Terrie
Shelf Control and Books from the Backlog #6

These mid-week memes suit me well because they provide me a quick reminder to check my own shelves and see what interesting books are lingering there. How about you? Why don't you feature one of your shelf books (or e-reader) and see if that helps you decide to read it or toss it.
Shelf Control and Books From the Backlog #6
Both of these memes target a particular problem of mine - reading books I already own. Like many of you, I'm sure, I can't stop adding to what I already own and my stacks grow while my pocketbook shrinks!
Shelf Control is hosted by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies. Every Wednesday you have the opportunity to peruse your shelves and share one that is STILL sitting there. Details here. I may not make it EVERY Wednesday, but I'm interested because my shelves are TOO full.
Books From the Backlog is hosted by Carole's Random Life and, similar to Shelf Control, it's about acknowledging and READING something I already own. Posted weekly on Thursdays, just visit the link, leave a link to your post about a book you have on your shelves that you'd like to read sooner rather than later.
I've owned this novel since June 2018 - and I've dusted it SO many times. Read or keep dusting?????

Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Published 2014; 320 pages
from Goodreads:
Hank, Leland, Kip and Ronny were all born and raised in the same Wisconsin town — Little Wing — and are now coming into their own (or not) as husbands and fathers. One of them never left, still farming the family's land that's been tilled for generations. Others did leave, went farther afield to make good, with varying degrees of success; as a rock star, commodities trader, rodeo stud. And seamlessly woven into their patchwork is Beth, whose presence among them—both then and now—fuels the kind of passion one comes to expect of love songs and rivalries.
Now all four are home, in hopes of finding what could be real purchase in the world. The result is a shared memory only half-recreated, riddled with culture clashes between people who desperately wish to see themselves as the unified tribe they remember, but are confronted with how things have, in fact, changed.
There is conflict here between longtime buddies, between husbands and wives — told with writing that is, frankly, gut-wrenching, and even heartbreaking. But there is also hope, healing, and at times, even heroism. It is strong, American stuff, not at all afraid of showing that we can be good, too (**this is why I want to read this, I think) — not just fallible and compromising. Shotgun Lovesongs is a remarkable and uncompromising saga that explores the age-old question of whether or not you can ever truly come home again — and the kind of steely faith and love returning requires.
Oh dear - I just noticed this book was LOANED to me by my sister. In 2018. Hope she wasn't expecting it back soon. LOL. She loved it, so I should read it, right?
Hope you join the fun and share what's been lingering a LONG time on your shelves. Happy Reading.
