Reading from Europe Trip

In 1989, Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century England that centered on the building of a cathedral, and on the men, women, and children whose lives it changes forever. I've since have hoped for a sequel. At last, it is here…World Without End

Two centuries after the townspeople of Kingsbridge finished building their exquisite Gothic cathedral, four children slip into the forest and witness a killing… an event that will braid their lives together by ambition, love, greed, and revenge

Another sweeping story set in the middle ages at the time of the great plagues. A good read for the summer.

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - In 1946, writer Juliet Ashton finds inspiration for her next book in her correspondence with a native of Guernsey, who tells her about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book club born as an alibi during German occupation

Funny title - but a heartwarming story set right after World War II - and flashbacks to how this civilian society coped through the war.

A unique form of storytelling - it kind of grows on you.

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Amsterdam in the 1690s - a boom town with Europe's biggest stock exchange and traders who will stop at nothing to get even richer. Lienzo, a Portugese Jew, stumbles across a new commodity - coffee - which, if he plays his cards right, will make him the richest man in Holland. But others stand in his way - rival traders who do all in their power to confuse the exchange and scupper his plans, his brother who is jealous of his financial wizardry and even his brother's beautiful wife who both tempts and spurns him in equal measure.

I've started to really like what David Liss writes in these historical fiction novels! Like his other's I've read - The Coffee Trader works well.

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In an un-put-downable gee-whiz fashion, author Ben Sherwood introduces his readers to researchers, survivors (some, of horrifying events), psychologists, and scientists who look at why some survive a crisis when others don’t. This is one of those useful, lively, fun books that tells you something new and totally fascinating on every page, and I simply couldn’t stop reading it.

Want to live to a ripe old (happy) age? Pick up a copy of The Survivors Club and enjoy.

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"History comes to life" In John Adams - HBO Miniseries. This miniseries is both for those that didn't like or do well in history and those that consider themselves history geeks. Regardless of which category you fall into, either you can learn some of the history that you missed, or be thrilled with the story that is "true to the book and historically accurate." "If all history were taught this way kids would learn more." John Adams "provides a realistic view of what your founding fahters endured both personally and politically," destroying the "romantic idea" of life we have from that time. "A must see for every American."

It was great to watch this entire series on my iPod Touch on the plane ride to Paris. And I thought I knew about early American history.