Anna and the French Kiss

by Stephanie Perkins
372 pages

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more.  So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris-until she meets Etienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Etienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true.  Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

This books is so cute! I was hooked from the very beginning. Couldn't put it down, stayed up to finish it. Just to make sure that yes, they finally kiss.

However, Anna & Etienne each keep messing things up a bit in the end and that was a slightly annoying, but it all wraps up nicely. None of it was too far fetched and real life type events, so I guess I’m not that annoyed :) Because it was so just so dang cute.

Oh, and I'm totally adding this to my everyday language: pants. Instead of crap, shite, etc :) When Etienne says this Anna, she says, "Oh heavens, that's cute."  

Plus, I totally think the author is making fun of Nicholas Sparks. It was cracking me up.

Did I mention I thought it was cute?...Just kidding.

Water For Elephants

Water For Elephants
by Sara Gruen
335 pages

Jacob Jankowski is "20 or 23" when he joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show after his parents are killed in an automobile accident.  Having almost graduated from Cornell University (his parents were killed the week of his exams) with a degree in veterinary, Jacob is recruited as the circus's veterinarian.  While part of the circus, Jacob becomes friends with a quirky group of people, falls in love with a beautiful circus performer, and learns how cruel some people can be--to both animals and people alike.

I loved that the narrator was an older Jacob.  His wit and sarcasm was infectious.  There were lots of twists and turns to this story, none that I saw coming.  Such a good book!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

335 pgs. I know - I'm waaaayyyyy behind on this one. I've had this on my shelf for a few years now and it kept getting passed over for other things. I think subconciously I didn't want to read about the violence against animals that I had heard about. Those scenes were painful but not impossible to get through. I find anything about circus life appealing and while this wasn't my favorite on the subject, I appreciated Gruen's research on the topic and overall it's a fast, good read.