December - Jan - The Fire and the Ore by Olivia Hawker

 The Fire and the Ore by Olivia Hawker

Based in part on author Olivia Hawker’s own family history, The Fire and the Ore is the compelling story of three courageous women who were forced to endure great sacrifice during the Utah War. Combining a heartrending narrative with richly detailed historical accuracy, this novel reminded me of both Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds and Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven.

Drawn together by a man who had secretly embraced polygamy, Tamar, Jane, and Tabitha have little power and few choices within the patriarchal leadership of the Mormon church. All three women need their marriage for reasons of their own, and yet they can’t reconcile themselves to their circumstances.

But when the United States Army marches on Utah Territory, the women and children must retreat into the hostile desert wilderness. The three wives must cooperate if they hope to keep themselves and their children alive—and in the process, each finds a new definition of family, one that unites her with her sister-wives in a bond stronger than the ties of faith and marriage

October - Frances and November - Linda

OCTOBER - Frances

Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand

The Carmichaels and the Grahams have gathered on Nantucket for a wedding. Plans are being made according to the wishes of the bride's late mother, who left behind The Notebook: specific instructions for every detail of her youngest daughter's future nuptials. Everything should be falling into place for the beautiful event - but in reality, things are far from perfect.

While the couple-to-be are quite happy, their loved ones find their own lives crumbling. In the days leading up to the wedding, love will be questioned, scandals will arise, and hearts will be broken and healed. Elin Hilderbrand takes readers on a touching journey in Beautiful Day - into the heart of marriage, what it means to be faithful, and how we choose to honor our commitments.

NOVEMBER - Linda

The Ones We Leave Behind by Deanna Lynn Sletten

Diane picked up her mother’s phone. “How do you feel about your mother being let out of prison today after sixty-five years?” the reporter asked. Diane stared at her mother. “My grandmother is alive?” That one phone call hurled shock waves throughout the entire family.

1955 – Anna Bergman Craine’s life changes in an instant when she commits a crime of passion and is sentenced to life in prison. Leaving behind two young children, she is left alone in the world, never to hear from family or friends again. Decades later, she is set free and finds she has a family that has chosen to forget her. What caused this beautiful, intelligent, young woman to commit such a drastic deed that would pull her away from everyone she loved?

2020 – Diane Martin is shocked to learn that not only is her maternal grandmother alive, but she’s just been released after decades in prison. Against her aging mother’s wishes, she visits the older woman and soon hears a tale of the events that led up to that tragic day in 1955. Diane realizes that her own life has mirrored that of her grandmother’s and, had circumstances gone differently that fateful day, she might have experienced the same fate.

A heart-wrenching story of a family torn apart because of a moment in time and trying to put the pieces back together after being separated for decades.

September - Nancy - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.