37) I'm With the Band-Pamela Des Barres

Pamela Des Barres didn't want to lead an ordinary life. Luckily for her, she grew up in the freewheeling 1960s in Southern California. Once she realized that high school and obsessing over the Beatles was no longer fun after discovering oral sex with her first boyfriend, she decided it was time to change things up. So, what did she do? She headed straight to the Sunset Strip for the burgeoning rock n' roll scene. It wasn't just the music she was immersing herself in. No, it was the sex and the drugs that went along with it as well.

From inhaling weird substances with Jim Morrison to trysts with Mick Jagger to a tumultuous courtship with Jimmy Page to nights wrapped up in Waylon Jennings to being a caretaker to the Zappa children to becoming one of the most notorious groupies in rock music, Miss Pamela had a wild time between the late 60s and the entire decade of the 70s. The life you dreamed of having if you were alive at that time can be found between the pages of this book and you cannot believe that all of what she did is real. 

I liked this book. For the first 100 pages or so, I was out of this world bored. I was ready for a riotous romp through the legends of rock n' roll, but first you had to get through all of the boring stuff before Pamela Miller became Miss Pamela of the GTOs. However, once you got through that and landed at the drug soaked bandana sniffing naked time with Jim Morrison, you wanted to know more. Who else had she slept with? What other bands did she see rise from clubs with sticky, alcohol stained floors to ruling the arenas? Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Rolling Stones, all four of the Beatles, Alice Cooper...every big name from that time is here.

However, I didn't love this book. It's an entertaining read, but it was slow moving at times and the parts from her diaries could get hard to understand, but it was still interesting. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but some might enjoy it.

36) Bossypants-Tina Fey

Do your thing and don't care if they like it.

If you don't know who Tina Fey is, you've been living under a rock for quite some time now. She was the first female head writer at Saturday Night Live until Lorne Michaels suggested she be used in a sketch. She kills it as Liz Lemon on 30 Rock. She's one of the handful of women to win the Mark Twain award for American Humor.

The woman wrote Mean Girls. What else do you need to know?

But how did Tina Fey get to be the women who brings the humor and gave us Cady Heron? Was she always this funny? Did she always make the people around her keel over with laughter from awkward observations? That's what this book is about. She starts from the time she was born through her local theater days to her awkward adolescence to studying improv at Second City in Chicago while working at the local YMCA to getting the job at SNL to creating 30 Rock, all the way up to what she hopes for her daughter in the future and addressing all of the haters. 

It's hysterical.

I absolutely loved this book. She shows no mercy and proves that women aren't fragile, porcelain dolls that need to be rescued by a much more powerful man. Tina Fey proves that you can be feminine but be a powerhouse as well. That is what more women need to know. If you don't know that yet, read this damn book. It's hilarious and relatable and sweet and wonderful. I can't recommend this one enough.

35) Lola and the Boy Next Door-Stephanie Perkins

Just because something isn't practical doesn't mean it's not worth creating. Sometimes beauty and real-life magic are enough.

Lola Nolan is a different person every day. Hoping to one day become a costume designer, she changes her outer appearance every day. On the inside, though, she's just as sweet as ever. She loves her dads, her dog, Heavens to Betsy, her job at the movie theater, her best friend and her boyfriend, Max. Everything seems to be going really well in Lola's life. That is until she sees the Bell family moving back in next door. Before she can freak out, she scopes out the house and notices that he's not with them. Phew, that was a close one. No need to freak out! Or is there?

Days later he's there. Cricket Bell. The one that got away. The one that broke her heart. What is she going to do? Lola decides to be as nice seeing as she's completely over him. Or is she? No, she's in love with Max! Max, the guy that neither of her dads likes. Max, the older guy. Max, the jealous type. Max, the one she's suddenly not sure of as she gets closer to Cricket Bell once again. It doesn't help that Cricket lives in the same dormitory as Lola's co-worker, Anna's, boyfriend, Etienne at Berkley. But this isn't the same Cricket Bell that broke her heart. This is a more mature, grown up, ready to stand on his own two feet version of Cricket. Could Lola still be in love with Cricket?

Okay, seriously. I was as in love with this one as I was its predecessor. I literally just couldn't stop giggling and smiling the whole time! (To be clear: I neither giggle nor blush in my daily life. This is a shift in the cosmos for me. Smiling, yes. Giggling, no.) It was just such a sweet book. And it was absolutely wonderful to see Anna and Etienne. I thought that it was really funny and really well written and it flowed just like French Kiss. You really did just want to jump into the pages and hangout with these people. They're just really great characters and their situations don't seem at all overdramatized or entirely unrealistic. It felt, again, like learning about your friends.

I was incredibly sad to have finished it so quickly, but upon flying to my laptop once again I discovered: Stephanie Perkins is writing a third! Ah! It's so exciting to me. I can't wait to read all about Isla and see exactly how Anna, Etienne, Lola and Cricket play into her story. I'm sure it will be wonderful. The only problem? I have to wait all the way until next fall. Why must you do this to me, Perkins? So hurtful!

34) Anna and the French Kiss-Stephanie Perkins

For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we're finally home.

Anna Oliphant is finally a senior. Only she won't be spending it in Atlanta where she's spent her whole life. No, she'll be spending it in the American boarding school in Paris. While most kids would be over the moon about the opportunity, Anna isn't too pleased. She doesn't speak French, she doesn't know anyone and her being sent there is only so her "Great Southern Romance Writer" of a father can say that she goes to school there. She's leaving her friends, her little brother, her job and a certain guy she just started to get to know a little better. What's so great about Paris anyway?

When she arrives in Paris, she cries the first night. Luckily for her, the walls are paper thin and the girl living next door comes over and takes Anna under her wing. She introduces Anna to her group of friends and within seconds, Anna is taken by Etienne St. Clair, an American-born Englishman living in Paris. Only problem is: he's in a relationship. And what about Toph back home? Anna makes the decision to keep her feelings to herself and do her best to fit in in this brand new world. But can she keep her feelings to herself for long? Will she actually start to love living in Paris? What will happen when she goes home for Christmas? Is this the experience that will change her life in more ways than one?

