Billie Standish Was Here

Billie Standish Was Here by Nancy Crocker

From Booklist
Proving that the heavily mined "child and elderly neighbor change each other's lives" premise isn't completely dry, Crocker's sturdy debut explores the deep and subtle reaches of a friendship that blooms between 11-year-old Billie and her across-the-road neighbor Miss Lydia. Set in a small town several generations ago, this is anchored by three pivotal acts—one driven by hate, one by love, and one a complex combination of the two.The story covers five years of Billie's struggles to get out from under the thumb of her spiteful, abusive mother, and Lydia's efforts to erase the guilt of two terrible secrets as, with agonizing slowness, her aging body fails. Crocker skillfully lays out the heart-deep regard that develops between these two perceptive, spirited females (Lydia is occasionally given to hilariously salty language) as life throws them severe challenges that they weather with each other's help. In Billie, the author creates a narrator whose credible mix of naïveté, resilience, and uncertain but budding sense of self-respect that will speak to young readers. This easily transcends its familiar themes and locale. Peters, John

8/10

I thought about this book all day today. I had to hurry home, grab some zero calorie powerade and hurry outside so I could sit and finish. Twenty minutes later it had me crying. Its like Marley and Me (which I still dont think I can watch) but replace the dog with a sweet old lady. The grandma you are not lucky enough to have. The one who can be your best friend and cook you meals when you parents neglect you and teach you more than your sucky teachers ever did. Well the same things happen to sweet old would-be grandmas as they do to dogs at the end of books. Sniff Sniff. (but really i havent spoiled anything...I mean anyone can guess thats whats going to happen after the second chapter)

But the book is good. I was totally sucked into 1968. And I was totally jealous of Billie (a girl named William because her parents wanted a boy) because of her relationship with Miss Lydia. Not really for anything else because that poor kid has it rough.

I suggest this one for Meghan for sure..I think she will like it. Amber should stay far far away. (she doesnt like to cry).

Graceling

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Amazon.com Review
If you had the power to kill with your bare hands, what would you do with it?
Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power.
Combining elements of fantasy and romance, Cashore skillfully portrays the confusion, discovery, and angst that smart, strong-willed girls experience as they creep toward adulthood. Katsa wrestles with questions of freedom, truth, and knowing when to rely on a friend for help. This is no small task for an angry girl who had eschewed friendships (with the exception of one cousin that she trusts) for her more ready skills of self-reliance, hunting, and fighting. Katsa also comes to know the real power of her Grace and the nature of Graces in general: they are not always what they appear to be.
Graceling is the first book in a series, and Kristin Cashore’s first work of fiction. It sets up a vivid world with engaging characters that readers will certainly look forward to following beyond the last chapter of this book. (Ages 14 and up) --Heidi Broadhead


8/10

Wow. This book is kick ass. It reminds me of the Hunger Games a little..but I might have liked this even better. The main character is seriously a bad ass. SHE is a bad ass.

I dont want to tell too much because I think everyone should read it. There is a lot of action in it...Katsa is an assassin after all. And there is some romance...but this is definitely not a harlequin book. Some of the reviews on amazon say that Katsa is too butch. Too strong. I thought it was great that she didnt need rescuing.

I will say...it drags a little in the middle...but I think thats because it is going to be a part of a series. Im happy thinking that some things are going to be saved for the next book. (which I will probably be pre-ordering)

Bleed

Bleed by Laurie Faria Stolarz

From Amazon:
Over the course of a single summer day, ten teenagers in Salem, Massachusetts, will discover important truths about themselves and each other.

There is Nicole, whose decision to betray her best friend will shock everyone, most of all herself; Kelly, who meets the convicted felon she has been writing to for years; Maria, whose definition of a true friend is someone who will cut her. Then there is Sadie, a chubby eleven-year-old whose mother forces her to wear a "please don't feed me" sign stapled to her shirt; while Joy, a fifteen-year-old waitress hoping for true intimacy narrowly escapes a very dark fate. Derik discovers that his usual good looks and charm won't help him hold onto the girl he wants, while nineteen-year-old drifter, Mearl, is desperately looking for a place to call home. Sean is torn between his loyalty to his girlfriend and the possibility of finding something more with her friend, while Ginger's single-minded pursuit to bring down her nemesis only proves that they may be more alike than she thought. Seamlessly woven together, this incredibly powerful and compelling collection of stories chronicles the very real trials of today's teen experience.

