Divergent by Veronica Roth

I really enjoyed this book! I heard from a friend that this was the next Hunger Games series, and I completely agree. I read this book on the flight back from Israel and was entralled. Couldn't stop reading to take the nap that I needed! This will be a trilogy, but the next book is not out yet. Here is the summary from Amazon:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Read: July 2011

Next Up: Northanger Abbey (How's that for a change?)

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

Did you read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? What about the other three Traveling Pants books? Did you at least see the movie? Even though I was too old for them, I loved the Traveling Pants books and movies about four girls, their friendship and their crazy traveling pants.

Sisterhood Everlasting picks up with Carmen, Tibby, Lena and Bee 10 years later, as they are approaching 30. Each of the original books had a few heavy topics woven through the plot - heartbreak, death, divorce - so I shouldn't have been surprised that Sisterhood Everlasting had that too. It was pretty heavy, particularly since I thought it would be summer fluff. I don't want to give anything away, but it was good to see where the girls ended up. Mistakes they made, how they grew apart and how they came back together. In the end, it is a touching re-affirmation of friendship and what it really means. Oh, and it makes you want to call your BFFs for coffee asap.

Read: July 2011 in Israel
Next up: Divergent

City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris

City of Veils is a semi-sequel to Finding Nouf - same main characters with a new mystery to solve. Here is the summary from the author's website:

When the body of a brutally murdered and severely disfigured woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Detective Osama Ibrahim dreads investigating another unsolvable housemaid murder—unpleasantly common in a city where the veils of conservative Islam keep women as anonymous in life as the victim is in death. Digging deeper, however, an ambitious lab-tech named Katya discovers that the body is not that of a disobedient servant, but Leila Nawar, a rebellious young filmmaker who has made more than a few enemies with her probing documentaries on religious hypocrisy and sexuality.

This book was just as good, maybe better, than Finding Nouf. I really enjoyed the plot, which twists and turns a lot. I also like learning more about Saudi Arabia and how society is over there. The author is an American who married a Saudi Arabian man and lived over there for about a year, so it seemed like a pretty true portrayal. Definitely a good read!

Read: May/June 2011 (on CD)

Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris

My mom recommended this book to me and, although I was skeptical at first, I thoroughly enjoyed it! Here is the summary from the author's website:

When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing, her prominent family calls on Nayir Sharqi, a pious desert guide, to lead the search party. Ten days later, just as Nayir is about to give up in frustration, her body is discovered by anonymous desert travelers. When the coroner's office determines that Nouf died not of dehydration but from drowning, and her family seems suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth, Nayir takes it upon himself to find out what really happened.

The story is set in Saudi Arabia and the author does a good job of bringing in various details from that society and culture. More than just a good murder mystery, the novel has great character development and a love interest. And even better - I did not figure out who the killer was before the end!

Read: May 2011 (on CD in my car)
Next up: City of Veils, a sequel of sorts

The Hunger Games series (Suzanne Collins)

OMG. Please read these books now. Move them to the top of your list. Please. Trust me. I should have listened to my friends who read them last year. My sister-in-law let me borrow her set and once I picked them up I could not stop. I just had to know what was happening to Katniss Everdeen. I would even go so far as to put this series on the same playing field as Harry Potter and that is saying a lot!

I don't want to give anything away so I won't try to summarize. Plus trying to explain the plot just makes the books sound weird. They are set in a futuristic world where the Capital City controls/opresses twelve Districts. In order to remind the Districts of their control, the Capital requires each District to send two children to an arena every year to fight to the death. Katniss, a young girl, takes her sister's place in the arena and unintentionally sets a revolution in motion. Sounds bizarre (and it is) but it is just so good!

Read: March/April 2011

Bonus: They are making the books into movies!

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels (Pioneer Woman)

I love, love, loved this book! If you drool over PW's food blog on a weekly basis, then you will love her account of how she met and married Marlboro Man. How she gave up plans for a big city life when a cowboy swept her off her feet. Such a sweet love story and a good romantic read. Almost made me want to live on a ranch. Almost. Definitely made me grateful for my own love story.

Read: March 2011

Bonus: I got an autographed copy at Border's during their store closing sale!

The Red Queen (Philippa Gregory)

You know I love the British monarchy and historical fiction, so I knew I would like this book. The Red Queen is the story of Margaret Beaufort, a lady of the House of Lancaster, during the War of the Roses. She spends her life fighting to secure the throne for her son - the future King Henry VII. The White Queen is Margaret's primary adversary as the two royal houses of England battle it out.

Not a book that everyone would love (I recommend the Tudor books first), but I still enjoyed it!

Read: February/March 2011

Bonus: got this from the library!