January readings

I didn't read NEARLY as much as I wish I had this month. I'd like to be reading at least 6-8 books a month. But it is what it is. So here goes!

Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury. Kingsbury is a Christian author. And one I had never read anything by before. The story was beautifully written and very tear-jerking. Cory is an 8 year old boy who was told by his dying mother that the famous 49ers quarterback Aaron Hill is his father. His foster mother, who was his mother's best friend, doesn't believe that. But Cory is eventually given an opportunity to write Aaron a letter. Aaron's world is turned upside down and he turns to his back-up quarterback, a strong Christian and family oriented man named Derrick. The story that follows had me in tears most of the time, it was so beautiful. What it all boils down to is that faith in God can make the impossible possible. And life (for Christians and for football players) is about what happens between Sundays.

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender. All I will say is holy crap! Alexis' 13 year old little sister Kasey is a bit doll obsessed. Which seems only slightly odd. Until her eyes change colors, weird things start happening at their house, and one of Alexis' classmates, Megan, tells her that Kasey is possessed. Megan and Alexis team up to help free Kasey from the powerful force that has taken over her soul. The spirit of a vindictive little girl. This book was crazy. good. Crazy good!

Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston. Elizabeth and Darcy have gone to Constantinople (if you've a date there, she'll be waiting in Istanbul btw). Their 5 daughters, Letitia, Camilla, twins Georgina and Belle, and Alethea, are left with their cousins in London. Letitia is very prim and proper. Camilla is outspoken and well-read, just like her mother. The twins are spitting images of their aunt Lydia, even down to their impulsiveness and willingness to elope. And Alethea is her father's daughter. Just like the Bennett girls in Pride and Prejudice, the Darcy girls have their own sets of adventures and misadventures, but even more so as the Darcy girls are heiresses. This is a must for any English majors/literature lovers. Jane Austen would have been proud of this novel!

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson. This was my book club book. And a total tearjerker! Olivia Hunt, a movie producer, writes a series of letters throughout a one year period of her life. Those letters are to her sister, her brother, her best friend, her former boyfriend, other Hollywood players, doctors, you name it. The letters chronicle her sister's diagnosis with leukemia, her own attempt to produce Don Quixote (a story of a man who attempted to live an impossible dream, which is kind of foreshadowing), her loves and her struggles. And through it all, she manages to recount the true and outstanding adventures of the Hunt sisters. I will say this- if you have a family member with cancer, it's going to be a tough read. I can attest to that. And then to find that this is almost a true story. The author lost her sister to cancer and held on to the letters that the two of them had written to each other. So it was clearly a cathartic process for her, you can definitely feel the love the older sister has for her younger sister.