"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.

Book 3 of 2013- "Birds of a Feather" by Jacqueline Winspear

This is the second of the Maisie Dobbs series, and it was just as good as the first!

It is a total girl power book, but you don't think of it while reading it. I was hooked on it from the first page. This story is about a wealthy young woman going missing, and Maisie's quest to help find her for her domineering father.
Sad news: Someone checked out the third book yesterday. What a lame-o. So now I am waiting, and checked out a couple of books to keep myself entertained until it gets checked back in.

Book 2 of 2013- "The Holy Secret" by James L. Ferrell

We were given this book as a wedding gift, but I hadn't gotten around to reading it until now. To be honest, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. I do like religious books, but only in certain moods.

I thought it was excellent. It taught about appreciating the scriptures, in addition to telling the story of a young lawyer who was struggling with some things in his life. It's a short book, only about 200 pages. So I don't have too much to say about it besides the fact that it was good, and taught a lot of ways to get more interested in the scriptures.

The preface of the book was the part that got me. It said that in the Church, we may say we love the scriptures and love the temple, but DO we? Our temples would be so much more full if we really LOVED to go there. Ouch. I'm going to be better!!!

Book 1 of 2013- "Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear

Reading this book made me feel sad for that time. It was just post WWI, and hearing about all the veterans and what everyone in England went through is awful. They just picked up random nurses off the street! I hope they wouldn't ask me to do that... I'd probably die.

On the other hand, they all had a great work ethic. They all got up at about 5 (ha, yeahhhh right) and went straight to work. Also, it was nice to read about the propriety of that time. I know that's not how it always was, but it made me wish I could go see that time at least for a little bit.

I can't wait to get the next book in the series! I recommend it to anyone who wants a little romance and a little mystery, because it kept me guessing until the end.

"The Plan of Happiness, as told by my son Brett" by Jim Neeley

It was written by my friend Jen (from Gabrielle's wedding)'s dad. It's the lessons that he was taught by Jen's older brother Brett. He was a missionary in Panama. His letters are where the majority of the book comes from. About 6 months after he got home from his mission, he was in a fatal boarding accident. Just remembering reading about that makes me get a little teary-eyed. But the way that Jen's dad presents it is so beautiful. He tells of precious experiences that he experienced just before and just after Brett's death, which prepared him for it as much as he could have been.

Hearing about a boy dying so soon after his mission was horribly sad, especially because Austin is so close to leaving on his own mission. But I think the reason why I cried so much while/after reading this book is because you can really feel of his spirit through these experiences. He sounds like a wonderful son, and I know he's their family's guardian angel now.

So read it, it's a wonderful book! It's "The Plan of Happiness, as told by my son Brett", by Jim Neeley. Now for sale.

"The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Orczy

I read "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Orczy in a day. Less than 12 hours. It was SO good. I don't even know what to say about it... I had seen the play before and had heard the soundtrack thousands and thousands of times. The book was enough like the play that I could follow the plot somewhat, but it was different enough that I was entertained. Percy is a genius, and fools everybody with his attitude in the book. That's pretty much all I can say, it wasn't until the very end that I knew what was going to happen. I recommend it to everyone!