FINISHED -

1. "TEXAS-SIZED TROUBLE" (Wrangler's Creek #4) by Delores Fossen (A+++++) A local girl comes home to face the cowboy from her past - and  finally claim her future...Lawson Granger loved Eve Cooper once, but her dreams were grander than anything his Texas-cowboy destiny could provide. Letting her walk out of his life and into television stardom was a mistake he made eighteen years ago. Now everything’s changed. Eve is back - pregnant and desperate for someplace to hide. And their desire is just as stubborn as they are. Escaping to the comforts of home is Eve’s one shot at giving her baby a safe life. Earning Lawson’s trust is her one chance at making amends for the past. But the long-buried secrets and unintentional damage she fled from aren’t far behind. When the truth finds her, she stands to lose the man she loves and the only place she’s ever called home…this time forever. "COWBOY DREAMING" (Wrangler's Creek #3.5) by Delores Fossen (A+++++) How to lead a Texas cowboy into temptation…Despite his parents’ pressure to be a doctor, ranch hand Josh Whitlock has everything under control. That is, until Hope Applewood - his boss - trades in her dusty jeans for a sexy little red dress. Now Josh’s self-control has gone up in smoke…taking his common sense with it. That must be why he’s agreed to fake a relationship so they can prove something to both their families. Sure, there’s always been a bit of a simmer between them. Now the simmer is up to full boil as their new “relationship” sets the tongues of Wrangler’s Creek wagging. Even as their little scam works its magic, Josh knows he’s just opened Pandora’s box - filled with feelings he’s been hiding since meeting Hope. But when a cowboy makes a deal, he always sees it through.
2. "KISS ME THAT WAY" by Laura Trentham (new author for me) (Cottombloom #1) (A+++++) A river divides Cottonbloom in two: the upscale enclave on the Mississippi side and the rundown, rough and tumble side in Louisiana. They’re worlds apart - but nothing can build a bridge like love…Cade Fournette never had it easy in Cottonbloom. He stuck around long enough to raise his orphaned siblings and then hightailed it out West - and never looked back. Even though he’s made a success of himself in Seattle, Cade never lost the toughness and the angry edge that helped him survive down South. His only weak spot: the girl he left behind...Monroe Kirby came from the wealthy side of town, but that didn’t protect her from her mother’s drinking - or her mother’s boyfriend. It was Cade who did that, on a long-ago hot September night, before he disappeared…along with a piece of her heart. Now Monroe is a physical therapist who can fight for herself, and it’s Cade who could use some conditioning when he makes an unexpected return back home. Will he and Monroe pick up where they left off and finally explore their mutual passion - or will the scars and secrets of the past divide them once more?
3. "SERENITY HARBOR" by RaeAnne Thayne (Serenity Harbor #6) (A++++) In the town of Haven Point, love can be just a wish - and one magical kiss away...Computer-tech millionaire Bowie Callahan is about the last person that schoolteacher Katrina Bailey wants to work for. As far as she can see, he’s arrogant, entitled and not up to the task of caring for his young half brother, Milo. But Kat is, especially if it brings her closer to her goal of adopting an orphaned little girl. And as her kindness and patience work wonders with Milo, she realises there’s more to sexy, wary Bo. Bo never imagined he’d be tasked with caring for a sibling he didn’t know existed. Then again, he never pictured himself impulsively kissing vibrant, compassionate Katrina in the moonlight. Now he’s ready to make her dream of family come true...and hoping there’s room in it for him, too.
4. "THE BONE TREE" (Penn Cage #5) by Greg Isles (unabridged audio CD) (A+++++) Former prosecutor Penn Cage and his fiancée, reporter and publisher Caitlin Masters, have barely escaped with their lives after being attacked by wealthy businessman Brody Royal and his Double Eagles, a KKK sect with ties to some of Mississippi’s most powerful men. But the real danger has only begun as FBI Special Agent John Kaiser warns Penn that Brody wasn’t the true leader of the Double Eagles. The puppeteer who actually controls the terrorist group is a man far more fearsome: the chief of the state police’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, Forrest Knox. The only way Penn can save his father, Dr. Tom Cage - who is fleeing a murder charge as well as corrupt cops bent on killing him - is either to make a devil’s bargain with Knox or destroy him. While Penn desperately pursues both options, Caitlin uncovers the real story behind a series of unsolved civil rights murders that may hold the key to the Double Eagles’ downfall. The trail leads her deep into the past, into the black backwaters of the Mississippi River, to a secret killing ground used by slave owners and the Klan for over two hundred years . . . a place of terrifying evil known only as “the bone tree.” The Bone Tree is an explosive, action-packed thriller full of twisting intrigue and deadly secrets, a tale that explores the conflicts and casualties that result when the darkest truths of American history come to light. It puts us inside the skin of a noble man who has always fought for justice - now finally pushed beyond his limits. Just how far will Penn Cage go to protect those he loves?
5. "LOVE UNDER SEIGE" by Samantha Kane (Brothers in Arms #2) (A++++) Phillip Neville and Jonathan Overton have been best friends since childhood. When they return to England as veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, they enter the marriage market. It doesn't take long for them both to fall deeply in love with shy, awkward, beautiful Maggie Trueheart. Phillip and Maggie marry, but Phillip and Jonathan do not tell her about the menage a trois marriage the two men hope to have. When Maggie finds out, it takes the persuasive power of both men to convince her that this threesome was meant to be. In the process of helping Maggie discover the sexually aggressive woman inside herself, Phillip and Jonathan realize their love for one another is more than friendship. Before the two men can consummate their relationship, however, a brutal attack on Maggie and Jonathan's self-recriminations drive the lovers apart. It will take all the love and determination the three possess to achieve their happily ever after.
6. "HOT IN HELLCAT CANYON" (Hellcat Canyon #1) by Julie Anne Long (A+++++) A broken truck, a broken career, and a breakup heard around the world land superstar John Tennessee McCord in Hellcat Canyon. Legend has it that hearts come in two colors there: gold or black. And that you can find whatever you’re looking for, whether it’s love…or trouble. J.T. may have found both in waitress Britt Langley. His looks might cause whiplash and weak knees, but Britt sees past J.T.’s rough edge and sexy drawl to a person a lot like her: in need of the kind of comfort best given hot and quick, with clothes off and the lights out. Her wit is sharp but her eyes and heart - not to mention the rest of her - are soft, and J.T. is falling hard. But Britt has a secret as dark as the hills, and J.T.’s past is poised to invade their present. It’s up to the people of Hellcat Canyon to help make sure their future includes a happily ever after.
7. "TWO BY TWO" by Nicholas Sparks (abridged audio CD) (A+++++) At 32, Russell Green has it all: a stunning wife, a lovable six year-old daughter, a successful career as an advertising executive and an expansive home in Charlotte. He is living the dream, and his marriage to the bewitching Vivian is the center of that. But underneath the shiny surface of this perfect existence, fault lines are beginning to appear...and no one is more surprised than Russ when he finds every aspect of the life he took for granted turned upside down. In a matter of months, Russ finds himself without a job or wife, caring for his young daughter while struggling to adapt to a new and baffling reality. Throwing himself into the wilderness of single parenting, Russ embarks on a journey at once terrifying and rewarding-one that will test his abilities and his emotional resources beyond anything he ever imagined.

