Hanging by a Thread by Sophie Littlefield

Coming back to her hometown of Winston hasn't been the happy homecoming that Clare had hoped it would be. Her father has moved on with a new life, her mother and her grandmother barely talk, and her old best friend Rachel seems to have changed in different ways. The town is also gripped by the threat of a serial killer: two years ago a boy was killed, one year ago a girl disappeared. The anniversary of that date is coming up, and no one knows what might happen. Clare also has a secret gift - the ability to touch a piece of clothing and relive the memories and experiences of the wearer. A torn and bloodied jacket has recently come into her possession...could it be a clue to solving the mystery?

I quite enjoyed this story. There was a wonderful old-school Lois Duncan vibe to it while being thoroughly modern at the same time. Clare is a likeable heroine who deals with things both down to earth (trying to get her mom and grandmother into the same room) and otherworldly (figuring out how to deal with her psychic gift). She does some questionable things (particularly when she's around the missing girl's old boyfriend, a suspect in her disappearance) and rarely thinks of her own safety, but in a way that makes sense for a teenager who is slowly becoming overwhelmed by her circumstances. I could see this book being an excellent pilot for a series and it would have fit in perfectly among the psychic/special talent crime solvers who had TV shows not that long ago. A solid pick for mystery fans who like a bit of the supernatural (but not vampires or werewolves).

Check out Sophie Littlefield's website. 

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
A Bad Day for Mercy by Sophie Littlefield
Vintage Veronica by Erica Perl

The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Sethie (her preferred abbreviation for Sarah Beth) has everything under control. She knows exactly what she needs to do to keep her grades up. She knows exactly what she needs to do to get into a good school. She knows exactly what she needs to do to be with the boy she likes. She also knows exactly what she needs to do to keep her weight going in the right direction: down. But despite all of her efforts, is Sethie close to losing it all?

The book begins with a letter from the author that details why she wrote this book. She talks about her own body issues and how they have shaped her life. The book is at times to hard to read because it goes into some very dark places; Sethie spends a lot of time in darkness. I was glad that the book was written in third person; this put a bit of space between me and Sethie's mind but not enough to distance me from the story. I particularly liked the parts of this book that explored Sethie's relationships with the people around her: her mom, her friends, her boyfriend. How does her illness shape how she sees people? Are her interpretations of situations reliable? If they were describing the same situation, what would they say about it? As Alyssa B. Sheinmel notes in her introduction, there is no shortage of books that look at teen girls struggling with anorexia, bulimia, and body image, but for those who are looking for an issue-based novel The Stone Girl paints a dark and complex portrait of a girl who is struggling to keep everything together.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
The Beautiful Between by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Clean by Amy Lynn Reed
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty by Carolyn J. Brown

Eudora Alice Welty was born in a small Southern town in 1909. After spending time at school, as a photographer, and exploring other paths, she started gaining recognition for her writing and later became a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. In many ways, she lived a daring life - a life that spanned most of a century. Learn more about this woman, her life, and her writing in this new biography published by the University Press of Mississippi.

For many years I have been meaning to explore the works of Eudora Welty. I don't think that I've actually read any of her writing, although I do have a photograph of her library hanging in my living room. When I saw this new biography, I jumped at the chance to read it. It's concise and direct and informative; it provides not only a great introduction to the life of Welty but also the world in which she lived. There are lots of photographs to illustrate her family, her homes, and her work, and in particular her work as a photographer. I did briefly pause to think of who this book would appeal to; it's positioned as a biography for young adults, but how many young adults have read Eudora Welty? Is she on school reading lists? Is there a demand for a book like this? But then I decided that there is always a demand for well-written and well-researched biographies of accomplished women. It might take some handselling from librarians and booksellers to help people to be aware of this book, but it would be well worth including this in a non-fiction collection to have on hand for the right reader.

Check out Carolyn J. Brown's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of University Press of Mississippi.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Jane Austen: A Life Revealed by Catherine Reef
The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty: A Biography by Suzanne Marrs

Scott Pilgrilm Volume 1: Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Scott Pilgrim's life is pretty uncomplicated. At 23 he lives in a tiny apartment with his gay roommate Wallace, he plays in a band called Sex Bob-omb, and he's dating a high school student (which sounds like it could be complicated, but since they've barely ever even hugged, it's a pretty laid-back relationship). Then he starts dreaming of a strange girl with roller-blades and awesome hair. Who is she? How did she end up in his head? When the girl - Ramona Flowers - materializes in his real life, he has to make sure he's not dreaming... then he has to find a way to make her want to spend time with her. He keeps hearing something about her evil exes, but that's can't be too bad, right? Right?

