The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

A tale of forbidden love, this is set in the Australian Outback and takes place in early 1900’s through the 1960s.  Ralph de Bricassart is a priest who aspires to Rome and the Vatican.  Meggie is the only daughter of a family who he is sworn to take care of in the will of a rich, spiteful woman.  An attraction grows between them that threatens everything. 

This was the basis for a hugely successful miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward.

Anansi Boys

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

The sequel to “American Gods”, the story stars “Fat” Charlie, who all of a sudden has to deal with a brother who shows up at his door to show Charlie how to have fun just like their father.  Oh yeah, did I mention that their father was Anansi, a trickster god?

Enders game by Orson Scott Card

Ender’s Game is a great science fiction novel.  Ender Wiggin is recruited by the world government for “training” to fight the alien “buggers”.  This first novel in a long running series follows Ender as he engages in training simulations and interacts with the other recruits.  A very good read.

The rest of the series following Ender’s Game:

• Speaker for the dead
• Xenocide
• Children of the mind

The Shadow books are a related series that involve Ender’s family, who has been left behind when he is taken to battleschool. This series order is:

• Ender’s Shadow
• Shadow of the Hegemon
• Shadow Puppets
• Shadow of the Giant

I found that the series as a whole was fast paced and exciting.  I usually don’t like to read series books because I can’t stand the suspense of waiting in between book releases, but this series I had to swallow up as fast as I could.  Highly recommended for science fiction fans.

NEW! Just released and in at the library is the new Ender’s novel “A War of Gifts.”  Come in and place a hold on it today!