"An Incomplete Revenge" by Jacqueline Winspear

I started this book about 3 weeks ago, but I was too antsy with the anatomy scan to sit through it. But I finally sat down and read the last 3/4 in about 2 days.

Maisie Dobbs is an interesting series of books. Besides the fact that the author finds it necessary to describe each of her outfits in great detail, to me she does NOT give away much until the very end. In fact, while we were reading today I was saying how I hoped it picked up soon because I knew stuff was about to go down and there were only about 80 pages left.

But I do enjoy this series! It is a series with a heroine, instead of a hero, and she isn't like many of the other heroines in books who talk about how they hate men and whatnot. She's just a girl who served in World War 1, and has been using her talents to create a business for herself.

Note: this book was somewhat difficult towards the end. I couldn't believe the secrets the characters had been keeping, and it was pretty awful. But ultimately, everyone felt they were satisfied with their revenge/forgiveness plan.

"Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand

So everyone and their dog has recommended this book to me. I finally read it... It's fantastic thinking of what the human spirit can overcome. I have to admit, I would have taken a lot longer through the raft scene and the POW scenes if I didn't already know what was going to happen. Brandon told me pretty much all the details of the story beforehand.

To be honest, I don't blame him for turning into an alcoholic. Who could? He had been through so much, and almost died on a constant basis for years, that he needed any kind of escape he could find. At one point, he discussed how there are certain things necessary to life. Food, water, shelter, and dignity. These prison guards were so unbelievably cruel, it's hard to imagine people actually being able to live through that. I laughed when they discussed the things they would do to retaliate against the guards... on the one hand it's a "boys will be boys" kind of mentality, but they really needed to survive. Any way possible.

The most amazing thing (SPOILER ALERT- skip this paragraph if you haven't read the book and want to) is that Zamperini forgave his prison guards. That is much more than I could have done. He even sought out the most cruel of guards who haunted him in his dreams, and tried to forgive him. What a man.

This movie comes out later this year, and I will be watching it. Hopefully it won't gross me out too much. It was pretty hard to stomach.

"Divergent" by Veronica Roth

This was another book I couldn't put down, I read it in just a day. I liked it a lot! It's the story of a city which is run by five different groups called "factions", and the children at the age of 16 choose which faction to join. They can stay with their families, or join a different one. Each faction represents a different character trait- Amity represents love and friendship, Erudite represents knowledge, Candor represents honesty, Abnegation represents selflessness, and Dauntless represents courage. The main girl, Beatrice, chooses to go to Dauntless instead of stay with her family in Abnegation. The rest of the story is her initiation into the faction, which she must pass to remain. Spoiler alert- she likes a boy during initiation. The other thing is that since Tris didn't have a clear choice right in front of her for a faction, she is considered "Divergent" and is a danger to the government. I won't give much else away.

But I liked it! It had many similar themes to the "Hunger Games", which made it less exciting. But I am dying to get the next one and read it ASAP. It's a good light read for sure- I just wish they had more character development with some of the main characters.

"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

I just POUNDED my way through that book, and cried my eyes out so now I need to get my yes to stop burning before I can fall asleep.

It's a story of a girl, Hazel with terminal cancer, and her story about finding love with a boy named Augustus (Gus), which by the way I think is adorable. On the one hand, teenage love story- you know. On the other hand, her thoughts of life and death are a very haunting and real thing. I've always had the fear of someone being taken away from me far too young-- Brandon, right now, or our kids some day. And let's be honest- I HATE CANCER. I hate it I hate it. So that stuck out to me. Brandon once told me that every married couple has at least one serious health challenge... His parents' was his mom's Guillan-Barre, and my parents have had some melanoma scares. I've been more and more aware of that as I've been married, and kind of morbidly wondered when our turn will strike and what will happen. I know it's a completely unrealistic thing to worry about but I just love my life and don't want it to be drastically altered for the worse.

But man, I want to reread it and read more about what Hazel was thinking. It only took me 4 hours to read, but I loved it. Now I have a delirious husband who is mumbling something about "that's why you don't sleep", so I'll take advantage of my time.