I absolutely loved this book. I picked up a copy of it last fall at a book conference and thought I would eventually get to it and probably not like it. Oh, was I wrong. I could not put this down. I giggled and blushed and smiled my way through it. Somewhere on the back one of the blurbs say that you will want to date this book and I'm here to tell you that that is entirely true. I wanted to jump into the pages and fall in love with Etienne in a big way. There was so much humor and the romance aspect wasn't overbearing and you really did feel like you were just learning about what your friends had been up to, which I think is always really great. 

If you like a good, fun, really cute read, this is totally for you. You'll breeze through it and totally want more. Best part? There's a companion novel! It might not center around Anna, but she's still part of the story and it's wonderful. Who wouldn't want more of these characters once you've read this story? If only Stephanie Perkins would write nothing but this group's stories. Sigh. One can dream, right?

33) Norwegian Wood-Haruki Murakami

But who can say what's best? That's why you need to grab whatever chance you have of happiness where you find it, and not worry about other people too much. My experience tells me that we get no more than two or three chances in a lifetime, and if we let them go, we regret it for the rest of our lives.

Toru was a student studying in Tokyo in the late 1960s. While on a plane later in life, he hears a version of "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles and thinks back to the time when that song really meant something to him. He's transported back to the time in his life when Naoko was the one person he truly cared about. He had met Naoko when they were much younger and she was dating his best friend. When his best friend committed suicide, the two stopped speaking until they ran into each other while he was studying at university in Tokyo. The two would spend their Sundays together walking around the city and talking about life. It was during these Sundays that he truly started to fall in love with the emotionally closed off Naoko. 

After an event gone awry for her, she stops speaking to Toru altogether. He's hurt and isn't sure what he did, but doesn't push it. He starts to hangout with an older guy in his dormitory and starts to see just how scummy guys can be. This guy has it all, but still manages to screw around just because he can. Toru isn't sure how he feels about all of it, but goes along with the guy to dinners and bars where they pick up girls. One day, while eating lunch alone, a girl comes and sits down next to him and starts a conversation. He starts to spend time with Midori and eventually finds his love for Naoko ruining things with Midori. But Naoko isn't capable of loving Toru. What will it take for him to realize that?

I was really excited to read this book. I think Haruki is an incredible writer and I think any book that was brought to life by a Beatles song should be read since I'm a huge Beatles fan. What? It's a thing. Anyway, although I thought that this was a really good book and full of really insightful pieces, it took awhile before there was a real flow to it. By that I mean it took awhile before I could really ease into it and not put it down. There was a lot of death and despair in this that I was not expecting and that also made it a little more difficult to get through. A suicide would just pop up out of nowhere and you'd need to put it down and think happy things for a bit! 

Would I recommend this book to others? Absolutely. I really do think that Haruki writes really well thought out plots and really beautiful lines. It's a great coming of age story for someone who is looking for something a little bit different. Just be prepared for the amount of sadness that resides within these pages. It can be overwhelming at times. Nevertheless, it's a really nice read.

32) Your Voice in My Head: A Memoir-Emma Forrest

Time heals all wounds. And if it doesn't, you name them something other than wounds and agree to let them stay.

Emma Forrest is an English journalist. When she was 22-years-old, she was living in New York City and realized that maybe it was time to start seeing a therapist. Luckily, she discovered one that would help her through bulimia, failed relationships, cutting and suicide attempts. However, when she called him to tell him all about some good news years later, she discovered that he had passed away from lung cancer. 

By telling her own story of mania, depression, ups, downs and everything in between, Emma gives you stories from others that experienced the brilliance of the doctor while simultaneously telling her history with him as well. So, you're getting more than just her story and how he helped her. You're also reading how he saved and how much he meant to others. 

This is an incredibly intense book. Emma Forrest has had a very intense battle with mental health and there is more than one suicide attempt throughout the book. There are bits of hope and it ends well, but from start to finish, things get a little hairy. I was sort of blown away by how much she had gone through, but it was a completely fascinating read. It read really quickly, but I'm not sure if it was due to the writing or if it was because I was so ready to be done with it because of the intensity. 

If you read it now, you'll be ahead of the curve, kids! It's about to become a film with Emma Watson and the perfection that is Stanley Tucci. It'll be interesting to see how it goes from page to screen, so get going, guys! Say you read it before the film!

31) Just Listen-Sarah Dessen

Music is a total constant. That's why we have such a strong visceral connection to it, you know? Because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, or a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in your or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment.

Annabel Green is the girl who had it all. Or at least she was until her best friend, Sophie, turned her into a social pariah. Sophie was the mean girl who liked to assume instead of understand the facts, which left Annabel with no friends when the school year started. No one sees a change in her at home since one of her older sister's became anorexic. She also has no one to sit with at lunch which leads her to sit on the wall by herself. Only she's not by herself. Some few feet away sits Owen. Annabel has never talked to him because of where they fit on the social ladder. It also doesn't help that Owen is intimidating and known around the school as a fighter.

When Sophie does something at school one day to embarrass Annabel, it's Owen who offers his help. Confused, but open to the idea of finally having someone to talk to again, the two begin talking at lunch. Owen's favorite topics: being honest and music. His headphones are always attached to his ears and she wonders what he's listening to and what makes him so strongly attached to music. Through Owen, Annabel learns all about the wide expanse of music out there in the world and the impact it has on anyone and everyone while also learning that there's music inside of you that needs to be listened to in order for understand and appreciate your own life.

I'm doing my best to rip through the Dessen books, kids. After not really being into some of them, I was very happy to have liked this one. I am a firm believer in all things music, so it was really great to read certain parts and think, "See! I am not the only one who thinks like this! It IS universal and it does make life better!" At the same time, it was a Dessen book and they can get sort of formulaic, but that's why you like them. You know what you're in for when you pick one up and that's okay. It was a quick, enjoyable read and that's all that matters.

