28. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, by Lilian Jackson Braun

It's kind of sad to end the year on this book, but it's the last one I finished in 2008. I was done with Bridge of Sighs and was staying in the guest room at my parents' house. Its bookcase is stocked with my mom's romance novels and a few mysteries. Desperate for something to read, I chose this one.

Don't get me wrong, I've read this series before, and the books can be sort of charming in a really idealized, completely out-of-touch-with-reality sort of way. But this one is dumb. There's not really any mystery here, and Qwilleran doesn't do any detecting. The famous cats really don't even provide many wacky antics. We know what happened from almost the start, and there are no surprises to speak of. I'm not sure why the author even wrote it, besides the obvious profit to be gained from another installment of the series. Oh, well. It kept me occupied on a snow day.

27. Bridge of Sighs

Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo

Stuck at the Denver airport with no reading material and flight after flight being canceled, I headed to the bookstore to buy something to keep me occupied. I thought I'd just get the last Twilight book, but then scanned the shelves and came upon Bridge of Sighs. I vaguely remembered reading that Russo had a new book out, but didn't know any of the details, but I grabbed it up and am so happy I did.

Like the amazing Empire Falls, this one is the story of a regular guy in a small town. This time, the guy is Lou, or Lucy as he's known, much to his dismay. Lucy's writing the story of his life, starting at around age five. We read his story interspersed with his present-day reality and later, with his estranged best friend Bobby's present-day and earlier stories. It sounds complicated and it must be so difficult to write, but Russo does it so elegantly that it's perfect. The world he invents is as real as our own and I didn't want the book to end. It's amazing.

26. Eclipse

Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

It was annoying to find out the third Twilight book is still only hardback, because I knew I wasn't going to be able to wait for paper. At least I pass them on to a friend when I'm done!

Again, the love triangle causes trouble, even though we know there's no love like Bella and Edward's love (gag). There's a rash of murders in Seattle that have everybody on edge, and that definitely plays a big part in the story, but the central tension in the story is the ancient war between werewolves and vampires and how that plays out in the modern world.

This book finally gets the pacing of the action right. Instead of impending doom but nothing happening until the end, we get more foreshadowing and people actually trying to figure things out. Shocking! Now I really have to read the fourth and final book.

25. New Moon

New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer

I did end up grabbing the second Twilight book and this one was a much faster read. I don't think it will spoil things too much to reveal the existence of werewolves in this alternate Forks universe. This time around, Bella has an emotional breakdown, a love triangle emerges, and the vamps and Bella take a trip to Italy.

Bella's still annoying, Edward's still patronizing, and Jacob is still crossing all kinds of lines. What does it say about me that I most identify with Bella's parents and wish they were taken into more consideration? Basically, I'm too old for this series, but am hopelessly addicted.

24. It's Not About the Money

It's Not About the Money, by Brent Kessel

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I joined a book discussion at my yoga studio. The author of the selection had been on NPR a few days before, and I'd enjoyed hearing him speak, so I thought it would be interesting and another way to meet more people in the yoga community in Laramie.

This book didn't really float my boat. The exercises Kessel offers to get people thinking about their relationship to money are pretty good, and I like his approach to happiness and financial security. The problem is that it's too simplistic to tell people that they aren't happy or don't feel secure because they have unhealthy relationships to money. Sure, that's often true. But if you don't have enough money to pay bills, you're never going to feel secure. It's one of those middle class mindsets that always bug me.

Anyway, I realize there's a reason I don't like this kind of book, or this kind of book discussion. It feels like group therapy to me, and to me that always rings false.

23. The Satanic Verses

The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie

I actually read this one back in September, in preparation for Rushdie's visit to campus and because I had somewhat foolishly agreed to co-facilitate two book discussions.

It took me three tries to read the first chapter. It's totally disorienting and I couldn't keep the two main characters' names straight or what was happening. After this, it got easier, but I was never sure if things were happening for real or in somebody's dream.

