The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck

Read, reviewed, and released in June, 2012

I am glad I bought it, and glad I read it! I thought it was something I "should" read, as it is a well-known classic, but I didn't know I would enjoy it so much. I couldn't put it down, took it everywhere, read it at the table and in bed.

It is a story of a man, a Chinese farmer sometime before the Revolution, and his everyday life, his family, his ambitions, hopes and dreams, losses and disappointments all told in a somewhat formal, almost stilted style. The man and his wife are named (Wang Lung and O-lan), but his children are only eldest son, younger son, third son, younger daughter, and "poor fool", his "imbecile" daughter who could only smile and play with a piece of cloth.

The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough

Book image courtesy of Amazon. com

Read and reviewed in January, 2012, given to a relative

A wonderful book! I don't know why I waited so long to start it! Much more than just an illicit affair with a priest, a dramatic saga featuring four strong women in four generations*, and the trials and tribulations of managing an Australian outback station.

*Mary Carson, Fiona "Fee" Armstrong Cleary, Meghann "Meggie" Cleary O'Neil, and Justine O'Neil

Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

Book image courtesy of Amazon.com

Read and reviewed in November, 2010. It is no longer in my possession.

A very well-written coming-of-age story about a young boy and his hunting hounds, his adventures coon hunting in the Ozark backwoods, and the bond between him and his dogs.

A Painted House, by John Grisham

Read and reviewed in April, 2004; no longer in my possession

This book was wonderful - I couldn't put it down! I was so interested in the characters and their lives, and I still wonder how some of them turned out.
Unlike most of Grisham's novels, this is a "coming-of-age" type story about a boy in rural Arkansas in the early 1950's - the trials and tribulations of farming,
and the people who populate the town and their own farm during harvesting season.
It involves detailed descriptions of violent scenes, so it is not for the squeamish.