5.5/10

When I got this book in the mail I had totally forgotten that I bought it (I do that a lot) and my first thought was "crap..this is going to be another "Are you there God its me Margaret". Well good or bad...this isnt quite a Judy Blume book.

Its a fast book...and it kept me interested. I finished it in one day. Thats really all I can say about it. All thats good anyway.

Each chapter is told from a different perspective. And there wasnt really one that I liked. I did identify with Sadie. She was the 11 year old whose mother pinned a note to her clothes everyday that said "Please dont feed Sadie" Maybe I would have liked it if this was Sadies story.

I guess I just dont like so many voices. (see Oral History below) I need more than one chapter of someone to find out if Im with them....and at the end of this one I just wasnt with anyone. (Except for unfortunately Sadie)
Its definitely written for young ones. Im not really recommending it...but at least if you want to its not too much of an investment (225 pages)

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

From Booklist
Mary lives in a small village in the middle of the forest governed by the religious Sisterhood and bordered with a fence to keep out the Unconsecrated—a horde of the undead unleashed many generations ago by a mysterious and cataclysmic event. Life is simple but preordained; Mary fears her betrothal to a man she doesn’t love almost as much as the hungry jaws slavering at the fence links. Under the colonial trappings, this is a full-blooded zombie thriller, reminiscent of the paragon of the genre, George Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. Soon Mary and a small band of desperate survivors are thrown together to outwit the undead and work through their own weaknesses, suspicions, and jealousies. Ryan’s vision is bleak but not overly gory; her entry in the zombie canon stands out for how well she integrates romance with flesh-eating. The plot loses a little wind near the conclusion, but Ryan’s ability to write a nail-biting escape scene will keep most readers riveted.

8/10

First of all...super cool title. How creepy is that? The book was a little depressing....but overall I really liked it.

From the cover it looks more like a post-apocalyptic love story...but then wow 20 pages in and you have zombies! And drama. And fights. And evil nuns. And did I mention...ZOMBIES! So its like a weird mix of The Village (M.Night Shaymalan) and Night of the Living Dead and The Handmaids Tale.

I do wish we could have found out a little bit more about the events that caused the Unconsecrated (thats what the zombies are called). Like what caused the Return...and why people become Unconsecrated. But then again I guess not understanding every detail does make it more scary. There are some really good action scenes and also enough romance to keep me interested.

Really good book. A little expensive at Amazon since its pretty new...but I think its worth it.

Also - I just noticed they have a clip on amazon...like a book trailer. Anyway...its pretty creepy! Made me want them to make a real movie. Check it out right here

Size 12 is Not Fat

Size 12 is not Fat by Meg Cabot

From Booklist
At 28, former teen-pop-star Heather Wells feels as though she has lost everything: her family and fortune (her mom fled the country with Heather's earnings), her recording contract, her slender waistline, and her fiance, Jordan, a philandering, boy-band singer. Then Jordan's brother, Cooper, a dreamy private investigator and family black sheep, offers Heather room and board in exchange for clerical work, and she finds an additional job as a residence-hall director at a nearby Greenwich Village university. After several female students turn up dead at the dorm, Heather takes on her own stealthy investigation and finds herself the target of the killer. In the first title in her Heather Wells series, Cabot combines a fairly straightforward mystery with a single-girl-in-the-city plot in which Heather triumphs over cheating guys, bad luck, and a fattist society. Most of the characters are two-dimensional, but Heather's strong, amusing voice, the plot twists, and the possibility of romance will draw mystery and chick-lit readers alike.

6/10

Ok...this book has a weird name...but its a pretty good mystery/comedy. It reminded me a little of the style of Charlaine Harris (who I LOVE). It seems to have a little more silliness/ comedy than Charlaine's books though.