The Satanic Verses is an amazing novel, and one I think needs rereading to appreciate. I was trying to move through it quickly so I'd have it done for the discussions, but slowly enough to have something to say about it. Next time I read it, I'll be more careful to make connections between the plot and characters and history and religious symbolism.

22. Twilight

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

I hadn't even heard of the Twilight series when I heard a movie was coming out and that teen girls were freaking out about it. After looking into it a little and discovering the story is set in Forks, Washington, I decided I to read the books, or at least the first one. I try to read as much lit set in Washington state as I can, and I do seem to have a habit of testing out vampire novels.

The movie was coming out the next week, and I wanted to see it and get my fix of rainy and green landscapes, so I grabbed up the mass market paperback at the grocery store. For some reason, I have a really hard time going to a movie based on a novel without reading the book first, unless I have no intention of ever reading it. In this case, I thought I'd devour it in a sitting or two as usual for YA, but it didn't come that quickly.

To be honest, I considered giving up on this one several times during the first third of the book. I took to reading a chapter or maybe two before bed each night and wondering when the action would occur. The characters are actually kind of unlikable, especially Bella. Several times I felt like smacking her for either staring dumbly at somebody who just spoke to her or doing stupid things that put her and then, by extension, others in danger. So, I guess she's a realistic enough teenager.

I stuck with it and got hooked on the story, though, even though nothing, literally nothing happens until the last third. Maybe it was all the description of the Olympic peninsula, or maybe it was the dialogue, which is just corny enough to entertain, but not enough to lapse into total parody. In any case, I decided I needed to read the rest of the series to see what has everybody so hooked.

21. Compulsion

Compulsion, by Jonathan Kellerman

I used to really like Jonathan Kellerman's books. I'll probably never forget Silent Partner, which creeped me out and fascinated me as a teenager. This one was an impulse purchase at the grocery store when I was sick and knew I would need something trashy and easy to read while staying home from work, since I don't have cable tv--no talk shows or soaps for me.

Alex Delaware, the psychiatrist protagonist, seems so boring and stiff as a main character. He seemed so irrelevant to the plot of this "mystery." The story starts with the gruesome stabbing of a retired teacher in a nice neighborhood, in full view of a neighbor. Delaware and his old friend, LAPD Lt. Milo Sturgis, figure out who dunnit really early in the book, so it's more like they're chasing the guy as he leaves a trail of bodies in his wake.

Milo is a far more interesting character, and I think Kellerman should consider writing from his perspective. The shrink plus cop buddy formula used to work pretty well, but only when Dr. Delaware actually did some in-person analysis of people instead of vaguely diagnosing sociopathy from afar, as he did here. There was really very little psychology involoved in the story. Maybe the author is just getting stale, but this book was pretty dang boring. I considered not finishing it, but decided I had nothing better to do on my sickbed. Don't waste your time.

20. Unspoken

Unspoken, by Mari Jungstedt

Oh, hey. Turns out I did read another of Jungstedt's books. I'm going through my draft posts and reading notes and keep having to refresh my own memory of what I read this year.

I liked this book a little better than Unseen--I think the story was stronger. Again, Inspector Anders Knutas is investigating a murder. Reporter Johan Berg is also back in Gotland, and is still having an affair with Emma, whose best friend was the first victim in the earlier novel. See, I do remember some of the story. This time, there's a missing girl, a murdered photographer, and it's wintertime. The descriptions of the season really set the mood for the creepy mystery.

19. Unseen

Unseen, by Mari Jungstedt

I'm really behind on posting these, so some of my reading is kind of hazy. This summer I decided to expand my mystery horizons and try out some Swedish authors. This one is a debut novel by Mari Jungstedt, who worked as a journalist. It's not surprising that one of the main characters is a reporter from Stockholm, who comes out to Gotland to cover a gruesome murder.

