Reading is one of my favorite things to do in the summertime. I love it year-round, but usually I do the most reading in the summer. It feels great to relax and laze around with a book on warm summer days and nights. These are the books I read this summer, in order from my most favorite to least, with a brief commentary on each.
1. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (I LOVED it, and I can't wait to see the movie when it comes out next year.)
2. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (I neglected my children because I couldn't put it down.)
3. These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901, Arizona Territories by Nancy Turner (I don't like the title but the book itself is very good.)
4. The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen (Her stories are magical, sweet, and mysterious. I read one every summer!)
5. The House on Oyster Creek by Heidi Jon Schmidt (I liked that it's set on Cape Cod, and for once features a couple in love who shouldn't be who make a responsible choice about it.)
6. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (Great inside-look at a marriage.)
7. A Modest Proposal by Michele Ashman Bell (Well-written LDS chick-lit and I liked that it was set in Manhattan.)
8. The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn (Her ghost stories are written for kids but I still enjoy them as an adult!)
9. A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson (Not the best writing; the main character got on my nerves; melodramatic and unrealistic; but good historical fiction and I liked the ballet parts.)
10. Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Depressing, dark, disappointing.)
11. Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand (Horrible, dirty, pointless story; I felt like my mind needed a cleansing shower after reading this crappy book! I won't be reading this author again.)
Overall, despite those last two, it was a good summer when it came to the reading. If you like to read, did you read anything really good (or bad) this summer?
