Book Nerd Alert

I am supposed to be reading Jaycee Duggard's book for book club. But when we met and decided on that book, I was in the middle of "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy.

 

I took me about 3 months total to finish this book.  It was recommended by a friend who was a literature major.  He said it was his favorite book, a must read, and loaned it to me along with a stack of other books. 

I understand why he enjoyed it.  It was one of those "make you contemplate life" books.  The book questions where we get our sense of right and wrong.  Does society dictate morality? Does the church? Is it how our parents raise us? Or is it something inate? 

This is something I had thought about before.  And something I still can't answer.

The story was very sad and depressing.  The prose was a bit wordy and drowsy at times, also.  But I finally finished!  Mostly because I wouldn't let myself move on to my next book without finishing, and I wanted to start on the Jaycee Duggard book.

Book #2

Then, someone at work was talking about this great book she read about the Lutcher Stark family from Orange, Texas. She had it on her desk and offered it to me.  I could not resist, because it sounded so good.  I hate to keep loaned books for too long, so I wanted to finish this one before I started the Jaycee Duggard book.

"If the Devil Had a Wife" by Frank Mills is a true story about the grandaughter of L.J. Stark's journey to uncover the family history.  I'm sure everyone from East Texas and West Louisiana has heard the names Lutcher and Stark.

At one point, they were the richest family in the South, with their fortune coming from timber on both sides of the Sabine River.  They had so many skeletons in their closet, the closet could have been a graveyard.  Deciet, murder, fraud, money laundering, DNA tests, lesbianism, theft.  You name the drama, their famiy had it. And its a true story!

This book further convinced me that money can be a curse.  When you have money, people will stop at no cost to get a cut of the pie.  The only heirs to a Texas dynasty were deprived of their inheritance and their relationship with their father because of one greedy, manipulative, awful woman.

I recommend everyone read this book.  At times, it was a bit hard to follow all the legal jargin, but overall a great story of a granddaughter trying to expose the truth.  It would make a great movie!

Finally

So I am finally going to start Jaycee Duggard's "A Stolen Life."  Tropical storm Lee has brought perfect reading weather!

Have you read any good books lately?