Author Azar Nafisi tells her story by recounting the books she shared with her students. A gifted teacher, Nafisi, grows up in a liberated Iran, only to have the reign of Ayatollah Khomeini reverse any gains women in Iran had made towards independence and personal freedom. After being "expelled" from the University where she taught, the author decides to start a book club for a select group of women who meet in her home, free from censors and the eyes of men.

"Again and again as we discussed Lolita in that class, our discussions were colored by my student's hidden personal sorrows and joys. Like tearstains on a letter, these forays into the hidden and the personal shaded all our discussions of Nabakov (Lolita). And more and more I thought of that butterfly;what linked us so closely was this perverse intimacy of victim and jailer."

"Curiously the novels we escaped into led us finally to question and prod our own realities, about which we felt so utterly speechless."

Reading Lolita in Tehran has not only given me a greater understanding of the classics (an education I seemed to have missed when studying literature in high school or undergraduate school), but a real appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy as women in the United States. This book was not an easy read (and I admit I took a few breaks to digest and escape into other books)but well worth the journey.

Take a beautiful high school girl, a crazy mother, add the boy next door, and a an Elfin Prince's curse and you have the makings of a great read! Impossible is based on the song, Scarborough Fair. I'm most familiar with the version sung by Simon and Garfunkel way back when. I'd always thought this was such a lovely song, but when you take a closer listen, it really challenges the the idea of unconditional love. Lucinda's mother had her when she was just 18 and went insane immediately after her birth. The only thing she left Lucinda was the song, Scarborough Fair, with lyrics unlike the ones traditionally sung. Prom night ends in disaster that leaves Lucinda with knowledge of the curse but no real direction on how to accomplish the impossible tasks to break the curse. Only the love of her adopted family will lead her to the solve the puzzle!

Julia Bennett leaves her wedding dress hanging in a tree in Iowa as she makes her escape from her abusive fiance towards the safety of her loving, but eccentric Aunt Lydia. Julia's self esteem, not to mention her body, has suffered a the hands of the attractive, wealthy abuser. Julia retreats to Aunt Lydia's to tend chickens, develop new friendships and create her delectable chocolates. She makes friends with the attendees of "Psychic Night," a talented artist, turned reluctant minister's wife; the mother of four children, who shares her home with an alcoholic husband; and a reclusive psychic who fears the future as she sees it.

Cathy lamb's first book, Julia's Chocolates, will delight you with her quirky characters and messages of healing!

"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. You can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist. You can fold laundry for a family of five. Or as Peter Houghton knows... in nineteen minutes, you can bring the world to a screeching halt."

After having been bullied from the first day of Kindergarten, one morning Peter walked into Sterling High School and killed ten people. What events would bring a seventeen year old to the point where they commit murder? Maybe his mother is to blame?

Once again Picoult takes teen issues and places them directly under the microscope. You'll be thinking about this one for a lot longer than Nineteen Minutes!