Finally getting some reading done!

Now that my pool has opened, I'm getting to read more books. Yay!

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore. All Catherine Grace Cline has ever wanted out of life is to get out of the small Georgia town in which she was raised. Her preacher father and younger sister support her dream, but don't really understand it. She spends every Saturday at the Dairy Queen, dreaming of her escape. And on her eighteenth birthday, she gets her escape, leaving for Atlanta. Finally, she begins a new life and all of her dreams start to fall into place. Until a death drags her back to her hometown, where she is confronted by a ghost from her past and is forced to reconsider her future. It was an easy read and a very good story. Two thumbs up!

Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Ever seen The Village? Then you know the story, minus the blind girl and with a lot more exposure to the modern world. Only this time, the town in the 1840's was created by a millionaire who wanted a real-life Williamsburg. Tourists can watch people living in 1840 via video. And until diphtheria strikes the village, everyone is content. But the millionaire refuses to allow any modern references, even medicine to help the sick children. So Jessie, thirteen year old daughter of the blacksmith and the midwife, escapes and "goes to the future" for help. Turns out the entire tourist site was an experiment to strengthen the gene pool and create people who were completely immune to all diseases. Unfortunately the experiment backfired and eventually the entire compound is shut down. And the men who set up the experiment are held responsible for their actions. Interesting read.

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart. During the summer of 1945, best friends and sorority sisters Marjorie (yes, the author of the book) and Marty move to New York City for the summer. They get jobs at Tiffany, the first women to ever have those jobs (due to the war and the shortage of young men). What follows is a summer that neither of them ever forget. They go dancing, see celebrities, experience amazing events in the life of our country during war (am I the only person who didn't know that a plane flew into the Empire State Building and Mayor La Guardia himself ran into the building to help save people?!), be IN Times Square to celebrate VJ Day, and even fall in love. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that this was a memoir (I picked it up thinking it was a work of fiction). I really think I was born at the wrong time- I should've lived in the 20's or 40's! The epilogue shared that Marjorie became a professional cellist and music teacher, in addition to being a wife and mother. Marty went into finance and was even a Junior Leaguer!

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. Five women become friends during the late 1960's by starting a neighborhood book club. For the next thirty years, their lives remain intertwined. Through childbirth and deaths, through divorce and remarriage, through abusive husbands and everything life throws at them. These five women are there for each other. It's a great story. One of my favorite parts was that each chapter starts with the book they have chosen. Challenge accepted- more books for my list!

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It was my month to pick our book club book and I chose this one. I'd already read it, so knew how freaking fantastic it is! It's historical fiction about Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Mamah and her husband commissioned Frank to build them a house in Oak Park, Illinois. A few years later, Frank went to Europe and took Mamah with him, leaving their respective spouses and children behind. The scandal that followed them was the stuff of modern gossip magazines. After some time in Europe, they returned to Wisconsin, where Frank built one of his amazing architectural structures, Taliensin. While Mamah's husband did grant her a divorce (and eventually allowed her visitation with their children), Frank's wife refused to do the same. So Frank and Mamah lived "in sin" for several years. Until the ultimate disaster destroyed their happiness, forever. Amazing historical fiction. I would reread this book a million times!

The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers. In 1971, sisters Lulu and Merry have their whole world turned upside down. Ten year old Lulu defies her mother's warnings and lets their drunken father into their apartment. When her mother screams for her to get help, she runs to a neighbor. When they return, her mother is fatally stabbed in the kitchen. And her father has stabbed five year old Merry and himself. Their father is sent to prison and eventually Lulu and Merry end up in an orphanage. They are finally taken in by foster parents and both try to cope as best they can. For Lulu, that means acting as though her father is dead, while becoming a doctor, wife and mother. Merry still loves her father, but seems lost. She eventually becomes a probation agent, but is never able to settle down. The sisters remain impossibly close and intertwined, loving and hating their parents and each other in turn. Then, after 30 years, Merry learns that their father has finally been granted parole. Both the women soon learn what place they are willing to allow their father to have in their lives. Very powerful book- I read it in one day!

There's Cake in my Future by Kim Gruenenfelder. Perfect chick lit! At her bridal shower, bride-to-be Nic decides to rig the cake pull have make sure her friends pull the charms she thinks they should have. But when the cake gets turned around, no one pulls the charm she planned. Seema ends up with the shovel, for hard work. How will that help her turn her friendship with Scott into true love? Melissa pulls the chili pepper, for a hot love affair. Does that mean her boyfriend of 6 years will finally pop the question? And Nic pulls the baby carriage. She's not even sure she's ready to be a full-time step mom, let alone a full-time birth mom! But as the other charms seem to work on the other guests, the three women realize that the charms they pulled were the ones they needed all along.

The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter. The day of her wedding, marriage counselor and relationship expert Kate Lawrence is left at the alter. Embarrassing enough under any circumstances, but worse for Kate because her wedding (with a surprise groom) is set to coincide with the release of her new book. Her landlord and neighbor, Lucas Wright, volunteers to take the place of the MIA groom. Little does Kate know that its because he's in love with her. She agrees and their year of faux wedded bliss begins. Once the truth comes out, her world begins to fall apart. Will Lucas' love be enough? Does she actually love her convenient groom? Good pool/beach read.

This March, reading Unbroken broke me!

One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash. This was my book club book. Ron Rash is a southern author. The book was fantastic- very Faulkneresque. Billy and Amy Holcombe are involved in the murder of Holland Winchester, but no one can prove it. Not Holland's mother, not the sheriff, no one. The story is told through the eyes of 5 different characters. Eventually, the truth comes out the day that Carolina Power floods and creates Lake Jocassee. I couldn't stop reading it! Strongly suggested, especially if you like southern literature!! I will say that most of my book club didn't enjoy it the book as much as I did though.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. The story of Louis Zamperini. He was an Olympic runner whose plane went down in the middle of the Pacific during World War 2. When he and his raft-mate finally floated to shore after 47 days at sea, they immediately became POWs in Japanese camps. When he was finally freed at war's end, he went through horrible PTSD. That is, until he heard Billy Graham speak. From that moment on, his life was different,. He stayed active well into his 90's, skiing, running, even skateboarding. Even though the story was very interesting, I had a really hard time reading the book. Clearly, as I only got 3 books read this month. It was more of a history buff's book. And I am far from that. Oddly enough, I would suggest it to anyone who loves war history though. Hillenbrand is an excellent writer after all.

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn. I've read quite a few of her books. Most of them are modern day fairy tales. Literally- she takes a fairy tale and sets it in modern times. This one was no fairy tale. Nick, a 16 year old rich kid, is in anger management because he beat up his girlfriend. His anger issues stem from the fact that his father likes to beat the crap out of him and humiliate him. The story goes back and forth between Nick writing in a journal about his relationship with Caitlin and what is happening in his life now. It was a tough story to read because I really was able to identify with Caitlin. It's hard to stop forgiving someone you love, even when they are acting out. Nick humiliated her, called her names, treated her badly, didn't trust her and finally hit her. In the end, he lost the girl, but gained much more. He finally realized that being a man isn't about making yourself better than others by putting them down, but about being strong and sensitive. A man is secure enough in himself that he doesn't need to control the people around him.