Two Page Turners

Page turners are books that keep you hooked from the first page to the very last and heaven help anyone who interrupts you while you're in the grips of such a book.  For some inexplicable reason I tend to gravitate toward women writers. Not that I have anything against male writers, John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks are often on my reading list.

Last week I had to stop by the library to pick up a book on reserve. After locating it in the Holds area, I happened to pass by a wall with three, maybe four shelves, with several books on them. On one of the shelves, the necklace: thirteen women and the experiment that transformed their lives by Cheryl Jarvis caught my eye.

I picked it up and opened to the preface where I read, "On September 18, 2004, thirteen women in Ventura, California, went together to buy a diamond necklace. Within months the media picked up their story. People magazine ran a feature. Katie Couric reported on the venture for the Today show. Other segments followed on Inside Edition, the Early Show, and KCBS-TV's Studio Two in Los Angeles. Fox Searchlight Pictures bought the movie rights. Because the group was in its infancy, the flurry of news stories barely got beyond the purchase. No one knew then where the necklace would lead, least of all the thirteen women who'd bought it."

The book is divided into 13 chapters with each of the women telling their story about how they were picked and how the necklace transformed their lives. Both books are written by women about women. They are uplifting, well-written, thought-provoking and demonstrate, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the power of women either singly or as a group, which leads me to my second page turner.

If you recall, Jenny Sanford was the wife of governor Mark Sanford who was having an affair with a woman in Argentina.  She learned a day ahead of most Americans that he had not ended the affair when said he did.  In StayingTrue, her "candid and compelling memoir, she reveals the private ordeal behind her very public betrayal and offers inspiration for anyone struggling to keep faith during life's most trying times."

Jenny Sanford is a woman of faith and it is her faith as well as her determination to not only stay true to her moral compass but more importantly to rebuild her life for her and her four sons and do it within the public eye with dignity and conviction.

In these trying times where the world is in a topsy-turvy, chaotic state, both books offer hope for the human race. Through these books it is obvious women are not the weaker sex as many men would have us believe. We are strong, competent, compassionate, educated, intelligent and hard working. And when faced with adversity or have a goal or cause in mind, nothing but nothing will stop us until we've succeeded.

Happy Reading!

Namaste
Chris