Read In August 2019

Two more books read this month than last, seven versus five. But I can feel, see and hear Autumn in the wings and after that, the season of more reading - Winter.

A Justified Murder by Jude Deveraux is the first book of hers I've read in quite awhile. It is the second in her Medlar Mysteries series and while it was okay as far as the mystery part, I seem to have graduated to the more gritty genres.

Like John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series, of which Neon Prey is the latest. Once I discovered Sandford, I read my way through all his books. Now I have to wait (im)patiently for a new one to come out. I still love this author and his books.

Careful What You Wish For by Hallie Ephron is the fourth book of hers I've read. I don't know why I'm still surprised by how much I like her writing, but I am. Apparently I forget from one release to the next.

Kate Atkinson is another author whose books I have to wait for. Big Sky is the fifth in the Jackson Brodie series and the first in nine years! Believe me, I have really been waiting for this book. Love Atkinson's writing and love, love, love Jackson Brodie.

Madam Fourcade's Secret War by Lynne Olson is the non-fiction account of one woman's courage as head of a French Resistance spy network during WWII. A very interesting, well researched and written read.

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts relates the lives of L. Frank and Maud Baum from their first meeting to their marriage and life of struggles and hardship until he wrote The Wizard of Oz. The book moves back and forth from their lives together to Maud's life as a widow trying to help during the filming of the famous movie. This novel is a very interesting read for any Oz fan.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline had been on my 'want to read' list so long I had forgotten to check on its availability. I'm so glad I finally read it.

The ordeals of a young Irish immigrant sent west on one of the Orphan Trains takes up most of the book, but her story, when she is in her nineties, becomes entwined with the life of a difficult 17-year-old foster child. The unlikely friendship of these two leads to acceptance and healing for both.
This was my favorite book this month. I highly recommend it, especially if you have never heard of Orphan Trains* or know little about them.

* My brother-in-law's father came to Iowa via an Orphan Train. Also, when I drove the Senior Citizens' bus in Corning, in a conversation with one of the riders, I learned she had come to Iowa on an Orphan Train. Years later, when I worked for The Adams County Free Press, I wrote an article about her experience. When I interviewed her for the story, she expressed a wish to return to Grundy Center which was the terminus of her Orphan Train ride. I took her there. We drove around the town and area, but after three-quarters of a century, there was little which looked familiar to her.

There are now more than an estimated two million descendants of those Orphan Train riders.