Hellobee

In a past life, the one where I had free time, enough energy to stay up past 8 PM, and the mental comprehension for reading books written other than Seuss and Boynton, I used to love reading. It’s been a long time since I got to read for pleasure again, but recently I had to take my 3 hour glucose test (I’ve failed the 1 hour test three times now, lucky me) and since my MIL was watching my kids, I found myself with 3 glorious uninterrupted hours during the day. I dusted off my Kindle and searched for a book, and settled on A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini — a book that has been on my to read pile for far too long. After reading for those lovely three hours, I stayed up well past midnight that night to finish the book. A spark had awoken inside me; one that missed the excitement reading could bring as it transports you to a different place, a different era, and allows you to meet a host of new people, some you love and some you loathe. I still don’t have a lot of time to read these days, and with a new baby coming it’s only going to get harder. But I thought it would be nice to have some books to look forward to reading when a spare moment drops in my lap unexpectedly.

Charlotte & Emily: A Novel of the Bronte Sisters by Jude Morgan – Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is my favorite book of all time, and this is a novel about the Bronte family. After reading Wuthering Heights as an angsty teenager, I became even more fascinated by Emily and her life with her siblings. As an only child, large families and the dynamics between so many siblings always interested me. Emily had 5 siblings but 2 died, and then her father moved the family to an isolated area in England — the moors where Wuthering Heights existed. She and her siblings developed their own world and games to entertain themselves since they were so removed from the rest of society at that point. They wrote stories and Emily and both her sisters all became published writers, though not as revered as they are now in death. I’m excited at the idea of peeking into that world, albeit through a work of fiction, to see how their lives shaped the stories they created.

Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George – I won’t deny that Twilight is one of my favorite books. It truly opened up the door for young adult fiction in every sense. This one seems interesting, and who doesn’t love more vampire stories? Even before Twilight I loved Anne Rice’s Lestat series, so vampires have always had a special place in my reading world. I also love book series, and young adult books often follow that format.

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella – I fell in love with Sophie Kinsella when she introduced me to the fabulous Becky Bloomwood of the Shopaholic series. I have read every Shopaholic book so far and am always eager for more. In the breaks between Shopaholic books, I sometimes like to try out Kinsella’s other books. Her writing is always light and funny and don’t require a lot of thought to digest, so really it’s perfect for me right now.

The One & Only by Emily Griffin – My other favorite chick lit author is Emily Giffin. I have loved all her stand alone books especially Love The One You’re With. Her stories mostly deal with modern and contemporary relationships and the issues that crop up from marriages, relationships, and friendships. It’s all very relatable, and her books are very light and easy beach reads.

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory – I have loved historical fiction books ever since Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl. Since then I have been an avid fan of her writing and have read most of her books. The White Princess is part of her Cousin War’s series, of which I have read both The White Queen & The Red Queen.  The White Queen was even made into a 10 part BBC show that I watched while nursing Juliet I recall. I’m eager to pick up where the series left off now.

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan – Being Chinese, a lot of the books I love deal with Asian characters since it’s sometimes easier for me to understand and relate to the characters. I loved Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club; I related so well to many of her female characters, as they straddled the line in being both American & Chinese.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – This book has gotten rave reviews across the boards and has been buzzing around on my book forums for some time now. It takes place during the Nazi days of World War II as it follows the story of two sisters and their experiences as World War II begins. The quote, “In love we find out who we want to be. In war we find out who we are” has been used to summarize the book’s purpose and I really would love to dive into this one when I have time now.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell – I was gifted this book a while ago from a friend but haven’t had time to read it clearly. I have heard wonderful reviews about it and it seems similar in genre to The Fault In Our Stars, which was one of the last books I read and enjoyed. I always like love stories like this one.

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Which books are at the top of your current reading queue?