I’ve recently read all of these books and I can tell you I think they are great. Will you? I can’t guarantee that, but I think you might. Also I’d like to quickly tell you about GoodReads.com. It’s a book website that is dedicated to sharing information with book lovers ALL OVER THE WORLD! I’ve linked it with my Facebook profile and have actually found several of these five books from their lists–managed by friends and strangers alike. I’m thoroughly enjoying the community feel of reading and hope you will try it too. Now, to the good stuff.

1. The Carrie Diaries: With Sex and the City 2 coming out in a week, this is a MUST read, as in get off your computer (or this site) and go buy it immediately! This book, written by the prolific Candice Bushnell herself, details Carrie’s life BEFORE she met Samantha, and before she became the City girl we know and love. It’s about when she was, well just like any one of us– struggling to decide where we fit in this wonderful city I’m lucky enough to call home. Read it–you’ll love it!
2. House Rules: A real tear-jerker, I finished this book yesterday because I literally could not put it down. It was that good. It’s about a highly functioning autistic man and his family and a huge misunderstanding. Jodi Picoult does an excellent job of explaining the complexities of Autism while weaving it into a beautiful narrative.
3. Firefly Lane: MADE ME CRY!! I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or stop reading towards the end, and I’m sure you will love it as well. It’s about friendship, motherhood and the relationships in between.
4. Commencement: Perfectly appropriate for this time of year, Commencement focuses on four girls who met at college and then lived their freshman year- senior years of life in different places doing different things, but when a strange event pulls them all back together it’s as if nothing has changed. It’s great because it shows you that some friendships actually do stand the test of time and, as I’ve been saying to my best friends these past few weeks, the people you meet in college really are the people you live your life with.
5. The Last Song: The perfect trashy novel to read by the seashore because it’s set– you guessed it– in North Carolina on the beach that Nicholas Sparks seems to adore. It’s a great book about growing up and doesn’t really require you to think too much. See the movie while you’re at it; Miley may be mediocre, but she tried and that’s all that counts.

If you read these, comment below. I’d love to hear what you think of Goodreads and these titles! Happy reading!