Author: Jean M. Auel

I don’t think I read this book previously but I know I’ve read each of the first four in the series at least twice and it may have been more for the very early ones. Diane gave me most of the books for birthdays through the years. There was nine years between book five and book six (which I started last night) so, knowing there was a long lag between books, I may have put off reading #5 until #6 was released. There were only a few sections that seemed somewhat familiar, but then the life of the characters in all the books is much the same – a struggle living in ancient times.

Ayla and Jondalar have made it over the glacier and have arrived at Jondalar’s home cave after a very long journey. Their arrival, with two horses and a wolf in tow, causes a lot of interest and disbelief with the other members of the cave. The two are officially mated and Ayla delivers her first daughter, but her second child. Her first, Durc, had to be left with the Clan when Ayla was shunned.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *

Author: Sandra Ritter

This was written by an acquaintance and I learned a lot about her life – maybe a little too much information.

But, after Pat’s book came out, I wondered if people would feel the same way.

Author: Nadia Hashimi

I’ve had this book for quite awhile but I first heard of it long before I picked it up (from somewhere). I don’t know why it took me so long to read it; maybe because the recommendation came from a friend who has passed and I didn’t want to break that small connection.

The book follows the lives of two Afghan women; Shekiba is the great-great-grandmother of Rahima. The story is told with a chapter about one woman and the next chapter about the other woman. I found this to be very confusing and eventually blocked off a section and read only one story and then, on another sitting, went back and read the chapters of the other story.

Both stories are interesting but at the end it felt unresolved. For that reason, and the way it is written, it dropped lower on my Goodreads scale.

Goodreads Rating: * * *

Author: Maysie Greig

I found another old one on the bookshelf. I remember how I got this one though; Audrey and Jackie gave it to me when we were at Roberta’s farm for a cousins’ get-together.

The book, written by Maysie Greig, was first published in 1941. The book I have is a reprint from 1944. Greig was considered the most prolific woman novelist of the time; there are 64 other books listed on the pages of this book, and 172 books are credited to her and her aliases. The book is a romantic novel and pre-dates the first Harlequin book by almost ten years.

The inscription on the cover notes it was given to Grandma McKnight at Christmas, 1945 when she would have been 57 years old. She’d been a widow for over five years at the time. There is no indication of who gave her the book.

Goodreads Rating: Forget the story, the book is priceless to me!