Reading recommendations: The Light Between Oceans, a novel, M.L. StedmanAfter four harrowing years on the western front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one still birth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby's cries in the wind. A boat has washed up on shore carrying a dead man and a living baby.Tom, whose records as a light house keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny infant to her breast. Against Tom's judgement, they claim her as their own and call her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.This mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel's decision to keep this "gift from God." And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their north star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another's tragic loss.Exquisite and unforgettable!And, The Great Escape, a novel, Susan Elizabeth PhillipsLucy Jorik is a champ at never embarrassing the family she adores; not surprising since her mother is one of the most famous women in the world. But now Lucy has done just that, and on her wedding day, no less, to the most perfect man she's ever known.Instead of saying "I do" to Mr. Irresistible, Lucy flees the church in an ill-fitting blue choir robe and hitches a ride on the back of a beat-up motorcycle plastered with offensive bumper stickers. She's flying into the unknown with a rough-looking, bad-tempered stranger who couldn't be more foreign to her privileged existence.While the world searches for her, Lucy must search for herself, and she quickly realizes that her customary good neighbors are no defence against a man who raises rudeness to an art form. Lucy needs to toughen up and fast.Her great escape takes her to his rambling beach house on a Great Lakes island. Here, she hopes to find a new direction, and unlock the secrets of this man who knows so much about her but reveals nothing about himself. As the hot summer days unfold amid scented breezes and sudden storms, she'll also encounter a beautiful troubled beekeeper, a frightened young boy, a modern day evil queen, and a passion that could change her life forever.Susan Elizabeth Phillips tells this funny, touching, enchanting story of a young woman searching for her destiny, and of a damaged man who doesn't believe in second chances.And, one other book I'd like to mention - 50 Beautiful Deer Resistant Plants, The Prettiest Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, and Shrubs that Deer Don't Eat, Rogers Clausen, Photography by Alan L. DetrickThose of us living in rural areas, or even in the edge of town will welcome this beautiful book.Such versatile and drool-worthy options: white snowdrops that bloom in the spring, shade-loving electric Hakone grass, long-blooming Texas sage in vibrant reds, peaches, and pinks; and the feathery foliage of Arkansas blue stars (that glow golden in the autumn) to name a few.And here' the best part; your gorgeous garden will be irresistable to everyone, BUT THOSE PESKY DEER!See you at Rylander!