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Fall Reading At Its Best

By Gini Rainey

The Day John Died

by Christopher Anderson

Who has not been fascinated by one of the most famous families ever in the United States, and possibly the whole world? But most times with that fame and notoriety comes tragedy, and that was very true of the Kennedy clan. This book not only speaks of the tragic day that John Kennedy, Jr., his wife and sister-in-law lost their lives in a senseless plane crash, but also goes way behind the curtain and delves into a lot of the motivating forces throughout his life. Often mostly thought of as the brave little soldier who saluted JFKs’ casket as it passed by, that brave little soldier grew up to be a man his father would have been most proud.

Well written and extensively researched, Anderson (who also wrote The Day Diana Died) has provided the reader with a different and more human view of the Kennedys and what made them who they are. Anderson, in an easy to read and understand style, took his many sources and resources and wove them into a very interesting and personal look at not only John’s, but also JFKs, Jackie’s, Caroline’s, Bobby’s, and Ted’s lives and how they interacted with one another.

With a fairly impartial view of the Kennedy’s, Mr. Anderson has written a book that illustrates how much the Kennedy Dynasty not only impacted America, but also the people who live there. This book is definitely well worth the read.

Collusion of Angels

by Cynthia Boone

Once again Ms. Boone has written a novel filled with characters you will come to love and a story line that is filled with romance, self-redemption and, most of all, hope. When Kennedy Gray’s every-day, not so run-of-the-mill life ends with the tragic loss of her family and boyfriend, she is given a chance at a new beginning in the mid-west on a farm habitated by an order of nuns.

Under the nuns’ loving guidance, a very unhappy, self-loathing Kennedy slowly comes to terms with her past and, finding a new direction for her life, contemplates and enters a period of training and preparation as a novitiate to entering the Catholic order with the nuns who had virtually become her new family. What happens as she prepares for her future life in the convent changes her life in many positive ways. Meanwhile, as you would hope to have happen in a romantic novel, the stars and planets (along with the sisters) are aligning to bring together two star-crossed lovers.

If you’ve not read anything by Boone, this is a good one to start with. She has a wonderful way of creating characters that almost step right off the pages and make you want to know them even better. While her stories are fictitious, they hold a certain amount of reality to which a lot of readers can relate. Definitely a page turner, you won’t regret picking up and reading this book.