I just finished "American Wife".................it was surely not what I expected.  I thought it would (according to many reviews) be worse than R rated!!!  It did have some explicit sex, but you don't need that to appreciate how well written 3/4 of the book is!!!  The last part was disappointing...........just seemed in a hurry to wrap up the story.  It could have been many more pages and been much better!

This is supposed to be based on Laura Bush and George................if so, she comes across a a great person, and he, one to be pitied!

It is my greatest wish that I never have to hear the name George W Bush again in my lifetime.  If Laura is such a great gal, what is she doing with that criminal!

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. I thought this would be light and 'religious' being Christian fiction but boy oh boy was the topic deep! 8 yr old girl forced into prostitition, forced to have sex with her father, later when she escaped she was held prisoner by a madam in California and made to work for basically  nothing..never got her money and couldnt' get away. heartbreaking but I couldn't put the book down. I was expecting something much  lighter but not sorry I read it.

A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom.  Thought this looked interesting and boy was it.  Not a dry history book at all, very readable - fascinating.  Wives from biblical time to now in America. 

Susanna - I have read redeeming love and I totally agree!  If you haven't yet, you might like to read The Last Sin Eater, also by Francine Rivers.

I definitely plan on reading more of her books Rhonda but sure wont' be taken by surprise again! I knew the topic wasn't 'light' but I figured it'd be glossed over..I'm not used to getting so worked up over a book but this one along with The Color Purple should be required reading for every woman IMO!

Our Book Club just read Crazy Ladies by Michael Lee West. I expected a fun, lighthearted southern women's fiction. It was much deeper than that, still good, but not light.

I read Love Story by Erich Segal thinking it had to do with athletics.  I thought the book was OK, but I was a little confused.

I think my confusion came from Frank Shorter's autobiography, Olympic Gold.  I believe he mentioned that he was in the movie Love Story (just a cameo) but he surely wasn't in the book.