July 3, 2017 ITS MY PARTY

Can't believe The Belle of the Book is already celebrating 1 year. Wow--that flew by. When I first started the blog--I wasn't sure where it was going. It REALLY was DAUNTING--to start a blog and put myself out there. The blog has grown, changed and taken shape through--TRIAL AND ERROR--and --I think I have found a formula that works well--for now.  As a writer, the trick is to balance the blog. Some posts are serious and I HOPE YOU REALIZE--many are not. My posts are all the things I'm thinking about or doing that take shape in MY MIND. They are my reality--the way I see things-- or remember things. I hope some of the topics I have chosen has been informative, made you stop to think--or at the very LEAST--given you a chuckle--hopefully--at my expense. That would really make me happy. MOST IMPORTANT--I hope my blog has opened your mind to a few new books--that maybe you wouldn't have otherwise read. That would be FANTASTIC.  The blog has over 15,000 viewers from all over the world- China--Portugal--Russia--Germany and even Egypt. WOW--the internet is incredible. I hope you continue to read my blog and share it with your friends. Because tomorrow is the anniversary of our country's  Independence what better book to review then--Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson.

Pete Snow is a divorced social worker living in Tenmile, Montana, an impoverished town. He has a reputation for handling the most difficult cases including that of 11 year old Benjamin Pearl--a starving almost feral child living in the Montana wilderness with his father, Jeremiah Pearl. Jeremiah is well-known to the F.B.I. for his extremist Christian views and criminal record. Jeremiah is a survivalist whose paranoia borders on insanity. Just as Pete starts to gain the trust of Jeremiah, the F.B.I. gets classified information that he is a homegrown terrorist and a manhunt ensues. Pete knows that Jeremiah is different but he is also not a terrorist. However, the authorities ignore his pleas to leave the Pearl family alone. Pete is also in the midst of dealing with his dead-beat ex-wife and his daughter who has gone missing. Will the F.B.I. contain the situation or will several people die? Will Pete convince both parties to back away? Will Pete find his daughter? Find the answer to these and many other questions when you read this novel that questions freedom, community, suspicion, and difference. It's 470 pages--about a 6 mile run--that is relevant today--and begs the question: are any of us really free?? Happy Fourth of July!