Definitely a good book.  For those keeping track, this book is ranked 12 out of 24 on my top 24 book list. 

It really struck a chord with me- I’m not sure why but Novalee is definitely an interesting and strong character.  To be left behind by her boyfriend at a Wal-Mart, 7 months pregnant (and only 17), and nowhere else to go…She ends up living in a Wal-Mart, undetected and keeping track of everything she ate, drank and wore so she could one day pay back everything she had taken from the store. 

I’ve never gone through what she had to go through, but she’s a very sympathetic character, and while at Wal-Mart, meets several other great people- Sister Husband, Moses Whitecotton, and Benny Goodluck.  And who could forget about Forney Hull and Lexie Coop?  All very memorable characters.

Sister Husband is pretty awesome- she definitely made Novalee feel welcome after she came to Oklahoma.  Sister Husband is kind and pretty spunky.  She offered to let Novalee and Americus stay with her after Novalee’s mother bailed.  And Novalee a stranger to her at the tine too.   

Moses Whitecotton- I’d say he definitely inspired Novalee to become a photographer, and helped her out with her photography. 

Forney Hull- definitely set up to be Novalee’s love interest.  To me, he also inspired her to read, and Forney, being the town librarian (at least in his sisters stead, since his sister was an alcoholic), is also someone who plays an invaluable part of Novalee’s life. 

Lexie Coop- she’s definitely Novalee’s best friend.  One of the most moving scenes in the entire book was when one of Lexie’s boyfriends rapes Lexie’s two oldest children, and Lexie and her five kids live with Novalee and her daughter.

It definitely sheds a light on a small town, where people help each other out, and how community and friends are so important in our lives.  It also shows what life is like for the lower class.

This book definitely makes my top 24 books.  It’s by Malika Oufkir. 

I first read it in high school, and reread it a couple years ago.  It’s about Malika’s time as a companion to Princess Amina (the daughter of a Moroccan king), and her time at the palace.  It also covers 20 years in different prisons, getting shuttled from prison to prison, and her escape from prison, a house arrest after escaping from prison, and ends with a final escape to freedom. 

It’s definitely a good read and I couldn’t put it down.  It’s amazing what she and her family went through.  The fact that she and her family were political prisoners for so long…I can’t even wrap my brain around the fact that they saved up their rations to make cakes and made toys out of cardboard.  That even though they were in prison, they celebrated holidays and their birthdays.  That Malika considered herself to be a member of the royal family, and that she was the daughter of the kings closest aide, and then to spend 20 in prison because her father led a coup against the king…It couldn’t have been easy for her.  To have to choose between her biological father and her adoptive father…

It’s definitely in my top 15- I’m not sure where in the top 15 but that’s definitely where it is, if I had to put them in order.

It’s one of the books I’m rereading right now.  It’s written by Alison Weir.  I’m still on Anne Boleyn, so there’s 4 more wives to read about.  It’s been a slow reread, mostly because I’ve been baking a lot for Christmas, but I’m hoping to pick it back up once Christmas is over.

I really liked the book, and found that it gave a lot of insight into his wives.  Most of the book is devoted to Katherine of Aragon, which makes sense considering he was married to her the longest.  A good portion of it is also devoted to Anne Boleyn, which also wasn’t a surprise given the lengths he went to marry her. 

Jane Semour, Anne of Cleves, and Katherine Howard were the most interesting to read about. 

Jane Seymour, because Henry had convinved himself that he loved her the best out of all his wives, and apparently liked to say that she was his 1st lawful wife.

Anne of Cleves was really interesting as well, mostly because the portrait of her that was painted by Hans Holbein made her appear more beautiful than she was, and because Thomas Cromwell exaggerated what he had been told about Anne of Cleves.  The fact that Henry had felt he had been mislead would lead to their anullment.  She went on to live a happy, and private, life.