One of the best parts: Remy and Dexter! I really love when she picks characters and throws them into another story or just references them in another situation. The books all take place in pretty much the same town, so it's nice to see familiarity every now and again instead of pretending like they never existed. I missed Dexter and Truth Squad. Anyway, I'd recommend this to girls, but it really isn't a male's cup of tea.

30) The Serpent's Shadow-Rick Riordan

(Disclaimer: Third in a series. Book one, Book two.)

A person's shadow stood for his legacy, his impact on the world. Some people cast hardly any shadow at all. Some cast long, deep shadows that endured for centuries.

For Carter and Sadie Kane, life hasn't been easy over the last year and a half. They discovered that they were magicians from the House of Life in Egypt, their dad was hosting Osiris down in the underworld and Sadie's cat was actually the cat goddess sent to protect her. All totally normal. They managed to stop Apophis from rising, but saving Ra wasn't an easy feat. Now they're stuck with a mind warped sun god and very little time before the world is plunged into darkness.

For all their efforts, Apophis is still trying to rise. Chaos is threatening to overcome the earth and wipe out every soul along the way. In order to restore Ma'at (order) to the world, it is up to the Kanes and the initiates of Brooklyn House to keep the rebels at bay and crush Chaos before it breaks free. They know that Apophis is destroying every scroll of a specific spell, but they always just miss it. If they could figure out what was written on the scrolls, they might stand a chance in beating Chaos. They could ask the gods, but they seem to be disappearing the closer the time of chaos is. It isn't until Sadie realizes they're looking for his shadow that they devise a plan.

Again, it's extremely difficult for me to go any further simply because this is the final book in a series and that's just not fair. I will say that I did this book in essentially a single sitting. Its predecessor really left you clamoring for more and it definitely lived up to your expectations. It was just as funny, heartbreaking and war torn as the first two were. There were casualties everywhere, but there was a great deal of redemption as well. What's fantastic about Riordan is that he writes adolescents in such a strong way that doesn't make it feel like kids are just out there frolicking in fields or something. He writes them so powerfully and I think that that's important to understand. Kids can be capable of anything.

I am definitely sad to see this series end. I thought it was really well written and it definitely kept you interested while simultaneously teaching you all about Egyptian mythology. That's another great aspect of his work: you're learning without even realizing it. However, if ending this means more Percy Jackson books, I'll take it!

29) Insurgent-Veronica Roth

(Disclaimer: This is a sequel. If you would like the first review, venture here.)

Like a wild animal, the truth is too powerful to remain caged.

The simulation is over. Everyone has woken up to see and question the mayhem that was sparked across the city. But for Tris, she was never asleep. She was never unaware of the blood she was spilling. She knows Jeanine will be after her for ruining her plans and being divergent. She knows she has to run for her life.

Tris needs to figure out a plan. If they can get into hiding, they have a chance of devising a plan to take down Jeanine and the Erudite headquarters. Together with her brother, Caleb, and Four, they take the members of Abnegation, including their leader, Marcus, and Dauntless around them and make a break for Amity, the faction just beyond the fence. But not everything goes according to plan there. Tris grows leery of Marcus and his ties to Jeanine. She also knows that their time in Amity is precious as Jeanine will stop at nothing to capture Tris and Four. When the Erudite and duplicitous Dauntless soldiers come searching for them, they just barely escape. 

Without a faction or a real plan, the motley crew of refugees are left with only one option: join with the factionless. However, the factionless aren't what they seem to be. They are joining together and they are rising to take down everything Erudite stands for and with it, the faction system itself. Tris is again apprehensive about this approach, but refuses to tell Four as the factionless holds more secrets for him than any other place in the city. 

Can this group continue to outrun Jeanine and her army? Can Tris convince Four of what is right? Is it possible that everything they know is wrong? What would happen if Tris just handed herself over? Would that end the hunt for the divergent? Would that save everyone within the fence? What would happen if the factions fell?

One thing is clear: war is imminent.

My God, the wait for this book was excruciating. The ending to Divergent absolutely left you wanting more. I felt that this one was a lot quicker to get into, but that might have been simply because it was the sequel and there was less set up. It had a lot of action, but there was so much more character development in this one which I really enjoyed. What I also really enjoy about this series is that the main character is unbelievably flawed. You root for Tris, but you also kind of want to smack her in the face for being stupid sometimes. Yes, she's an incredibly strong and powerful female lead, but she's also completely hotheaded and can make a poor decision every now and again, which is much more realistic than other female leads in books. 

I was very happy with the way this book turned out, but I will say that the ending left me sort of confused. There was a total cliffhanger, but I'm still perplexed as to what the ending might mean. Of course, I am out of my mind with anticipation for NEXT FALL'S (far too long, in my opinion) conclusion, but I'm still not entirely sure what happened there at the end. I'm sure it will all be answered in due time, but for now, I will remain confused. I really do think this is a great read for anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games or similar dystopian works. I would recommend this in a heartbeat to either females or males.

28) The Adoration of Jenna Fox-

Jenna Fox is finally awake. She's told she's been in a coma and that she's still recovering from a terrible accident. Jenna doesn't know who or where she is, but something just doesn't feel right. Even though she's given a DVD collection of her life, the pieces still don't add up. It also doesn't help that she keeps hearing distant voices and catching snippets of memories that don't seem to go along with what her family is telling her. For instance, if she suddenly remembers living her entire life in Boston, why are they suddenly living in California? Why does her grandmother no longer speak to her? What would happen if she tried to eat something that wasn't the liquid nutrients they've been giving her? 

Her neighbor makes her wonder about her new location. Her grandmother makes her think about her sudden obedience. Her new friends at school make her curious about her dad's (slightly unethical) invention of BioGel. Her videoed childhood makes her notice the differences. The locked closet in her mother's room creates even more questions. 

Is she even really Jenna Fox?

Secondary Schools read. I generally sort of stay away from Science Fiction as it doesn't really do much for me, but I was absolutely enthralled by this book. It was so well written and you were right there with her as she navigated this new life she's found herself in. You sort of bounce between what's going on in her head and what the rest of the world is seeing and I really enjoyed that. It was getting sort of frustrating not necessarily knowing what was going on until the very end, but that's generally half of the fun. You just wanted to know what the answers were! When I closed the book, I instantly flew to my laptop and hoped there was a sequel. It was that good. 

