Princess Academy

I was SO put off by the title but I didn't have time (2 crazy kids) to find something else when I was at the library.  It was really short so I read it and it turned out better than expected.  The story is set in a fictional place about a girl who lives in a tiny village on a mountain where the sole occupation is working in the quarry.  None of the members of the village had ever been down the mountain and they are only vaguely aware of life in the lowlands.  Through some ritual the priests of the country divined that the prince was to choose his bride from among the young girls in the village.  An academy is created for the girls to study for 1 year in order to be properly prepared to meet the prince.  The book is about growing up.  I liked how the main character tries to find the balance between her earthy and simple past and a material and complicated future.  It's definitely written for a younger audience but it's cute and entertaining, and a short read.

These Is My Words - Nancy E. Turner

This is the first book in a series of three. I have yet to read the other two.

Another slow starter, but well worth it. The author wrote this story based on the diary of her great great grandmother.

I loved this book because although there are a few love stories involved, it is not the focal point of the novel. Written in diary form, you really feel the story in reality, not like a sappy love story with a fairytale ending. Her life was hard, and takes you for an emotional ride as she faces bandits, Indians, death, heartbreak, and more. Her life was hard and the book leaves you feeling like you've grown right along with her.

I can't wait to finish the series.

The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux

This book is slow getting into but is well worth it in the end. Heather's assurance that it was really good kept me going.

The story is nothing like the play or any movie I've ever seen. The history of Erik (or the Opera Ghost) is very interesting, and his genius is much more than music.

The play seems to me more about seduction and love whereas the book is more about fear and freedom.

A definite must.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

I listened to this on CD just after I had Emerson so my memory is a little hazy but thought it was really cute.  It made for a good chuckle anyway.  

It's about a single, 30-something woman that has yet to get married because she's secretly addicted to the BBC Pride and Prejudice and compares every man to Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy.  Her wealthy great aunt (I think) bequeaths her a week at Austenland, a british estate that provides the uber wealthy a chance to live out their Jane Austen fantasies.  

It's funny, hasn't everyone gone through a Colin Firth stage, and a cute read.  Nothing deep but light and entertaining.  I just recently found out Shannon Hale is LDS and heard that some of her other books are pretty good.