This is the first time that I've written about a book for a second time, but I think that a full-colour edition with extra behind-the-scenes content warrants talking about this book again. I originally picked up the Scott Pilgrim series because of the then-upcoming movie with Michael Cera; I've since seen the movie, so it's almost like I can never un-see it through that lens. But this re-read let me focus on the details: the way that the backgrounds really looked like Toronto areas, the casual awesomeness of Kim Pine, the easy blend of real life and video game fantasy. If you've never read the series, now is the time to pick it up and check it out in full-colour glory, and if you have read the series I guarantee you haven't seen it like this before.

Check out Scott Pilgrim online and Bryan Lee O'Malley's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Oni Press.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley 

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Kendall knows exactly what to expect in her small-town life. She's grown up with the same people, done the same things, and thought the same thoughts. She dreams of a life beyond Cryer's Cross - a life where she can study dance and never have to hear about potato farming again. Then Cryer's Cross is rocked by the mysterious disappearance of a young girl..and just when things are settling back into a routine, someone close to Kendall disappears as well. Everyone fears the worst, and Kendall struggles to find the strength to keep on living. One of her distractions comes from the new guy in town, Jacian,  a moody loner who gets under Kendall's skin. As she struggles to understand the mystery of long-buried secrets, Kendall herself might just be in danger.

Cryer's Cross mixes real-life things like college applications, relationships, and obsessive-compulsive disorder with an eerie, other-worldly twist. Kendall's life is made up of routines; some routines are put on her by nature, like the potato harvest each fall, while other routines are ones caused by her OCD that she must do to keep dangerous thoughts away. I can't comment on how accurately McMann portrays a character with OCD, but she did do a great job of creating a character who slips in and out of rationality. She is deliberate in her actions and precise in her words; she won't even call her best friend Nico her boyfriend because she can't promise the future commitment that that implies. As she spends time with Jacian, though, she starts opening up more of herself. The two are attracted to each other (I don't think that that needs a spoiler alert - almost any time that a guy and a girl clash so hard in the first part of a novel will have them attracted to each other before very long) but it's complicated - both Kendall and Jacian have their own issues that they need to work through. This book is for people who like the creepy, ghosty kind of supernatural more than the action-packed vampire or zombie supernatural; it would be a good read-alike for someone who likes the supernatural mysteries of Lois Duncan or Mary Downing Hahn.


Check out Lisa McMann's website.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan
Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
Dead to You by Lisa McMann

Intentions by Deborah Heiligman

The last thing that Rachel thought she would find in the sanctuary of her synagogue was the Rabbi having sex. But there he was, up on the bima, having sex...and with a woman who is not his wife. The foundation of Rachel's world starts to crack. Her parents are fighting more than ever. Her grandmother isn't always lucid (and doesn't always know who Rachel is). And now the Rabbi, the man who she respected and who guided her spiritual life, has been revealed to be a terrible sinner. How can she face him? How can she continue to listen to him talk about God and religion and faith? How can anything in her life be the same?

This was a new spin on the betrayal aspect for me; I don't think I've seen a storyline where a girl loses faith in her Rabbi and then acts out in frustration and anger. The cover, while attention-grabbing, doesn't quite match the book; I find it to hint at darker content (I'm not sure why...the model's eyes, perhaps?) than Intentions actually has. Rachel as a character is grown up in many ways and so young in others. Many of her ideas about sex and relationships are naive but she's also recognizing very adult desires in herself. Characters like that are intriguing to me because there's so much potential; they can go in almost any direction because their whole worlds are shifting. There are a lot of interesting ideas mixed in with the storyline: the intention behind your actions, putting good out into the world, fixing a broken world, taking responsibility for your actions, trusting people who have wronged you, and what it means to be a good person. I was a big fan of Deborah Heiligman's Charles and Emma and I really enjoyed reading a novel from her (and I hope there will be more - of both her fiction and non-fiction).

See more at Deborah Heiligman's website.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman
Gravity by Leanne Lieberman
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt

The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions From Pop Culture That You Should Know About...Before It's Too Late by Laura Barcella

There are some days where it seems like the end of the world could happen at any time. Global warming, terrorism, zombies: the end is near...at least in the movies. Films, books, plays, and art show some of the ways that people have expressed their views on the end of the world. In The End, 50 different visions of the apocalypse are explored in detail, examining how the world ends (and how likely it is to happen in real life).