CURRENTLY READING -

1. "Gastien: From Dream to Destiny" (Gastien #2) by Caddie Rowland (reading on a Kindle app on my computer)
2. "Seven Stones to Stand or Fall" by Diana Gabaldon
3. "Smooth-Talking Cowboy" (Gold Valley #1) and "Seduce Me Cowboy" (Copper Ridge #3) by Maisey Yates

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO -

1. "Dark in Death" (In Death #46) by J.D. Robb (listening on an Audible app on my cell phone)
2. "Hell's Corner" (Camel Club #5) by David Baldacci (unabridged audio CD)

Finished in August

                            Always Watching  by:  Chevy Stevens

                            The Mountain Mother Cipher  by:  N. S. Wikarski

                            True Colors  by:  Kristin Hannah   for book club

                            Pariah  by:  Thomas Zigal

Currently Reading:  The last American Man  by:  Elizabeth Gilbert

Hope to get to:        The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys  by:  Doris Kearns Goodwin

                              The Condition  by:  Jennifer Haigh

                              Tales From the Firozsha Baag   by:  Rohinton Mistry

Reading:

The Vanishing American Adult by Ben Sasse

Mislaid: A Novel by Nell Zink

Breaking Creed by Alex Kava

Finished:

Money for Nothing by Edward Ugel

Building A Bridge by James Martin SJ

Good News, Bad News by David Wolstencroft

Getting in Tune by Roger Trott

Sad Bastard by Hugo Hamilton

Searching for Fannie Quigley by Jane Haigh

The Mistress of the Vatican by Eleanor Herman

The Hill by Ed Hommer with Daniel Paisner

Ride on the Wind. by Francis Chichester. I don't think this book is in the pbs catalog. Account of a trip taken in 1936 in a small single engine seaplane. Many years ago I read another book by Chichester that was an account of his sailing single handed around the world. He was 68 I think when he took that trip. He was also Sir Francis C. I don't know what you have to do to become a Sir. On this trip his intent was to make it back to England. This book starts in Australia and ends in Japan when he crashs his plane.

Whiteout: Lost in Aspen by Ted Conover. non fiction. His experiences driving a taxi cab in Aspen CO.

Pouring six beers at a time: And other stories from a lifetime in Baseball. by Bill Giles. very entertaining read.

also reading Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden. interesting combo of bio and history.

Nothing Daunted was a long magazine article and expanded into this book. There are several threads to the story and they are not always handled well in the opening chapters.

I am reading To Reach The Clouds by Phillippe Petit, his chronical of walking a tightrope between the Twin Towers back in the 1970s.  I remember when this event happened (yes, I am that old).  The book is written rather whimsically, with short chapters that advance his story from crazy germ of an idea through its development into reality--the scheming, dreaming, gathering supplies, enlisting accomlices, the set-backs, etc, through to the Big Day and aftermath.  Oh to be young and crazy enough to not only dream of such a thing, but carry it off.  He came to regard the WTC as "My Towers".   

I always thought this story was fabulous and am enjoying the book very much.  When I visited the memorial last year, I searched and searched until I found a tiny reference to this event--I thought it deserved more celebration there (something happy and marvelous among all the devastation and sadness).  

Four Wise Men by Michel Tournier. translated from the French.

Just finished the Feed trilogy by Mira Grant..now to finish Breathers...then back to the cozies.

Just starting The Purity Of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen. A Department Q novel. I love this series.

Finished this month--- The Stargazey by Martha Grimes,  A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick, St.Dale by Sharyn McCrumb, The Chocolate Bear Burglary by JoAnna Carl, The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas, Restoring Grace by Katie Fforde

Currently reading--- Cat's Eyewitness by Rita Mae Brown & Chains of Command by William J. Caunitz

I’m about half way through The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond. It’s about this sort of cult determined to make everyone’s marriage work that this couple inadvertently become a.part of and can’t get out. More and more dire occurrences happen. Even it’s odd I am rather enjoying it. I like Michelle Richmond.

Noodling for Flatheads: Moonshine, Monster Catfish and other Southern Comforts by Burkhard Bilger. non fiction.