I'm not sure why, but all the Swedish mysteries I've read so far have a really dispassionate tone. Maybe that's a function of the translation, but it's keeping me from really getting into the stories. I should really start studying Swedish again and try to read something simple in the original language, but it will take me a while to get to that point.

Anyway, Unseen follows the investigation of the murder, which is followed by two more deaths. The serial killer has a pretty cliched motive, and I figured out who did it too early to really enjoy the climax of the story. Still, it was a good story. I think Jungstedt is a good writer and I'll be on the lookout for her other stuff.

18. Inside the Undergraduate Experience

Inside the Undergraduate Experience: The University of Washington's Study of Undergraduate Learning, by Catherine Hoffman Beyer, Gerald M. Gillmore, and Andrew T. Fisher (2007)

This was a Center for Teaching and Learning selection from back in June. I invariably enjoy the books chosen for discussion, and this one was no different. There's a lot to get through, but it's not as dry as many research studies. The authors included plenty of direct quotes from the students they studied, which made it a much nicer read than I was expecting.

As a humanities librarian, I was most interested in a few specific chapters: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (ch. 5), Writing (ch.6), and Information Technology and Literacy (ch.8). These sections really got to the heart of what I want to know about what students are thinking as they go through college. The chapters are framed by the researchers, but the students' learning processes are described in their own words. The other thing that really resonated with me was the way students made connections across disciplines and talked about how they became adaptive learners. Fascinating stuff.

17. World Without End

World Without End, by Ken Follett (2007)

It's been a while since I felt like posting about my reading list. This one's from way back in May. I was vacationing on the Oregon coast with my family, and my dad brought this along in his stack of books. I snatched it up for myself and binge-read the entire thing.

It's a sequel to Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, which I remember really enjoying. I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but that one was interesting. My dad seems to like sweeping, epic stories, and whenever he's recommended something to me, I've liked it. He's the one who gave me Michener's Hawaii when I was in middle school (I loved it).

Anyway, this installment of the story picks up about 200 years after the cathedral was finished and centers on a young mason's apprentice and his romantic interest, the daughter of a wool merchant. I'm not going to pretend to be expert in the culture and history of the middle ages in Europe, but the characters didn't ring true. Caris, the female protagonist, was a very modern feminist and I couldn't help being annoyed by the obvious anacronistic behavior she displayed. Also, the story was a bit of a retread from the first book. Still, I liked it well enough to read all 1024 pages of it.

16. After

After, by Francine Prose (2004)

Francine Prose wrote a book I liked a lot, called Blue Angel. It kind of fell apart at the end, but that didn't ruin the rest of it for me. She was a visiting writer on campus the first year I was here, but I somehow didn't get to her reading. I've always meant to read more by her, but hadn't until I saw this one at a discount book store in Seaside, OR, while I was on vacation. It surprised me that I hadn't heard Prose had written a book for young readers, and I was curious.

After takes place in a high school, just after a school shooting at a different high school not far away. The story follows the bizarre and frightening aftermath of the shooting, as the school installs a new administrator and enacts ever-tightening security and stricter rules. While pretty obviously an allusion to the erosion of civil liberties after 9/11, I think Prose manages this parallel gracefully. To a teen reader, I imagine it reads more subtly than it did to me. After really reminded me of early YA lit, like The Chocolate War and I am the Cheese, which I mean as a compliment. I'm again surprised I didn't hear about this one earlier--if it got attention, I completely missed it.

15. The Know-it-all

The Know-it-all: One Man's Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, by A.J. Jacobs (2005)

I've had this book on my shelf since it came out in paperback a few years ago, but never got around to reading it. By the time I picked it up and started reading, the only think I could remember about it was that it had gotten some good reviews, including some time on NPR, and that the author had written for magazines.

Jacobs, who I learned was an editor at Esquire, is a funny and engaging writer. He manages to make a really silly endeavor, reading the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica in a year, into a very personal narrative of his family, his wife, and his impending fatherhood. I particularly liked his wife, Julie--or, more accurately, the character of Julie--because she tempers Jacobs' tendency to run off in tangents. Very cool device.

