Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Dear John is a great book for teens. It is a love story about a soldier and a young girl who spend the summer is the carolinas. I thought this book would be just another love story, but it was so much more. Savannah and John have so many adventures together. From stamp collecting to the death of John's autistic father to John being stationed in Germany for a really long time. The two of them fall in and out of love and reading their story as it unfolds is so exciting. My favorite part is when John's father shares his coin collection with Savannah. Savannah is such an open person. I would definitely recommend this book.

Emma by Jane Austen

I've had a copy of Emma on my bookshelf for a while. It was given to me as a gift from my godmother when I was very little. I finally decided to read it because I was missing my godmother a lot. I thought reading this book would make me feel close to her again, because she moved to California. I really enjoyed this book. I had never read a Jane Austen novel before, and after reading Emma, I definitely want to read more. Emma is the story of a young, spoiled, wealthy girl named Emma Woodhouse. Emma loves to play matchmaker with all of her friends, and sometimes her plans don't really work out the way she planned them in the first place. I absolutely love the way Jane Austen writes. I feel like I am living during the time period of her books because the language is so vivid. Each character is so well developed and the romance between the characters is classic. The whole novel is classic in every way, and that is what made me love it. I would definitely recommend this book to people who love to read classic romance novels.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

I had been seeing the trailer for the movie, 'The Last Song', for a while. It made me want to read the book. At first, I thought that this would be a boring book about a teen's experience during a summer in the Carolinas, but it was so much more. Ronnie goes to stay with her dad for the summer. She is very angry at him because he left their family and ran away to live in his hometown. Ronnie falls in love with a boy named Will, and gets involved with a few criminals roaming the beach town where her father lives. From start to finish, I was hooked on this book. At the end of the book, the reader finds out that Ronnie's dad has cancer, and that is why he wanted to spend the summer with his kids- it would be his last summer. During the last third of the book, I could only read about five pages at a time because I was crying so much. I was truly touched by this book. It teaches many lessons about forgiveness and looking beyond peoples' exterior. I can't wait to see the movie!

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (my favorite part of the book)

My favorite part about reading this book was learning about a lifestyle so completely different from my own. I really enjoyed learning about life in Botswana and South Africa.

Mma Precious Ramotswe is the first female detective in Botswana. She sells her father's cattle to buy a little office for her detective agency. I learned a lot about how people respect each other in very different ways in Botswana. For example, Mma Ramotswe is asked to figure out if a man claiming to be someone's father is actually their father. The women who asks Mma Ramotswe to do this has taken "her father" under her roof and is cooking and cleaning for him all day while he sits around. This is the first time she has ever met her father, yet because he is her parent (or he claims to be her parent), she gives him her utmost respect because that is how you treat your parent in this country. You do whatever they ask even when you are an adult. No questions asked.

Mma Ramotswe's father also talks about his life in South Africa and working there as a miner. He describes the hardships he faced, how racism impacted his job, etc. It is so amazing to me that so much is done by miners to gather things like coal and diamonds and no one ever thinks about that when they are using the finished product. I really enjoyed reading about the effort and learning so much history. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Wherever Nina Lies

My parents bought me this book for Christmas and I read it in only a few hours because I was so addicted to it. Wherever Nina Lies is the Story of a teenage girl named Ellie who is searching for her missing sister Nina. Nina disappeared two years ago and no one has heard from her since. After finding an old drawing of Nina's with a phone number on it, Ellie ends up at a party and meets a boy named Sean. Sean and Ellie instantly connect and Sean is desperate to help Ellie find Nina. Ellie thinks this is great because no one else is on her side. Her best friend and her mother think there is no hope of finding Nina ever again. Ellie and Sean get in Sean's car and the two of them go off on an adventure in search of Nina. They face never ending roads, scams, murderers, lies, clues, betrayal, and a shocking ending. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery and adventure.

One Fifth Avenue (my favorite character)

I read this whole book while I was away in Spain. It was so good. The book focuses on the many people who live in the apartment building at the address of One Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. This book is full of so many characters, but my favorite is Mindy Gooch. Mindy is a middle aged woman who is always longing for something she doesn't have. She sees the glass half empty. Mindy is always criticizing others for things that the majority of people wouldn't even notice. She and her husband and son have the smallest apartment in One Fifth. It's kind of dark and dingy, so it influences Mindy's mood alot. Mindy is constantly yelling at her husband James to do everything better. I feel so bad for him, having to put up with Mindy's nonsense. Despite all of this, Mindy is my favorite. When the reader looks past all of her annoying habits, Mindy's true character comes out. She really means well underneath it all. She's not all that bad, and at the end of the day, everything she does is for her family. She always has the best interests of her family at heart.

The Emperor's Children (beginning thoughts)

I love to read books that take place in New York City. I feel like there is so much to do in the city, so it gives characters more opportunities to go on more adventures. This is the first reason I picked up The Emperor's Children. The Emperor's children is about three friends and their slowly evolving lives in New York City. The three friends went to Brown together and still remain close. They are in their 30's and are struggling with family and careers. When I opened this book, after only about three pages, I was hooked. From page one, the reader is able to tell that the characters are so well developed. I feel like I'm in the pages right next to them. The book begins in Australia. Danielle Minkoff, a producer, is attending a gathering and catching up with old friends. The way the author describes the characters here is so amazing. I hope this book keeps getting better.