Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

HALLIE: So good!! Pleasant and enjoyable the whole way through, this book had the perfect pace. Switching between two different time periods and settings, the author makes sure you never get bored. The ending is the best part by far, but the entire book is satisfying. Awesome!

TOMASEN: LOVED the entire book and there could not have been a more perfect ending!!!

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

This was pretty good, but slow at parts. A ton of my friends rave about this author, but she definitely isn't one of favorites. This is the second one I've read of hers, and I think (if I remember correctly) I liked the other one-This Lullaby-better. Easy reads, and good moments, but not great.

Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand

I loved this book because it was just easy and fun to read. Claire, the main character finds herself in the midst of having an affair with an older man to which she can't seem to say no to. The part that is interesting is that she appears to "have it all" with four children and a husband and the house and so on. Doesn't everyone? But the near loss of her fourth child forced to to retire from a part of herself that she desperately needed. She is an artist, a glassblower, and it is this same gentleman who encourages her to get back to what it is that feeds her soul. It is the classic mothering story of finding that balance between what makes us happy and what makes the rest of our families happy. Finding balance is eventually what Claire does...almost anyway. It ends as the affair winds down and Claire rediscovers a sense of peace with her family and herself as an artist.

A great beach read...

Tomasen: I could identify with Claire on many levels...although the intense glassblowing while pregnant bothered me!!

Pillars of the Earth and World Without End by Ken Follett

Well...this summer I read both of Ken Follet's books that are the doorstoppers...literally. Lugging them to and fro was a bit much, but the truth is that I just loved them both. I also love how the characters in the second book are related to the characters in Pillars. They are generations apart, but Jack the builder and Aliena are referred to and remembered. I loved the strength of Aliena and how she maintained such a level of independence. It always amazes me when male authors can do this. He did the same thing with the female character in World Without End, Caris. She was, however a bit extreme for me, always sacrificing her own wants and needs for that of any and everyone else. But that idea of independence was appealing, especially considering the time period in which these two books were set.

And so I set them both heavily into my bookshelf where I store only my all time favorite books.

I would absolutely recommend both of these books!!

Pope Joan

This was a really amazing read and I know everyone's first comment is that a female can't be Pope, but the truth is this woman becomes Pope by pretending she is a male her whole life. The story starts with her as a young girl whose older brother begins to teach her her lessons. She has an incredibly stunted father who doesn't believe woman should learn so they have to keep everything secret. Basically this girl is incredibly intelligent and curious to learn but she keeps running into these incredibly huge obstacles because no one is used to a girl being this intelligent, they think it's pretty much the work of the devil. Finally she takes over her brothers persona and the whole world opens up for her. It is a really interesting read, as said before, the only thing that annoyed me is the names of the characters. They were awkward to say and that totally annoys me! lol

Hornet Flight

Yet another Ken Follett book. Shorter this time. It was centered around the beginning of the Danish Resistance Movement during WWII and it was very sad because since it was the begginning you kept relating to these characters and then they would die because they sucked at actually being spies. But overall it was a great read again.

Pillars of the Earth

I was not as enamored with this book as everyone else I had heard but I did really enjoy reading it. It was a thousand page book and yet I still didn't want it to end. Ken Follett is a great writer who really knows how to make you relate with each and every character whether or not you agree with their beliefs/actions. Certainly reccommend this for everyone!

Tomasen: One of the BEST series EVER!!