The Map of Time

If you want a book that has adventure, romance, escapism and some turn of the century charm, this is a good selection.  It is a pretty hefty book with 600+ pages, but reads very easily (in my opinion).  The author does tend to go off on tangents frequently, but the story ties together very nicely.  The novel is divided into three sections.  The first section is about a young man named Andrew Harrington and how he lost the love of his life, but is offered a chance to go back in time to change the outcome.  The second section follows a man named Tom Blunt and his attempt to live and love in the present by pretending to be someone from the future.  The third section focuses on a fictionalized H.G. Wells (who appears in the previous sections as well) and his own experience with time travel.  The end went on a bit long, but by then you only have about 20 pages left and if you've already read the previous 580 then you may as well settle in and finish it. There are a multitude of characters and subplots woven into the tome, and one feels as though Palma is writing for a reader from that long gone era when books were a primary form of entertainment.  This is a book for people who don't want to watch television because they know the imagination provides a more fantastic escape.

Mockingjay

Well, in all honesty, I read this book because I often feel compelled to complete trilogies.  I didn't quite care for book two in the trilogy, but I pressed on so I could give an honest opinion of the entire trilogy. Now that I've read all three books, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I'm disappointed.  The protagonist is yet another weak, indecisive young woman (see Twilight series).  I'm so tired of these series portraying young women as victims.  Most of the action that takes place in this book only superficially involves the main character.  Usually she ends up having some kind of mental meltdown and someone else has to either talk her off the ledge or complete the action for her.  I get that it's a series for young readers, but why can't young women read about other young women who kick-ass and get over the mental blocks? Why can't we see a female character who is not crippled with "boy trouble"?  The first book was great, the second was repetitive and the third just dragged.  When I first began this series, I envisioned it going in a more political thriller/espionage direction, but it seems as if the author is either incapable of good plot and character development or just disinterested.  In the end it's a tepid teenage love story encased in the disguise of a (weak) political thriller.

The Phantom of the Opera

This is another book that I began prior to my trip to Paris and completed the day after my return.  It is a very easy read, but I was spending most of my time absorbing the city and reading Paris to the Moon in the evenings.  I did, prior to my arrival in Paris, read over half of the story. So on my first day in the city I made a special trip to the Garnier Opera to see the Phantom's box.  The story is told extremely well and the actual Garnier Opera is stunning in appearance.  If you read the book prior to entering the grand opera house, you will definitely get a feeling that a story such as that of Erik, Raoul, Chistine Daae, and the Persian could have taken place here.  It is a curious love story after all is said and done, but what better setting to have a curious love story than a grand, opulent opera house that seems capable of holding many mysteries and secrets.

Paris to the Moon

This book was recommended to me by a fellow RN when he found out I was going to be traveling to Paris.  I read half of the book prior to my trip and completed it while on my trip.  It was such a different experience for me to be reading a book about a city while I was actually exploring and experiencing said city.  I loved it!  It was almost uncanny how I would spend the day at the Jardin du Luxembourg only to curl up with this book later that evening in my hotel room, remove the bookmark, start reading, and realize that the next chapter was an essay about the exact same garden.  I really enjoyed the book and truly felt that it helped me experience Paris from a more observant perspective.  I recommend the book for anyone traveling to Paris or anyone who considers themselves a Francophile.  It is a book of essays, thoughts and considerations about Parisian life as lived by an expatriate.  The essays are somewhat linear, though, and the prose is easy to follow.  The descriptions are phenomenal and true to reality.  Even if you cannot make it to Paris any time soon, you can easily get lost and travel there through this work.