Top Best Selling Books July 2011

1. Go The F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortez 
2. Smokin' Seventeen: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich 
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. The Days of Summer by Jill Barnett
5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
6. Surrender the Heart (Surrender to Destiny) by Marylu Tyndall
7. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games Book 2) by Suzanne Collins
8. Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
9. Her Best Catch by Lindi Peterson
10. Mockinjay (The Hunger Games Book 3) by Suzanne Collins
11. One Deadly Sister by Roy Hoisington

Mockinjay (The Hunger Games Book 3) by Suzanne Collins

Mockinjay (The Hunger Games Book 3) by Suzanne Collins is the final of the trilogy and the end of the story.

Less action-packed than it's predecessors, Mockinjay looks deeper into the psyche of the characters and the effects of the war which finally ended.

Many people have described Mockinjay as unputdownable, and at the end they were left with a sense of loss and wonder.

Haivng read the earlier books in The Hunger Games, you have to read this one to put the whole story to bed.

Well worth the money and hopefully we can look forward to the next book by Suzanne Collins.

Her Best Catch by Lindi Peterson

Her Best Catch by Lindi Peterson could best be described a light-hearted but deeply Christian romance novel.

 Morality abounds in the story of  Allison Doll meeting the man of her dreams at a time in her life when she had greater concerns.

Her mother has just turned 50 and is acting strangely, while her two best friends have fallen in love, leaving her the odd man out.

Enter minor celebrity and rising baseball player Ashton Boyd, who is determined to woo and romance Allison while she is equally determined to not get involved.

This is a great book for reading while sunbathing. It is in parts funny, and at times the religious stuff can get a little overpowering, but otherwise it is a delightful story.

Catching Fire (The Second Book of The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire (The Second Book of The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins is every bit as exciting as the first.

In Catching Fire, we learn more about the personalities of the two combatants from the first book, The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, who amazingly enough both survived through their ordeal as outlined in the story.

We see Katniss being seen as a folk heroine among the people, and becoming a bit of a celebrity.

We also see her becoming entangled in a love triangle, and she must choose just one.

Suzanne Collins has crafted a wonderful book which allows us a deeper insight into the political and social setup of Panem, the futuristic new America.

When you have read Catching Fire, you will be breathless for its sequel, Mockinjay.

Surrender the heart (Surrender to Destiny) by Marylu Tyndall

Surrender the heart (Surrender to Destiny) by Marylu Tyndall is a swashbuckling Christian romance story set around the War of 1812 (U.S versus The British empire).

Powerfully written, the characters are believable and can suck you in so that you end up reading half the night instead of putting the book down and going to sleep.

Surrender the Heart is, as the name suggests, a tale of love and romance which will draw you in and leave you breathless for more.

Peppered throughout are quotes from the Bible which would be historically accurate as during this period in history most people were God-fearing, especially those who journeyed across the seas.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett is a powerfully written book based around the shameless use of black women as live-in housekeepers in the homes of white families in the American South.

Set in the 1960s, just before the Civil Rights movement came into being, Skeeter is a young white woman who aspires to write a book about the lives and treatment handed out to those black women who are employed as maids.

She enlists the help of Aibileen and  Minnie who each tell their tales in a story interwoven with fear of discovery for being a part of writing such a book, while life goes on around them with household tasks to be carried out, children to feed and clothe, while the indomitable white ladies of the town go about their business with hardly a thought for the maids in their employ.

The Help is a powerful book that brings to life the characters, scenery and events in a way that will touch your heart, and leave you thinking long after the book is finished.

A full length feature movie has been made of The Help, and reading this book first will give you a head start and a real feel for the characters.

The Days of Summer by Jill Barnett

The Days of Summer by Jill Barnett is a perfect beach read.

It follows the tale of the Banning brothers, who meet up with Laurel Peyton on a beach in 1970. Laura falls for one brother, and then the other, causing friction between the siblings.

None are aware at first that fate has already joined them irrevocably.

Years before, the Banning parents and Laura's father had died in a tragic road accident together without ever having met before.

Some describe The Days of Summer as being heavy going and depressing at times, so it is best read under full sunlight.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a powerful story set in a futuristic America. The US has collapsed and been replaced by Panem, a country with a capitol and 12 districts, and each year two youngsters from each district must fight to the death against each other in a live reality TV show that everyone must watch.

The Hunger Games, the first in a trilogy by Suzanne Collins, follows two young teenagers chosen from District 12 who are forced to take part.

Following the death of her father,16 year old Katniss has become the family's protector and frequently steals food in order for them to survive. When her younger sister Prim is chosen to take part in the Hunger Games, she readily steps in instead.

Alongside Peeta, the baker's son, they have to show cunning, skill, intelligence to compete against their bigger, stronger and better trained competitors to survive.

This book will draw you in and keep you there, and leave you with a sense of longing for the next book in the series.

Smokin' Seventeen: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich

Smokin' Seventeen: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich.

For those disappointed with recent Stephanie Plum novels, Smokin' Seventeen shows that Janet Evanovich is back on form.

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum finds herself in the middle of another exciting murder mystery with dead bodies appearing in shallow graves on a construction site.

Meanwhile her mother is encouraging her to dump both the men in her life, policeman Joe Morelli and security man Ranger, in favor of an old football star high school chum who is back in town.

Smokin' Seventeen has a smokin' good storyline and believable characters that'll keep you gripped to your seats until you have read it through.

Go The F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortez

Go The F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortez is delight for weary parents everywhere.

Every parent who has ever gone through the trauma of having a child or children who will not go to sleep after being put to bed or having a story read to them, will strongly identify with every word written here, and it may may raise a chortle or two.

A must read, this book is unputdownable, easy to read and beautiful illustrated throughout by artist Ricardo Cortez.

For parents of a gentle disposition and who don't like swear words, don't read as the book is peppered throughout.

However, as most of us have at some point in our lives have felt the difficulties and frustrations of having a child who uses every ingenious excuse in the book not to go to sleep, we can empathize with every event and every saying throughout Go the F**k to Sleep which will not only make us smile, it will make any future parenting that bit easier having read this books first.