Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

I would say that Inkheart is the girl version of Eragon or Harry Potter. A friend told me that it was originally written in German and set in Germany. German's consider it to be their version of Harry Potter. I agree. I read the book because I wanted to watch the movie. Based on past book/movie experiences, I wanted to read the book before the movie. Plus we have had the next book, Inkspell sitting on our bookshelf, but I wanted to read them in order. Although it's a bit long, this is an entertaining story of magic, books, reading, and suspense. Many of the main characters actions center around books and reading - a heartening theme for those of us who value literacy.

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

I am currently reading Brisinger, the third in a series including Eragon and Eldest. You might have seen the movie Eragon, which is really a combination of the first two books. When Eragon first came out, my son was young and I was still reading to him before bed every night. Now that he is 15, he considers himself too old to be read to before bed. :( Last year, he read Brisingr when it first came out. When he finished, he desperately wanted to me read it. Of course, it was during the middle of the semester, and I didn't feel like I could take on a 700+ page book. I am very careful about the books I start because I have a hard time abandoning a book. When I start reading, I am compelled to finish. Now, I don't have to finish right away. I am not a stay up until all hours of the morning reader. I just don't want to start reading another book until I finish reading the book I have. So I have put off reading this book. Then this summer, I was home recovering from surgery and had a lot of time on my hands to read. I read everything else I could think of before I finally turned to this book - after lots of cajoling by my son. Now I am in the midst of the book, and I am bound and determined to finish it - not because I like it, but because it gives me something to talk to my 15 year old son about besides how long his hair is and if he has done his homework. Stay tuned!

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

I picked up this book from the shelf in Target because of the word sisters in the title. Having four sisters, I know that "sister drama" can be the stuff of great stories. However, the sisters in this book are not related. My interest was kept when I learned that the women in this book come together because they form an informal writing group. Now I was hooked! My interest in writing and language arts was a great connection. It's a nice book - not a show stopper, but still nice. There is a lot of history from the 60's and 70's interwoven among the stories. I was a little young to really understand some of the events that are mentioned, but the author does a good job of showing just how influence politics and world events are on our everyday lives.

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir

This past spring and summer I set off to read Alison Weir's books about the kings and queens of England and their lives. By far the best that I read was The Lady Elizabeth.
I am not sure if I felt a connection because of our shared name, or if I was just looking for something to read that was stimulating. I greatly enjoyed this book! I didn't know much about Queen Elizabeth before beginning the book, but I came to realize she was a strong queen who valued tolerance, especially when it came to religion. She is a great example of a powerful woman who knew her mind.

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

If you want a mindless but fun mystery, check out Janet Evanovich's series. I read number fourteen this summer. Her books remind me of a similar style of mystery by Sue Grafton that follow the alphabet, e.g. A is for Alibi. These books are good for an escape where you don't want to have to think or feel too much. Let's call it light reading. This would be a good book to read after a long and involved novel. The characters and plot are such that you don't have to read the books in order.