These are based on books I have read and thoroughly enjoyed. I have chosen books from different genres. Hopefully, one of these will catch your attention!

The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison

This 6th book in Harrison's series continues the adventures of Rachel Morgan, witch and bounty hunter. I didn't think I would find another character since Stephanie Plum that I would want to follow through til the end, until I started reading about Rachel Morgan's adventures and mishaps as a bounty hunter, who happens to be a witch. Rachel is witty, bold, passionate, and, of course, not too hard to look at. Her partners, a living vampire named Ivy and a pixie named Jenks, aide her in tracking elves, werewolves, and demons who have gone astray in this world where "normal" people co-exist with those of supernatural origin. I loved it and couldn't put it down. 

 

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

This is not the kind of book I would have picked up and read five years ago. Honestly, the cover intrigued me, as did the pages of the hard cover (they are made to look like an old manuscript). Once I got started, however, I was drawn into the story, mainly set during the Depression years. As the book opens, elderly Jacob and some other residents of a nursing home are watching a circus erect their tents and prepare for opening day. After a brief argument with a new resident who claims he used to carry water for elephants, Jacob begins remembering his life as a circus vet. Gruen's descripitons of life on a circus train, the toils of setting up and breaking down a travelling circus, the personalities of the people involved and the hierarchy of the circus staff are incredibly complex. Plus, the way in which she switches between current elderly Jacob and his musings and worries that he may be losing his grasp on reality, to his life during his years as a circus vet are done so seamlessly that you never get lost in the plot. This is a great book.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Out of all the classics I have read, this is one I have enjoyed the most. As a book lover and seller, I choked on the idea that people could become so apathetic to information and thinking for themselves that books became obsolete! Firemen actually did not know that they used to put out fires. All they know is that they start fires for the purpose of burning books and unwittingly keeping people subjugated to only knowing what thety are told they need to know (kinda scary when you look at mainstream media now!). Fortunately, free thinking does prevail, but the book makes you wonder just how much thinking is done for the populace by those in power and whether or not anyone really cares.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Not one to generally pick up a general fiction book about women and their lives, I took a chance on this one and instantly became engrossed in the story of Lily Owens, a woman who grew up not quite remembering the mysterious day of her mother's death. The story is set in 1964 South Carolina and Lily had been raised mainly by her black "stand-in mother" Rosaleen. When Lily decided to go looking for her mother's past, she took Rosaleen and traveled to the "Black Madonna" a mysterious woman whose name Lily stumbled upon when going through the few things left of her mother. The Black Madonna and her two sisters are beekeepers and they help both Lily and Rosaleen discover the strength of women. I felt a kinship with all four of the female characters and after finishing the book, actually discovered some of my own strengths I wasn't aware I possessed.