My new favorite author really just might be Elizabeth Strout!  While it is true that I might just fall for every author that I read, I did read a couple of her books recently upon recommendation, and they were great!


First, I read My Name is Lucy Barton, which was exceptional.  It was a quick read, but definitely a pleasant one, despite some tough issues at some parts, but that's books. 


I was so blown away by the first book, that when I was literally handed a copy of one of her other works, Abide With Me, I was excited to read it.  This is a compelling look at the life of a minister, painting him and his flock as very real and quite human.  It is so easy to forget this when one interposes the Almighty with a community of believers, but Strout presents her characters in a compassionate, and eventually hopeful way, despite the inevitable tragedies and tests of life.


It may happen that I read more of her books, which would be an edifying activity, surely.  I was definitely moved by both of these books. 


Now I'm reading health books for awhile.  Wish me luck!