There was something oddly reassuring about reading this book. Almost every scenario, whether it included viruses or zombies or the flooding of the entire earth, was said to be extremely unlikely to happen in real life - or, if it did, to have very different results than are shown in pop culture. I knew that I was going to like this book when one of the first things Laura Barcella talked about was the scarcity of women in strong, leading roles during "the end." Why is the apocalypse such a male-dominated event? Where are women while the world is ending? I also love serious explorations of popular culture; while this book maintains a light, often humorous tone, it does believe that there is something to be gained from examining how authors, directors, and artists have positioned the end of the world. Like many of Zest Books' other titles, this just screams "high interest" and is worth considering for inclusion in a library's non-fiction collection.

Check out Laura Barcella's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Zest books.

Find it at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's website.

Read it with:
The Stand by Stephen King
How to Fight, Lie, and Cry Your Way to Popularity (And a Prom Date) by Nikki Roddy
Reel Culture by Mimi O'Connor
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien 

How to Watch the Olympics by David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton

In one sense, it's easy to figure out how to watch the Olympics: find a TV station that has the broadcast rights or stream it online, and you're watching the Olympics. But what exactly are you watching? How does one score points in a judo match? What's the difference between kayaking, canoeing, and rowing? What are the events that make up the decathlon? What about the heptathlon? What makes the modern pentathlon so modern? And what exactly is a repechage? With chapters for each of the sports (as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, medal ceremonies, past Olympic games, and discontinued Olympic sports), How to Watch the Olympics aims to be your go-to reference book during the 2012 London Olympic Games.

As a big fan of the Olympics, the cover of this book caught my eye as I was browsing in an airport bookstore. I initially hoped that it would be a critical socio-political at the games (with possible topics including American broadcasting strategy, the amount of money spent on the games, gender equality and inequality). Instead, though, it was a history-slash-introduction of the games and the sports on display, something I was also interested in checking out. As a young girl I latched onto a copy of one of David Wallechinsky's Complete Book of the Olympics and read it over and over until the pages started falling out. That was almost twenty years ago, though, and  as I often feel with reference books, I wondered about its use in a world where so much information is available online; as I sat on my couch with my iPhone and this book, how many times would I reach for each one? I didn't keep track, but there have been times where I was reaching for the book (particularly during the cycling events). While I do think that this book would only be enhanced in some kind of ebook form that would allow links to video footage, maps, and more photographs, it can easily stand without these things (and, in fact, has to - it's very clear that this is an "unofficial" Olympic book and as such does not have any pictures of the Olympic rings, flames, or mascots). The intended audience is the average Olympic watcher - someone who might know something about a few of the sports but has little knowledge of others. It strikes a tone somewhere between chatty and instructional (and uses a lot of British expressions along the way). It could be read through from beginning to end, but also works if you want to pick it up and dip into sections as needed. I'd really love to see a companion version for the Winter Olympics as well as updated versions for future Games.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
The Complete Book of the Olympics 2012 Edition by David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky
The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt
Gold by Chris Cleave
Inside the Olympics by Nick Hunter

Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF by April Winchell

Like most things I find on the Internet, I have no idea how I first found Regretsy. It was probably written up somewhere - a blog? Entertainment Weekly? - and I hopped over to check it out. I know that I was already familiar with Etsy and this new blog provided a window into the sort of thing that I had never seen. Photographs with random nudity, jewelry in the shape of penises and vaginas, things that say they're steampunk but they are so not steampunk... it seemed like there was no end to these incredible listings. Regretsy is also available in book form; classic items are accompanied by commentary by April Winchell.

