Favorite Summer Reads

One of the perks of being a housewife is I have a lot to time to read...and read I do! Here's some books that have made an impression on me this summer.

Sarah's Key Quite possible one of the most touching, unforgettable books I have read in a long while is Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. It is a heart wrenching account of a young Jewish girl living in Paris during World War II, who makes a life-altering decision that, sixty years later, an American journalist finds she has a connection to. I highly recommend reading this - You. will. be. moved. Just make sure to have the tissues handy!

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea  On the opposite end of the spectrum of touching the heart-strings, is Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by comedian Chelsea Handler. This, I pray it's not all true autobiographical account of the comedian's life is, in a word, inappropriate. Make that wildly inappropriate. Yet I could not stop laughing! I even read this during a plane ride and had fellow passengers glance over at me because I was laughing out loud... a lot. I would not recommend this book for anyone under the age of 21 but for a fun, zany look at life, this book is great! *Warning: Do not let Grandma dearest read this! 

The Sookie Stackhouse Series I am a huge fan of the HBO television series True Blood, but am just now reading the novels it is inspired by! I say inspired by because there a lot of differences between the show and the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. They follow the crazy, abnormal life of northern Louisiana's Sookie Stackhouse, herself a telepath, and her encounters with the "out of the coffin" vampires, especially Bill and Eric. Along the way she meets several other creatures, including shape-shifters and werewolves. Like the show, I literally cannot put these books down! I am almost through with the third installment, Club Dead. While they differ from the show, I like the changes because it keeps me on my toes and I am not sure what to expect! These books are intriguing, witty, and I'll be honest, quite steamy. But if you have seen the show and are a fan of Eric's Alexander Skarsgard, you won't mind! 

"Eric" - 'Nuff said. 

One Day Sometimes I read a book that reminds me to not judge by the first few chapters. One Day by David Nicholls is one of those. Slow to start and get in to, all of a sudden I found myself enthralled in the relationship between Dexter and Emma, curious where their lives would take them next. This book is unique in that each chapters is a different year in the lives of the main characters, on the same day in July. We follow Dex and Em from college to budding careers and beginning their families. By the end, I felt connected to the two, as if I knew them. It's a sweet, if not realistic, love story. A movie based on this novel is coming out soon, starring Anne Hathaway...though sadly, I have not heard the best reviews. I am sure I will still watch it anyway!

With the upcoming move, I finally convinced Ian to part ways with some of his ginormous book collection. I am going to take a bag of our books today to try and sell back to Hasting's. There are some books I refuse to give away, but for the most part I don't feel the need to save everything I read. My husband on the other hand, begs to differ. See this bag here?

A whopping THREE of those books belonged to the hubs. His only response is "blame my Dad, he taught me to keep everything!" So thanks, Colin, if you read this! ;-) 

As you can see, I tend to read mostly "girly" books, where the husband's genre of choice is non-fiction war accounts. He maintains that a fun game to play would be "Guess whose book this is" since our titles range from the Shopaholic series to comparing the Taliban to Russian war tactics. Some how I don't think the game would be too hard to win...