By Rosie Moore

“Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She looks forward to it. Se even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason she calls them. Their life–as she sees it–is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.” From the book, “The Girl On the Train” by Paula Hawkins.

If this paragraph doesn’t whet your appetite, well, there aren’t many people who will be able to resist finishing this book. It is thrilling, tense, and wildly unpredictable.

On the other side of the literary equation is another book by Maeve Binchy, one my favorite writers. I thought I read all of her books but happened on one called, “Minding Frankie.” She has done it again with yet another warm tale of a single father trying to raise a child he didn’t even realized he conceived. A must read!

John Grisham has a new book out titled “Theodore Boone: The Fugitive.” I haven’t read it yet, it’s next on my list. I don’t know how he does it, the words seem to just flow from his mind continuously. I think this is his 28th or 29th book. Most of you know that he and Maeve Binchy are two of my favorite authors.

One day I decided to make a pot of home-made potato soup. I set it on the burner and turned it on medium. Then I picked up a book, fully intending to check on my soup in about fifteen minutes. Not to be, I became so mesmerized with what I was reading that I fully forgot about my soup. Luckily, I jumped up and saved it from being scorched. The book that enthralled me was titled, “Well, what Did the Doctor Say?” by our own Dr. Jim Ferguson, who writes a column in The Knoxville Focus every week. Needless to say, I now have three favorite authors on my reading list. How fortunate I am to be acquainted with such a prolific writer. I am adding a picture that was taken at his book signing.

Congratulations, Dr. Ferguson!

I cannot comment on a book I haven’t read yet but I’m going to get it as soon as possible. Written by a man I’ve admired for many years, Tom Brokaw, an ex-NBC news reporter and journalist–he writes about his life being “Interrupted” by cancer. Another must read!

Last, but not least, I want to add that Dr. Ferguson and I have something in common. He calls it a “quirk”, reading two or three books at a time. I thought I was the only person who did that.

Also, I always read the last page before I start a book. My daughter thinks that utterly reprehensible. Now, how “quirky” is that?

Thought for the day: A man is not old as long as he is seeking something. Jean Rostand French biologist and moralist.

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