I knew that I would love this book, but I was surprised by how much I loved it. It's more than just a collection of Regretsy's greatest hits and new entries. Each chapter has an essay that explores different aspects of the Etsy/Regretsy world. What kind of statements are vagina necklaces really making? How do you foster creativity? Does everything deserve an audience? At the end of the book there are listings of the sellers featured in the book, the bios of the sellers, and even a space for the sellers to comment on Regretsy, their inclusion, and criticism in general. These inclusions took the book from an extension of the website (which would have been enough to be a solid book) to something that explores art, commerce, creativity, and criticism, all through the lens of 21st century society. I highly recommend checking this book out.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Cake Wrecks by Jen Yates
Read My Lips by Debby Herbenick and Vanessa Schick
That is Priceless by Steve Yelcher
Passive Aggressive Notes by Kerry Miller

The Violinist's Thumb by Sam Kean

Genes. DNA. Heredity. These are all things that people hear about, but how many of us really understand them? How do genes work, and what's their relationship to DNA? How was everything discovered, and who was it discovered by? Names like Mendel and Darwin, Watson and Crick are familiar, but who were the other people who played a role in the discovery of DNA? How did genes play a role in creating a brilliantly flexible violinist and a bronze-hued president? From the first tentative steps toward exploring the human body to the mapping of the human genome, The Violinist's Thumb takes you on an incredible journey of scientific discovery.

I was so excited to read this book. I had intended to read Sam Kean's first book, The Disappearing Spoon, but I still haven't picked it up. I wanted to read this one before anything else got in the way. I really liked the way the book was written. It's not always an easy read, but it's an enjoyable read. Some of the science can be quite dense, but I think that's to be expected. I wouldn't say that after reading this book I have a complete understanding of genes and DNA; saying that would be a disservice to the scientists who spend their entire careers learning about genes. I do, though, have a big more of an understanding about the questions that surround this branch of science. My favourite chapter was the one that discussed the impulse to retroactively diagnose famous people like John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, and Charles Darwin with diseases and genetic disorders; of course, having said that that one was my favourite, I have to now think about what that means about me and my enjoyment of a celebrity-obsessed culture. If you're looking for a satisfying non-fiction read that will provide you with both information and a dry, sometimes pun-based sense of humour, definitely check out this book.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Little, Brown and Company.

Check out Sam Kean's website.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox

Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniel

Morgan is furious when someone set of fireworks in the middle of the pep rally that she planned and organized. It's going to ruin all of the work that she's put in as president of the student council. Her boyfriend is really supportive, but her best friend is distant and withdrawn, and there's a new guy - a strange guy - who is making her feel things that she's never felt before. Then, on the day before Thanksgiving, something terrible happens. A bomb goes off in the school. People are injured, some critically, and others are killed instantly. Morgan's life will never be the same.

(Mild spoilers below)

There's a nice amount of tension in this book. The identity of the bombers is only revealed at the end, so the readers are kept in suspense and have to guess which - if any - of the main characters are involved. There's a lot of drama in a short amount of pages, and the bombing turns it into a true life-and-death situation. People are never the same as they were before, even if they were able to escape injury. The characters sometimes seem like stock characters, but they're given personality and quirks to save them from being caricatures. I particularly liked how the ending of the book was true to Morgan's identity as a strong woman and student; it could so easily have gone in a different way, but reinforced the idea of living a life that's full of possibilities. Fans of Lurlene McDaniel will find a lot of pages packed with emotion and a story that's speeds a long with a quick pace.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House Children's Books/Delacorte Books for Young Readers.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
Heart to Heart by Lurlene McDaniel
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham

The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir by Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer

It's difficult to talk about teen pregnancy in a public way. Too often it takes either one of two routes: teen parents are either villainized, judged, and written off or glamourized and placed in situations that become so unlike the majority of teen parents. For her senior project, Gaby Rodriguez wanted to look beyond those portrayals to the real people that the pregnancy involves.Teen pregnancy was something that was very present in her life: her mother had been a teen mom, her brothers and sisters had faced teen pregnancy or young parenthood, and people always told her how she was destined to follow in their footsteps. For her project, Gaby decided to get pregnant - a fake pregnancy - and see how people reacted to her. Would they think that she was living down to expectations? Would the pregnancy nullify all of her good grades and her previous reputation? What would her friends say? What would people who didn't even know her say? Gaby wanted to compile their reactions and talk about the way that pregnant teens are treated. With only her mom, her boyfriend, and a few teachers in on the assignment, she had no idea what she was heading into.