I think this book really worked for me because I read it in fairly short chunks over a couple of weeks. Usually, I gobble up books really quickly. This can be like spending too much time with a good friend; the little things start to annoy me. The format of the book helped me divide it out nicely. Because Jacobs inserts sections that mimic encyclopedia entries, it's easy to say, "hey, I'm going to stop after finishing the 'H' section." Portion control is my friend, I've found. So, yeah, I liked this a lot.

14. Generation Me

Generation Me, by Jean M. Twenge (2007)

Finally, something a bit more substantive! I read this one for a book discussion on campus, which I always like. Honestly, Twenge, who's around my age, kind of lost me with some really broad generalizations that didn't ring at all true to me. Some of my fellow discussors (discussioners? discussion members?) seemed to agree.

I lent my copy to Rick, so I don't have it on hand to find examples I can point you toward. Basically, I disagreed with the entire premise that the kids just now graduating from college and those coming out of high school have a bleaker work outlook that people my age, for example. Remember the early 90s? I'm not going to argue that I walked uphill both ways, but let's acknowledge that late adolescence and early adulthood are really difficult and transitional times, and always have been. I'm thinking of my grandparents and what they had to look forward to at that age, namely the tail end of the depression and World War II.

The other thing that really bugged me was Twenge's heavy reliance on pop culture, which she frames as evidence. No. I watched Dawson's Creek, too, but I wouldn't use one conversation between Dawson and Joey as some kind of revelation about teen hopelessness. Sure, pop culture is a reflection of our society (and sometimes that reflection turns back on itself in truly scary and meta ways), but surely there's some real evidence that could shore up what I would call cute illustrations of phenomena.

Still, I liked reading Generation Me. It made me angry and I often disagreed, but it made me think. It was also the object central to one of the best discussions I've been part of here on campus. Lots of people are critically examining the experiences of our students and working hard to improve their opportunities for learning and future success. So, it was pretty cool to read this and talk about it with smart, interested people.

13. Cheating at Solitaire

Cheating at Solitaire, by Ally Carter (2005)

I thought I'd give Ally Carter another chance and see if her fiction for adults is better than her YA stuff. Cheating at Solitaire is about Julia James, a self-help author famous for writing about the benefits of being single. Of course, wacky hijinx ensue and she meets cute with a hunky struggling actor. The press makes it out to be a scandalous new romance, just as the actor hits it big.

Guess what happens next. Uh, yeah. They fall for each other and it's a series of misunderstandings culminating in a happy ending. To be fair, the characters are pretty appealing and Carter's style is engaging, so I read the whole thing without getting bored. I'd liken the book to potato chips, rather than a full meal. I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't satisfy me and I forgot most of the plot details and character names within days.

12. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, By Ally Carter (2006)

Wow, it's been a while since I posted, and my "to-blog" pile keeps growing. This one came before Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy. As usual, I read the second book in the series first and then went back. Well, the first one was pretty unnecessary. It actually kind of irritated me. The idea of a boarding school for girl spies-in-training is a good one, but the execution leaves something to be desired. At least by me.

Maybe it's just that the Cammie character is kind of a drip. She doesn't interest me because she makes dumb decisions that made me continually question her spy ability. Also, the lack of any villain figure totally takes any suspense out of the story. Basically, it's just a fluffy teen romance.

11. Tall, Dark, and Dead

Tall, Dark, and Dead, by Tate Hallaway (2006)

Last year, I read Halloway's Dead Sexy, the second Garnet Lacy book. I finally got around to reading the first. This was more of an adventure than I expected. I requested the book from a partner library and didn't read it right away when it came in because I always go on sprees and order several at a time. Then, I realized it was coming due soon and I couldn't find it anywhere, so I renewed it and hoped I'd run across it at home or in my office, but hoping I didn't do something stupid like take it with me to Midwinter and leave it in the hotel or on a plane somewhere. When the renewal was finally up, I still couldn't find it and just paid the replacement fee so I wouldn't have a block on my account.