If you're not necessarily huge on science fiction, this is a nice way to sort of ease yourself into it. It's a quick and exciting read that keeps you interested. If you need a comparison, I would definitely say it's basically a modern day Frankenstein. If that sounds interesting to you, hop to it!

27) UnWholly-Neal Shusterman

Because this book does not come out until August 28th of this year and it is highly anticipated, I will not be posting a review about this book at this time. It would be unfair to the internet world to receive spoilers for something they have been waiting for.

However, if you thought Unwind was addicting, you'll find the follow up even more so. And if you have read it's predecessor: If you thought you hated Roland...

26) When You Reach Me-Rebecca Stead

Sixth grader Miranda begins by telling us that her mother has been chosen to play on $20,000 Pyramid. She tells this to the person whom she's writing to because he has asked her to. When her best friend Sal gets hit by a group of kids they usually are able to avoid, things start to change in Miranda's world. Suddenly, he tells her that they need to take a break from being so close to one another. She then starts to get weird notes. Things start to change when she starts hanging out with and making sandwiches during lunchtime at a local deli with Colin and Annamarie. Miranda starts to realize that maybe they needed to have other friends than each other despite how much she misses Sal.

One day, when she's helping out in the office and the school's dentist office (not every family can afford dental visits), she begins talking to an older kid who sees that she is reading (for the however many-ith time) A Wrinkle in Time. They begin to start talking about time travel and if it is in any way possible. Can it be accomplished now? Do we have to wait until the future to figure out the logistics and scientific structure of the process? Is it even possible at all?

The conversation nags at her. She hangs out with her two new friends, helps her mom practice for the show and goes to school, but she can't get the conversation, the boy or the anonymous notes out of her mind. When it all finally comes together and she figures out who has been sending them and what it all means, she can't believe how she didn't see it before. She realizes that change doesn't have to be for the worse. She realizes anything is possible. Isn't that all anyone wants from a book sometimes?

I know that I posted about this book last year, but as it was a required title for one of my classes this semester, here I am. I still loved this book the second time around. I was actually kind of excited to see it on my required list. It obviously moves quicker the second time around, but knowing what happens makes it easier to pick up on little hints you probably missed on the first read. It's a quick read and if you love A Wrinkle in Time, you'll enjoy a much less trippy version of it with this.

25) Please Ignore Vera Dietz-A.S. King

“I'm sorry, but I don't get it. If we're supposed to ignore everything that's wrong with our lives, then I can't see how we'll ever make things right.” 

Charlie Kahn is dead. He's dead and there's nothing his former best friend can do nothing about it. Maybe if things didn't go sour between the two of them the spring before, maybe she could have saved him, maybe he'd still be here. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten messed up with the wrong believe and believed all of the lies that the queen of deadbeats, Jenny Flick, had to say.
Vera Dietz can't seem to let Charlie go. She also can't bring herself to tell everyone that she knows the truth. But what's keeping her from letting him go and telling the truth? Is it that she can't deal with the fact that he's gone? Is it guilt? Or is she afraid that once she tells, the string of paper doll Charlies that surround her at work, the Charlie that tells her what radio station to listen to, the thousands of Charlies that fog the bathroom mirror begging her to tell the truth will leave her forever? Because no matter what, she loved Charlie Kahn.

Is she going to tell the truth? Is she going to finally deal with the pain and grief that riddles her? Will she finally help solve other problems she's been told and chosen to ignore almost all of her life? Can she finally move beyond the vicious rumors at school and put Jenny Flick where she belongs? And most of all, can she say goodbye to Charlie?

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was incredibly well written and just so funny. I liked that there wasn't necessarily a linear storyline; it just sort of bounced around in her history. There were also chapters like "A Brief Word from the Dead Kid" or a chapter from the famed Pagoda's perspective as well as Vera's dad. I enjoyed that you got the story from other perspectives, but it was still Vera's story. It was such an insightful look at how some people deal with the death of a loved one (especially at such a young and fragile age). It really kept you hooked because you wanted to find out if she ever tells. I really don't think I could recommend this book enough.

24) Monster-Walter Dean Meyers

Steve Harmon never thought he'd be in jail awaiting trial for murder at the age of sixteen, but here he is. He was just meant to tell the others if the store was clear. He didn't give them any sort of signal, wasn't in the store during the premeditated robbery and subsequent murder, so why is he here? He can't take the screams, the cries, the constant threat of sexual advances, the blatant hostility that surround him every day.

In an effort to stay sane, keep a clear head and get all of the facts straight, Steve decides to write his story as if it were a movie. Complete with stage directions, dialogue and things left unsaid, Steve takes readers through the court proceedings with as little bias as possible. Between big chunks of script, he gives readers diary entries that show just how scared he is.

It's an interesting depiction of the "courtroom drama" book. The formatting made it a quick read, but it wasn't necessarily my favorite book. I felt like I could have turned on the history or discovery channel and watch this book unfold in a gang special. I did think it was different to see it from a scared 16-year-old's perspective, though. I thought that it really sort of captured his voice which was nice. The formatting was definitely a nice change of pace, though.

If you didn't read this in middle or high school, I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, but if you want something different, this would be a nice change.

23) The Selection-Kiera Kass

For the young country of Illea, the Selection comes around once in a generation. 35 girls are selected from castes around the country for the hope of becoming the next princess and future queen of their country. America Singer never found any of that appealing. However, her mother was adamant that she enter. But how could she possibly consider entering when she loved someone else? Doesn't she feel like that would be cheating? Her mind was made up: she would not be entering.

