In Bonnie Mill-Lemke's new novel, "Mollie's Follies," the young, beautiful Mary Lynn Sharp, aka Mollie, is on the run when suddenly she revives from a two-week coma thinking about the last conversation she overheard. "Which hospital should we take her to, Branson or Springfield?" said one paramedic. "She'll need a neurosurgeon and Springfield-Burge is best equipped to handle a case like hers," said another paramedic. Mollie's "Shepherd Of The Hills Expressway" rollover auto accident in Branson, Missouri, is the worst. She doesn't do nearly as much physical damage to herself in that Crabtree, Oregon, car crash or New York State Dead-Man's Curve vehicle demolishing. And though there are decades of serial marriage, serious surgeries, substance abuse, and suicide attempts, Mary Lynn is still very, very beautiful. This book deals with alcohol and drug addiction; death; betrayal, cruelty, narcissism; faith, hope, tenderness; a protagonist with courage to admire; life lessons to ponder; and entertains with lots of double-meaning wordplay.

Every year I read the "New York Times top 10 best sellers list.
Trying to understand what makes them best sellers. Well. I just finished "Pretend I'm Dead" by Jen Beagin. I hated it. Reviews say it's brilliant, off-beat and deeply moving. Well it's off-beat okay. Nasty language. Too much graphic sex. Sickening. And I don't see anything brilliant about it. Go figure. Don't understand how this got on the top 10 list and if I live to be 100, I'll never understand it.