Of course you know what happened. I moved offices a couple of weeks later and found the book wedged beween my desk and the wall, suspended in the air. I hadn't been able to see it when I crawled around the floor and rummaged through every stack of paperwork and books in the office, so I had thought it was gone for good. But, to make a long story a tiny bit shorter, I quickly read the book before turning it in for a refund of my fine.

I have to say I really like these books. The treatment of wicca, while very much magical in the spells and possessions kind of witchcraft, is still pretty respectful to the religion. The characters are interesting, and nobody's all good or all bad. Garnet, the main character, could easily go wrong, but she feels pretty real to me. She makes mistakes and hooks up with (the wrong) guys too quickly, and she doesn't always get what she wants. I like her. It's chick lit in the best sense of the term. I'm trying to get over that label, and was happy to read this in a Q&A with Jennifer Weiner she posted to her blog today:

The good news is, no matter how the publishers and booksellers label the books, and what the critics say (that’s if they bother to say anything at all), readers know what they’re getting with quote-unquote chick lit. They know they’ll laugh, they know they’ll identify with the heroine and her dilemmas, they know her voice will be familiar and that her story will end well. And if that’s what chick lit is, I don’t think it’s so terrible, or so dangerous.

Right on. I read more so-called chick lit and young adult lit than most other stuff, and that's okay. More "serious" stuff is great, but I don't always feel like it, especially these days when I'm reading about research methods, pedagogy, and library trends and services all day long. Sometimes I just want something fun to curl up with in the evening. The Garnet Lacy books really do the trick.

10. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, by Ally Carter (2007)

I can't remember why I ordered this one from the library--it was probably something I saw at the Hyperion booth. I definitely like teen lit with interesting settings. This one's set in an elite private school for girls (pretty typical) in Washington D.C. (less typical), but the twist is that the school trains teens to be future spies (atypical). The protagonist is Cammie, the headmistress's daughter, who had gotten into some trouble in the first Gallagher Girls book, which took place earlier in the same school year.

I think I'm cursed to grab the second book in every series I encounter. I don't think it really made much difference in this case, because even though Cammie's previous escapades were referenced often, there was enough explanation to fill me in, as is often the case in series like this. The story is pretty simple, actually, but I still enjoyed it. I found the ending of the book kind of unsatisfactory, but I expect this in

9. Bye Bye Love

Bye Bye Love, by Virginia Swift (2005)

This mystery is set in Laramie, where I live, so I was excited to read it. I wasn't familiar with the author or the series before this book, so I didn't really have any expectations. The heroine, "Mustang" Sally Adler is a professor at the University of Wyoming and singer in a local band. She's approached by a musical hero of hers and asked to look after his ex-wife, who lives outside of town. Of course, the ex-wife is murdered, and Sally goes to work to find out who killed her.

I like mysteries because they're entertaining and usually fairly quick, easy reads. I especially like ones set in places I know because it's fun to recognize the landscape of the story. The Laramie in this story didn't really feel like the town I'm still getting to know. I'm thinking that some of the bars and restaurants are renamed versions of real places, but I'm not sure. The mystery was pretty good, though. The victim was involved in an animal rights/environmental group, which was an interesting choice that build in good conflict with the hunting culture. Even though the local flavor wasn't quite what I was looking for, I'll probably check out more from this author.

8. Dead Dry

Dead Dry, by Sarah Andrews (2005)

My friend Mary Ann lent me a couple of mysteries set in the Mountain West. I've been meaning to start reading more stuff set here, so this was a good start. The protagonist of the Em Hansen series was born in Wyoming, educated as a geologist in Colorado, and works as a forensic geologist in Salt Lake City. So, we've got the MW pretty well covered.

