I’ve been reading probably more than I’ve been writing lately, and I’ve enjoyed some good books. I wanted things that weren’t too heavy so I could easily go between my kindle and my blog or my latest novel without the kindle calling me back too soon or being haunted by what I was reading. I failed the mission. Totally.

I found most of it difficult to believe, as what this main character put up with from her husband was absurd and not realistic, but this woman was a Southern lady, and I’m just a brash northerner. I’d have killed the bastard.

The first book was Leaving Before the Rains Come by Alexandra Fuller. Fuller writes of her childhood and family in her earlier books Don’t Lets Go To the Dogs Tonight and Cocktails Under the Tree of Forgetfullness. They are an English family of white farmers in southern Africa, having moved from Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) to Zambia, living through the Rhodesian war and experiencing great loss. As horrifying as it sounds Fuller’s family is so wildly entertaining (for all of their vices, trials and tribulations) that I happily went along for the ride. I love books about Africa, and while some only hint at the hardship and strife, Fullers books immerse the reader in it at one moment and have us laughing out loud at the next. Leaving Before the Rains Come is her personal memoir about the demise of her marriage to an American adventurer, her life back in the states and her realization she no longer is a daughter of Africa. While I did enjoy this book, and quite frankly this is about as raw as a biography gets, the parts not set in Africa left me wanting for her to be back there. It was thought provoking and very moving. So much for wanting a bit of light reading.

I went a tad lighter with Dorothea Benton’s Last Original Wife, a very funny novel about being the last middle aged wife in the country club she and her husband belong to, after their male friends have lost their wives to death or divorce and replaced them with “Barbies”. I found most of it difficult to believe, as what this main character put up with from her husband was absurd and not realistic, but this woman was a Southern lady, and I’m just a brash northerner. I’d have killed the bastard. Nonetheless, while predictable it was a fun, breezy read best to borrow, not buy.

I thought the next one I had in my kindle would be light, but Carolyn T. Dingman’s Cancel the Wedding was anything but. It was a romantic page-turner about sisters trying to honor their recently deceased mother’s wishes about where to spread her ashes, and realizing her life before meeting their father was a complete mystery. The story of the two sisters and a niece uncovering these secrets and learning about their family history, their relationships and their mother’s other life kept me engrossed, and I both laughed and cried reading this book. This is Dingman’s first novel, and I think she hit a home run.

So I’m 1 out of 3 on the light reading scale, and remembered I needed to read our book club’s next selection, Me Before You by Jo Jo Moyes. Oh, boy. This was a great, but tough book. This book is haunting. The premise is that a young unemployed woman is hired as a companion for a quadriplegic man eight years her senior. Louisa has little life experience and has been the “dumb” sister in the family, always not quite as good as her younger sibling. A heart wrenching tragedy from her teenage years has changed her perspective on life and the world, and she has settled for what she has, an OK job, and OK boyfriend, a room in her parents’ house. Losing the job forces her into the job market and this 6-month stint as a caregiver for a man who most of us would have defined as a lout before his accident. Will is a larger than life daredevil, motorcycle riding, mogul skiing, bungee jumping womanizer who specializes in hostile takeovers, and the pedestrian accident that leaves him paralyzed has made him lose any will to live. It’s Louisa’s job to make him want to live again, even in his shell of a body. It’s basically a story that asks, “who is actually saving whom?” And what choices would we make if in the same position?

I cried through most of the end of this book, it was touching and well written. I will say there was a bit at the beginning I felt I had to power through, which is why I give 4 vs. 5 stars, but I do recommend this book if only for the moral questions it will make any reader face. Well done, Miss Moyes.

So, while I didn’t do well picking a bit of light reading as of late, I have to say I enjoyed everything I did read. Any of us who own Kindles or Nooks, or iPads for that matter, know that book downloading from the comfort of the couch or bed is, as my friend Jenifer described it, “Like crack.” Way too tempting and satisfying (not that Jenifer or I have personal experience with crack, but we do with martinis). So I’ll go write something now instead. Or maybe just go peruse the bookshelf…

Happy Reading!

Deborah