Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

June Nealon, a mother recovering from the loss of her first husband, second husband, and first daughter, and fearing the dreaded yet probable death of her only living family member, her eleven year old daughter, Claire.

Father Michael Wright, a priest who was part of the jury who sentenced Shay Bourne, charged with the murders of Kurt and Elizabeth Nealon, to death, then, eleven years later, becomes his spiritual advisor only months before his execution.

Maggie Bloom, a lawyer who decides to take Shay Bourne as her client around the same time Father Michael takes him under his wing.

Three people eternally tied to potential "messiah" Shay Bourne, whose appearance on I-Tier means change for not only all the other inmates sentenced to life in prison, or in Shay's case, death, but also a questioning of the beliefs everyone's been taught to stand by. As Shay begins performing miracles and quoting scripture he never read right and left and no one can seem to find a single thing wrong with him, Michael and Maggie begin to wonder if Shay was actually guilty in the first place, even though he didn't plead innocent in his trial eleven years ago. However, even if Shay was found innocent, Shay vowed to kill himself. He wanted to get out of his body, away from his painful past, but most importantly, he wanted to give his heart to Claire Nealon.

Giving a heart to a small girl is more than difficult. When the heart of the twenty-some year old man is found to miraculously match Claire's, not all is well. June refuses to take the heart of the one man she hates most on Earth, Michael urges Shay to turn to Jesus for redemption instead of organ donations, and Maggie fights for Shay to get out of the lethal injection he was sentenced to and opt for a hanging instead, all in order to save a heart for someone who might not even take it.

Change of Heart is an amazing novel, one that everyone should read.

Your Roots Are Showing by Elise Chidley

I'm not going to lie -- I never really got into this book, but I refused to put it down. Your Roots Are Showing is chick lit, but more made for the 30+ crowd. Being a teenager, that might be why I never got into it. Also, a lot of it involves British slang, and since I'm American, I didn't understand much of that.

In this novel, Lizzie Buckley attempts to get a lot of weight off her shoulders by emailing her sister, Janie, a long rant about how she wished her husband's business trips were longer, and how difficult it was for her to be with him at times. With one accidental click, Lizzie sends the email to James, her husband, instead, and almost instantly, her marriage goes spiraling downward, and within a week, Lizzie finds herself in a new house with her twins.

Though things seem like they can't get any worse, Lizzie finds comfort in her new neighbors -- Ingrid, the nosey neighbor who knows everything about everybody; Sarah, Ingrid awkward teenage daughter who babysits for Lizzie and encourages her to keep writing; and Bruno, the neighborhood gardner who seems to take a certain interest in Lizzie.

As Lizzie finds her ways to escape from the knots of depression she found herself in while married to James through running and therapy, she also discovers that her roots might not be holding her down as much as she might think.

If you're in the older crowd and understand a good amount of British slang, this book could very well be for you.

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is the author of sixteen amazing, memorable novels, and Picture Perfect is no exception. Within the pages of this novel you meet Cassie Barrett, a renowned anthropologist struggling to recover from amnesia and slowly recalling vivid memories of domestic violence. As the memories come back and the abuse continues, Cassie wonders if her marriage to movie star Alex Rivers is really worth staying around for. She wants to stay, but how can she if it risks more lives than just her own?

Picture Perfect is a wonderful novel that allows you to feel the same confusion, fear, and just feelings in general as Cassie. Cassie knows she has to leave, but how can she leave the one she loves? Then again, how can she stay?

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

Thus begins the story of Susie Salmon's death and what came after, starting with the horrid truth that was a secret that she'd always share with her murderer and no other, though this novel is hardly about Susie herself. While Susie is in her heaven, she spends all of her spare time watching as her family falls apart, watching as her first love moves on, watching as her murderer escapes once more, watching. That's all Susie can do. Watch.

The Lovely Bones tells the side of murder mysteries that you never get to hear -- the victim's story. A #1 bestseller for a reason, this isn't a novel to miss.