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I have spent all summer reading books and I have to say that I am impressed with myself because I have been so busy but I made the time to read. I love summertime as I can sit out in my backyard on a nice summer evening and read until it gets dark. During the winter months I managed to rack up quite the collection of books on my iPad and on my bookshelf, so I have decided to share some recommendations of books that I enjoyed reading.

1. Outlander – Diana Gabaldon

This book was first published in 1992, and somehow I just discovered it in 2012 thanks to a friend who recommended that I read the book and check out the entire series of novels. One of the science fiction themes I enjoy the most, I have to say is time travel. This book focuses on the character of Claire Randall, a nurse, who ends up travelling in time from 1945 in Scotland to mid-1700’s Scotland where she meets her husband’s ancestors. She does not know how she ended up travelling back in time but is quickly forced to adapt to her new surroundings and is eventually seen as a witch because of her strong knowledge of 20th century medicine that she applied in helping to heal severe injuries and illnesses in the town she was living in. She is determined to find her way back to the 20th century and back to her husband. Claire loves her husband dearly but since she is stuck in the 1740s with no way back, she ends up falling for James Fraser. What does she do? Does she try to go back to the 20th century or does she stay in 1743? This book is not a romance novel by any means, but has elements of romance, thriller and drama rolled into one. This book is fairly lengthy but every time I started to read the book, I could not put it down.

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2. Sisterhood Everlasting – Ann Brashares

This is a prequel in the series of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series. This book made me a bit upset as one of the major characters in the series goes away, which by the end of the novel reveals what happens to that character. The girls, Tibby, Lena, Carmen and Bridget, pick up where they last left off, already graduating from university and well into their adult lives. Despite all of them living throughout the United States, the girls manage to reunite for what should have been a fun girls trip to Greece, where the travelling pants last sent them, turns into a trip of sadness. The trip becomes a real opener for the girls and what is going on in their own lives and helps to tie loose ends from their past. The moral of the story is that love will bind people together and the people who are closest to you will always be there for you no matter what happens in life. Although this book did make me a bit mad for what the author chose to do, overall I have to say, it was a great read.