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This month, my book group read THE SOUND OF GRAVEL by Ruth Wariner, which was published in 2016. We have been reading recently published books, but one of the group members had read it and loved it. I read it when it first came out, so I was interested to see how the group would react to it.

First, everyone who gathered with us around the fire outside at Julia’s beautifully decorated patio had finished it and loved it. Bravo! Even one member who was not able to attend sent us a note that she loved it. Not only did we have an in-depth conversation, Julia had done a deep dive onto Ruth’s website and shared some follow-up information on the family. And we talked about the terrible shooting in 2019 that killed members of Ruth’s extended LeBaron family in Mexico when it is believed they were attacked by drug gangs. I loved how we darted from one topic to the next, completely engaged with the book. We also did comparisons to Tara Westover's memoir, EDUCATED. I think it was one of our best discussions.