aired the week of July 11, 2022

This Shining Life by Harriet Kline is told from multiple points of view, but mainly revolves around Ollie who is eleven, his mother Ruth and father Rich who has just died of brain cancer.  Ollie is certain his dad gave him one final puzzle before his death and if Ollie can just figure it out he will know what it means to be alive.  For fans of Phaedra Patrick, Hazel Prior, Freya Sampson and Jojo Moyes' Me Before You.

 aired the week of July 4, 2022

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a classic work of the Beat Generation published in 1957.  In the book the main character Sal Paradise who is Kerouac himself travels the country from New York to San Francisco via Denver and back again working odd jobs, hitchhiking and meeting up with friends, sharing drugs and philosophizing.  It captures an era although not my favorite read.

 aired the week of June 27, 2022

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is a coming of age story that involves a cross country road trip.  Set in 1954 brothers Emmet and Billy set off from their family farm in Nebraska to travel the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco to find their mother.  But when Emmet's friends from the work farm he was on in Kansas show up plans get changed and they end up heading for New York City on the unforgettable road trip of a lifetime.

 aired the week of June 20, 2022

The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels introduces us to Robin Windsor who has spent her whole life in hiding thanks to her father's treasonous acts.  As a teenager she moves to Michigan to live with a grandma she has never met and meets Peter a high school senior who befriends her and they share books and dreams.  Now Robin is back in River City and the owner of a used bookstore that is about to go under if she doesn't do something to save it.  Can she step out of her shell long enough to save her dream and learn to accept help from others.  For fans of inspirational women's fiction.

 aired the week of June 13, 2022

Gods of Howl Mountain by Taylor Brown tells the story of Rory Docherty a wounded veteran of the Korean War who returns home to the hills of North Carolina to run bootleg whiskey.  Rory is trying to find the one-eyed man who attacked his mother and killed his father before he was born. A southern gothic tale full of quirky characters.  For fans of Wiley Cash, Charles Frazier or Brian Panowich.