It's been about a week since I got back from vacation and I definitely have a trip report planned that will go day by day through my trip and all my adventures.  Before I take time to write that I wanted to post the next set of books on my fiction reading list for 2015.  In January I wrote about the first five books on my list and today I'll be writing about the next five books.  Here they are:

The title of Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige is what caught my eye at first and then the description convinced me that this would be a great book to read.  I have already downloaded it from Audible.com, so now it's just a matter of finding the time to listen to it!  Here is the description from Amazon:

The New York Times bestselling first book in a dark new series that reimagines the Oz saga, from debut author Danielle Paige.

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero. But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a road of yellow brick—but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas. I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I've been trained to fight. And I have a mission: Remove the Tin Woodman's heart. Steal the Scarecrow's brain. Take the Lion's courage. And—Dorothy must die.

I bought Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children at the store about a year ago and have decided that I will read it this year.  Here is the summary from Amazon:

A mysterious island.


 
An abandoned orphanage.


 
A strange collection of very curious photographs.


 
It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive. 

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton is one of the books I recently purchased with my credits on Audible.com.  It sounded like an interesting story and I'm excited to listen to it.  Here is the Amazon summary:

Set in seventeenth century Amsterdam—a city ruled by glittering wealth and oppressive religion—a masterful debut steeped in atmosphere and shimmering with mystery, in the tradition of Emma Donoghue, Sarah Waters, and Sarah Dunant.

”There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed . . .“

On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office—leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist—an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .

Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand—and fear—the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?

Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth.

I am a big fan of Sara Shepard's books, so I knew The Perfectionists needed to be in my 2015 reading list.  I actually read it last month after borrowing it from the library on my iPad.  I'm already excited for the next book in the series to come out in June, called The Good Girls.  Here is the Amazon summary of the first book:

You don't have to be good to be perfect.

From Sara Shepard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars series, comes another series full of juicy secrets, nail-biting suspense, and beautiful girls who will do anything to hide the ugly truth.

Ava, Caitlin, Mackenzie, Julie, and Parker are all driven to be perfect—no matter the cost. At first the girls think they have nothing in common, until they discover that they all hate the same person: handsome womanizer Nolan Hotchkiss, who's done things to hurt each of them. They come up with the perfect plan to murder Nolan—jokingly, of course. They'd never actually go through with it. But when Nolan turns up dead in the exact way they'd discussed, the girls suddenly become prime suspects in his murder. Only, they didn't do it. So who did? Unless they find the real killer, and soon, their perfect lives will come crashing down around them.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain is a book that has been on my to-read pile for over a year.  I picked it up at Barnes & Noble and knew it was a book I would enjoy.  I can't believe it's taken me this long to read it, so that's why it's on this list.  Here is the summary from Amazon:

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness.--until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group-the fabled "Lost Generation"-that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage - a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they've fought so hard for.

And those are the next five books on my list to read this year!  I wasn't able to finish my list from last year so I've made it a point to borrow or buy all of these books, sometimes using either my credits on Audible.com or by buying the hard copy.

The big day has finally arrived & I'm on my way to Florida for my 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Oasis of the Seas! I'll be taking tons of pictures and journaling through the whole trip, so I'll make sure to write my trip report on this blog when I return. Stay tuned!

This week my health goal is related to nutrition. Although I am a vegetarian, there are some days I don't eat enough fruits & vegetables. So my goal for this week is to eat a minimum of three servings of fruits & vegetables each day. Down the road I will increase this number to four and then five servings a day, but for now I am starting with a smaller number and will take it one step at a time.

This time next week I will be on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean, so I'm going include next week's goal in this post as well. One of my current goals is to do cardio for 30 minutes at least three times a week. Now I'm going to increase that goal to doing cardio at least four times a week.

When I'm back from my trip I will do an update on all my current goals to keep myself accountable and get an idea of how much progress I have made so far this year.