Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby-  audio-  I’ve read this before and enjoyed it but I really like this audio version better. Annie has lived with her boyfriend Duncan for 15 years. Duncan is obsessed with singer-songwriter Tucker Crowe, who hasn’t been seen in public since 1986. When an acoustic version of his most famous album Juliet is released, it is the catalyst for the end of Duncan and Annie’s relationship.  Tucker sends an email to Annie to comment on an internet post she wrote critizing the album and they start a secret conversation and eventually meet-  much to Duncan’s dismay.

The Waters Rising by Sherri S. Tepper- I love her books. They are sci fi/fantasy with themes of feminism, ecology, and religion.  This book takes place a post-apocalyptic future.  The seas are now rising again and will drown humanity in a few generations. Meanwhile, a princess lies dying. She comes from a land across the sea where it is traditional to have a soul carrier bring the deceased’s soul home to rest. Her designated soul carrier is a small child.  An entourage sets out to get her safely home with the princess’s soul. But they are repeatedly attacked and soon figure out that the child is not exactly what she appears to be.

This book had a long and drawn out set up. During the first half of the book, I’m not sure if I would have stuck with it if I wasn’t a fan. I liked the second half though.

Love Letters by Katie Fforde-  Laura works in a book store that is closing. She is offered the opportunity to organize a literary festival. A sponsor wants reclusive Irish writer Dermot Flynn to come to England for the festival. Laura is sent to Ireland to beg him to come. This is a typical chick-lit book. I didn’t like it as much as her previous books but it was a nice, light read.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull-  This is a teen fantasy book. Two kids are sent to their reclusive grandparents’ farm in Connecticut for two weeks.  They find out that the farm is a sanctuary for mystical creatures. They are told not to go into the woods or the barn. Of course the boy does and that sets off a chain reaction of disasters.

The story was good but it made me realize how much of a grownup I am. The boy repeatedly caused trouble by willfully ignoring his grandparents’ orders. Even after he knew that bad things would happen he did it anyway. I think it was time for survival of the fittest to take over and let him get eaten. At minimum he should be chained up in a dungeon for the safety of everyone around him because he is an unrepentant idiot.  I don’t think that was exactly the reaction the author had in mind.

Silent Honor by Danielle Steel-  Hiroko is a Japanese girl sent to the United States to live with her cousins and attend college. It is August 1941. She experiences some racism but everything gets much worse when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in December. She and her American family are sent to interment camps. This is the story of how people survived being locked up because of their race.

The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean – Dora is in college when Mimi, the grandmother who raised her has a stroke. She rushes home and decides to keep her grandmother’s vintage clothes store open until she recovers. She finds out that her grandmother has written stories to go along with some of the dresses.

Where am I reading? – England, Japan (in the way far future), Ireland, Connecticut, California, North Carolina