In between pregnancy and baby development books, I’ve tried to fit in some fun reading.  Here are the last 5 books I have finished:

1. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry- Set in crowded, poor Bombay, this book explores the story of a family struggling to take care of their aging father.  I believe I found this book via this list of books to read before you die.  Kind of a sad book, but an interesting read about modern day India and family culture.

2. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See- I thought this book was excellent, but I would not mark it as a light summer read as it has a bit of depressing story line.  Two Shanghai sisters are sold off from their family in desperate times and are forced to move to Los Angeles.  Through a very difficult journey, they are able to stay together and build a life together.

3. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks- This is a typical Nicholas Sparks novel set in a beachtown of North Carolina.  It was a cute, light read, but I felt pretty silly when my boss came over to my desk one day and commented that his 14-year old daughter was reading the same book (apparently Miley Cyrus is starring in the movie edition of the book).

4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson- I finally got on the bandwagon and read the first of Stieg Larson’s trilogy.  It was very interesting to read and I was captivated through the whole book.  I find it interesting to see that this book captures a male and female audience alike…I see a 50/50 split between men and women reading this on the bus.  I currently have the next two books in the series on my hold list at the library (I am something like 450th in the queue for The Girl Who Played With Fire!)

5. House Rules by Jodi Picoult- Definitely not one of my favorite Jodi Picoult books.  It is about a teenage boy with Asperger’s and his mother and brother.  I found two of these three characters (mom and the kid with Asperger’s) to be extremely annoying.

I am now in search of a good summer read in anticipation of the vacation we are taking in August- any suggestions?

-m