Firefly Lane

Dates Read: December 2011
"A Book is Good Company" reviewed this book and it sounded good so I picked it up from the library. I was a little intimidated by the size (approximately 500 pages) and it took me about 100 or so pages to really get into the story (for the first couple hundred, I was reading to find out what happened, but I wasn't "into" it or anything). After the halfway point, I was hooked and could not put it down (until the last few chapters when I had to put it down to find a tissue!)!! Amazing chick lit book about female friendships!! I loved this book!

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Hannah (On Mystic Lake) goes a little too far into Lifetime movie territory in her latest, an epic exploration of the complicated terrain between best friends—one who chooses marriage and motherhood while the other opts for career and celebrity. The adventures of poor, ambitious Tully Hart and middle-class romantic Kate Mularkey begin in the 1970s, but don't really get moving until about halfway into the book, when Tully, who claws her way to the heights of broadcast journalism, discovers it's lonely at the top, and Katie, a stay-at-home Seattle housewife, forgets what it's like to be a rebellious teen. What holds the overlong narrative together is the appealing nature of Tully and Katie's devotion to one another even as they are repeatedly tested by jealousy and ambition. Katie's husband, Johnny, is smitten with Tully, and Tully, who is abandoned by her own booze-and-drug-addled mother, relishes the adoration from Katie's daughter, Marah. Hannah takes the easy way out with an over-the-top tear-jerker ending, though her upbeat message of the power of friendship and family will, for some readers, trump even the most contrived plot twists.

The Litigators

Dates Read: November - December 2011
I love Grisham books.  It takes about 100 pages to get into the story, but once I'm into it, I'm stuck and am anxious to finish this book. This story was a little predictable in some parts, but it had some twists and turns as well and the ending was not exactly what I had expected. Good read if you like Grisham's books.

Summary: (summarized from Amazon.com)
The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him. With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. It almost seems too good to be true.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series

Dates Read: December 2011

Bobby saw the Percy Jackson movie so when we were thinking of a series to read (after we finished The October's) we decided to buy the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This series, is an easier and faster read than the Harry Potter series (written at an easier reading level), but it has a lot of the same themes as HP. There are good guys, bad guys, people who change sides, mortal enemies, and exciting adventures. The series is the hero quests of Percy Jackson, a demigod (one parent is a Greek mythology god and another is a mortal), and his friends. I never studied Greek mythology so I was not familiar with all the characters, but it was still a fun and interesting read. The series ended with an opening for a new series, Heroes of Olympus, and I look forward to reading those books, too!

Summaries: (from Wikipedia.com)
The Lightning Thief (book one):  Percy and his friends go on a quest to prevent a war between the Greek gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.


The Sea of Monsters (book two): This book chronicles the adventures of thirteen-year-old demigod Percy Jackson as he and his friends rescue his satyr friend Grover from the Cyclops Polyphemus and save the camp from a Titan's attack by bringing the Golden Fleece to cure Thalia's poisoned pine tree.

The Titan's Curse (book three):This book charts the adventures of the fourteen-year-old demigod Percy Jackson as he and his friends go on a dangerous quest to rescue his friend Annabeth Chase and the Greek goddess Artemis, who have both been kidnapped.

The Battle of the Labyrinth (book four): Fictional demigod Percy Jackson, who is fifteen years old by the end of the book, tries to stop Luke Castellan and his army from invading Camp Half-Blood through Daedalus's labyrinth by trying to find Daedalus and convince him not to give Luke Ariadne's string, which would help Luke through the Labyrinth.

The Last Olympian (book five):  The Last Olympian revolves around the demigod Perseus Jackson as he leads his friends in a last stand to protect Mount Olympus.

The Best of Me

Dates Read: November 2011
Despite the fact that someone always dies, I love the books that Nicholas Sparks writes! And this book was no different! A great romance with a Nicholas Sparks plot twist thrown in!

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
"Everyone wanted to believe that endless love was possible. She'd believed in it once, too, back when she was eighteen."

In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of life in the small town of Oriental, North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart, setting them on radically divergent paths.

Now, twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson are summoned back to Oriental for the funeral of Tuck Hostetler, the mentor who once gave shelter to their high school romance. Neither has lived the life they imagined . . . and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their lives. As Amanda and Dawson carry out the instructions Tuck left behind for them, they realize that everything they thought they knew -- about Tuck, about themselves, and about the dreams they held dear -- was not as it seemed. Forced to confront painful memories, the two former lovers will discover undeniable truths about the choices they have made. And in the course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead: Can love truly rewrite the past?

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Dates Read: November 2011

After seeing the previews for the movie "Hugo" I decided to reserve the book that the movie is based on: The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I knew it was a kid's book, but I decided the movie previews looked good so the book was probably good, too. And let me tell you, it was! It's a huge book (over 500 pages) but it is a super easy read (I read it cover to cover in only a couple hours) and even better, it is a delightful read! The author does a wonderful job incorporating the beautiful drawings - they are both a part of the story and they help tell the story in that there are some parts where the text stops and pages of pictures continue the story until the text begins again. Such a great imaginative story! I loved every word and I cannot wait to read this story with my kids one day!!


Summary: (from Amazon.com and nypl.org)
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Dates Read: November 2011

This is another book (like Sarah's Key) that I borrowed from Elaine. The title sounded odd, but I trust her opinion so I decided to read it this week. Let me just tell you - it was wonderful!!!! It was witty and charming, it made me literally laugh out loud (seriously, while trying to secretly read on my lunch break, I laughed out loud - so much for being secretive), and it included some interesting historical information regarding the Channel Islands during WWII. The story is told from the perspective of a series of letters and I was nervous I wouldn't be able to keep up with the characters, but I quickly learned I had no trouble remember the people because they were all so wonderful and entertaining!! Seriously, go read this book!!

