One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

Such an interesting idea and intriguing beginning. The subtitle of this book is The Journals of May Dodd and the entire book is written in letter and journal form. At a peace conference in the 1850's, a Cheyenne chief tried to negotiate with the US Army for a gift of one thousand white women to be brides for his warriors. The Army rejected the offer, but this fictional book is based on what might have happened to one woman if the deal had been accepted. Sounds great, huh? Well, I just had a hard time getting into it. The plot moved slowly, and each time I'd pick it up, I felt like I was reading the same part I'd read the previous time. So I skimmed through the middle and moved to the end. Overall, it just wasn't what I'd hoped it to be. -June

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Push yourself to make it through the first chapter, and you'll be rewarded with a wonderful story. Like Olive Kitteridge, this is a book made of short stories with various characters who all are linked together. Sometimes it's hard to make the connection that they have, but eventually you realize what it is. The characters are beautifully described, and the writing is excellent. Here's one of my favorite paragraphs. One of the female characters is describing her ex-husband. " Some people think love is the end of the road, and if you're lucky enough to find it, you stay there. Other people say it just becomes a cliff you drive off, but most people who've been around awhile know it's just a thing that changes day by day, and depending on how much you fight for it, you get it, or you hold on to it, or you lose it, but sometimes it's never even there in the first place." Wonderful book. -June