World Without End by Ken Follett

This is a sequel to Follett's Pillars of the Earth, which I read years ago and loved. I've been waiting for this book for over 10 years! The book is set in medieval England and like Pillars of the Earth, features characters from the whole spectrum of medieval life. The main character designs buildings and I love learning how they built things back then! In addition to the architectural, there is romance, war, plague, and evil clergymen. It is a long book (over 1,000 pages) but I loved every moment of it!

If you like this book for the medieval stuff, do read Follett's Pillars of the Earth. If you like this book for the architecture stuff, consider reading Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King, Cathedral by David Macaulay, and The Medieval Cathedral by William W. Lace.

An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris

I've read all the other Harper Connelly novels and expect this one to be just as good. Harper has a weird lightening-given gift: when she is near a corpse she can see his/her last few moments of life. This gift allows her to help the police solve crimes, but it also makes her the object of a lot of skepticism and antagonism (a lot of people think she is a kook and others simply don't like what she does/knows).

In this book Harper finds herself in Doraville, North Carolina where she "finds" herself dealing with 8 dead, runaway teenagers, and the controversey that starts when their bodies are discovered.

Other Harper Connelly books by Charlaine Harris include: Grave Site and Grave Surprise.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Colin, a former child prodigy, has dated nineteen girls named Katherine and they have all dumped him. In an effort to forget his sorrow he embarks on a cross-country road trip with his friend Hassan. Colin and Hassan's adventures include the Arch Duke Ferdinand, the creation of a a mathematical formula for predicting who will get dumped in a relationship, and a company that makes tampon strings. It all makes sense in the story; believe me, and getting everything resolved is a hoot. This book will make you smile.

The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

If you liked The Giver, you will like this book. Westerfeld has set up a utopian/dystopian society that depends on cosmetic surgery unlike anything we know today. The remnants of OUR society (we were destroyed by a petroleum virus) linger in the setting. A secret society dedicated to preserving indviduality, cosmetic-surgery free, lives off-grid in a place called "The Smoke" and provides an escape for those who don't want to be surgically altered into submission.

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

I just finished this book over the weekend. It was a lot of fun and had a happy ending (go figure!). I especially like the main character's spunky disposition and her positive way of confronting the negatives in her life.