Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

A re-read. Because sometimes you just gotta read Harry Potter again.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

This is a collection of short stories. I usually don't read short stories.

What made me pick this one up? The title character, Olive, is the common thread throughout all of the stories. I like it when a character from one story shows up in another. It lets me see a different side of the character.

There are 13 short stories that all take place in a small town in Maine. In each story, Olive is either the main character or makes an appearance.

I thought the concept of having Olive in all of the stories would be neat. But the problem was that I never really took a liking to Olive. So this book was just okay for me.

Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia by Sheila and Lisa Himmel

Sheila Himmel was the restaurant reviewer for the local paper while I was growing up, so I am familiar with seeing her name and reading her writing.

She wrote this book with her daughter, who struggled with anorexia and bulimia and is now in recovery. They talk about how Sheila's job required her to eat out often in order to write reviews, and how Lisa was starving herself at home. Sheila and Lisa take turns writing and it actually flows quite well. They give us a picture of what an eating disorder looks like, how much it affects the family, and how difficult recovery is.

This would be a great book for daughters and their parents to read and talk about, and also a good resource for families dealing with a daughter/son/sibling with an eating disorder.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Five sisters commit suicide and in this book, a group of neighborhood boys try to understand exactly what led all of the girls to the decision to kill themselves.

A page-turner, but kinda weird. I liked Middlesex (by the same author) better.