In The Land of Believers by Gina Welch ✔✔✔✔

I don't even remember how I found out about this, but when I read about it, I downloaded it immediately. Gina is a young woman who decides she wants to write about evangelical Christians by "embedding" herself in one of their churches, and chooses Dr. Jerry Falwell's church. She is an athiest, and remains so throughout the book, but nonetheless is changed by her experiences there - she even gets baptized by immersion! She also attends something called a Scaremare, which I had never heard of - a sort of haunted house experience designed to scare you enough into becoming a Christian - yes, I kid you not!

I was wondering how she would get herself out of all this, so it was very interesting to read, and find out the members' reactions to her book.

The Art of Racing In The Rain - Garth Stein✔✔✔✔

This story was so close to David's situation right now, plus his relationship with his golden retriever, Charlie. It tells the story of a family with the dog, Enzo, as the narrator. Here's the beginning:

"Gestures are all I have; sometimes they must be grand in nature. And while I occasionally step over the line and into the world of the melodramatic, it is what I must do to communicate clearly and effectively....I have no words I can rely on because, much to my dismay, my tongue was designed long and flat and loose, and...an even less effective tool for making...sounds that can be linked together to form sentences"

But Enzo is also a very important character in this novel, as he nurtures and helps heal Denny, his owner, Eve, Denny's wife, who is dying of cancer, and their daughter,Zoë.

This would be a wonderful book for a Book Club to read and discuss.