The book is divided into three parts: before, during, and after the 'pregnancy.' I had expected most of the story to focus on pretending to be pregnant, so I was surprised when so much time was spent talking about her family and detailing her relationship with her brothers and sisters. This backstory, however, was crucial to understanding how passionate Gaby was about this project. She didn't just see teen pregnancy in the abstract; she saw it as part of her life. Equally interesting was the media reaction to the story. Almost overnight Gaby was courted by major television networks wanting to tell her story. Many people would think that it would be cool to have The Today Show or Good Morning America wanting to interview you, but when Gaby describes the way that the media hounded her and, for lack of a better word, stalked her, it's not the glamorous story that you might have had in mind. I did wonder how much of this was an attempt at shaping a story - in order to make it clear that she didn't want fame or a book deal or a Lifetime movie, does she go overboard in describing how she tried to hide from the media? Possibly. But I truly do believe that the project came from a very real place, a place that was determined to make a difference and change how people think about teen pregnancy. I do think that the book would have benefited from pictures, especially ones that show what Gaby looked like during her experiment, but the words can stand on their own. At just over two-hundred pages, it's not a long book, but it does tell an incredible story.

Gaby's story is also a Lifetime movie.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Not Afraid of Life by Bristol Palin
Science Fair Season by Judy Dutton
Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky

Women, Popular Culture, and the Eighteenth Century edited by Tiffany Potter

The eighteenth century is quite present in the twenty-first century. It's found in the Jane Austen novels read by bookclubs and the movies that are made from those novels. It's in our ideas of performers and performance, writing and writers, and romance. It's in the way we think about the past and how the past informs the present. Women, Popular Culture, and the Eighteenth Century brings together the work of scholars from Canada, the United States, and around the world who explore the construction of culture and pop culture over the last four hundred years and what it means for women and society today.

When I saw the title of this book in NetGalley, I knew I had to read it. I love reading about popular culture and I have spent a lot of time thinking about women and femininity, so this seemed like a perfect fit. I was extremely pleased to find that the book not only covers culture in the eighteenth century but also how it exists and interacts in today's world. Recent film adaptations of Jane Austen novels, novels set in the seventeen hundreds, and mash-ups (like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) are all explored. There were also several areas that I had not read about before, including the role that women played in the development of the cookbook industry, stage performances and how they mirrored and directed ideas of womanhood, and the phenomenon of riddles and quizzing. The book has an academic tone and approach. It's been a few years now since I did a lot of academic reading for school, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this book. If you have an interest in any one of the three areas mentioned in the title make sure to check this book out; if you have an interest in more than one of the areas, this is the book for you.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of University of Toronto Press.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue
Love in Excess by Eliza Haywood
Artistic Impressions by Mary Louise Adams
According to Queeney by Beryl Bainbridge

Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Clair

Annie Nutter's life is nothing special. In fact, sometimes it sucks. She and her best friend are teased and tormented by the popular kids in school, her family struggles to pay the bills, and there's no indication of a boyfriend on the horizon. Then one day she learns that her mom could have married another man - a man who's now rich, successful, and one of America's top bachelors. A crazy accident involving one of her father's inventions sends Annie tumbling into a parallel universe - only there she's not Annie. She's Ayla Monroe, daughter of her mom and her mom's old boyfriend...except now they're married, she's popular, and the whole family is wealthy. It's everything Annie's ever dreamed of, but as she discovers the darker side of her life, she realizes that you have to be careful what you wish for.

This premise is the stuff that great stories are made of. The chance to see what your life would be like if you took another path is something I'd bet a lot of people had wished was possible at one point or another. What makes this a little extra twisty is that the alternate universe doesn't exist because of anything that Annie did - it has to do with who her mother married before Annie was even born. There are so many things, big and little, that go into making a person who they are. If you start changing things, how long until you are no longer you? It's a fascinating question. This book also raises the idea of how hard it can be to change yourself if you don't like who you are. When Annie starts putting more of Annie into Ayla, there are reactions from her boyfriend, her family, and her friends. It can be very difficult to change the status quo. This is a good book to read out on a beach somewhere this summer. And even though I saw the end coming, I will admit that until everything was revealed, I was holding my breath (and then found it really romantically satisfying). Roxanne St. Claire definitely knows how to write an ending.

See more about Roxanne St. Claire at her website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Barefoot in the Sand by Roxanne St. Claire
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman

Years ago, Calista Wood's sister disappeared in the woods behind a private school; Cally never saw her again. Now Cally is a teenager and attending that same private school. None of the other students know of her connection to the disappearance. Another student disappeared recently - that's why Cally could start in the middle of a semester. Some say that she ran away while others think that she was murdered. As Cally digs deeper into the mystery she uncovers more about her own story, but getting closer to the truth could put herself in danger.

