Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

This novel is absolutely amazing. A professor of mine gave it to me, so it was a freebie! The novel follows the life of a young girl in 19th century China when girls still have their feet bound in order to be desirable wives. This girl becomes lifelong friends with another young girl through the secret language of Chinese women, nu shu. Point of view is first person, the young girl is now a very old woman who believes that everyone she has known in her life has passed on, so now she can finally tell her true story. Overall, it is a wonderful book and I truly have nothing negative to say about it. If one enjoys Memoirs of a Geisha, she will undoubtedly enjoy this novel. I would recommend it to women and girls over fourteen who are interested in historical fiction. I give this novel a 4! I am actually lending this to my best friend who also has a reading blog http://www.livinglaughingreading.blogspot.com.
Check it out and see if she enjoys the novel as much as I did! :)

 http://www.lisasee.com/snowflower.htm

For Time and Eternity by Allison Pittman

This novel is another Kindle Freebie, but it is actually really good. I imagine it is only free because it is the first novel in the series and the following novels are $10 a piece. I am sorry, but I am not going to pay $10 for a book that is downloaded. If I pay more than $4, I want a tangible object that can sit on my bookshelf! :)
Anyhow, this novel is about a woman who joins the Mormons on their trail to Zion in the 1800's. She leaves her mother and father, who are very overbearing in their Christian faith, for a religion that she believes is more loving. She converts and loves her life for about 5 years. Then, the 'prophet' begins creating new rules and ideas. Finally, she discovers that she no longer believes in the religion around the time her child dies and her husband takes another wife. Remember, this is back at the beginning of the Mormon faith, before the mainstream church denounced plural marriages and such.
While I enjoy the plot of a young woman coming into her own and standing up for her beliefs, the plot line is a little shallow at the time she changes her mind about the Mormons. For awhile, she is a young mother and wife who attends service regularly and follows her husband, blindly. Then, she has a baby that passes away and she immediately denounces the Mormon faith for Christianity. However, regardless of how it comes about, the rest of the novel becomes more intriguing.
I would suggest this novel to women who enjoy historical fiction. While this novel may not be the most historically researched, such as The 19th Wife, it is still a good read the follows the basic history of the early Mormon church. I will give it a 3.5 because it did keep me entertained.

 http://www.allisonpittman.com/

Daughter of Joy by Kathleen Morgan

I finally finished a book! I have definitely been going through a dry spell lately because I have been busy around the house. Anyhow, this book is really pretty good. It is definitely not the next #1 best-seller, but it is a sweet story full of inspiration. Categorically, it is an inspirational, historical romance. The novel follows a young woman, who has lost both her husband and son, to the Culdee Creek Ranch where she meets a man named Conor Mackay and his daughter, Beth. She eventually ends up falling for Conor, but encounters many trials and tribulations. It is a quick read and doesn't require too much concentration, so I was able to read it when students were reading while I subbed. I really like that at the beginning of each chapter, is a quote from the bible which suits the events in the story. I give this novel a 3 and I recommend it for women who enjoy books about the strenght of faith in God.

http://www.kathleenmorgan.com/index.html