Summary: (from Amazon.com and nypl.org)
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island

Christmas Wedding

Dates Read: November 2011

I have only read one James Patterson book before but this one sounded interesting so I decided to reserve it at the library. I picked it up on Saturday and finished it Sunday morning. It was a great, light-hearted, quick read. (It was especially nice to have a light book to read after finishing Sarah's Key.) The summary states there were "twists" and I guess there were, but they weren't as shocking or surprising as the twists I've read in other books. Regardless, I now want to read more of his books (perhaps his mystery series?) but I will wait until a few other books have been crossed off my reading list.

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill's wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby's four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death, but when Gaby announces that she's getting married--and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day--she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays.  But the wedding isn't Gaby's only surprise--she has one more gift for her children, and it could change all their lives forever. With deeply affecting characters and the emotional twists of a James Patterson thriller, The Christmas Wedding is a fresh look at family and the magic of the season.

Sarah's Key

Dates Read: November 2011





Elaine recommended I read this book and she let me borrow her copy so I had no excuses not to read it. It was such a great read! Part of it takes place during the roundup of the Jews in France in WWII and part of it takes place within the last few years. There were parts of this book that were hard to read (sad how many Jewish children from France died!) and there were parts where I cried, but it was such a good read and I'm glad I read it.

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard—their secret hiding place—and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released. Sixty Years Later: Sarah’s story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own future.

The October's

Dates Read: October 2011

Over the last two weeks of October I read a four-book series called The Octobers. I heard about this brand new series on a blog that I follow. The series sounded interesting and they were inexpensive so Bobby and I decided to buy them for our Kindle (I read on my Kindle app and he'll read it on the Kindle).

Let me just tell you, the series was great! I guess you could say it's a mix between the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series, but I'm not sure if that's the best description. Basically, there is a town where it is always October (hence the series title) and all of the sudden kids start vanishing. All four books take place over the same time, approximately a month, but from different perspectives. Each story introduces a new part of the mystery and gives clues to the parts of the mysteries introduced in previous books.

The series is written for tweens, but I am not embarrassed to say that I loved it and highly recommend it! It was a great, quick, fun read and once I got into Book 1 (which didn't take long), I was hooked and couldn't put them down!

Mansfield Park

Dates Read: October 2011

This is another Austen novel that I downloaded on my Kindle App. I had never read it but had heard good things so I was intrigued.

The basics of the plot are the same as the plot lines of the other Austen novels, but this one had a lot of twists and turns. There were several lulls in the plot, but behind each lull was a nice plot twist. I think this book was longer than the other Austen novels I have recently read and at times I wasn't sure it was ever going to end, but it was still a relatively fast read. And I definitely was not sure what Austen was going to do until I read the final chapter. Good read!

Sense and Sensibility

Dates Read: September 2011

I downloaded the Austen novels on my Kindle and I enjoy her novels (or at least I do so far), so I figure I might as well read all of them.

I vaguely remember seeing the movie for this book, but I forgot some key scenes so I read this book very quickly as I was anxious to see the results of the twists and turns.  This was a great read! I had trouble putting this book down (as evidenced by the fact that I would read during my lunch break).

Persuasion and Lady Susan

Dates Read: September 2011

Last summer during my long road trip from NJ to Texas, I listened to these two books on tape. This year, when I downloaded the Jane Austen book set onto the Kindle, these two books came with it. Although I had already "read" them, I decided to read them again. I must have been paying more attention when listening to Lady Susan because I remembered the plot as I was reading, but with Persuasion, I was reading as if I'd never read it before.

Persuasion was similar to the other Austen novels (romance novel with twists and turns) while Lady Susan was quite different as it was written in the form of a series of letters and the main character was somewhat of a villain (but it was still a romance with twist and turns).  Very interesting reads (if you like Austen novels).

A Lion Among Men

Dates Read: July to August

This is the third book in the Wicked series.   The Wicked books are interesting, but are tough reads (at least they are for me).  The author likes to make up words, likes to twist the words that you know and give them a different meaning or different usage, and he just likes to create a fantasy world that involves tricky names.

With that said, I enjoyed Wicked (the first book) - not as much as the play, but I did enjoy the book - and I somewhat enjoyed Son of a Witch (the second book).  This book follows the life of the Lion (from the Wizard of Oz) and I had high hopes for it, but I had a lot of trouble getting into it and a lot of trouble finishing it.  Perhaps the language was harder to understand or perhaps it was because I was trying to read it while traveling and moving. Either way, I did not thoroughly enjoy the book and might take a long break before trying to read another one of the author's books.

Northanger Abbey

Dates Read: August 8 to August 24

This was my first book to read on my subway commutes and it was my first book to read on the Kindle. I downloaded it because I got five Jane Austen books for $2 and Elaine mentioned this one so I thought I would read it first. 

I wasn't so sure about the book in the beginning, but it didn't take too long to get hooked! The plot follows Catherine Morland through friendships and romance in true Jane Austen form.  If you like Jane Austen's novels, I definitely recommend this book!

Julie's Book Journey

Now that I will be riding the subway to work everyday, I am hoping that I will have more time to read for fun.  I have a horrible time remembering the plots of books I've read, so I'm planning on using this blog as a place for me to list the books I read, when I read them, a basic outline of the plot, and whether or not I enjoyed reading the book.  I am also very interested in suggestions you have about what I should read so please feel free to share!