I have a particular fondness for books set at private boarding schools, because there's something that happens when you take the parents out of a story. There are some parents/adults in this book, but they're all at the edges of the action. The book succeeds in creating a creepy atmosphere where people are not to be trusted and anything seems possible. I had trouble figuring out where the story was going to go because I had no idea what was even possible. Is something supernatural happening in the woods? Or is it much more terrestrial? Is Cally in danger, and is there anyone who can trust? It worked in different ways: Cally is an outsider to the school community (and the woods), but she's also an outsider to the kind of rich, fast-lane life that the other students live. This creepy, spooky, mystery is a great pick for a summer read (particularly if you want to read it in the daylight).

Check out McCormick Templeman's website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Random House Children's Books.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Fall by Colin McAdam

Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong by Jen Yates

If you're a fan of the Cake Wrecks blog, you know exactly what kind of wrecktacular stuff you're going to be finding in this book. Misspelled words, literal directions, icing that looks like poo, cupcake cakes, naked babies, random Darth Vaders... there's no end to what people will put on a cake. I like reading Cake Wrecks because there's that whole "Wait...what...no!...what?" aspect where I can't believe that this actually happens to people. Some of those baby shower cakes will haunt me in my dreams. Maybe I'm just blessed (cursed?) with a local supermarket bakery section who stay away from wrecks, but I've never seen anything remotely close to this in person. But I do believe that other people have, because here is the photographic evidence. The book doesn't have the depth of the blog - that's one area where hyperlinks have the advantage over paper - but it does organize the wrecks into sections and succeeds in really building up a "bam-bam-bam" pace of revealing the wrecks. The book also has a bit of "behind the scenes" information on what Jen Yates has learned since launching the blog, including why she now doesn't spend a lot of time writing on posts that are likely to be controversial. I definitely recommend checking out the blog, and if you find that it's your sense of humour, consider diving into the Cake Wrecks book.

Cake Wrecks is published by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets "Festive" by Jen Yates
That is Priceless by Steve Melcher
Awkward Family Photos by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack

Freshman: Tales of 9th Grade Obsessions, Revelations, and Other Nonsense by Corinne Mucha

Annie is ready for high school...maybe. Her older brother has warned her that whatever she does in her freshman year will set the tone for the rest of her life. Annie promptly freaks out and starts wondering who she is and who she wants to be. Her friend Richie is still there for her, but her friend Beth has practically become a new person. Then she meets Katrina and they bond over field hockey (and Annie can't help but notice Katrina's hot older brother). Maybe freshman year won't be so hard after all...as long as Annie can keep it together.

I loved this book. It picks up on the smaller moments that make high school such a strange place: icebreaker assignments, spirit week, cafeteria conversations.  The small moments - looks, expressions, realizations - are able to be explored because Corinne Mucha can do so much in the details. There's a definite tone of humour running throughout the book, particularly when you consider that it was written by someone who survived high school, but I didn't feel like it made fun of the experience. It's so easy to look back at high school and think, "Wow, that was lame" or "I thought that was a big deal, but it really wasn't, and I'm so much wiser now." This book doesn't do that. The drama is given its dramatic due while things in a way that completely gets it.I think that actual freshman would respond to it, but there's also a nostalgia factor at play that makes me remember what those days were really like, so older readers of graphic novels will enjoy it, too. Definitely keep your eye out for this book.

Check out Corinne Mucha's website for more of her work.

This book was published by Zest Books. 

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
My Every Single Thought by Corinne Mucha
Jinx by J. Torres
Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Grammar Girl's 101 Troublesome Words You'll Master in No Time by Mignon Fogarty

Writing can be hard. Not only do you have to take an empty page and fill it with words, you also have to be careful to avoid misspellings, grammar errors, and using the wrong word. Where can you go to find out the answers to all of your grammar questions? The Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty, has been solving people's tough questions for years, and in 101 Troublesome Words You'll Master in No Time she takes on some tough words that you might have spent some time scratching your head over in the past - but scratch no more, because help is on the way!

I find word usage really interesting; I like learning about how words have changed over time and what the origins of certain words are. It seems like a lot of the confusion over words or tenses comes from a tension between British usage and American usage; Canadian usage is often a mixture of the two, so even with this book as a guide things still seemed to be a bit up in the air. I am most familiar with Grammar Girl on Twitter and had never really checked out her site, so her style of writing was new to me. I liked it. It was conversational and forgiving and less "hard and fast" than I was expecting a grammar guide to be. Grammar purists might not like all of the "in common usage, you can probably keep doing what you're doing" advice, but I really respect her focus on clear meaning rather than the strict following of grammar rules (and besides, grammar purists are probably busy pulling their hair out over Twitter or reality TV or something like that). Including examples from TV, movies, and books also helped to ground the discussion in actual real-world usage. If you're working for an organization that has its own style guide, you should definitely stick to that, but if you're looking for some helpful clarifications for your own writing, this is one title that you will want to peruse.

