A Recent Find

My daughter and I share a common interest in "religious sightings", such as The Holy Tortilla, The Chocolate Virgin, Jesus on Grilled Cheese, and others. So when I saw a library book titled The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard (2006), of course I had to try it.
Hey, it's a really good book. Small Plains is a small town, and the female in the title is not a virgin. When the townspeople find a young woman's body which they are unable to identify, they give her a Christian burial, and as years go by, a legend grows that she was a virgin and is subsequently credited with performing miracles for those who pray to her.
There is another story being told at the same time about two teenagers who are truly in love. The scene where they decide to consummate their relationship is one of the sexiest I've ever read. I'm not a fan of gratuitous sex scenes written to sell books, but this is instrumental to the story. You can almost feel the heat between these two.
I have since read sever books by Nancy Pickard, and she's always good. I liked this best of all.

And just a little more...

I hadn't quite finished the book when I wrote that first post, because this is not the type of book you read quickly. I have now finished it, and am more impressed than ever. Barbara considers the viewpoints of both the vegetarian and the carnivore fairly, and gives the reader a lot to think about. Their family eats meat and shares in the responsibility of converting a living animal into food. She doesn't try to pretty it up, which leaves me full of admiration for the frankness and honesty. While many readers may go "Eeeewww", my feeling is 'Get over it. Didn't you know that's how the chicken starts it's journey to your grill?'
You can learn a lot from this book, and there are many laughs along the way.

First, Best, Current, Important

Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007)
Many of us are familiar with Kingsolver's earlier work -- The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible, and other excellent fiction. This one is fact.
She tells the story of when their family moved from Tucson, Arizona (around 2003) to a farm in Appalachia, where, as a family they made a committment to eating only locally produced food. Each family member was allowed to choose one item that couldn't be grown locally. The father chose coffee. Barbara chose spices. The elder daughter chose dried fruit, while the younger one had to have her hot chocolate. They learned to produce their own food, or to buy from local farmers. Barbara and the girls even became proficient at making cheese.
Anyone who likes gardening will enjoy the seasonal stories, and persons who are interested in health aspects of organic food will enjoy the rest.
My short description doesn't, of course, do the book justice, but let's hope I get better at this. Suggestions would be welcome.
The book is excellent, and probably available in your local library.