Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Some stories are just feel good stories. Where the heart is is one of them. Novalee, a 17-year-old is pregnant and living in a Walmart off hours. She becomes friends with wonderful people in this small southwest town.

Billie Letts has written several novels, all with good plots and heart-warming characters.

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july recommendations-an incident-elephants and more elephants

Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Modoc, a circus elephant ant Bram, the son of the elephant trainer were born in a small German circus town on the same day in 1896. The boy and animal grew up devoted to each other. When the czircus was sold to an American, with no provision to take along the human staff, Bram stowed away on the ship to prevent being separated from his beloved Modoc. A shipwreck off the Indian coast and a sojourn with a maharajah were only the beginning of the pair's incredible adventures. They battled bandits, armed revolutionaries, cruel animal trainers, and greedy circus owners in their quest to stay together.

The story was written by the man who owned Modoc for the last 20 years of her life. A wonderful, true story

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july recommendations-an incident-elephants

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
jacob Jankowski is a 90-years-old curmudgeon residing in a nursing home. The story begins in his memory with a disaster in a Benzini circus tent. The novel then tells the story of Jacob' life as a circus vet in that circus during the Great Depression, up to and including the fire. The circus lore is described in fascinating detail and the human-animal bond is beautiful to watch.



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july recommendations-an incident-east of the mountains

East of the Mountains by David Guterson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ben Givens is a retired surgeon with a terminal diagnosis of colon cancer. He decides to leave this earth on his own terms and skip the final months of pain. So he sets out across the Cascades in Washington state for a hunting trip, planning to take his own life once he reaches the high desert. A car crash en route puts an initial crimp in this suicide mission. But he presses onward--and begins a simultaneous journey into the past. Between present-tense episodes, which demonstrate Ben's cranky commitment to his own extinction, we learn about his boyhood in Washington's apple country, his traumatic war experience in the Italian Alps, and the beginning of his vocation. A coming of age novel for those of us who think we are already grown up.


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july recommendations-an incident

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In the The Curious incident Mark Haddon leads us through a bizaare "crime" into the mind of an autistic child. EveWe close the book with a better understanding of the mind.

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july recommendations-cathedral epic

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In depth look at the building of a cathedral in the 12th century. Characters and politics and setting are thoroughly described. A nice long read!

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