But the man of her dreams insists that she enters. Aspen tells her that he would feel awful knowing that he had stopped her from having the life she deserved and asks her to please enter. Figuring that she wouldn't get picked, she does as he asks and enters. The day she takes in her form, she sees Aspen's mother and sisters. They tell her that Aspen has been secretly saving money to marry a mystery girl. Knowing that it was her, America's heart warms and when her photo is taken for the Selection, she is radiant. Weeks later, she learns that radiant photo has made her one of the 35 chosen girls and she was heading to the palace to compete for the affection of Prince Maxon.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was really well paced and it had me giggling like a little girl because obviously it was a love story. Prince Maxon is completely the prince that you want to fall in love with. The story kept me interested and when I realized how many pages I had left, I said, "But this won't be resolved! No!" I can definitely see this book being a hit among girls and I would totally recommend it.

However, I cannot give it full marks. While I enjoyed it, there were so many parts where I said, "Wait, I thought I was reading something else. Why do I feel like Katniss is speaking?" There were a lot of moments where you could confuse the two. There's a man exactly like Caesar Flickerman, America loves the food in the palace and often comments on it just like Katniss does, the selection sort of feels like a less sadistic reaping. There were just those moments that sort of made me shake my head. Also, I think people write dystopias simply to create bizarre names.

It will be interesting to see how the CW turns this into a TV show later this year. I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't really looking forward to the sequel next year.

22) Storm in the Barn-Matt Phelan

Living in Kansas during the Dust Bowl was already hard. But for Jack Clark it all seems to be just a little bit more difficult. The boys in town are constantly picking on him. His chances to truly bond with his father quickly dwindled as things got worse. His younger sister is always out looking for trouble and his older sister is bedridden and ill. They cannot leave their home which means staying where they are makes everything harder.

But is it the proposed "dust dementia" that is making Jack see things in an abandoned barn? Is it the lack of rain or the constant struggle or the idea of his sister never getting better that makes him see things? When he investigates, he's sure that the dark man with the forces of a thunderstorm isn't real. He simply can't be. But what if he can figure out how to release the man and cause a storm so huge that things might start to get better? What if Jack was the hero?

Interesting graphic novel. It was a quick read and I thought it was interesting, but it just wasn't for me. I thought that the ending was great, but for the most part, I wasn't into the first 82% of it. I think that it was a different take on something that anyone that has taken an American History course knows about and added a nice element of fantasy to it, but other than that, I just wasn't into it. 

However, the color palette was incredible. The sepia tone really worked well with the theme and tone of the book. When colors were used, they were used in just the right places and really enhanced what was happening. I will give praise where praise is due and the artwork was just incredible.

21) Unwind-Neal Shusterman

It's been a long time since the Heartland War and the decree of The Bill of Life that states that the parent of children between the ages of 13 and 18 can choose to have their child unwound. They wouldn't be ending their lives so much as they would be living their lives in a "divided state" and their parts would be going to more worthy recipients. This is usually reserved for wayward children, "storked" children living in state homes or religious fanatics known as tithes who believe that they are serving a higher purpose.

Connor Lassiter wasn't supposed to know he was being unwound. He was looking for something else and stumbled upon his papers. He assumed his parents were sick of him getting into trouble, but he never thought they would actually go through with having him unwound. The night before he's meant to be taken in, he decides it's better just to become AWOL. Connor makes a run for it only to wake up the next morning traced by his cell phone to the truck he's sleeping been sleeping in. Instead of cooperating, he grabs his things and tears across the highway in another attempt to preserve his life. He creates chaos, causes a bus to flip and stops a white Cadillac as he takes a hostage.

Risa Ward was always gifted with music. It was the one thing that she could be proud of living in a state home. At least it was until she messed up here and there during a concert. Soon after, she is being told that there simply isn't enough room at StaHo anymore and since she was less than excellent with her music, it was decided that she would be on the next bus to the nearest harvest camp to be unwound. On the bus, Risa realizes just how badly she doesn't want her life to end. When a commotion starts on the highway and the bus flips, Risa takes the opportunity and makes a run for it.

Levi Calder has been tithed since birth. The youngest of many siblings, both storked and biological, Lev's parents believed that he would be their gift back to the world. He firmly believed that it was his duty to help those that are in need and was willing to live in a divided state. The night after his farewell party, he dresses in his tithing whites and gets into the car with his parents and his pastor to head towards the harvest camp. Only there's a boy racing across the highway straight towards their car. Before he realizes what's happening, Lev is being pulled from the car by this lunatic. When he tries to break free, his pastor screams at Lev to run. He's pulled in front of the other boy, is hit with a tranq dart and everything goes black.

In the woods, the three of them come together and form a somewhat shaky alliance. They are now three AWOL unwinds. Their only options are to lay low and hope to find safety or do everything possible not to get caught by the juvy cops who are surely on the lookout for them now. As long as they stick together, they should be okay. But situations like these are never okay. Something always goes wrong. For these three unlucky teenagers, the desire to stay alive as they are instead of in a divided state will keep them going. Even if running kills them. Because what's worse: living in a divided state or dying?

I absolutely loved this book. I'm not really one for science fiction either, but this is just some of the most compelling writing I've ever come across. Yes, of course it's creepy, but I think that that is one of the things that keeps you so entranced by the story. I found myself getting mad that I had to put it down because I just wanted to know what happened next. Then once I had finished, I felt a deep sadness knowing that the sequel was well beyond my reach. It was just absolutely amazing and I can't vouch for this book enough. However, a word of caution: there is a very intense chapter towards the end that can really catch some people up.

20) Your Own, Slyvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath-Stephanie Hemphill

Sylvia Plath had quite a life. From the time she was young, she would write every day. She worshipped a father who she lost at a young age and was boy crazy long before her peers were. Her life was a collection of writing awards, high praise and a revolving cast of men. During college, she had her first bout of serious depression even though she was surrounded by nothing but opportunity. From there, she met her future husband and entered into a bit of a tumultuous marriage. Even after her two children were born and she had success with her writing, she still wasn't satisfied with life and ended it.

You get her entire life's story through nonfiction poems in the style of her most famous poems. It takes interviews and letters from the people in her life and puts them in poetry format. To give you more background information, there are footnotes at the bottom better explaining her life and what was going on at the time.