Check out the Grammar Girl website.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of St. Martin's Press.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Grammar Girl's 101 Troublesome Words You'll Master In No Time by Mignon Fogarty
Grammar Girl's 101 Words to Sound Smart by Mignon Fogarty
The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White
I Used to Know That by Caroline Taggert

Way to Go by Tom Ryan

Danny's life is going nowhere. He's not confident like his friend Kierce, who has a rule for every situation. He's not laid-back like his friend Jay, who's in danger of not graduating but doesn't really care. Danny wants to be confident and he wants to be above caring about what people think...but he's not. He's pretty sure that he's gay but doesn't want to tell anyone; he's not prepared to deal with the reaction in his small town. He gets a summer job working in the kitchen of a new restaurant. That's where he meets Lisa, a complicated New York City girl with a love for making mixed tapes. If he would fall in love with any girl, it'd be Lisa...maybe it could be Lisa. In a summer of discovery, Danny will come to terms with who he really is and what that means for the rest of his life.

Aside from a few references (like the mixed tape on the cover), it was easy to forget that the book took place in 1994. One thing that kept reminding me was the hateful language and fear that accompanied any mention of gayness. I know that this language didn't end in 1994 (and that it - and worse - continues today), but the language that Danny's classmates use (particularly Kierce) is just...unreal. Except that it was and is real, which is so awful that awful can't even begin to describe it. There were also a few phrases throughout the book that stuck out as sounding more present-day, but since I'm not a linguist (is that even what linguists do? date phrases to a certain time period? If not linguists, who does that? is that a job?), I can't say for sure that they weren't around in 1994. Anyway. Danny's coming of age summer is about more than just his sexuality; he's also discovering who he wants to be as a person and what he wants to do as a career. His relationship with his father is going through changes as Danny becomes closer to being an adult; at the restaurant (and in his off hours), he learns about what friendship is and what he wants for himself. (His younger sister has one of those Vanessa Pike-esque language afflictions that I'm sure must exist in real life but I've only seen in books - she talks mostly in movie quotes. I do like, though, their sibling relationship). This book's Canadian-ness sets it apart from a lot of other coming of age novels, and that's important, because while Canada shares a lot of culture with America, there are some differences. I'm really excited to read more from Tom Ryan in the future.

Check out Tom's website, Tom Wrote That.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Gravity by Leanne Lieberman
Mercury by Hope Larson
The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second by Drew Ferguson

One Moment by Kristina McBride

Maggie has been looking forward to the summer for a long time. She's sure that it's going to be full of great days hanging out with her friends and her boyfriend, Joey. But Memorial Day weekend changes everything. Joey dies in a horrible accident, and Maggie is the only one who knows what happens in his last moments. But her memory has blocked out those events, and she has no answers for her friends, Joey's parents, or herself. As she tries to discover what went on in those final moments, she uncovers a number of secrets being kept by people she thought were her closest friends. One moment can change everything...and Maggie isn't sure what to do next.

(Mild spoilers below)

Kristina McBride is very skilled at writing about the death of a teen who was so full of life. His closest friends experience the horror of watching him die, his family searches for answers, and there's a rush to remember him as a perfect person (followed by a tentative emergence of their less-than-ideal qualities). This comes out so well in Maggie's descriptions of Joey and how, when you think about them, you can see some jerkish qualities (or, to put it less harshly, some human qualities) in her glowing description of him. At times it felt like the book was framed as a mystery (with 'what happened?' being the unanswered question), but that approach didn't quite work for me because I felt like if it was going for mystery the first part of the book gave too much away. I had a pretty good idea of what happened between Maggie and Joey, and so rather than information being revealed I felt the story unfolded. I found it more useful to keep coming back to the the idea of "one moment." One moment Joey was alive... and then he wasn't. One moment Maggie had everything she wanted...and then she didn't. One moment really can change things, even when it's not strictly a matter of life and death.


Check out Kristina McBride's website.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Egmont USA.

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride
Freefall by Ariela Anhalt
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard