The 6-Month Report, Y'all + A Mini-Review

Hello, people.  Here's the mid-season report:

35 books read (4 DNF - did not finish):
4.0+ -   1 - yep - The Sweetness of Forgetting - Kristin Harmel
4.0 -     3 - 2 more by Harmel - The Room on Rue Amelie & The Life
                  Intended - she is crazy good
                  1 - I can't tell you about this one because it's in ARC form - it
                  will hopefully be published later this year
3.75 -   2
3.625 - 2 (feel free to make fun of this rating)
3.5 -     4
3.25 -   8
3.0 -   10
2.75 -   1
2.5 -     3
2.25 -   1

Local authors - 13
Fiction - 30
Non-Fiction - 5

Bardwell's Folly, a love story, by Sandra Hutchison:

Young Dori Bardwell's father was the white southern author who wrote THE book about slavery, built a replica of a plantation house in a small New England town, and then flew most of his large family into the sea. She's preoccupied with keeping food on the table, protecting her father's last, unfinished manuscript from a media baron, and figuring out whether her ex is messing with her or just trying to get her attention again.
But when her thoughtless racial joke goes viral, it launches her and a new African American friend on a journey into her Southern heritage that might just lead her right back to where she started.

I liked this a lot.  Of course it didn't hurt that a big part of the book is about books and manuscripts.  But aside from that, I got caught up in the story and made an emotional connection with Dori.  In fact, there is a scene that takes place at her work where I wrote "Not right!"  I obviously didn't like the way she was treated.  And there is another passage that lists quotes on a Twitter page that led me to comment "Ouch."  These are, of course, in addition to emotional reactions I had in several other places in the book.  So, all in all, I liked the story, the writing, and my connection to the protagonist.  I intend to get my hands (and eyes) on her other 2 books - The Awful Mess and the Ribs and Thigh Bones of Desire.

One small note:  On page 50 Dori says:  "...she's always been one to stop and smell the flowers."  This brought a smile to my face because I couldn't help but think about the children's classic Ferdinand.  I can't explain, nor is there actually a medical explanation, for how my mind works sometimes.