Another Summer Book ?

My all time favorites are the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. They've got romance mingled with historical fiction, action, etc: highly entertaining, and lengthy, so you won't have to look for another book for a while. :)

Last summer i read The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder. It was written by Rebecca Wells who wrote the YaYa series books. I LOVED it. It follows Calla Lily through-out her childhood, teen years, becoming an adult getting married and all of life's challenges in between. It was a great book, and I hate to sound cliche, but I laughed and cried and laughed again! Another great series is the autobiograpies by Esmeralda Santiago. She is a Puerto Rican woman who writes about growing up in PR, then moving to the US and how she had to adapt to being in America and how different it is here than in PR. The books are When I Was Puerto Rican, Almost a Woman, and The Turkish Lover. I had heard a couple years ago that she has another book in the making, but I havent seen it out yet.
These had helped me through some long summers, so I hope they can help you.
Good luck!!!!!
Cindy

My friend and I just started reading the Potluck club series, they are Christian based, they are stories about women and very entertaining so far.

My favorite book is written by Sue Bender and it's called Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish. It has a picture of an Amish 9-patch quilt on the cover. It is a short book, and can easily be finished in a weekend. It is so awesome that I've shared it with every woman in my life, it's traveled out of state and come back more than once. It's about a 50-ish woman whose life is out of balance, over-scheduled, frenzied (sound familiar ladies?) and she sort of steps off the merry go round by going to live with an Amish family for a time. She learns what's really important in life and it transforms her. It gives the reader a lot to think about. I love it so much.
Enjoy!

I am so excited to be able to recommend Water for Elephants. It's AMAZING. It's set in the circus, which is a subject that doesn't particularly interest me, so I was surprised at how much I loved this novel. Couldn't put it down. And it's uplifting!

All of the Number One Ladies' Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith are charming and really enjoyable and there are eight of them.

i recently read the secret life of bees per another mama's suggestion and loved it!

I highly recommend the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It's about Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, back from the war in 1945. She's reunited with her husband and on a second honeymoon in Scotland. Claire innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year 1743. And so the adventure begins. I have never read anything that touched me so much to where I wondered about these characters when I went to sleep and when I woke up. This book is for anyone who loves historical fiction and wants a story that continues to live on long after you are done reading it. It's a great read...enjoy.

I'm reading the Outlander Series (8 books) by Diana Gabaldon for the 3rd time. Love all of them.

Firefly Lane is great!

If you are open to a slightly different category, try Janet Evanovich's series of a hapless female "bounty hunter" named Stephanie Plum. They are hilarious and laugh-out-loud books, very light but with a mystery involved. They all have a number in the title - Like "One for the Money", "Two for the Dough" and "Seven Up" - you can read them in numerical order if you want, but she kind of explains the past in each book so you don't really have to read them from the beginning. There are some four letter words and some sex, but it's mostly for comic relief and not really graphic at all if you don't like that sort of thing. All of the characters are, well, CHARACTERS! I think they are perfect for summer reading. Your library should have them all so don't feel you need to buy them. They are pretty fast reads.

I second "Water for Elephants." I'd also recommend "The School of Essential Ingredients" by Erica Bauermeister. I think the Janet Evonovich books are easy light-hearted books.

The Shop on Blossom Street begins a series by Debbie Macomber. It's great! Actually ALL her books are wonderful! (I know you said you're not into romance, BUT I have to ask - have you read the Twilight series??? I have to say they were wonderful! Even though we're "adults" they are very enjoyable!!!!) Have a great summer!

I loved "Three Cups of Tea". I know it's a few years old but if you have not read it yet, it's a great story.