Happy Friday!  Last night Joey and I gave our white picket fence a fresh coat of paint, brewed beer, had pizza delivered and watched Big Brother.  The sun was out till 9 PM, there was so much extra daytime and summer is the best ever!

In other news, this week I finished book club book #4, Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger.  It was one of those books that grows on you and by the end, you’re sad that it’s over, ya know?  The narrator is Frank Drum, who recounts growing up in a small Minnesota town during the summer of 1961.  Though he’s an adult at this point, he tells the story as he experienced it, as a 13-year old who’s still got a good sense of childhood naivety and innocence.

There are five deaths that summer, one of which being Frank’s (and younger brother Jake’s) older sister, Ariel.  That’s a lot of death for one small town and a lot for a kid to take in, so we get to see Frank coming to terms with the realities of life and how that plays into his belief system.  And as death is very much a part of real life and something we’ve all had to encounter, I think the plot had a relatable feel to it.

Kent Krueger did what I think is a somewhat difficult writing task and that’s creating an interesting (and believable) plot while still giving attention to his characters.  I find that most books lean towards one of the other, but this one had an attention grabbing plot and characters, whom by the end, you really felt like you knew.  I loved that!  Also, it had this Stand by Me type of feel, what with the whole young boys find a dead body thing.  As a fan of that movie, I’m A-OK with reading a book that reminds me of it 🙂

What are you reading this summer?