1) Commencement - J. Courtney Sullivan, Not too long ago I read Sullivan's other book Maine. Commencement is the story of four girls who meet during their first year at Smith College. The friends take separate paths after college but are truly their for each other, despite the odds of friendships and life changes. I liked that the story went back and forth between the four characters, highlighting differences, as well as a look into their current lives and memories from their school years.
2) Honolulu- Alan Brennert, another author I am revisiting after reading another novel by him. I loved his first book about the lepers on Molokai, so taking another adventure in Hawaii was on my agenda. The story focuses on a young Korean picture bride, who comes to Hawaii to marry a man she has never met. The story follows her from her home in Korea to Hawaii, and the people she meets through out her time have a way of coming back into her life time and time again. The history of Hawaii plays a key factor in the novel, as Brennert brings in real events into his novel including Hawaii's last monarch and political events that rocked the island nation before it reached statehood. I enjoyed the story of friendships that the lead character made and how these continued to play out through out the novel.
3) One Summer - David Baldacci, normally Baldacci writes novels about CIA operatives that are really thrilling and mind bending. In this book, he took a completely different approach and looked at the dynamics of a family after two terrible tragedies strike. The father, who was terminally ill, makes a dramatic recovery after his wife dies in a horrific accident. As he struggles to normalize life for his three children, he deals with grief and guilt. It's a very sweetly told story of a man and his family who come back from a total collapse, and how each deals with the changes in their lives.
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