Monday Mini-Reviews: Buckeye

You're probably going to hear this a lot this year, but I'm finding it so hard to read when my mind is preoccupied with work.  And that frustrates me because I love reading.  And it would provide some great stress relief if I didn't find my mind wandering right back to work things.

Finally, this weekend I became immersed in Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. It is as amazing as everyone is saying.

Bonhomie, Ohio, is the small town where Cal and Becky after marrying young.  Cal works for Becky's dad at the local hardware store that her family owns and shortly after they marry, they have a son, Skip.  

Margaret is an orphan who was raised in a series of foster homes before she became a permanent resident of the orphanage where the woman running it takes Margaret in.  Once she's grown, Margaret moves to the city where she meets Felix. The two date and marry, and though there aren't any fireworks, the two get along well enough and then move to Bonhomie where Felix has taken a promotion in his job. 

This story spans decades and Becky who wrote a letter to herself on her twentieth birthday asks her husband not to let her open it until she turns sixty.  There are many changes in the world and in their own personal lives as time passes, and eventually Margaret and Felix and Cal and Becky become tied together in a way they would never have predicted.

I haven't had a five-star read in a while, but this is definitely one.  I'm hoping that since I've been able to concentrate on this story, I might find another that will also keep my attention.  

Book clubs everywhere, this would be a fantastic pick. Jenna Bush Hager has already chosen it for the month of September and she isn't wrong in calling it one of her favorites in perhaps a decade.