This is the first of Nicholas Sparks' novels to appeal to a much younger audience since A Walk To Remember. Ronnie, a 17-year old fresh out of high school with no plans for the future is forced to spend her summer with her father in Wilmington, North Carolina. While she is angry and reluctant at first, as summer progresses, she finds herself changing as she encounters Will, one of the 'popular' crowd; Blaze, a girl lost and out on her own; and her father, who is busy trying to search for God.

I have to admit, I held high expectations for this book. I was originally drawn to the second book in the series, "The Coming Storm" but as I generally like to start a series from the beginning I held off on reading the other installments in favor of starting here.

To be honest, I found this book a little lacking in several fields. Overall, it was a nice, easy read that went by rather quickly and because of this the areas that I found lacking were forgiveable and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Based on a true story, Homer & Langley takes a look at the life of two brothers growing old in the twentieth century. One went off to fight in the first World War and came back forever changed thanks to an encounter with mustard gas. The other is blind and deeply intuitive, eager to explore the personalities of those around him. They are mostly confined to their Fifth Avenue mansion, right in the heart of New York City, and experience history itself as they struggle to complete Langley's eternally current newspaper.

Anjali Kapadia is in a bit of trouble. Her family's business, a classy boutique named Silk & Sapphires in the heart of New Jersey's Little India, is in financial ruin. In an effort to save the business from bankruptcy, her father has called on her entrepeneur uncle, Jeevan Kapadia, to come and help. The problem? Jeevan has a reputation for being a bit of a dictator; he likes things done his way, or not at all. The idea fills Anjali with gloom, but she will do just about anything for this business, which she helped develop after her husband died several years prior.

It all starts with a single letter, but that's enough to peak the interest of Juliet Ashton. The mention of a strange book club, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, catches her attention and she yearns to learn more of this strange group. Through the letters she receives from various members (and non-members) of this society, she learns of the life on Guernsey during the German occupation during WWII.

It's the 22nd century, and the technology on Earth has progressed far past what any of us could imagine. People are now hybrids with computers, and the land you inhabit isn't nearly as important as the zone your mind is on. Which makes it a great target for hacking by terrorists. The Autumn Rain, in this case. They're out to destroy both the two superpower zones, along with the leaders who control them. Claire Haskell, the world's best razor, now sets out to warn the President of the United States, Andrew Harrison, of this treachery, before it's too late.

David Henry has worked his whole life to get away from the childhood he had, where his family struggled to make ends meet and died rather early in life. He has become a physician and his young wife is pregnant. On a rare snowy night in Lexington, Kentucky, she goes into labor and delivers twins, one boy and one girl. But, David realizes just after birth that his baby girl has Down Syndrome, and he worries about her fate; his own sister died of heart problems when she was still very young. So, he tells his nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her away to an institution, common during those times.

Anne Boleyn is a name remembered by nearly every student of European and World History. Only slightly less infamous as her husband, she has long been associated with scandal and reformation; often vilified and blamed for the mistreatment of Queen Katherine.

Levine's debut novel tackles a topic not many people in Western society thinks about: prostitution. The story centers on a teenage girl sold into prostitution as a way to repay her father's debts. Through a battle she had with tuberculosis, young Batuk learned to read and write, and she now uses that skill to describe her life. In the first section, she moves between her past life with her family to her current life under the 'Hippopotamus.' In the second half of the book, she is sold to a business man for his boss' son.