The Longest Ride

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We can't get enough stories on love and relationships from super writer Nicholas Sparks. In his latest novel, two couples' courtships - one nearing its ending, one just beginning - are the love stories that Sparks explores. Ira, a widower, had one last mission to complete before joining Ruth, his beloved wife, forever, but fails when the car he is driving plunges over the side of a hill. Ira begins to see visions of Ruth, encouraging him to stay alive, and as he slips in and out of consciousness, Ira reviews their tender relationship over the previous decades. At the same time a young couple, Sophia, a college student and Luke, a bull rider and rancher, are being drawn into a relationship and suffer from expectations and immaturity. As the story nears its conclusion and both love stories unfold, the connection is finally revealed.

Written from different viewpoints, the characters' vulnerability and passion show through across a span of over 90 years.

Soon to made into a movie....

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Once Upon a Town

Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen by Bob Greene

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An amazing look at a small town - North Platte, Nebraska - and the true sacrifices made to support the troop trains of World War II that trundled in and out, 5am - midnight, every day for years. North Platte offered its canteen as a homey rest stop, complete with hot coffee, delicious home cooked food, sandwiches, boiled eggs, cake made from scratch and more for millions of mostly young, weary men - many away from home for the very first time.

Included are oodles of interviews, from the once young and grateful men and people of the town and surrounding farmland who gave of their very own goods or used ration cards to supplement their precious offering.

An uplifting, enjoyable read...



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The Bird Sisters

The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Bird Sisters
By Rebecca Rasmussen

Twiss and Milly, quirky spinster sisters in the twilight years of their life, who still live on the home place in Wisconsin and take in injured birds, had their lives change back in 1947. Milly, beautiful and quiet, likes to cook and has begun to fall in love and dreams of a marriage with children. Sarcastic Twiss, younger by two years, has a totally different temperament – she’d rather be outdoors and playing in the dirt. Milly is her mother’s favorite and Twiss – her father’s. When their sickly cousin Bett arrives for a summer visit, the whole family is falling apart, a marriage crumbling, with Milly and Twiss trying their best to fix and patch things between their parents.

Melancholy and sad, this book is a story of a great love between sisters and great sacrifice. Be prepared as the sisters flash back and forth between the present and past. Each chapter slowly reveals the reason why the sisters are alone, except for each other, in the present time.

“Life and death- what paltry words, what tarnished bookends, what unjust summation for drawing breath one moment and failing to release it the next.”
― Rebecca Rasmussen, The Bird Sisters






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