Reading Report

Lakeside Cottage by Susan Wiggs won the Rita for best contemporary single title last year, which seems odd since it was published the year before. But what do I know of contest technicalities? Literary contest winners are the single most successful recommendation source I have found. Since I had read one of Ms. Wiggs' historical stories without any emotional investment she was on the bleh list. There are lots of fine writers who do not appeal to me. Winning the Rita garnered Ms. Wiggs a second chance to engage me.

She did.

Almost too well. The characters were so vivid that they lingered in my head pushing aside the much raunchier cast of Zara and the Pirate. One of the things I am still pondering is how she managed such believable conflict between equally sympathetic characters. Lovely job.



Ms. Rachel Gibson's I'm In No Mood For Love is the other title from last week. Ms. Gibson's name on the cover is all it takes for me to purchase a book. Fortunately for my purse, she's a moderately productive writer publishing an annual book that I know will make me smile. She continues to do her job.