This was my first Kristen Hannah book, but not my last (currently, I have read one other book by her and plan to read more in the future). Ms. Hannah moved away from her romance focused books to delve into the depressing world of women's fiction, but I think her background as a romance writer helped to make this work much less depressing than the typical genre work. Also, Ms. Hannah's background as a lawyer makes the whole plot line work, as well as the real-life organization (The Innocence Project) the storyline takes its inspiration from. Not to mention, the setting for this book (rural west Washington).

It has been about three years since I read the book, but I can still remember certain scenes as if I read the book yesterday. This is a story that stuck with me - a good kind of stick. Three sisters live, love, and survive through roughly three decades. The story starts off with the death of their mother; their dad was a horse rancher who was a cold piece of fish. Each sister has her own physical, mental, and emotional characterization. From the author's website:

Winona,  the oldest, needs her father’s approval most of all. An overweight  bookworm who never felt at home on the sprawling horse ranch that has  been in her family for three generations, she knows that she doesn’t  have the qualities her father values. But as the best lawyer in town,  she’s determined to someday find a way to prove her worth to him.

Aurora,  the middle sister, is the family peacemaker. She brokers every dispute  and tries to keep them all happy, even as she hides her own secret pain.

Vivi  Ann is the undisputed star of the family. A stunningly beautiful  dreamer with a heart as big as the ocean in front of her house, she is  adored by all who know her. Everything comes easily for Vivi Ann, until  a stranger comes to town...

Everything rang true, and the sisters do have several falling outs with each other, making the whole story so real. Time and honesty heal deep wounds....except the dad stays a cold ass all the way through the book, but it is not a villain typecast.

PARIS -- Global stocks continued to drop on Monday, extending a sell-off from last week that was triggered by concern over an economic slowdown in China and tremors among emerging-market currencies.

Markets first became unsettled on Thursday, when a survey indicated a drop in Chinese manufacturing activity, the latest sign that a painful slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy is likely to continue.

When investors worry about global growth, they first pull back from riskier trades in emerging markets. That combined with concerns about specific countries — economic stability in Argentina and a political scandal in Turkey — to convince investors to sell off even more sharply.

"The growing turmoil in emerging markets is inflicting damage ... across the board," said Mitul Kotecha, head of global markets research for Asia at Credit Agricole CIB, in a report.

Asia closed sharply lower on Monday, and for a time it seemed as though sentiment had improved in Europe and the U.S., where indexes opened higher.

But the increases proved fleeting. London's FTSE 100 closed down 1.7 percent at 6,550.66. Financial stocks were hit after Royal Bank of Scotland warned its earnings would be hit by legal costs and charges.

The British index was also dragged down by a nearly 17-percent plunge in the shares of natural gas provider BG Group, which warned on its outlook due to turmoil hitting its Egyptian operations. Vodafone slipped nearly 4 percent after AT&T announced it was not interested in making an offer for the British mobile-phone service company.

Other markets fared better, but not by much. In Frankfurt, Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent to 9,349.22 while France's CAC 40 shed 0.4 percent to 4,144.56.

The Dow Jones industrial average — which on Friday plunged two percent, its worst day since June — fell 0.4 percent to 15,816.11 despite upbeat earnings from Caterpillar. The broader S&P 500 was down a sharper 0.8 percent at 1,776.56.

Among the biggest movers in financial markets were the currencies of emerging economies.

The Turkish lira hit a record low of 2.39 per dollar on Monday before recovering to 2.2889 per dollar after the central bank said it would hold an emergency policy meeting on Tuesday. The South African rand fell another 0.7 percent to 11.17 per dollar, and Russia's ruble fell 0.6 percent to 34.73 per dollar.

Stocks and currencies in emerging markets have been propped up for years by investors seeking higher returns using a tide of so-called "easy money" from the Fed and other central banks. But now that the end for those policies looks to be near, some investors are fleeing stocks.

In that light, investors will be looking forward to a two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve starting Tuesday, where officials are expected to reduce its monthly bond buying by another $10 billion to $65 billion. Recent signs of a sustained recovery in the world's biggest economy will play a big role in the decision by Fed officials.

