The Wily O'Reilly

The Wily O'Reilly: Irish Country Stories: Irish Country Stories by Patrick Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A compilation of the famous Dr. Fingal O'Reilly stories before he became so famous. Patrick Taylor originally wrote about the Irish doctor in a series of columns published in Stitches: The Journal of Medical Humour before publishing them as a book in later years. Doc's antics will crack you up as he interacts with his Ulster town residents at the pub, the Mucky Duck, and in his surgery. Our favorite characters are back like Kinky, Donal Donnelly, and O'Reilly's leg humping, very large dog, Arthur.

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The Lost Husband

The Lost Husband by Katherine Center
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Libby Moran has been struggling after the horrible car accident that killed her husband; she and her two young children have lost their home and moved in with her pharisaical mother, who harps on poor Libby about everything. It’s so bad that when Libby’s Aunt Jean (the aunt she’s never met) offers her the chance to move in with her, Libby jumps at the chance, packs up immediately, and burns rubber leaving town before her mother returns from her date. Once they reach Atwater, Texas and Jean’s goat farm, Libby and her kids fall in love with the goats, the farmhouse, Aunt Jean, and the quiet beauty of the hill country. In fact, they sleep better than they have in years, perhaps from the daily chores and lack of electronic devices including the television. Libby’s job is to help run the farm, milk the goats, make the cheese, and offer their wares at farmer’s markets under the tutelage of O’Connor, the very hairy but likeable farm manager who croons to goats. Libby begins to wonder what the man looks like under all that fur but she soon learns that O’Connor has his own tragic past and issues to overcome.

A wonderful book about overcoming tragedy and bullies and yes, finding love again - you’ll fall for Libby’s adorable kids, sweet Aunt Jean, and all those cute goats named after famous people. Written in first person, you’ll also crack up over some of Libby’s helicopter parenting thoughts about her kids and O’Connor.


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Big Stone Gap

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ave Maria isn't the person she thought she was - it wasn't until her beloved mother's death that Ave finds in a penned letter that the aloof father she knew wasn't her birth father. She had always felt different and looked different than the townsfolk in Big Stone Gap, a tiny town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The town loved her mother, who served as a seamstress to every wedding and prom over the years. Ave helped her mother, stayed clear of her father, and then went to college to take over the family pharmacy. But now at 35, Ave believes that finding her father's family in Italy is the key to her fear of finding love. In retrospect, Ave will find that there is one man who has loved her since sixth grade and will quietly do anything to help her find herself and her Italian family.

This is a story of waiting on love with the help of funny, quirky characters like Iva Lou, sexpot, operator and librarian of the Bookmobile. What small town doesn't have them including my own. I suppose that's why I enjoy Trigiani's novels so much.

A favorite quote is: “...I've made it my business to observe fathers and daughters. And I've seen some incredible, beautiful things. Like the little girl who's not very cute - her teeth are funny, and her hair doesn't grow right, and she's got on thick glasses - but her father holds her hand and walks with her like she's a tiny angel that no one can touch. He gives her the best gift a woman can get in this world: protection. And the little girl learns to trust the man in her life. And all the things that the world expects from women - to be beautiful, to soothe the troubled spirit, heal the sick, care for the dying, send the greeting card, bake the cake - allof those things become the way we pay the father back for protecting us...”

The novel's sequels are: Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and Home to Big Stone Gap.

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