I generally don't have a lot to say about mysteries, but I enjoyed this one. There was a lot of discussion of the unique land formations in this area, which was cool. The discussion of the impending drought really freaks me out, though, because it's so real. Before moving here, I never considered that people would actually live on land on which they couldn't drill a well. I know a few people who haul their own water, which seems insane to me. Then again, I now live on an unpaved road and I never thought that would happen, either.

The Em character is appealing, and so were her friends and colleagues. I'll probably try to read more from this series, especially if any of the books spend time in Wyoming.

7. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, by Peter Cameron (2007)

My friend SJ recommended this and I ordered it from the library immediately. I suggest you do the same.

The narrator, James, is an eighteen-year-old alienated misfit from a wealthy family in New York. Don't let that description turn you off. I really liked this kid and his descriptions of the people around him. There are lots of novels about angsty teen outsiders, but this one didn't come off as pretentious or derivative.

James can't really relate to most people, but he isn't cruel or weird. He's just uncomfortable and disinterested. I can't really explain what I liked about this, but I read it in a two-hour binge when I was tired and it was well-past bedtime (check the timestamp on this post). I just couldn't stop reading it. I especially liked the semantic arguments James has with other people, most notably his therapist. It made sense for this character to really care about using the right words. I also liked all the art references in the book. James' mother owns a gallery, and three pivotal scenes take place in museums. It works.

6. Notorious

Notorious, by Michele Martinez (March 2008)

This book wins the prize for creepiest cover I've run across in a while. Seriously, look at the obscenely long toenails on the woman pictured. The trend of showing just a woman's feet or legs on a book cover is getting kind of old in general, but they could have at least given this model a pedicure before taking the picture.

Anyway, there's nothing remarkable about Notorious, really. It's well-written and the story was interesting enough to make me finish it, though it did take me almost a week to get through it. I generally read books in one or two sittings, but the last two haven't grabbed me enough to sit still. This one's the fourth in a series, which I didn't realize when I picked it up. I'd never heard of the author, but then, I don't really follow the genre.

The protagonist, Melanie Vargas, is an Assistant U.S. Attorney on a big murder case against a ganster-turned-rapper named Atari Briggs. Her opposing counsel is blown to bits in front of her, right after approaching her with an offer of cooperation. The story follows the case as Melanie and the feds unravel the story of who killed Lester Poe and why, at the same time they continue their investigation and case against Briggs. The problem I had was that there's really no mystery. We know from the beginning who's good and who's bad and the conspiracy is pretty easy to figure out. The characters rang true, and that's probably why I kept reading, but I think the story suffered because we knew too much about too many of them. Maybe I harp on this too much, but it's not fun to know more than the hero of the story. I wanted to figure out the case right alongside Melanie, but I was always two steps ahead of her because Martinez let us inside the heads of the other characters. It was disappointing.

5. Night Road

Night Road (A.M. Jenkins, 2008)

Vampire novels are fun, and I enjoy seeing the different mythologies authors come up with. This story is the first that makes being a vampire seem completely unglamorous. Jenkins' vampires don't even like to be called vampires--they're hemivores and regular humans are omnivores, or "omnis."
The story is about Cole, who's part of a hemi collective in New York City, but spends most of his time traveling alone on the road. Johnny, the leader of the group, calls Cole back to the Building and charges him with the task of mentoring a new and problematic young hemi.

Night Road is very well written and I was interested in the characters, but the story is pretty flat. Not much actually happens. This is pretty effective, because it reinforced how dreary and repetitive the lives of the hemis really are. I liked the novel, but I wasn't completely captivated by it. It has potential as the start of a series, but I don't know for sure that's what's going to happen. The pots would have to get more interesting, but the characters are interesting enough that some excitement would keep my interest. So, I have mixed feelings about this one.

