As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I've heard all of my life about the Mormon pioneers. The women, especially, are highly esteemed for the grit they displayed while crossing the country - whether it was enduring childbirth in miserable conditions, mourning the loss of husbands and children, or simply washing, cooking and mending their way to Utah. They had to have been tough as nails to not only survive the journey to the West, but also to thrive in their new home.

Nancy Turner's These is my Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine 1881-1901 is a fitting tribute to all women who helped settle the wild territories of the Western United States. Although Sarah Prine is fictional and neither a Mormon, nor traveling to Utah, her story reminds me of the pioneer stories I've heard all my life. Her exciting tale, told in journal form, begins when she is 17. Packed in a wagon with her family and their belongings, Sarah is heading from New Mexico Territory toward "greener pastures by way of Texas." She describes the journey in rich detail, making the trip and the other characters come alive. She is a fiery, opinionated character as well as a dead-shot with a rifle. Along the way, Sarah's family begins traveling with a group of soldiers, one of whom is a mischevious captain named Jack Eliot. Although Sarah despises the man, he becomes a pivotal part of her life. Eventually, the Prines end up on a pecan farm near Tucson, Arizona Territory. There, Sarah lives and grows through every kind of hardship and happiness. Hers is my favorite kind of story - one that combines history, romance and humor.

Turner's novel features a cast of unforgettable characters, which simply sparkle with life. Captain Eliot's a charming rogue, Savannah's sweet as a Saint, and Miss Felicity's antics made me laugh out loud. Turner also describes the land and the settlers' way of life with impressive and believable detail. All of these elements combine to make an unforgettable read.

Okay, so I'm back to vampires. I just finished New Moon, the sequel to Stephenie Meyer's novel, Twilight, and it was just as good as compelling as the first.

Meyer's sophomore novel continues the story of Bella Swan, a teenager who finds herself inexplicably drawn to Edward Cullen, a gorgeous senior, who just happens to be a 200-year-old vampire. In the first book, Edward spends his time rescuing Bella from various evils, including a bloodthirsty vampire named James. In the second, Edward breaks Bella's heart by leaving (for her own good, he says). In an attempt to fill the bottomless void left by her true love, Bella becomes very close to an old family friend, 16-year-old Jacob Black. As their friendship deepens, she wonders if she can ever let go of Edward and accept the love of someone else. Just as she is beginning to feel somewhat happy again, Jacob's lightheartedness changes, and Bella discovers he has secrets of his own, secrets that could destroy Edward and his family. Despite Edward's betrayal, Bella is compelled to help him, a compulsion that puts her in more danger than she could ever imagine.

Once again, Meyer has created a story full of adventure, humor and passion. I find her novels immensely readable (they are actually Young Adult novels) and extremely compelling. Although New Moon is more introspective than Twilight, it is still a blood-pumping, page-turning marvel that will suck you in completely. I love her books, and am anxious to read the next three (yes, three, according to her website) installments.

Jacqueline Winspear's first novel, Maisie Dobbs, is my favorite kind of book - one that takes a pinch from one genre, a dash from another, and mixes it all together to create a work that is rich, full and unique. The story opens in the Spring of 1929, as the title character is opening a detective agency in London. Soon, she receives her first assignment, to follow a young wife suspected of cheating on her older husband. As Maisie trails the woman (Celia Davenham), she begins to discover that her open-and-shut case is much more complicated than she first imagined. Maisie finds that Celia is not, in fact, meeting a lover, but trekking daily to a country cemetery to visit a grave marked only "Vincent." The detective's search for Vincent leads her to "The Retreat," a gated community for veterans of the Great War, whose wounds are so horrific that they seek refuge from the outside world. Suspicious of the site's leader, Major Jenkins, Maisie digs deeper into his past, unwittingly re-opening the emotional wounds she suffered while a nurse at the front. Trying not to become mired in her own hurts, Maisie races against the clock to expose Major Jenkins before he can inflict any more damage on men who have already suffered so greatly.
As I said before, the story offers a little bit of everything - history, adventure, humor, romance, and heartache. The plot moves quickly (although, I admit, it is pretty predictable), the characters are interesting, and the prose is succint. It's been compared to Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but I think it is much richer than Smith's story. It's a good read - not a page turner necessarily, but definitely worth reading.

So many books have been written about WWII that it seems impossible for anyone to have a fresh perspective on the subject. Perhaps that's why Debra Dean's The Madonnas of Leningrad is so striking. Whatever the reason, this finely-crafted first novel is unforgettable.

The star of the novel is Marina Buriakov, an 82-year-old Russian immigrant, teetering on the brink of full-fledged Alzheimer's. Her story swings between present day --as she attends her granddaughter's wedding -- and her days as a young woman in war-torn Leningrad. Before the war, Marina wored as a tour guide at The Hermitage art museum, a job she loved. When war breaks out, her happy existence is shattered; she is forced to huddle in the cellars with the rest of the museum staff, ekeing out a bleak life that is increasingly endangered by lack of food, heat and other necessities. As she works with the other museum employees to pack treasured artwork for transport out of the besieged city, Marina concentrates on memorizing the pieces. Her memory of richly colored, vivid paintings stands in sharp contrast to the dark, cold world outside the museum. Although Marina and her fiancee (a soldier) survive the war, they bury their painful memories, travel to the U.S. and start new lives. Now, as Marina's mind is ravaged by disease, her daughter, Helen, realizes how little she knows her mother. The reader, like Helen, soon realizes that Marina Buriakov is a woman worth knowing, and admiring.

Dean's literary power lies in her descriptive abilities. She is especially effective at contrasting different elements, such as the priceless museum paintings and the bleak, cold world of Leningrad. The imagery is so strong that it stays in the readers head long after he/she has closed the book. It's not a feel-good book, but it is an amazingly powerful, heart-wrenching one, that should not be missed.