The main character, Heather, is definitely likeable. I like where the story was going...and I plan on reading the others in the series. Maybe it was just me...but I did get a little irritated at just how often she talked about her size. There was just a huge part of the book that was all about her being a size 12. I know thats the title...so maybe it really was just me though. .I mean...does anyone seriously think that someone who wears a twelve is actually fat? And if they did I cant see anyone saying it to Heather(which a lot of people seem to do in this book) But enough about that. (Maybe Im projecting because I would consider a 12 a dream size? I dont know)


But the story is funny. And I liked the mystery even though the reveal wasnt much of a surprise. I like Heather...and I want to know what happens with her story in the next book. But I havent bought it yet. (maybe because the title is: Size 14 Is Not Fat Either)

This book makes a good work book...or a good car book. You arent going to get lost if you dont get to pick it up for a couple of days but you arent going to be in a super rush to find out what happens.

No Time For Goodbye

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

From Publishers Weekly
Barclay (Bad Guys) tugs hard on the heartstrings with the tragic tale of Cynthia Bigge, whose parents and brother vanished without a trace the day after she had a tempestuous teenage argument with her father. Twenty-five years later, raising a daughter with her husband, Terrence Archer, in Milford, Conn., but still haunted by her family's disappearance, Cynthia goes on TV to talk about what happened and plead for clues. A mysterious phone call leads her to believe her father, at least, may still be alive, but as her excitement grows, so do Terrence's worries. It soon appears that someone is playing a unexpectedly vicious game with Cynthia's emotions, and that her family held secrets she never suspected. Though some plot twists require significant suspension of disbelief, skilled characterization and convincing dialogue more than compensate. (Oct.)

9/10


I dont read too many straight up mystery/ thrillers...but this is easily the best one I have ever read. This was just a random pick up from Half Price Books and it was a surprise at how much I really liked this one.

The story is told from the husbands perspective and that helped with the mystery since he was a little outside of the loop just like the reader is. The story is just crazy...a teenager waking up to find her entire family missing. You just really dont know where this story is going...and then when you do get to the end it is not what you expected. I read this one really quick and as soon as I was finished I bought another book of the authors which was almost as good. Im planning on reading every book this guy has written.

I highly recommend this one.

Oral History

Oral History by Lee Smith

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
When Jennifer, a college student, returns to her childhood home of Hoot Owl Holler with a tape recorder, the tales of murder and suicide, incest and blood ties, bring to life a vibrant story of a doomed family that still refuses to give up....


5/10

This story was told from multiple perspectives and it let the reader piece together what happened. I thought it was a interesting way of telling the story. But when it was all over I felt like we were missing stories. It was like we got to hear from the characters on the fringe of the story...but what you really wanted was to hear Dory. To understand Dory's perspective. So while it was neat to hear from everyone else...it seems like it should have been building up to the real story...and that didnt happen. I felt like the further I got into the book...the further away I got from the point.

I think there was a really interesting story to be told there...but it just stayed hidden.

The story also had great hook.....the teaser about the haunted house, but it never really seemed to deliver on that. I felt a little mislead after the opening. I thought the book was building up to that moment...but instead it was more of an afterthought.

I did enjoy the setting of the book (North Carolina mountains) and the descriptions were very well done. It definitely fits as a Southern Gothic-type story. Not for those that like happy endings. I am reading another of Lee Smiths books now (Agate Hill) and I am hoping I like it a little more.

Tethered

Tethered by Amy MacKinnon

From Booklist
Undertaker Clara Marsh doesn’t believe in God. It’s hardly a wonder; she has had little in life to give her cause for faith. After surviving the car accident that killed her free-spirited mother, she was raised by a grandmother who beat her with a brush and tore out her hair. When Clara finally escapes her grandmother’s clutches, she enrolls in mortuary school and lands a job at a New England funeral home whose kindhearted owners take her in as their own. Clara finds herself drawn to the cold case of “Precious Doe,” an unidentified teen found murdered in the nearby woods. She senses it’s more than coincidence when a neglected young waif named Trecie appears in the funeral parlor where she works. Could Trecie be destined for the same fate as “Precious Doe”? Throughout her life, Clara has taken great pains to remain uninvolved in others’ lives. But this time it’s different. MacKinnon’s fascination with the inner workings of her uncle’s funeral business inspired this haunting, gracefully rendered debut.


