Reading, Writing & Pondering

  In 1949, Ellie Fields is young, fresh out of college and ready for a new teaching experience. She leaves her home states of Alabama and journeys to a tiny Louisiana town in the Bayou. She is idealistic and hopeful and her "can do" spirit wins the hearts of the townspeople after she arrives. She especially wins the heart of one young man and there is some romance in the midst of the small town stories woven through Under the Bayou Moon. Valerie Fraser Luesse won me over when I first read, The Key to Everything last year. I enjoy her descriptive writing and how well she weaves the story together. I fell in love with all of the townspeople and was rooting for them throughout the book as they made it through more than a few challenges between sickness, weather and corrupt politicians. I spent summers in Louisiana when I was very young while my father went to graduate school so I know a little tiny bit of what she is describing. However, she brought the area to life for me throu...

Dust by Eva Marie Everson starts out with Allison Middleton, a young nineteen-year-old girl receiving a proposal from Westley Houser in 1977. The couple gets married are immediately struggling as Westley tells Allison that he already has a child from a one-night-stand with Cindie. Allisons helps Westley raise his daughter, Michelle, as her own child, while she deals with infertility. She also goes from a young bride to grandmother throughout the book. Everson writes beautifully in Dust. I have read her books before and truly enjoyed them. However, even though I think the writing is beautiful and the story flows wonderfully, I have to admit I didn't honestly LIKE this story through much of the book. I didn't like how Westley and Allison's marriage started out with him not being truthful to her. I didn't like Cindie and how she lived her life--as well as some of the other people she connected with. At the same time, I thought the book was realistic in that these sort of r...