Book Nerd

Thanks again to Karissa at A Fresh Start on a Budget for hosting this April Blogging Challenge!
Day 8's challenge is to recommend a book to read and why I love it.

Books have always been a huge part of my life. My mom read all the time to me, and even when I was in high school insisted on reading chapter books aloud at the table.  I loved taking part in the summer reading program that our local library put on each year, and my sister and I always had a friendly competition going regarding who could read the most books.  Rachel always came out on top.  She even was honored for achieving the most Accelerated Reader points in a year when she was in 5th grade....at my 8th grade graduation.  I was happy to be runner up.

I have so many favorite books; I know I'm supposed to pick one, but I'm allowing myself three. :)

One that I've read in the past few years really sticks out in my mind:  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  I'm not sure why, but I've always been fascinated by the circus and zoos, elephants in particular.  The older I get, the less enchanted I am by them, and in fact, the circus makes me sad...poor animals!  I still love elephants, and I just really loved the way the book was written.  I will admit that I am very impatient and usually have to read the end of a book before I can commit to reading the whole thing.  Weird, I know.  I actually didn't do that with Water for Elephants, because it held my attention!  It has romance, action, and elephants.  Enough said.

The other two books at the top of my list are classics: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  Again, these books both have romance and action in the form of war.  I love the strong female main character in each, and I also really, really liked the movie adaptations.  I used to read Little Women over and over again, and I have a very dog-eared copy that used to belong to my aunt.  I love it, and I need to get it out again this summer.

All of these books can be found on Amazon.com, and I'm pretty sure Little Women can be downloaded for free if you have a Nook or Kindle.  I also highly suggest looking at garage sales or trying out your local library!  Lincoln's library system is awesome; I love that through  my online account I can put books and DVDs on hold and pick them up at the location of my choice.  It's so easy!  Check it out (pun intended)!  Happy Reading!