Katherine Howard is another I found really interesting because of her upbringing- she had spent part of her childhood in poverty, and then went on to live her step-grandmother, who didn’t pay much attention to her upbringing.  She really was ill-prepared to be queen, but nonetheless Henry obviously found her to be the perfect wife.  Her downfall was also fairly interesting as well- committing adultery.  Being married to Henry the 8th couldn’t have been easy, but that she would die the same way as her cousin Anne. 

I’m definitely leaning towards doing something set in Tudor England for my historical fiction novel, and writing about one of the women mentioned above would be interesting, as most of the (very few) historical fiction I’ve read focuses on Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and Elizabeth the 1st.

Here are my top 10 books:

10- Mists of Avalon by Marian Zimmer Bradley; it’s King Arthur told from a woman’s perspective.  I haven’t read any other King Arthur stories, so I can’t make any comparisons, but it’s certainly an interesting take on King Arthur.

9-Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen; it’s about a 93 year-old man in a nursing home who’s recounting his time in the circus.  I love the way it goes back and forth between past and present.  The main character, Jacob, is a really likeable character, and you can tell he really misses his time in the circus.

8- Me and Emma by Elizabeth Flock; it’s about an 8 year-old girl who lost her dad and has a mom who isn’t there emotionally.  She’s protective of her younger sister, and they run away from home.  It’s heartbreaking, and while I won’t give away, it’s not what I was expecting.  I just wanted to protect Carrie, and her courage stuck with me.

7- To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee; it’s one of the very few required readings that I actually liked.  It’s a classic, of course, but the characters drew me in.  Boo Radley, Scout, Dill, and Jem.  And of course, Atticus.  It’s been a couple years since I’ve read it, so it’s long overdue for a reread. 

6-The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd; in a way, it’s a coming of age story.  Lily (who’s 14) never knew her mother, so Rosaleen became her stand-in mother.  They make their way to Tiburon, South Carolina, which was written on the back of a picture that had once belonged to her mother, and they get taken in by 3 sisters.  It makes the list because home and family can be found in the most unexpected places.

5- But Inside I’m Screaming by Elizabeth Flock; it’s the 2nd Elizabeth Flock book to make the list.  Isabel is a news anchor working for the fictional ANN News, and while broadcasting Princess Diana’s car accident live, falls apart and ends up at a psychiatric hospital.  What struck me the most about it was her struggle to accept that she denied the problems in her life, while trying to accept that she is, in some ways, like the other patients at the hospital.

4-The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold; the reason why this is so high up is the fact that it’s told from the perspective of 14 year-old dead girl, who’s watching her family from her version of heaven.  I love that she’s narrating from how she sees heaven, and the aftermath of her death and the effect it has on her family.

3- The Pact by Jodi Piccoult; I mentioned this yesterday when I was talking about one of my plot bunnies.  Emily and Chris grew up together, and were best friends.  In high school, they start dating and she ends up getting pregnant.  She can’t deal with her pregnancy, and wants to go to college, plus, she saw Chris as a brother, not a boyfriend, so she decides to kill herself.  Chris tries to stop her, but he can’t.  He said they had a suicide pact.  He’s accused of killing her as he was with her, and because the gun used was his fathers, but he’s proven innocent.  It was a really difficult read, and took me several months, because I’d start crying every few pages.  I definitely identified with how hopeless she felt, and how she didn’t see any other way out.

2- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; I can’t put my finger on why I love this book so much, but it’s one of the few that I can read over and over without getting tired of it.  Can I just say that I love Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy?  Because I do.

1-The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling; I love Harry Potter!  It’s not funny how much I love Harry Potter.  It’s my all-time favorite book because I can read the entire series, and then start reading Sorcerer’s Stone the second I finish Deathly Hollows.  I love the good-vs-evil, and how the choices we make are important in determining who we are, as shown with Voldemort and Harry.  And the characters!  Harry Potter’s been a big part of my life since high school, ever since I saw Sorcerers Stone on DVD.  So I’ve been a fan for about 8 years.  It’s had a huge impact on my life, and no matter how old I get, I always remember going to get Deathly Hallows at midnight, and staying up all night to read it.