A Voice in the Wind, by Francine Rivers

This author is a Christian writer, and this book's main character is a Christian right after the time of Christ's death. Most of the characters are promiscuous, which is disconcerting, but there were never any sordid details. It does have a lot of parallels between modern day ideals and the Roman civilization near its downfall. It is the typical soap-opera style of problem solving (which is basically non-existant), I usually avoid this style of story telling, but I'm sucked in now. I am happy that most of the characters have flaws, including the heroine. I enjoyed this and am reading the follow up in the series, Echo in the Darkness.

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold

This book came highly recommended by a friend but it took me forever to get around to reading it. My sister started it before me and called to tell me how great it was. She says she cried through the first 20 pages or so. I didn't have quite the same reaction. It was good, but not enough to make it to my favorites list. The writing style is a bit dreamy and flowing, but maybe a bit too dreamy. It does have sex scenes, but without details, somewhere between PG and PG13. I did keep reading just because I wanted so desperately to see what happened to the bad guy (I was a bit disappointed at how he was handled). There were some very poignant thoughts about grief and healing, if there ever can be after losing a loved-one.

Percy Jackson Series, by Rick Riordan

These books were great! They were silly, adventurous and totally clean. I will be very excited to read these again with my sons in just a few years. They are perfect for 8+year old boys.
All five were quick reads and entertaining for adults too. My brother-in-law and I had a race of sorts to see who could finish these first, he won.
I'm pretty sure I will buy these to keep and a set for my nephews (which is saying a lot since I do not buy books).