Water For Elephants

Water For Elephants is a story by Sara Gruen about Jacob Jankowski and his travels with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show On Earth. By sheer luck Jacob has found himself employed by the circus after he has lost everything. As he learns the inner workings of show business, Jacob becomes entangled in a web of love, lies, jealousy, and murder. I loved Water For Elephants, and truly felt as if I were hearing the tale from an old man who had worked on a circus. The book instantly goes on my Top 10 list.

Safe Haven

Safe Haven is much more mysterious and darker than Nicholas Sparks's previous books. Katie is a new resident in the small town of Southport, North Carolina. She appears to be a good neighbor, although she is quiet and keeps to herself. When Katie falls for Alex and his two children, the safe life she has built quickly comes crashing down as two painful pasts catch up to her and she has nowhere left to run. Nicholas Sparks clearly puts much research into his novels, which yields strong characters and vivid scenes that make a beautiful story.

My Horizontal Life

Chelsea Handler's collection of one night stands is hilarious and horrifying at the same time. Her anecdotes are not relatable to most people and many had me laughing out loud, while more made me cringe. My Horizontal Life is not for the pure and chaste. I am far from innocent, but even I cannot grasp how one person can experience so many degrading situations without an ounce of self-loathing. I am only grateful that she is able to laugh and write about it all for my entertainment.

Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero

Heroes of Olympus is Rick Riordan's follow-up series to Percy Jackson & The Olympians. The series begins a few months after The Last Battle. Our new hero, Jason, has woken up on a school bus with no memory of who and where he is. When he and his demigod friends Piper and Leo are attacked, Annabeth Chase rescues them and takes them to Camp Half-Blood, where they learn that the infamous Percy Jackson has mysteriously vanished. There are many questions involving Jason and the new Great Prophecy. Why have the Olympians cut off all contact to their children? Who is keeping Hera imprisoned? Having never been to Camp Half-Blood, how did Jason learn to fight so skillfully? Why does he refer to the gods by their Roman identities, and who has erased his memories? After a treacherous quest, the campers discover Jason's origins, the key to finding Percy, and the certainty of something far worse than the Titan War just on the horizon.