New Francine Rivers novel!

I just picked up Francine Rivers' latest novel, Her Mother's Hope, last night at B&N. I had no idea that she was even coming out with another book anytime soon, so when I saw it, I was excited. I read till 2am last night and have been trying to sneak a little in here and there today. Set at the turn of the 20th century, the book is actually two stories. The first half follows Marta, a young girl growing up in Switzerland, emigrating to Canada and then the US. The second half is the story of her daughter, Hildemara, growing up in the US... and since I've just started the second half, I don't know much more. It is written in typical F. R. style and explores the mother-daughter relationship model over three generations, (not unlike Leota's Garden.)

I also recently finished a loan from Shel, Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall. I'd seen and heard a lot about the book going into it, and although I liked the story, I am not a big fan of the writing style. It's a good story, but for some reason I felt like it just lacked something. (Maybe that's just part of being a true story, though, and not a novel-- you can't just rearrange events and facts to make a better read.)

I also just finished (sorry, guys, I'm wrapping it up here ;)) The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. This was my book club's read this month, and it was decent. I don't know that I would totally recommend it... it was interesting-- about five women in the 1960's who start a writing club-- but also had a few gritty parts (sexually graphic-- but not in a good way) that I could've down without. I did tackle some interesting issues though-- cross-cultural racism, infertility, and fidelity. If you are looking for a quick read, it's not bad.