4. The Loser's Guide to Love and Life

The Loser's Guide to Love and Life (A.E. Cannon, June 2008)

Teen lit is so easy to read between journal articles, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get into adult lit for a while. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I'm not familiar with the author's other work, but she's won some impressive YA awards. The book is pretty entertaining. It focuses on four teens, but I'd say that Ed is the main character. He works at a video store and doesn't have his own name tag yet, so he wears one left behind by a former employee named Sergio. You see where this is going, right? So a cute girl comes into the store and thinks his name is Sergio. Ed takes the opportunity to create a suave alter ego and doesn't correct her. It kinds of reminds me of John/Giovanni in Hard Love, not that the situations or stories are the same.

The novel is made up of alternating chapters from the four characters' persepectives. Ed and Scout, his best female friend, get first person narratives. Quark, Ed's next-door neighbor and other best friend writes in his lab manual, and Ellie, Ed's love interest, writes letters to her family and mentally composes unsent emails to her ex-boyfriend. I'm all about the epistolary device, but in this case, Quark and Ellie are less developed characters because of it. I'm also not a huge fan of shifting first-person narratives. It seems cheap and easy, instead of letting the reader see the characters through the eyes of the narrator, whether omniscient or a protagonist.

So, this one was okay, and a decent way to spend a couple of hours on a lazy Sunday, but it probably won't stick with me like some of the better YA fiction I've found.

3. Girl v. Boy

Girl v. Boy (Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout, July 2008)

I picked up the authors' last book, The Black Sheep, last year at Midwinter and enjoyed it. So when I swung by the Hyperion booth and saw they had a new one out this year, I grabbed a copy.

This one's another story about an outsider. Luisa has two best friends, but she doesn't mix with other kids at school or participate in any activities. That changes when she starts writing an anonymous column for the school paper. Hijinx ensue, natuarally.

I liked that the book was about a bunch of mostly Hispanic teens in Chicago. And none of them are wealthy or fabulously gorgeous, except the stock evil, queen-bee bully, Mariah. That's pretty rare, in my experience. The kids were likeable and pretty realistic, although it did require a healthy suspension of disbelief that Luisa would all of a sudden attract not one, not two, but four cute boys at the same time.

It's a good read and recommended, though the ending was a bit too tidy for my taste and the big plot reveal was foreshadowed a little too much.

2. The Break-up Diet

The Break-up Diet, by Annette Fix (August, 2008)

I finally got my first Early Reviewers book a few days ago, and decided to read a few chapters last night. Well, just over two hours passed by and I was finished with the whole thing.

I don't really think of my posts here as reviews, but that's what I signed up to do on LibraryThing. My reviews are pretty brief, but probably a little more meaty than the two sentences you often get from Publisher's Weekly.

This memoir reads like chick lit, the good kind. I kept forgetting it wasn't a novel as I read it. Every "character" feels real and Annette's voice is really authentic. It's a quick read and fun, even when working through some really tough, emotional stuff. It's not the kind of thing I usually read, but enjoyed it. If you like Jennifer Weiner's work (and I definitely do), you'll probably like this.

1. Ghostgirl

Ghostgirl, Tonya Hurley (2008)

I picked this up at Midwinter at the YALSA booth. My friend Jenine, a teen librarian, handed it to me and said it was or was probably going to be a quick pick title. It was loud in there and I might be misremembering what I misheard. I totally can't resist free advance copies of teen lit, so I was happy to have it.

The book is about an unhappily unpopular girl named Charlotte Usher, who starts the new school year with a plan to become more popular and get the attention of Damien, the boy she adores. Of course, shenanigans ensue, and Charlotte chokes to death on a gummy bear right after managing to get partnered with Damien in physics class. The story follows Charlotte as she tries to adjust to her new afterlife in Dead Ed, the school for dead teenagers. At the same time, Charlotte isn't ready to move on from Damien and we get to see how she plots to get close to him.

It's really cute with all the allusions to literature and music, usually with a gothic flavor. Each chapter begins with a quote from somebody like Emily Dickinson, Martin L. Gore, or The Cure. It's clever without being obnoxious. When this comes out in August, I recommend checking it out. There's a website (and a MySpace, of course) for the book, too.