Must Read in 2014 (#MustReadin2014)

Well, the midpoint of the year has rolled around (how did that happen?) and I'm proud to say I've read  some of the books on my Must Read in 2014 list.  Not nearly enough, but hey, be kind to yourself~you're doing the best you can do (I saw that on Pinterest and loved it and I'm excited I could work it into a blog post about reading--because let's face it, we all want more time to read!).  In no particular order, here's what I've read since the last update:

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

This one has been on my list since it came out. I wasn't disappointed! This is a story of finding new hope in old places. Great summer read!

The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel by Deborah Hopkinson

3.5 stars, and probably 4 stars if I'd read it faster. I've been reading this for a few months during silent reading time at school. The book is about the Cholera outbreak that 616 people in one part if London in the mid-1800s. I liked how real people who played crucial roles in solving the mystery of the epidemic were given big roles in the story. The main character, Eel, is a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kid who ends up being an assistant to Dr. Snow and determining the outbreak stems from a contaminated water pump. This book isn't for every kid, but one interested in science and mystery would enjoy it.

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

In the same vein as The Help, this is a story of a young, Southern girl trying to put her family back together, but finding that family is not always related by blood. I especially liked the change over time of Starla (the white Southern protagonist) as she came to know and love Eula (the black, Southern woman with whom Starla finds on her journey).

Seven Stories Up by Laurel Snyder

I just couldn't make it through this one. Maybe I need to pick it up again this summer when I can sit and read more than two or three pages at a time.

So that looks pretty meager on the screen, but I've been reading tons of other fabulous books, too!  You can look at my Goodreads list as proof.  I really wanted to include A Snicker of Magic, because I'm starting the last CD in the car today, but alas, I'm not quite done.  I'll include it on my next update.  Hope you've read something good, too!