Toujours Provence

Toujours Provence is a fascinating book about and Englishman who moves to France. That Englishman is also the author, Peter Mayle, of the book. Mayle is actually writing as these experiences happen in France. In the early chapters, Mayle accurately describes the strange happenings in Provence. He describes witnessing singing toads, eating gargantuan meals, digging up gold coins in his garden, and using a hog to hunt for mushrooms. Although Mayle is searching for relaxation, he never gets it. At least he has a good time trying though.

The book is witty and humorous. Mayle always stumbles to get it right with the French people, leading to hilarious encounters. So far, this has been a great book, and I recommend it to others.

Incarceron

Incarceron really picked up towards the end and made it an enjoyable read. The communication inside the prison to outside the prison with the characters Finn and Claudia really developed. Some very key discoveries are made about Claudia, Finn, the warden, and the prison itself are made. These are too relevant to the ending to share but I can say that they know there is a way out of the prison. The way out brings up controversies within the group of escapees. Incarceron turns out to be much closer to Claudia then she ever would have imagined. There have been many theories about it being underground, or in space but in reality, it is very close and accessible to her. The prison was created with magic and holds as many secrets as prisoners. The book in all was interesting. I now am reading the sequel, Saphique. It continues where Incarceron left off as Claudia and Finn attempt to extract their friends from Incarceron while managing a kingdom in the outside world.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I have recently read a book by Ann Brashare, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". It is the first book in a series of four. The book is about 4 different girls, age 16, all going different ways for the summer. Bee, the blonde one, is going off to a soccer camp and she falls in love with one of the only boy counselors, against the rules. Tibby, the kind of punk rock one, is staying at home working at a Walmans. She meets a 12 year old girl who has leukemia and 6 months to live. At the end of the book, Tibby realizes how much she's been affected by her. Lena, is greek, and she and her sister go to Greece for the summer. Carmen is dark haired and goes to visit her dad over the summer. It is a story about love, friendship and surprises as the girls pass around a pair of jeans that fit them all. I'd really suggest reading them if you like chick flicks!

The Help Kate Korslund

The Help was a really good book! I saw the movie before I read the book, and the movie missed lots of important details. It's about a white woman who writes a book about what it's like to be a black maid in Mississippi. She interviews many maids and gets it published. Many of the moments the maids have gone through are really funny, but they're sad, too. The white woman, Skeeter, interviews many of her friends' maids, and in order for no one to know it's Jackson, Mississippi, they use fake names for everyone. The book gets published, but there's lots of stress to get in done in time, and they want it printed after Martin Luther King made his speeches. If you've just seen the movie, I suggest you read the book, because the movie missed some small details, but it made the book better!

Legacy

I just finished the historical fiction book, “Legacy” by Susan Kay. I enjoyed this book immensely. Written in the 3^rd person, it examines the life of the very enigmatic Elizabeth Tudor, Queen of England from early infantry to her death. Legacy also shows the way three men; best friend and lover Robert Dudley, close advisor William Cecil, and one-time friend turned enemy Phillip of Spain’s lives intertwined with Elizabeth. Legacy spares no detail in showing the hardships that honed her ability to survive the disfavor of her tyrant father, King Henry VIII and the fanatical Catholic Queen Mary I at an early age and Elizabeth’s incredible genius. Legacy reveals Elizabeth as the enigmatic, practical but fascinating monarch who inherited a bankrupt country on the verge of religious civil war and through her 40 years of successful reign brought England into a golden age of peace. The most exciting moment of her reign was when the hopelessly outnumbered English defeat the prestigious Spanish Armada. Kay wove this story incredibly, showing Elizabeth at the lowest points of her life and at the highest. Legacy is a highly recommendable book. Once started, I couldn’t put this book down. The book was vivid and descriptive, masterfully written, even the dialogue was fun to read. Fact is mixed with fiction and the result couldn’t have been better. I loved this book.

The Help

So far I am about half way through the book "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I am really loving the book! My favorite part of the book is how the author has decided to write from each characters point of view. My favorite characters point of view so far has been Aibleen and Miss Skeeter. I love the way how wise and strong this wonderful woman is. She seems to have a sense of life and what is needed in order to get through it. The whole point of this book is pretty much to show what it was like to be an African American woman during this time in our history. Hearing what life is like from different point of views from white richer women, white poor woman, African American richer women, and African American poor woman. Aibleen has such a wonderful relationship with Mae Mobley. I loved hearing about Aibleen trying to potty train her. It made me really sad when Mae Mobley was getting slapped by her mother, I could never imagine smacking a baby. This book honestly is so good it is so hard to put down! I would recommend this book to anyone it is such a great book!

Sweet Little Lies

So far in the book “Sweet Little Lies” by Lauren Conrad, a girl named Jane has unexpectedly flown out to Cabo with a new glamorous friend, Madison. Jane decided to leave her crazily busy Los Angeles lifestyle for a while to figure out some things. She has not planned a return to LA yet, but she’s only been in Cabo for five days.

Jane is on a reality show called L.A. Candy with three other girls, including Madison. Throughout the first season of the show, Jane was getting used to fame, a city life, and being able to trust people. After a couple of meltdowns and conflicts with close people, Jane decided to escape her life and work for a little while and hang out by the beach and relax with Madison. But, will she decide to go back to LA and deal with all the messy problems she created, or will she hide from them?