The withdrawal of money from emerging markets is coinciding with a slowdown in their economies. Investors are sensitive to trouble in countries like China as they are playing an increasingly large role in the world economy. Emerging economies account for nearly 40 percent of the global economy, up from 18 percent two decades ago. China's share zipped to 14 percent from 4 percent, according to Societe Generale.

In Asia, investors sought out the perceived safe haven of the Japanese yen, which strengthened to a seven-week high against the dollar, and gold, which was at its highest in more than two months. The higher yen tends to hurt Japan's stocks as it makes its big exporters less competitive. The Nikkei briefly dipped below 15,000 for the first time since mid-November before closing 2.5 percent lower at 15,005.73.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.1 percent and Seoul's Kospi dropped 1.6 percent. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1 percent. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand also slipped. The Australian stock market was closed for a holiday.

(CNN) -- The arctic weather just keeps pounding people on the move.

Here are some tips to ease the trip home, but above all else, patience -- and caution -- will be key.

Rebook your flight for free. Airlines rolled out their customary winter weather waivers this week, so most passengers traveling to, from or through affected areas can make one itinerary change without paying a change fee. Delta, American, US Airways, United, Southwest/AirTran and JetBlue have all posted weather policies on their websites.

Act quickly. Rebook your itinerary as soon as possible. Other passengers are snapping up open seats as you mull over a new itinerary. Be sure that your airline has your e-mail address and phone number, advises Rick Seaney, CEO of airfare tracker FareCompare.com. If you didn't provide this information when you purchased the ticket, go online and add it.

Follow your airline and airport on social media. Many airlines and airports post the speediest updates to their Twitter feeds, so start following them now. Sign up for airline alerts to get flight updates e-mailed to your smartphone.

If you're stranded, multitask. Get online, get on the phone and get in the ticketing line (if you're already at the airport). With thousands of flights delayed or canceled, competition will be fierce for seats when operations start humming again. Get airline apps for your phone and try to contact your airline on Twitter, Seaney suggests.

Elite fliers should use their loyalty program hot lines and head to frequent flier lounges for better access to airline reps. "This might be the time to spring for a lounge day-pass just to gain access to these folks," Seaney wrote in an e-mail.

Use the Next Flight app and type in your city pair to get the next flights for the major airlines, suggests Benet J. Wilson, Aviation Queen travel blogger. Then, call the airline on your cell phone and give them your preferred options.

Charge your devices. Hopefully, you're not among those travelers stranded at the airport, where jockeying for electrical outlets is inevitable. Charge up before you head out, and keep a car charger and a power pack or a few battery chargers for your portable electronic devices handy.

Check your flight, no matter where you're going. Think you don't have to worry about bad weather because you're flying from sunny California to sunny Florida? Not so fast.

"Because airlines operate networks, a storm affects not only flights in its immediate location but even those in far-removed locations not affected by the storm," said Cynthia Barnhart, an MIT engineering professor who teaches airline schedule planning.

Check your aircraft's journey on your airline website or with an app like Flight view.

Don't be a jerk. "The airline representatives did not make it snow," Seaney reminds travelers. "We've heard many anecdotal stories over the years from airline representatives who tell us it's a lot easier to find a good flight for a pleasant passenger than for one who is screaming at you."

Use common sense: Don't drive into a storm. It's treacherous out there. Monitor your local and regional forecasts, and don't drive if you don't have to.

AAA advises motorists to check tire pressure and make sure car batteries, cooling systems and antifreeze levels are in order. Keep gas tanks close to full, the automobile association advises, so that you'll be able to run the engine for heat in case you get stranded.

AAA suggests keeping the following items in your car: a shovel and a bag of sand, a snowbrush and ice scraper, jumper cables, a spare tire, windshield wiper fluid, a cell phone and car charger and blankets, gloves, hats and food, water and essential medication.

I have a sincere necessity to emend my definition of deferred gratification with respect to erudition, in consideration with a supplementary addendum of superfluous expansion.

In plain English?  I requested too many galleys this month, got approved, and now I'm behind. =/