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Patty Loveless has provided the soundtrack of my life. My highs and lows, my triumphs and heartache (I’ve been there before), my country roots, and my big dreams have all been reflected in her songs. How lucky I’ve been to listen along! And yet, until recently, I’d not paid as much attention to a key part of her oeuvre.

I brought Joanne White’s first novel, Bay Island Girl, on a recent vacation, expecting to dig my toes into the sand and let the breeze carry me through the pages. I don’t usually read the crime genre, but thought it would be a great vacation read. I wasn’t expecting an in-depth look into the psyche of a female police officer suffering from the same debilitating brain disease as I do, PTSD. Compassion is a driving force in this text.

If I were to choose a last book to finish off my life with the way one might choose a last meal, I’d choose Anne-Marie Turza’s The Quiet. Even after years of rereading, I’m still moved to think and look and breathe differently after spending time with it, asked to attune to smaller, overlooked orders of life.