A Summer Affair

This was a true beach read, and yet, it had some depth. I enjoyed it a lot. It is about Claire Danner Crispin who lives on Nantucket with her husband and four children. Due to an accident while pregnant with her fourth child, she has decided that she will not work, but instead will just raise her children. As a well-renowned glass blower with pieces in museums, it is a decision that leaves her empty inside. And when she is asked to co-chair the Summer Gala, a huge charity event, she goes from being the perfect mother to having an affair with the rich man who also convinces her to return to her art. The fact that she doesn't realize that it is her art that is making her feel alive -- not the balding, slightly pudgy man she is sure she is in love with; only makes the reader want what is best for Claire and her family.

In fact, I just downloaded a couple of other books by Hilderbrand to my Kindle -- and I am lucky, she has written 8!

A World Without End - Sequel to Pilars of the Earth

This one started out really great, as great as The Pillars of the Earth. But the last 100 pages or so were pretty predictable. In fact, a lot of the things that happened were predictable. But that was okay -- it is still a GREAT read and I was very sad for it to end.

Respectable Trade

I really like Philippa Gregory as an author. I think she is an amazing historical fiction writer, she knows how to pull you in and keep the story interesting. This was a different type of story than she normally writes (King Henry 8th), but because I like her I decided to give it a try.

It's about a woman who marries this man because she really has no other prospects and this guy wants to move up in the world by marrying her. He owns a shipping company with three ships and quickly moves onto slave trade. They also devise a scheme where they will bring a few good looking slaves back, train them in english and household chores and then sell them. Now of course the woman has no say in any of this because she is "owned" by her husband, so she gets stuck training these slaves and falls in love with one of the male slaves. Then the husband goes way too far into debt and you can probably guess how the story plays out.

It was nicely written but really not that great. I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters.

Moloka'i

This book is about Hansens Disease, more well known as leprosy. It tells how way back when Hawians were so frightened of this disease that if anyone got it they were shipped off to this quarantined settlement and had to live their lives out there. Didn't matter your age or anything, you were immediately shipped off and potentially might never see your family again. Many times the family were then shunned because people blamed them that someone in their family had gotten this horrible disease.

It is a beautifully written book, I never wanted to put it down, and the story of this one girl, taken from her family at age 7, and how she still had a wonderful life. She never let her disease get her down and it really was such a beautiful story.

I would most definitely suggest reading this!!!