The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

I guess I didn't realize just how interested I was in the lives of the four main characters in this series when I read the first book but when I saw the second one sitting on the shelf at the library I couldn't help but pick it up. Even though there is a part that is a little to descriptive for my taste and made me blush and need to put the book down a few times before continuing. I really did enjoy this book and it was fun to see what happened to these four girls in this next book...it felt like revisiting old friends and seeing the new changes and growth that they have made. I would wait still wait before suggesting this book to any of my younger nieces. But overall a very enjoyable read.

Johnny Tremain

Johnny Tremain By Esther Forbes:
One of my favorite subjects is history. I love learning about history and the early days of our country including the Civil War is one of the many topics that fascinate me. So I can see why I was drawn to this book. Johnny Tremain is a name I have heard of but never really knew the story of. So I really enjoyed this book but I didn't much care for the ending...I could see leaving the ending where it was if there was a sequel to this book but I did some research and couldn't find a sequel. I think she really could have carried this book a lot farther. But maybe the reason why she didn't is because she couldn't find anymore information about what happened to Johnny Tremain and maybe this book had some sort of Epilogue that I missed explaining that. All in all a great read but the ending does leave you a bit high and dry.

The Undaunted

The Undaunted By: Gerald N. Lund


This book was amazing, I usually don't read books like this but WOW. A good part of my life I lived down in Southern Utah in a small town called Monticello. I also lived in Moab for a time and I have always known that those towns down in that area were settled by the Mormon pioneers but I never gave much thought about it. I have even seen the Hole-in-the-rock when I was boating on Lake Powell. But i have never really thought about how hard it was for them to cross from Escalante to Bluff. this book helped me to understand better the struggles, sorrow, faith and triumph of the Mormon pioneers as they try and make this journey. A lot of the families mentioned in this book were actual families who made this trek. Including one family who joined the LDS Church in Palmyra New York and came after a lot of persecution and being kicked out of their homes numerous times made it to Utah and established Salt Lake City. The thing that shocked me most was that at most of the places mentioned I have seen and been there myself not even realizing the events that happened here. This book has given me a deep respect for these pioneers and what they went through to establish homes and to help make Utah what it is today. If you would like to learn more about these pioneers there is a website at
http://www.undaunted-thenovel.com/ or if you would like to learn more about the Mormon pioneers or the LDS church please visit http://www.lds.org/ or http://www.mormon.org/