However, apart from making me want to read some of her poetry, I really wasn't into this book. I don't know if it was the format or just the subject material, but it wasn't for me, I guess. Plus, there was an entire section where I just kept thinking, "This reads exactly like The Bell Jar." It wasn't my favorite book and I found it wildly depressing, so I wasn't entirely into it. Ah, well.

19) A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life-Dana Reinhardt

Simone knows she's a little different. She has olive skin with straight black hair whereas her family is fair skinned with light hair. They never made a big deal about her being adopted because she's always felt this is exactly where she belongs. However, one night at dinner, she's thrown for a loop. Her parents tell her that Rivka wants to speak to her. Why would her birth mother want to speak to her now? After 16 years? She didn't need to know the story when she was younger and she didn't need to know it now.

Or does she? Despite her parents wanting her to make her own choices, they push for Simone to speak to Rivka. It might help her one day to know she can fill in the gaps that they're unable to answer. Confused by the pressure while simultaneously curious about what answers Rivka might provide, she calls her. She learns that while she has two loving parents (one an ACLU lawyer, the other a political cartoonist) that don't believe in religion, her birth mother was a hasidic Jew whose father was the Rebbe of the community. Her mother came to represent Rivka's father in a case and started to chat with the rebbe's wife when given the chance. One day, Rivka admits she's pregnant and asks for help. It's this interaction that leads Simone to her new life.

But why does she want to know her now? What's the sudden desire to create a relationship? Does Simone finally understand where she came from and realize where that will take her in regards to her personal beliefs?

I wasn't really into this book for the majority of it. However, once it got closer to the end and yes, when there was development with Simone's object of affection, zack meyer's, I got a little more into it. (What? I like a goos love story every now and again!) About halfway through you can begin to see how it will end, but I actually liked the journey that it takes you on. I think that's part of the point. Even if you know where it's going to end, you want to see the progression.

However, I'm not one for religion. I, like Simone, don't understand it and get a little freaked out when entering an establishment of worship, but this wasn't as bad as I thought. Yes, it's always there in the story, but it's not trying to push you in any one specific way. If you believe, wonderful. If you don't, great. Everyone has to come to terms with their views on their own and I think (and I could be wildly wrong) that might be one of the greatest lessons stemming from this book.

18) Mockingbird-Kathryn Erskine

Caitlin has always been different. Living with Asperger's is hard enough, but now it's even harder. She's gone from "that really weird girl" to "that really weird girl whose brother was killed in a school shooting" at school. Before her brother died, he would make things easier for her to understand and would help her grow. Now with him gone, it's harder to figure anything out or deal with certain situations. She wishes Devon were around to tell her how to make friends or understand emotion or see everything in anything other than black and white. But he can't because he's gone. Her dad is crumbling, the girls at school aren't much help and Mrs.Brook can only help so far. 

Mrs.Brook does help, though. She helps Caitlin understand that she needs to make friends. Caitlin makes a friend in Michael, a younger boy who coincidentally lost his mother in the same school shooting as Devon. What she learns is that they both need closure. And their dads need closure and the community needs closure. But what is closure? Is it tangible? Where can you find it? How do you feel once you find it? Can she learn to find color in life?

Secondary schools read. I genuinely liked this book. I was neither interested nor disinterested in it, so I didn't have much to go on. I was pleasantly surprised by now much I liked it. It was something new and different and it gave you insight into something that you might not necessarily be familiar with. There was the process of acceptance and grieving, but it was magnified by her disability. I thought it was just a really engrossing read. It was quick, but engaging. Really wonderful read.

17) Mockingjay-Suzanne Collins

It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.

(Copying and pasting again. Sorry!)

Okay. We've reached the third and final (and most outrageous) piece of the story. This one is pretty different from the first two, but easily the most nerve-wracking. I'll be honest here. I spent most of this book hunched over the pages, riddled with tension and biting my finger nails (something that I very seldom do). It was that mentally aggressive.

By now, characters you liked have died. Characters you like are fighting for their lives. Another rebellion has begun! The districts have decided to take on the capitol once more. But how did we get there? What happened? How many casualties are ahead of us? Aha! You must read the books to know! 

The writing must be commented on here. The emotion that seeps from the pages makes you feel like these are your friends and you want to protect them. You want to tell them to run, to flee, to hide. You feel so invested. How often does a writer manage to grip you so hard and keep you there until you're crying through the entire last chapter of the third book? It's not right. It's not often. It's amazing that Suzanne Collins wrote in a way that makes it all feel so real.

If you want a wild ride that keeps you wanting more, read these books. I promise it's more than worth it.

16) Catching Fire-Suzanne Collins

Disclaimer: Copying and pasting the post I made last year. Sorry!

Obviously this was what I would write about next. You can't read the first one, have the second (and third) at your disposal and say, "eh. I can get to it another day." No. It doesn't work that way. The moment you put the first one down, the second one is immediately opened regardless of the time of day because these books are like crack. Phew, it feels so good to say that out loud!

This has to be my favorite book in the trilogy. By now, characters and storylines have been established (and quite well, I might add) and based on the ending of the first one, we're ready to figure out how the hell these people are going to be able to live in this society. Just when you think that everything is okay and we're going to skip into the grimy sunset of district twelve, all HELL breaks loose. Shit gets wild. President Snow becomes very reminiscent of Narnia's White Witch. It's fine. I'm not now emotionally screwed up by Part Two of the novel. No, siree! 

Part One of the story is what you might expect. Part Two throws you for a total loop. Part Three begins to slowly eat away at your soul. No big deal. We meet a few new characters in Part Two and I am personally infatuated by the arrogant tribute, Finnick Odair. Why? I don't know, but I would like to see Hunter Parrish portray him in the movie. JUST SAYING. 

It's hard to discuss this without giving away too much of either plot, so I apologize if this isn't exactly what you were hoping for. I can assure you that despite the insanity of the first one, this one trumps it in that category. You can't stop screaming, reading for hours or wondering why fiction is torturing you this bad. 

God, I love these books. Reading it for the third time just doesn't get old and reminds you that there IS still great literature out there. Even if it is about insane brutality and totalitarianism.

