Tantalizing reads

I am a girl with many love affairs. ...of course number one is my husband. ...then there are Sunday afternoons, perfect rainstorms and flip flops in the summer, just to name a few. And right there at the top of the list are delectable books. You know the kind I mean... the ones that you can't quite put down, even though there are a million more important things that you need to be doing at that exact moment. These are the ones I have a "love affair" with. When I read a good book it's like something fills up inside me and I melt away with the words, leaving behind any unimportant, stressful or mundane thing that would usually tempt my time. These are the books that I finally put down at night because I absolutely MUST go to bed... but after twenty minutes of thinking about it I have to sneak out to the couch so I don't wake Ben, just to catch a few more pages. Lately I have found a few of these treasures. Be careful not to mistake me. I'm not talking classics like The Catcher in the Rye or Lord of the Flies, literature whose purpose undoubtedly is to start your mind wheels turning in an effort to make you a more intellectual and aware person. No, these books are simply to sit back, relax and enjoy yourself for a moment. So if you're like me and absolutely can't pass up a good book, try one of these out. I hope they're as delightful for you as they were for me!

The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins. Definitely an easy read, but the plot is amazing! It's the future of North America, where children's names are drawn annually and the winners are forced to participate in the Hunger Games. The sole objective of the games is to be the last one alive. This one actually does get those little thinking wheels turning... and if you have teenage siblings they're going to love it too.

Catching Fire is the sequel to The Hunger Games. The third one is due out next summer and I'm anxiously waiting!

Perhaps you've recently seen the previews for the movie The Lightning Thief? Well here's the origins, the first in a five book series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. Also easy, humorous, and a really fun story. It's Greek mythology in present day as the mortal children of the gods are on a quest to save the world. Narrator for the story? None other than the son of Poseidon, Lord of the Sea.

Book 2 is The Sea of Monsters; 3 is The Titan's Curse followed by 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth. And my favorite? Book 5: The Last Olympian. Definitely loved this whole series.

Of course all those fun fictional works have to be grounded with a historical fiction intermission from one of my favorite authors of all time. Gerald N. Lund's newest book The Undaunted is wonderful. Not quite as good as The Kingdom and the Crown or The Work and the Glory, but still really good, and I learned a ton about a set of pioneers that I knew nothing about! It tells about the story of the Hole in the Rock pioneers and their amazing journey to the San Juan.