The Songcatcher by Sharyn McCrumb

The Songcatcher by Sharyn McCrumb was a pick for my book club by my friend.  I wasn't sure this would be my thing, but I really liked it a lot.  It starts in 1751 off the coast of Scotland on a tiny island where the young boy Malcolm McCurry is climbing the rocks by the sea and gets captured by sailors, and thus starts his 2nd life at sea.  The book switches from Malcolm's story and follows his descendants to the current day McCurry's and how a song connects them all in the beautiful mountains of the Appalachians and the Tennessee wilderness.  This is an adult novel and very clean.  Be sure and read the afterword by the author where you find out it is based on truth and the author's own family.  I always think that is cool.  A good read, and it makes me want to go hike the Appalachian Trail this summer (or some day)!

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Nalia is the crown princess and life is good, but just after she turns 16 she finds out her life is not what she thought.  She is brought to the thrown room and told that because of a prophecy foretelling the death of the princess before she was 16 that the real princess was switched with her as a baby.  Nalia is really Sinda, a commoner, filling in for 16 years to protect the real princess.  So she is shipped out to the only remaining real family she has which is an aunt in the woods far away.  Sinda, obviously, has a hard time adjusting from doing needlepoint and studying different languages to cooking and cleaning, but she does discover she has magic.  This discovery leads her back to the palace where she discovers a much darker plot that will destroy the kingdom which sends her on a journey to save it and find her true self.  A really great read.  Sinda seems rather weak at first, but she finds her strength and who she is in the end.  A fun read with a little romance, magic, deception, and adventure.  An impressive first novel for Eilis O'Neal.