15) The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins

It's been 75 years since the thirteen districts of Panem rose up in rebellion against the Capitol. Once District 13 was destroyed and the Capitol was again in control, they wanted to continue punishing the remaining districts and thus staged the very first Hunger Games. Each district is to send two tributes, one boy and one girl, ranging from the ages of 12 and 18 each year to the arena where they will participate in a televised battle to the death. The victor will bring honor and prizes to their district, as well as be wealthier than they could have imagined. 

But honor and wealth isn't what Katniss Everdeen is thinking when she wakes up the morning of the reaping. It's the first time her sister Prim has her name in. As she hunts illegally alongside her friend Gale, they joke about the Capitol and even consider running away. But they don't. Instead, they go about their day as normally as possible. When it comes time for the names to be drawn, the kids stand in groups hoping that their names won't be called. When Primrose Everdeen is drawn from the bowl of names, Katniss hardly thinks before volunteering as tribute to save her sister. After her fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark, is drawn and they say goodbye to their families, the two are taken to the train station that will take them to the Capitol.

Katniss knows that she won't be coming back. There are kids out there who have trained their whole lives for this. She's just a girl from District 12. Her style team being run by stylist Cinna can make her look as pretty as can be, but they can't make her a better fighter. Escort Effie Trinket and mentor Haymitch Abernathy can coach her all they want, but she can't seem appealing to a crowd at large. But she is stunning in her costumes, made desirable by Peeta's words and with a training score of 11 a threat to all the other tributes. 

Let the games begin.

I absolutely LOVE these books. It's kind of disgusting how much I love these books. I was terribly thankful that the woman I babysit for told me to read them in 2010. And that I got to reread it again for class this month. I mean, I was going to reread it before the movie came out, but to get credit for it? Come on. That's just perfect. This book is gripping and tantalizing and provocative in the best ways. You yell and you scream and you love Katniss and then you hate her and you always love Peeta because he's always looking out for her. It's humorous and keeps you on edge. It's impossible not to pick up the next one once you're finished with this one. So, what are you doing? Go pick this up already!

14) Mr.Darcy's Diary-Amanda Grange

I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew it had begun.

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is an incredibly proud man. He knows his status and refuses to associate with those beneath him. However, he cares deeply for his younger sister. She is his main focus. He will do anything to protect Georgiana. After halting the marriage between his beloved Georgiana and the horrible George Whickam, he takes to the country to accompany Charles Bingley in his search for a home. When they happen upon Netherfield, Bingley is taken with the home and means to take it, but Darcy has his reservations. Nevertheless, Bingley rents Netherfield and they return a week later and meet the neighbors of the countryside.

It is then that Darcy first meets Miss Elizabeth Bennett. Upon first meeting her, he believes her to be merely average and too opinionated for a proper young lady. And her family? If there was a worse group of people, Darcy couldn't remember. However, through his stay in the country, he finds himself drawn to the company of Miss Bennett. She isn't like the ladies he has come across and isn't afraid to challenge or tease him. Is what he's feeling appropriate? Does he mean to take her as a wife? Is he so arrogant as to assume that she will accept him no matter what?

If you've read Pride & Prejudice, then this story sounds familiar to you because this is that story. It's just from Darcy's perspective. I thought that that reversal was fantastic. The feelings you have towards Darcy in the original story hold true in this version. I hated him from the beginning and I loved him dearly by the end. The evolution of his character is so much deeper with this side of the story and it's so exciting. I'd be lying if I said I didn't giggle through most of the second half when he realizes how deeply he loves Elizabeth and how wrong he had been in so many respects. Just to clarify: I do not giggle, so this is a big deal. I had read Grange's Captain Wentworth's Diary and absolutely loved it, so I was definitely expecting a lot from this one and it did not fail. If you are a Jane Austen nerd like I am, I definitely recommend this. Or any of Grange's work, to be honest.

13) Looking for Alaska-John Green

Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining the future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.

Everything that happens to Miles Halter in his first year at Culver Creek Academy can be told through the before and the after. He chooses to leave the public school system of Florida and head north to the private school in Alabama in order to gain friends, to find something new, to look for the Great Perhaps. When he arrives, he meets his roommate, the Colonel. The Colonel quickly dubs Miles Pudge and says it's time to go buy some cigarettes. A quick walk down the hallway and into another dorm room and Pudge's heart drops. It's in that dorm room that he meets Alaska Younge. 

Alaska is an enigma. She's an open book but never discloses anything personal about herself. She's willing to give surface information but never allows anyone to know anything beyond that. She has an extensive book collection that she calls her "life library" and poses questions that force everyone around her to really think about their answer. She's lively, but closed off. Even after spending Thanksgiving break with her, Pudge still doesn't know who she is. All he knows is she's simply Alaska, the girl he's fallen in love with.

After a few months at school, the rich kids believe Alaska to have been the one that ratted out two fellow students the semester before and they flood her room, destroying some of her library. In retaliation, she plans a prank with Pudge, the Colonel, their friend Takumi and one of her friends which they refer to as Barn Night. The prank is successful, but it's when they play "best day/worst day" while drinking that things turn somber. Alaska tells the group that the best day of her life was when her mother took her to the zoo. The worst day was the next day when her mother died. 

A few days later, Pudge, the Colonel and Alaska are celebrating the success of their prank by getting drunk in Alaska's room. They decide to play truth or dare and Pudge finds himself finally kissing Alaska.  She's tired and asks if they can continue this another time. Hours pass and Pudge barely hears the phone, but wakes up when Alaska comes screaming into the room claiming she messed everything up again. She says she has to go right away and leaves in a hurry. It isn't until the next day, when the dean comes into their dorm and asks Pudge and the Colonel to head to the gym, that they realize what a mistake it was to let her leave. All that was left was After.

I liked this book. As a huge supporter of any and everything that John Green does, to say I merely liked it feels shameful. I felt like the first half wasn't as exciting as I wanted it to be, but it really just set up the second half, which I liked much better. What I love about his work is that it's so humorous, but it's so incredibly deep as well. You wonder how so much humor and depth can fit within the binding and it not be overkill, but he does it so well. Had I read this prior to reading his latest work, this review might be a little different, but I can't go back and change when I read what now. I still really liked it and would definitely tell others to read it. It was interesting and captured what's inside every one of us. A lot can be said for that kind of work.

12) Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children-Ransom Riggs

Jacob was your average teenager. He worked at one of the chain of drugstores his mother's family owns, he goes to school and has a grandpa that lives in a senior community in Florida. But when his grandpa calls him frantically asking where the key to his weapons collection is because the monsters have finally found him, the life he thought was his is a complete falsehood. When he discovers his grandpa slashed across the middle in the woods behind his house, his grandpa uses the very last of his breath to tell him to find the bird and the loop, that the letter will lead him on his way. Jacob barely has the time to process what he's said when something comes charging through the woods. With the faint light of the flashlight, he sees a gruesome creature with tentacle-esque tongues before it disappears.

In the months after his grandfather's death, the image of the creature haunts his dreams. He has become riddled with anxiety and confused by what his grandfather had told him to do. It isn't until they are cleaning out the house that he finds the box of photographs he remembers from his youth. As a child, his grandfather would tell Jacob of the levitating girl who needed weighted shoes to stay down, of the boy who had bees living inside of him, of the brother and sister who could lift boulders like feathers that lived on the island he fled to when the Nazis were sweeping through Poland. It was years ago that Jacob said they were nothing but fairy tale, but was he wrong? Were these photos, these children, this island that his grandfather had talked about linked to the monsters shaking him in the night?

It's at his birthday party that he finds what he's been looking for. He grabs for the book his aunt had given him from his grandfather's house and a letter slips out. Jacob retreats to his room and finds that this it the letter his grandfather was talking about. Armed with this new information, Jacob sets off to find the answers that wait for him on the island. Who are the people in these yellowing photographs? What will this adventure tell him about not only his grandfather, but himself?

I'd had my eye on this book for a long time. I would walk through the store for a good two months with it under my arm before I finally decided to buy it. And here I am months later finally reading it. The creepy girl on the cover is definitely what drew me in. Until I really looked at it, I didn't even realize that she was levitating. Yes, you know that the book is going to be creepy when you pick it up, but I honestly didn't see where it was going. This book completely took me by surprise in the sense that it didn't go in the direction that I thought it would. I wasn't surprised that I liked it as much as I did. It definitely kept you on your toes and forced you to pay attention to the little details.

I just read that the author is currently working on the sequel. Thank God because the ending definitely leaves you hanging and wanting to figure out exactly what happens next. Add the sequel to my most-anticipated list!

11) Al Capone Does My Shirts-Gennifer Choldenko

Moose Flanagan is not happy that his family has to move. He's also not happy that the move is to Alcatraz island, home to the worst of the worst behind bars. Once there, he realizes that there aren't many children to come by and the differences between his old life and the life on Alcatraz are even more different than he thought. After meeting Piper, the warden's daughter, he gets into trouble by being an accessory to her elaborate scheme to take money from students to have their clothes laundered by Al Capone. When the entire operation blows up in their faces, Moose's mother tells him that he will have to take care of his sister every day after school.

Natalie is a special case. It's 1935 and Autism has yet to be fully diagnosed, which has lead the Flanagan's to many different treatments to figure out what has happened to their daughter. After she is rejected from the Esther P. Marinoff school and Moose begins to take care of her, things start to change for everyone involved. Natalie is once again interviewed for the school. Does she make it in this time? What if she doesn't? What could Moose or anyone else possibly do to make sure that this time she finally gets in and stays?

Secondary Schools read. I thought it was a good book. It was really quick. I didn't realize that I'd already put away 100 pages until I looked at the page number. It was interesting to see how they approached the topic of Autism in the earlier part of the century when it still wasn't diagnosed. They never actually say what's wrong with her, but you are able to figure it out. When you see the title, you have an assumption of what you're about to read, but when you get into it, it's completely different. I liked that about it. Despite the fact that he lives on Alcatraz with some of history's most notorious convicts, it doesn't necessarily bring attention to that, but when they do, it's really interesting how they tie it in. 

Plus, I just pictured Stephen Graham from Boardwalk Empire as Al Capone and it made him more tangible. What? We all do weird things, okay? I'm actually intrigued enough to want to read the sequel now!

10) Dash & Lily's Book of Dares-Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

She was not a needle. This was not a haystack. We were people, and people had ways of finding each other.

It started with a red moleskin journal nestled between Salinger books at the Strand. When Dash pulled the book from the shelf, he didn't expect there to be instructions on just what to do next. Bored by with winter break and intrigued by this mysterious find, Dash does what the notebook says. Once he completes the task, he has a choice to either put the journal back and forget about it OR respond with his own list of dares.

When Lily discovers that someone has responded to the book, she's not sure how she feels. She's a loner and finds herself to be really weird. Was someone serious about this or were they just messing with her? But Lily wants to do something new, something different. With her parents away in Fiji for Christmas, her grandpa down in Florida and her brother too obsessed with his new boyfriend to care about her, she needs to find something to busy herself with, so she accepts his dares, too.

Back and forth, back and forth over a week and a half the notebook is passed between the two. Always a list of new dares, always something to look forward to. But what happens if they meet? Are they going to be everything they dreamed of or be a complete disappointment? Are they falling for the idea of the other person or the real thing? Or are they just portraying false versions of themselves to keep it interesting? By keeping the journal going, they discover what it means to embrace the new and different while still maintaining just who you are.

I absolutely loved this book. I had read their previous collaboration, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, last year and thought it was good, but this was just great. They seemed like people I wanted to be friends with. It was funny, but really relatable. I thought the more minor characters were also really great. They really added to the main characters. I would also like to point out that they mention my favorite Evelyn Waugh book, Vile Bodies, and Lily mentions that she wanted to be at home watching Meet Me in St.Louis and crying when Margaret O'Brien smashes the village of snow people. I screamed and said, "Rachel Cohn, you do that, too?!" That happens to me every Christmas Ever without fail. It's terrible. Anyway, I really did love this book and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who loves books and witty dialogue and really smart love stories.