The Luxe

Book recommendation of the week: The Luxe by Anna Godbersen. This is the first book in a four-book series that I loved. It takes place in Manhattan 1899 and is about the social society of some of the young and rich. It has good plot twists and great characters. I've always enjoyed books set in this era, with all the gowns and mansions and social callings. Fun!

Robinson Crusoe and more..

This week's recommendation is a great classic that you have probably heard of before.  For me, the name sounded familiar but I didn't know anything about it other than that it was a classic.

  Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe was a fun and adventurous, will-to-survive kind of book that I enjoyed.  Marooned on an island after a lot of misfortune, he figures out a way to survive.  It kind of reminded me of the movie Castaway, so if you liked that, you will like this book.   Note: There are several different book covers for this book so the one you find may not look anything like the picture below.

Also, I read the much talked about book Matched by Allie Condie and it was enjoyable.  I wouldn't say it is a favorite, and would definitely not put it up with Hunger Games like so many are saying about it, but I will likely follow the trilogy as the next few books come out.  The second book, Crossed, just came out this week I believe.

Something Different

When you gobble up books like me, it's nice to switch it up now and then with something you wouldn't normally read, to stretch yourself. When I check out of my library, I like to have in my hands a book that* I know I'll enjoy, a book that is *on a classics list somewhere, *and a book to teach me something.

 Last week I took home Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (a murder mystery/love story recommended to me by my sister, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (on the big book club lists), and Root Cellaring (something I was interested in). I enjoyed them all!

 So my recommendation this week is to grab something totally different from your usual read. I suggest John Seymoor's The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It. This book was awesome! It taught all about how to set up your own garden/farm land to make your life truly self-sufficient. And if you are LDS you have heard the huge push for us to become self-sufficient in the last sevearl years and I think it's very important we take steps towards doing that. I actually think that I will buy this book so I can refer to it over the years once we own a house and land. Very cool and interesting book. It has colored illustrations and everything !

Enjoy! Next post will be one of my favorite classics!

The Inheritance Cycle

This week's recommendation is a book series that seems to have a diverse audience. I am often surprised at how many random people have read and enjoyed this series. Almost every single one of my brother-in-laws have read the series and loved it. My husband Phil has even read this, which is big, being that he is not a reader by hobby.

The first book of the Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini is called Eragon. There are currently three books in the series and the fourth book comes out next month. WE ARE STOKED IN THIS HOUSEHOLD! I even prepared myself by re-reading the third book, Brisingr.



So pick this one up, you will love it.

WARNING: Do not pick up the movie they made on the book. Terrible acting, hokey special effects, and they leave out more than half of all the important parts of the book. I was hissing and booing at it the whole time, that dark lonely night as I watched it in bed. Yes I'm a loser. But what else do you do when you're husband works out of town all the time?

Austenland

Well I took home three books from the library and unfortunately none of them made my Top Books List for this blog. One actually made my top books to AVOID and I couldn't even finish! Do not read the book "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld, which is on all the top book club lists. Quite explicit to the point I had to close it up and put it down 1/4 of the way through and sing primary songs 'til I fell asleep.

The other two, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand and "My Antonio" by Willa Cather were both good and inspirational, but still not in my top favorites, so if you were considering either, I would still give them 4 stars.

My book suggestion of the week is a fun, light read by one of my favorite authors Shannon Hale. The book is titled "Austenland" and is for anyone who has ever enjoyed a good Jane Austin flick. Its about a girl who takes a vacation to a resort made for Jane Austin romantics, where they get to live in a pretend Jane Austen-land and find their Mr. Darcy :) Cute and fun! Check it out



P.S. For those of you who have already read this, I found out that she is writing a sequel due out in January 2012 called "Midnight in Austenland." It's about a new character and her stay in Austenland. Yay!

These Is My Words

It took me awhile to think of which book I would recommend FIRST on my blog. If it turned out not to be a grand slam my readers would lose my trust and call me a whack! So after much thinking and bypassing of the obvious hits (HUNGER GAMES, TWILIGHT, etc), I settled on one of my favorites, These Is My Words, by Nancy Turner.

This is a down-to-earth, three book series about the life of a woman growing up in the Arizona Territories. The book is very character based (draws you into the characters) and by the end of the series, you just love and adore Sarah for what she stood for and the life she led.

There are Indian attacks, soldiers, love stories, death and tragedy. The part of me that wishes I lived on a ranch, baking bread and taking care of my horse-riding, shotgun carrying sons, leapt for joy at this book :) Pick it up at your library, its worth your time!