Kristen: 2 of 15

Title: Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen

Pages: 350

Rating: ****

So I set a mini goal (that I really didn't think I'd actually achieve) of completing two books before the end of January.  I  started book #2 on Thursday night, and even in the midst of a rather busy weekend, I got so wrapped up in the darn thing that i couldn't put it down.  When I reached the end I couldn't help but wish for more.

This was a great story and I'm looking forward movie that's coming soon.  The book follows the Depression-era circus life, from the perspective of it's main character.  The author did her homework, studying historic circus life and beautifully weaved truth into her work of fiction.

Thanks to my sis for recommending this one to me.  It was well worth the read.

Kristen: 1 of 15

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 784
Rating: ****



I completed my first book of our 2011 book challenge!  I had actually already started reading it before we decided to do the challenge.  But it's a long one and I was only a couple hundred pages in, so I figured it would count.

This book was a "re-read" for me.  I read it for the first time when it first came out.  The problem... in my excitement (ok, so I'm a bit of a HP nerd, we stood in line to buy the book at midnight) I read the whole thing in a weekend.  It was great, but (fast forward to now, when the movies are coming out) I didn't feel like I had gotten a chance to really absorb all the little details.  So I felt a re-read was in order.

Even though the "Part One" move just came out, I'm still glad I choose to read this one now.  There is so much detail that the movie doesn't get a chance to cover.  It was a fun read.  It's a great finish to the series.  If you're into the movies, I'd definitely say reading the book is well worth it. 

I'll give it four stars, cause something with this many pages that can catch my attention twice has gotta be good.