked up this book yesterday (December 23, 2016) from the library, the Large Print edition. (The large print editions are usually available more quickly than the regular print.) My "white ladies book club" asked me to lead the discussion for this book when we meet in January. ("Damned if I do, damned if I

Ordinary Grace by William Kent KruegerMy rating: 4 of 5 starsThis was another book club selection, following on the heals of "Peace Like a River." The common thread in the two books is faith, and belief in God during a summer in New Bremen, Minnesota, when too many people died. The story is told by young Frank Drum looking back over the years when he "came of age." Frank and his younger

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was another book club selection, following on the heals of "Peace Like a River." The common thread in the two books is faith, and belief in God during a summer in New Bremen, Minnesota, when too many people died. The story is told by young Frank Drum looking back over the years when he "came of age." Frank and his younger

News of the World by Paulette Jiles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Awesome little book of 209 pages. It reminded me a bit of True Grit, except that Jefferson Kyle Kidd is not a drunkard. When we meet him, he has lived through three wars and has reached his seventies. His new "job" has made him a reader of newspapers and journals from all over the world. He earns his living from the coins he receives

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Colson Whitehead is one of the novelists whose books I have been meaning to read, but I couldn't quite pin down his genre. Besides being a Pulitzer Prize finalist, he also has a book about zombies. So when The Underground Railroad appeared (even before Oprah put her badge on it), I decided this was the time for me to read this

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book, but because I had to return it to the public library, I had to copy the family tree at the beginning of the book to help me remember all of the people.

The story takes us from 18th century Ghana, back and forth across the Atlantic to follow the lives of the descendants of two half-sisters, children of "Big Man," the Chief of the

The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can we say six stars? This is Bernice L. McFadden's best book ever! Her prose is stunning, gliding over an epic of horrific proportions.

We meet Harlan's parents Sam Elliot, and Emma Robinson before he was conceived, while Emma was too innocent to protect herself. But they did the best they could, leaving Harlan with his doting

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a selection from one of my book clubs, selected after it was made into a movie, and nominated for an Oscar. The movie didn't win, but many of the book club members saw the movie and read the book. Some read it before seeing the movie. I'm glad I read the book first.

Brooklyn is a coming-of-age story of young Eilis Lacey, whose sister