The Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg

 The second of my three library Berg books was a fun one. This cute little town of Mason, Missouri has some familiar characters from other books, and some new ones. This Confession Club allows Berg to let the women share a lot of their personal neuroses, fears, and intimate secrets. They are poignant and often funny. It's a clever way to reassure women that we all suffer from common insecurities. What's unique about this club, though, is that these women support each other and are kind. 

I fully expected them to be afraid for their friend who befriends and ultimately falls in love with a homeless transient person. He is a Viet Nam vet who suffers from PTSD... But everyone is supportive of Iris's choice and her actions. I enjoyed the parts where they both (Iris and John) was poetic about the joys of being outside and free. I could really relate to those feelings.

This was a quick, enjoyable, and cozy read. A perfect balm to take me away from the stress of our upcoming house sale and house purchase!

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

 I have read this book multiple times because I enjoy it so much. Each time I find new clues that foreshadow events coming up. There are delightful little nuances that crop up as I read slowly and carefully. Kingsolver's prose and characters are worth savoring. Now that I know the story so well, I can read slowly and not be impatient to know what happens next. 

I can't believe I haven't written about this book here before. It's definitely one of my top ten favorites of all time... I love the characters, I love the setting, I love the story, and I love how the characters evolve and change as the story unfolds. I have read it at least five times now, and enjoyed it again earlier this summer.

There's such a reverence for life here and much to admire as the characters face adversity. I am saddened every time I note the slight bitterness in Nanny's feelings about her daughter's birth defect and death. She is a practical woman who brings such goodness into the world, but will not acknowledge God's hand or existence. Deanna and Luza are also fascinating characters with colorful backgrounds that are slowly revealed. I love learning about nature through their conversations and thoughts, and I love the thought of the two of them becoming friends in the future; something only hinted at in this book. This is one of those nuances that I only noticed on the second reading.

The wicked sisters in law and Garrett are also great characters, and their development is also realistic and revealing. The author goes beyond the stereotypes to reveal the pain, the suffering, and the goodness that exists.

I also believe in the healing powers of nature and this book is a beautiful example of the many complex systems in nature and how one cog in the system affects other parts. It ought to be required reading for any aspiring farmer or biologist.