And Yet ANOTHER Book Posting...

I've forgotten a few of the books I had read during this deployment and also I read a bunch more good books. Here's the latest...

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

I don't usually go for this type of book, but I'm really glad I read this. This book has quickly become reading in many economics classes and some other classes throughout the country. I simply read this book because it seemed interesting. It didn't dissappoint. Steven D. Levitt is one of America's brightest economists. In this book, he puts a new spin on the way we look at pretty much everything, mostly making us think a lot about the conventional wisdoms that society has taught us over the years and changing our thought process completely by pointing out some very obvious but probably never thought of ideas about the world. I mean, who would even think to find any similarities between a real estate agent and a sumo wrestler? I'm really glad that this has become required reading, and I probably wouldn't mind reading it for a class someday.

The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook has been one of my favorite and most memorable reads for a long time, and then when I saw the movie, I had never been so touched by just watching a movie before, nor cried so hard. The Wedding is a loose sequel to the Notebook, but from the point of Noah and Allie's son-in-law. After thirty years of marriage, he feels that his wife has fallen out of love with him, and he must figure out how to make themselves fall in love again. A very touching and heartwarming story. I will soon read Nights In Rodanthe. I doubt I will be disappointed.




The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory

This was a really good book and I learned a lot about the English monarchy during Queen Mary's (AKA "Bloody Mary") time. This is the story of Hannah the Fool, a young Jewish girl who had fled with her father from Spain when their mother was victimized by the Inquisition. Hannah helps her father work in his bookshop until a wealthy young Lord comes in and begs her for a fool for the King because of her ability to see into the future. From then on, she is entwined with the drama of the royal court and she witnesses treason, lies, heartbreak and intense rivalry between Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth. This book was definately very hard to put down.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Between long books, I often like to take a break and read a quick book that's easy to read. When I was a kid, I found that the best books were always the books with the big Newberry Medal emblazoned on the cover. Even though these are technically children's books, I still love to read them now and then.
Kira-Kira is the story of a Japanese-American family that had to move from Iowa to Georgia when Katie, the narrator is only in kindergarten. She adores her sister and the family has a deeply loving relationship even though both parents must work very long hours. When Katie's older sister, Lynn, gets deathly ill, Katie takes care of her and decides to try and live up to her sister's dreams of college.


Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn-Dixie is also a Newberry Award Winner that has also made it to the big screen. It's the story of the new girl in town who finds a dog in the Winn-Dixie and takes him home, naming him after where she found him. She is a very lonely girl, and Winn-Dixie enriches her life and the lives around him by helping her make friends around her new neighborhood. This is a nice little story. I enjoyed it a lot.

The Summer I Dared by Barbara Delinsky

In this novel, Julia leaves her home in New York for the summer to spend time with her aunt on a small island off the coast of main. On the way to the island, she becomes one of the three survivors of a horrible boat accident, and this is a catalyst for her to seriously re-evaluate what is important to her and who she is. She feels strangely connected to the other two survivors of the crash and she feels more at home on the island than at home with her domineering husband that cares way too much for himself. This is a very good coming of age story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.



In fact, I enjoyed reading all these books. I probably won't read so much when I get home, but I do love to read in bed before I go to sleep, so I hope I will continue reading such good books. I'm hoping to finish a couple more books before I go home.