Book #4: The Prize-winner of Defiance, Ohio

Title: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less
Author: Terry Ryan

This is a book that I wasn't expecting to like much. In general, I don't like those touchy-feely, warm-fuzzies kinds of books. When my mother-in-law was visiting this fall she had just started reading it for her book club, and she told me that she wasn't expecting much from it. But when I went to her house in December, she pressed it on me, saying that it was one I really should read.

So I settled into reading this book expecting it to be good for me but not totally enjoyable, kind of like taking vitamins.

I finished today, and I finally know what I'm going recommend at the book club meeting next week. This is the perfect book for a book club in its infancy: it's interesting, a fast read, a feel-good story, and it's perfectly PG rated. And while I really like liking the edgier stuff, this is a wholesome book I actually liked. A lot. I found myself rooting for Evelyn Ryan and her family. I really loved the glimpse into 1950s and 1960s Americana-- especially the ad industry at that time. And as a budding poet, I loved Evelyn's poems. It's probably what I'd call a "cute" book, but it's a cute book I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Up next: The Last Girls by Lee Smith. I bought this book today at Barnes and Noble with all three kids in tow. Someone had given me a gift certificate for my birthday, and I went to the register to find out how much it was for. By the time I got to the front, the two bigger ones were drooling at the pastry case in Starbucks, so I grabbed the closest book to the register that had an interesting cover.

--originally published 1/27/06