A conversation took place recently in the SSC kitchen about what books we are all reading. Several of us are voracious readers and are always looking for new books to read so we thought we’d share our notes with you!

Catrice is just finishing Dance of Death, the sixth book in the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston. Her and her boyfriend Jim like detective books and have been enjoying this series. They read them at the same time and share their thoughts almost every night—kind of like their very own book club.  

Brittany goes through periods when she reads book after book and then none at all for awhile. Right now she is re-reading two books. One is by her favorite author, Nicholas Sparks, called Safe Haven. It is one of her favorite stories of love and family.  The other is by her second favorite author, Rachel Hauck, called Love Starts With Elle. The message of love lost to tragedy and finding new love is a powerful reminder of how amazing love can really be.
 
Lisa is reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. She just started reading it and it is supposed to be an incredible story written by an author she’s heard a lot about. And the story has twins in it.

Brooke is absorbed in Dragonbreath - Attack of the Ninja Frogs by Ursula Vernon. (Dragonbreath is her 8 year-old son’s favorite series right now.)

Greg is reading Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham. It is really a biographical look at the different ways Jefferson influenced others. He’s also reading The Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti, which details the political backdrop to the power struggles in the black ops community.

Carla is reading Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander.  Several individuals have given her their high recommendations on this book and mentioned that it changed their life for the better.  

Mary has been reading The Nerve Center: Lessons in Governing from the White House Chiefs of Staff. She saw it on Greg's desk, read the inside cover and thought it sounded interesting. She is also the next person in the hold cue at the library for Dead Ever After, the final novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series—fulfilling her crappily-written little indulgence every May when Charlaine Harris releases her next book in the series. But it will finally be over. Thank goodness! Now she’s wondering what is going to be my next poorly-written series.

Heather recently finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which is a beautiful story about a foster girl living in Germany during World War II. Since then she’s been catching up on back issues of her favorite literary magazine—The Sun.

Miki is re-reading Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. She read the whole series years ago but just found out a movie based on the book is coming out in November so she wanted to revisit all the characters.  It’s a great novel that honors the intelligence and strength of children while warning how they can be manipulated by the adults around them.

Jane is reading Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer: Abduction, by John Grisham with her son Isaiah in an attempt to stretch his scope of reading beyond Harry Potter. On her own she is reading A Song of Ice and Fire: A Dance with Dragons (Book 5 in the series) by George R. R. Martin (because she’s too impatient and frugal for HBO) and Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey to fuel her ongoing motivation to G.O.O.D.–Get Out Of Debt!