Summer Vacation Reading Part 2

Well I am back at work from my 2 week vacation.  During the first week I stayed home and volunteered at a children's camp my church sponsors.  During the second week I was relaxing on a small island in the Georgian Bay in Canada.  If you guessed that I read more while I was lolling on the deck in Canada, you guessed wrong!  I actually read more while I was at home.  After all day at camp, I was too tired to do anything else but read!

So...Here are the books I read on my Summer Vacation.


1.  A Bad Day for Mercy by Sophie Littlefield
Stella Hardesty is a smart, funny, feisty widow living in Missouri.  She has a little sewing shop that keeps her busy and a quiet little side business helping out women in abusive relationships.  Stella has a heart of gold and some of the funniest lines ever -- she tells it like it is!

2.  Fire In the Hole by Elmore Leonard
Had to read this short story collection because the title story is about US Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder.  If you have seen the TV series "Justified" you know who I'm talking about.  This story was excellent, as were all the others.  Leonard has an excellent way with words -- and creates interesting characters.  (This book was on my list for vacation)


3.  The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo
I read Jo Nesbo because he is Norwegian and so am I.  This mystery in this novel takes place in present day Oslo, and on the German/Russian front line during WWII.  The story involves Norwegian soldiers who fought for the Germans against the Russians during WWII.  (this was on my list for vacation) 


4.  The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
(this was published very recently and I was pleasantly surprised to get it!)  This a story of  the Armenian genocide by the Turks that took place in 1915.  Elizabeth Endicott, a proper Bostonian young lady, and her farther arrive in Aleppo, Syria to help provide food and medical care to Armenian refugees who have survived the desert march out of Turkey.  While there, Elizabeth meets and falls in love with Aram, an Armenian engineer who's wife and infant daughter were murdered during the diaspora.  Aram & Elizabeth's story is told by their granddaughter who discovered it quite by accident -- she had never been told about the events of 1915.  Elizabeth and Aram are based on the author's own grandparents.  This is a great story and the only book I read while I was away.


A confession -- I tried to read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and had to put it down.  It took too much concentration!  What I read was very good and I will certainly try this again!

I wanted to read A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin too.  I thought I had my son's copy at home, but when I went to pack it,  I discovered I had returned it to him. I think I will get this in CD format and listen to it while I am painting trim in my house and/or knitting!