How About A List of 4.0+ Books (because I haven't posted enough lists!)

This is DEFINITELY the last list I'm going to give with ratings.  Of course, if I've already got 4.5s and 4.25s, and now 4.0+s, there's not much room for anything else (5.0s, maybe? nah).  So, with that upbeat introduction, here are a few other books that match the 4.0+ rating I just gave Goodnight June.  These books are solid 4.0s - and a little bit more.

Let's do 'em in alphabetical order:

1.  Exile, Richard North Patterson - An American Jewish attorney, who had an affair with a Palestinian woman in law school, is asked to defend his ex when she is accused of assassinating the Israeli prime minister in San Francisco.  The story takes place 13 years after they graduated from law school.

2.  Me Before You, JoJo Moyes - A British girl in her mid-20's loses her job at a diner and finds employment taking care of a man who is a quadriplegic after a tragic accident.

3.  Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline -The fictionalized account of a young girl who is an orphan and who is sent from New York to farm country in the Midwest in the 1920s.  The story is told by the young girl, as an older woman, to a 17-year old misfit, who is helping the older woman clean out her attic in order to stay out of a juvenile detention center.  The orphan train actually existed from 1854 to 1929.

4.  Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, Beth Hoffman - In the 1960s, a 12-year old girl is sent from Ohio to live with her great-aunt in Savannah, Georgia, after her mother dies and her father is unable to take care of her.  It's an age- and culture-clash.

5.  The Angels' Share, Rayme Waters - A young woman, who is a recovering meth addict, and who has repeatedly been abused by her boyfriend, ends up, in a very strange way, working at a Napa winery.

6.  The Clifton Chronicles, Jeffrey Archer - A 5-book series (so far).  It's one of those series that chronicles the lives of families from different parts of the world through multiple generations and multiple wars.  It's one of my all-time favorite series.  Book 1 is Only Time Will Tell.

7.  The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, Billie Letts - A Vietnam vet, Caney, has a failing diner in Eastern Oklahoma.  Caney has barely left the diner in 12 years.  When a young Crow woman pops in, carrying a 3-legged dog, turmoil ensues - but in a good way.

8.  The Kent Family Chronicles, John Jakes - This may be my favorite series ever.  Book 1, The Bastard, starts just before the American Revolution, and book 8 finishes up the series in the early 1900s.

9.  The Lost Saints of Tennessee, Amy Franklin-Willis - A Southern working class family, led by a 42-year old father of 2 girls, an overbearing mother, and an ex-wife, goes through a lot of ups and downs.

10. The Storyteller, Jodi Picoult - a 25-year old Jewish woman, who holds herself responsible for killing her mother in a car crash, starts attending a grief counseling group. She befriends an elderly man who is highly regarded in the community.  He tells her that he was a Nazi concentration camp commander and asks her to help him die.  It's not uplifting, but it is mesmerizing.

That's it, people.  And let me reiterate - THIS IS MY LAST LIST! (until the next time)