6/10

So I have definitely been into scary books lately. And this one was not as creepy as I thought it was going to be. The cover doesnt really seem to match the book. But I did like it. I liked Clara. I felt like I got her...her awkwardness. I like it when books have damaged characters. (which reminds me of Sharp Objects by Gillian Flinn...I dont like them that damaged)

This book was good but not great. It has a good mystery..so it keeps you sucked in. But its a little more depressing than I like them. I did like the setting..Clara is a mortition and having 90% of the book take place in a funeral home did up the creep factor.

I would recommend this one...but I would wait until its in paperback or buy it used. (or borrow mine!) Its a little pricey on Amazon right now.

Unwind

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them

Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until theireighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.

7/10

Okay..seriously this is a freaky book. Its supposed to be a teen book...but I thought it was really disturbing. That doesnt mean I didnt like it though. I was kinda worried at first that it was going to turn into a preachy abortion book...but its better than that. These books based in the future really get under my skin.

This is a quick read...I finished it in one night because I had to find out how it ends. I thought there were some things that didnt get explained well, like the Clappers. I know it was more revealing to learn all about them at the end..it just made me feel while I was reading that I missed something. So I kept going back and rereading portions to see what I wasnt getting. But that is probably my only complaint.

There is a section at the end..where you really find out what Unwinding is all about..and it may be one of the most disturbing things I have ever read. This book will stick in your head for days. Its more of a boy-book in my mind. (Meaning that I bought it for my friends husband..but I dont think that she will like it) It reminded me a little of Hunger Games. Not really the story..but I think that people who like one will probably like the other.

So if you dont mind being creeped out..give this one a shot. Its not available in paperback yet...but its coming soon.

Speak

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson


Amazon.com Review
Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

9/10

I read this book for the first time a couple of years ago...it belonged to a friend of mines niece who was in high school at the time. (Holy crap..I just realized I still have her book! How rude of me...need to return this..sorry Ryan!) I loved the book and it started me on whole teen-book binge. I swear there were not books like this when I was a teen.

It is sort of a depressing topic...but its funny in places...a really quick read...and its just really good. (its a Newberry winner for goodness sake! The Newberrys dont lie!) And I think it has a pretty satisfying ending. Great book. And the movie (with Kristen Stewart) is really good as well...but read the book first!

Wild Orchids

Wild Orchids by Jude Deveraux

From Booklist: Ford Newcombe grew up amongst his 11 uncles and their families, never really fitting in with his ne'er-do-well relatives. He met his wife, Pat, in college and she became his muse, helping him become a famous author. But after 21 years of marriage Pat dies, and Ford is at a loss, looking everywhere for the inspiration to begin writing again. He meets Jackie Maxwell, a young woman with a gift for storytelling, and she tells a doozy about a modern-day woman who is stoned because she was seen consorting with the devil. Ford wants to hire Jackie, but she is about to get married. Life has other plans, however, and Jackie ends up traveling with Ford to Cole Creek, North Carolina, the site of the stoning. Jackie recognizes the town, and she and Ford soon realize that she must have been there before, and perhaps witnessed the event.

8/10

I loved this book! Its one that I have reread plenty of times. Normally Im not a Jude D. fan (Im not really into all her time traveling) but this one was good. It was just creepy enough..and it wasnt a full blown romance (cuz im so over those). The first part of the book where it talks about Ford's life with his wife and her parents was really touching. And I loved how they didnt rush into his relationship with Jackie.

I also thought it was funny in parts. I like how the book was told from both of their points of view..example:

Jackie: From the look of him, I guessed he probably ate fried things that came in little plastic bags, and drank bottles of stuff that didnt have the word "diet" on them. (p. 95)

Ford: And she seemed to already know something about me because at the first gas station she had instinctively chosen my favorite snacks (p.120)

The book was just creepy enough for me. (the devil is in it after all... ) That reminds me of that 80's country song Somebodies Knocking (somebodies knocking...should I let him in...Lord its the devil...would you look at him) That will probably be stuck in my head all day.

Anyway...I really recommend this one. Especially if you are a romance fan who likes a little more story with your fluff. And its super cheap if you buy it used at amazon.