Hometown Girl

This was such a fun read. From the first chapter of the book I connected with the main character, Jocelyn. She was living in Utah and, with some encouragement from her friends, left the comfort of what she knew to tackle a new life. She's inherited her grandmother's house, the house she spent much time in and where many memories lived. This book to me was of tackling the next big challenge, of confronting and embracing the past, of taking chances and of finding yourself. LOVED IT!

Band of Sisters

This book belongs on my list of favorites. It is a tale of 5 women who bond while their husbands are deployed in Afghanistan. They share in the tragedy of death, the loneliness of deployment, and the joy of life. I read this book and connected with each of the characters, even though I've never experienced anything of which these women faced. It was a good reminder that people are not always what they appear, that with the Lord's help we can get through anything, and that there is really nothing more powerful or unifying than a group of righteous women.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I've NEVER read a book that made me upset and anxious every time I opened or, or even thought about it. I've been reading it for several days and made it about half way through, but I just couldn't do it. I didn't follow the characters, I never really caught the story line, and while I think if I would have finished it I may have had some appreciation for it, I didn't feel it worth my time. I told Lori about this and she started laughing at me, making some comment about how I must really like structure in my book (true statement). So, if you've read this book, do you want to tell me how it ends??

As Time Goes By

This book was another book that is not on my typical list of reading, but it was a great read. The story covers the Carlyle family and their experiences being scattered across three continents during World War II. It's a story of responsibility to country and to family and a tribute to the survival of the human spirit. This isn't necessarily a quick read, but worth the time.

The Attack on the Lusitania

Add this to the list of recently read...The Attack on the Lusitania tells the story of one of the largest and fastest luxury liners. On its journey home to England, with just shy of 2,000 people on board, a German sub attacked. It took only 18 minutes to sink such a large ship and nearly two-thirds of the passengers and crew lost their lives on this fateful day in 1915. 

The first part of this book moves a little slow as the author is building each of the characters story. Soon, the lives of three strikingly different characters is intertwined in this tragic story. Something I learned from this book was that people are people, no matter what, and each is important.Also, that forgiveness is truly the key to happiness. The main characters come from different classes in different countries, and in some instances with misguided ideas, but the concern each person shows for the other is evident as the story progresses.

Winning Mr. Wrong

I recently read this book. I typically read murder mysteries but have started branching out a little bit and picked this up from the romance section - totally not my norm. There were several times throughout the course of the book that I would burst out laughing while reading...trust me, I got a lot of weird looks. If you're looking for a quick read (I read it on my lunch break in about 3-4 days) and need a good chuckle, I recommend this.

Reading

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. May I recommend some of my favorites??