Reading - Number the Stars

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

 

 

 

As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family.

Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.

Reading - This Is How You Lose Her

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

 

 

 

Now Díaz turns his remarkable talent to the haunting, impossible power of love – obsessive love, illicit love, fading love, maternal love. On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In the heat of a hospital laundry room in New Jersey, a woman does her lover’s washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness--and by the extraordinary women he loves and loses: artistic Alma; the aging Miss Lora; Magdalena, who thinks all Dominican men are cheaters; and the love of his life, whose heartbreak ultimately becomes his own.

 

That is endlessly energetic, inventive, tender, and funny, the stories in the New York Times-Bestselling This Is How You Lose Her lay bare the infinite longing and inevitable weakness of the human heart. They remind us that passion always triumphs over experience, and that “the half-life of love is forever.”

 

 

Reading - To Catch an Heiress

To Catch an Heiress by Julia Quinn

 

 

 

When Caroline Trent is kidnapped by Blake Ravenscroft, she doesn′t even try to elude this dangerously handsome agent of the crown. After all, she′s been running from unwanted marriage proposals. Yes, Blake believes she′s a notorious spy named Carlotta De Leon, but for six weeks until her twenty-first birthday, when she′ll gain control of her fortune, hiding out in the titillating company of a mysterious captor is awfully convenient -- and maybe just a little romantic, too.

 

 

Blake Ravenscroft′s mission is to bring "Carlotta" to justice, not to fall in love. His heart has been hardened by years of intrigue, but this little temptress proves oddly disarming and thoroughly kissable. And suddenly the unthinkable becomes possible -- that this mismatched Couple might be destined for love.

Reading - Any Minute

Any Minute by Joyce Meyer

 

 

 

Sarah Harper is driven to achieve success no matter what the cost. She wants to do good and not hurt the people she loves--especially children and her husband, Joe--but her desire to succeed in her career too often leaves little time for family.

One cold, autumn afternoon, all of that changes when Sarah's car plunges off a bridge and into a river. She is presumed dead by those on the "outside," but Sarah's spirit is still very much alive. What she discovers on the other side transforms everything about Sarah's view of life--past, present, and future.

When Sarah is revived, she is a changed woman. And the unsuspecting world around her will never be the same again.

Reading - What Happens in London

What Happens in London by Julia Quinn

 

When Olivia Bevelstoke is told that her new neighbor may have killed his fiancée, she doesn't believe it for a second, but, still, how can she help spying on him, just to be sure? So she stakes out a spot near her bedroom window, cleverly concealed by curtains, watches, and waits . . . and discovers a most intriguing man, who is definitely up to something.

Sir Harry Valentine works for the boring branch of the War Office, translating documents vital to national security. He's not a spy, but he's had all the training, and when a gorgeous blonde begins to watch him from her window, he is instantly suspicious. But just when he decides that she's nothing more than an annoyingly nosy debutante, he discovers that she might be engaged to a foreign prince, who might be plotting against England. And when Harry is roped into spying on Olivia, he discovers that he might be falling for her himself . . .

Reading - No Choice But Seduction

No Choice But Seduction by Johanna Lindsey

After her mother died, vivacious Katey Tyler fled her dull Connecticut town, hoping to meet her relatives in England and find adventure and romance on a grand tour of Europe. She had no idea that her life-changing travels would have both in spades -- as well as danger and intrigue -- when she catches the eye of ship owner Boyd Anderson and inadvertently stumbles upon a high-stakes kidnapping.

When Sir Anthony Malory's young daughter is abducted from London's Hyde Park, her kidnapper mistakenly sends the ransom note to the home of Sir Anthony's brother, James. With James and his wife, Georgina, in the Caribbean, the demands are received by their houseguest -- Georgina's youngest brother, Boyd Anderson. Searching for the girl with Anthony, the notoriously hot-headed American sea captain fully intends to make the foolhardy villain pay. But he hardly expects to find exquisite Katey Tyler, recently a passenger on his ship, at the center of the plot!

Little does Katey realize that in having caught the attention of Boyd Anderson -- and in meeting up with the Malorys -- she's about to experience more excitement than the typical young lady encounters on a grand tour, and her life will never be dull again. A multitude of surprises await Katey, from the startling truth about her mother's early life to the lengths a man will go to win the affections of a lady who has every reason to despise him -- but who can't resist the seductive, impassioned love he has to offer her.