Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult-  Zoe and Max have been through multiple IVF cycles. After the last pregnancy ends in a stillbirth, Zoe can’t wait to try again and Max is horrified by her obsession. He files for divorce.

In the aftermath of the divorce, Max becomes an evangelical Christian and Zoe falls in love with Vanessa.  When the women marry and decide that they want to try to have Vanessa carry the extra embryos to term, Max sues for the right to give them to his brother and sister in law.

The trial becomes a circus that pits right wing pastors against gay rights advocates.

This was a good book that is getting mixed reviews.  People think that the characters aren’t believable or that everything happened too fast. That makes me laugh. It has almost the exact same timeline as my life from divorce (also over child issues) to meeting a new person that I’m planning on living with forever. So, it happens. If that’s your own objection feel free to get over it. LOL

Eighteen Acres by Nicolle Wallace – This is the story of three women working in the White House. Charlotte Kramer is the first female President of the U.S., Melanie Kingston is her Chief of Staff, and Dale Smith is a network news reporter who has been having an affair with the President’s husband for three years. When the President’s helicopter is attacked during a clandestine trip to the Middle East, Dale is critically injured. At that point the President decides on a policy of total honesty that results in her announcing to the world that her husband is having an affair.

I read this during a flight delay and it kept me entertained. I think the story is possible but not probable.

Original Sins by Peg Kingman- Grace was born in Scotland and raised in India and China. She married a trader and now lives in 1840s Pennsylvania. When he returns from his latest trip to China, he brings Grace’s friend Anibaddah and her children. Anibaddah was born a slave in Virginia and escaped eighteen years ago. Why would she risk her freedom to return to the U.S. now?

The answer sends Grace on an extended visit to a Virginia plantation where she learns secrets about her family. This book was very good. Grace is a free thinker and a woman with a career at a time when both are suspect. The book does get preachy about the role of religion in slavery and about feminism but those are topics I was interested in so I enjoyed it.

The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard- I only picked this up at the library because it was set in New Hampshire and I need that for the Where are you reading challenge. It didn’t look like something I’d like and this was confirmed by a coworker who read the inside cover and said I would hate it.

Dana and Ruth were born on July 4, 1950 in a small town in NH. Ruth’s mother refers to them as the birthday sisters and insists on the families staying in contact even though they have nothing in common. This is the story of the girl’s lives.

That’s what the cover says. The book actually turns out to be quite twisted and every time you think you have it figured out, there is another twist.

The Union Quilters: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini – Why do I keep reading this series? I know what I’m going to get. The characters are so flat and indistinguishable that I never know who is who. There isn’t a lot of emotion or drama or suspense but I read them anyway.

This book takes place during the Civil War. The men of the town have enlisted, except for a pacifist and a freeborn colored man. The women are left to fend for themselves. They do a fine job and actually seem better off without the men. All in all it was pretty boring.

Where Am I Reading update – Rhode Island (Thank you, Jodi Picoult!), Washington D.C., Virginia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania