Summer Reading

 Yes, I know the summer has already started for most everyone. I also know that most people could care less about reading during their summer break. But sometimes it gets so hot out that you have to stay in or the rain keeps you from laying going out. Also books are great to read by the pool, in the pool, or at the beach whatever you prefer. I'm putting a few books on here that I haven't read. So if you have the time please read some reviews on them to see if you would like to read them or not.  I know I'm kinda late on this, but I really hope you enjoy the books I've picked and if you have any you'd like to recommend please do so.

This book is a great summer read. Not just because it's about summer, but because it's about friendship. Four girls finding themselves in a pair of pants that keeps them connected over miles and oceans, through love, and heartache. This is also a series of books. There are five total books. The paperback book and Nook book are both $9.99.


Overview:

Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn't look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they're great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they're fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins. 

 

 

 I've already done a review on this series, but they are so good. This also has a summer theme to it. She's going to a summer camp for "troubled" teens. Where supernatural creatures aren't just myth. I can't say enough good things about these books. There are five books in this series also. The paperback is $9.99 and the Nook book is $2.99.

 

 

 Overview:

 

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren't just "troubled." Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie's never felt normal, but surely she doesn't belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn't complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek's a half-fae who's determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin' hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn't be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

I'm a huge fan of Sarah Dessen. I've read almost everyone of her books. They all seem to revolve around a young women dealing with pain in their life. Whether it be a death or a bad home life. The endings aren't picture perfect but they show how their struggles are overcome. Everyone of her books are good and this is just one of a few that are about summer. I picked this one because it was the first of her books that I read. The paperback and Nook book are both $9.99.

Overview:

Macy's summer stretches before her, carefully planned and outlined. She will spend her days sitting at the library information desk. She will spend her evenings studying for the SATs. Spare time will be used to help her obsessive mother prepare for the big opening of the townhouse section of her luxury development.

But Macy's plans don't anticipate a surprising and chaotic job with Wish Catering, a motley crew of new friends, or . . . Wes. Tattooed, artistic, anything-but-expected Wes. He doesn't fit Macy's life at all so why does she feel so comfortable with him? So . . . happy? What is it about him that makes her let down her guard and finally talk about how much she misses her father, who died before her eyes the year before?

 I haven't read this book, but I've heard very good things about it. Plus I'm always up for something suspenseful. This thriller promises to be good till the end. I'm definitely going to pick this up sometimes. The hardcover is $14.04 and the Nook book  $12.99.

Overview: 

 On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
   As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

 I know that everyone's probably seen the Da Vinci Code, but that is not the first book in the series about Professor Langdon. I can't get enough of these books. I love history (even though I couldn't memorize dates to save my life in school) and the mystery surrounding so much of it. These books have you reading at a break neck pace. Wondering what's around every corner. I've read all of his books about Professor Langdon except for the newest one The Inferno. I have yet to read his other novels, but I know I will in time. The paperback and Nook book are $9.99.

Overview: 

 An ancient secret brotherhood.

A devastating new weapon of destruction.

An unthinkable target.

When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.

Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

 There is something about reading a book where someone learns they have some unusual new power. You can just imagine that happening to you. Unfortunately we don't live in books (although I'm not beyond trying to lol.). Clary has just found this specific thing out. These books are wonderful. There's no wonder they're making a movie out of them. The movie comes out August 23rd for anyone wondering. There are going to be six books in this series. The last book comes out May 6, 2014. The paperback is $10.00 and the Nook book is $9.00.

Overview:

  

 When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

 I haven't read this book, but if any of us of seen Aladdin as children we should know a little about them (or none at all I just wanted to mention Aladdin). These are a retelling by Hanan Al-Shaykh. She has gathered nineteen of the tales and retold them in English. Who doesn't want to read about genies. The paperback is $17.00 and the Nook Book is $12.99.

Overview:

Gathered and passed down over the centuries from India, Persia, and across the Arab world, the mesmerizing stories of One Thousand and One Nights tell of the real and the supernatural, love and marriage, power and punishment, wealth and poverty, and the endless trials and uncertainties of fate. They are related by the beautiful, wise, young Shahrazad, who gives herself up to murderous King Shahrayar. The king has vowed to deflower and then kill a virgin every night—but Shahrazad will not be defeated by the king’s appetites. To save herself, she cunningly spins a web of tales, leaving the king in suspense each morning, and thus prolonging her life for another day. 

 So I've only just started reading this book, but so far its amazing. I knew this series was going to be amazing after I read a free excerpt on my Nook. This series has three books in it. It's also going to be a movie! It's coming out next year. The paperback is $9.99 and the Nook book is $5.00.

Overview:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I've never read this book and what I've read about it says it's geared towards kids ages 10 to 14. The thing is I've never cared if a book is for a toddler or a person my age. If it looks good then I'm probably going to read. And this books looks really good. The Hardcover is $13.26 and the Nook book is $9.99.

Overview: 

Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been friends forever. And for almost as long, they’ve been playing one continuous, ever-changing game of pirates and thieves, mermaids and warriors. Ruling over all is the Great Queen, a bone-china doll cursing those who displease her.

But they are in middle school now. Zach’s father pushes him to give up make-believe, and Zach quits the game. Their friendship might be over, until Poppy declares she’s been having dreams about the Queen—and the ghost of a girl who will not rest until the bone-china doll is buried in her empty grave.

Zach and Alice and Poppy set off on one last adventure to lay the Queen’s ghost to rest. But nothing goes according to plan, and as their adventure turns into an epic journey, creepy things begin to happen. Is the doll just a doll or something more sinister? And if there really is a ghost, will it let them go now that it has them in its clutches?

 This is another book I haven't read. It sounds like a really good book though. You'll have to read the overview for more because I'm not really sure what to say about it. The Hardcover is $15.00. 

Overview:

 Everyone in the broken-down town of Chelsea, Massachussetts, has a story too worn to repeat—from the girls who play the pass-out game just to feel like they're somewhere else, to the packs of aimless teenage boys, to the old women from far away who left everything behind. But there’s one story they all still tell: the oldest and saddest but most hopeful story, the one about the girl who will be able to take their twisted world and straighten it out. The girl who will bring the magic.

Could Sophie Swankowski be that girl? With her tangled hair and grubby clothes, her weird habits and her visions of a filthy, swearing mermaid who comes to her when she’s unconscious, Sophie could be the one to uncover the power flowing beneath Chelsea’s potholed streets and sludge-filled rivers, and the one to fight the evil that flows there, too. Sophie might discover her destiny, and maybe even in time to save them all.

 I read this book when I was in High School and even then I was captivated by how beautiful it is. I haven't read it since then but I may read it again very soon (if I can get my hands on another copy). If I remember correctly there is one erotic scene in this book. There's no sex of any kind in the part, and I'm not going to ruin it by telling you what it is, but just be forewarned of that. If your 18 or under that is. The paperback is $7.99.

Overview:

They took her clothes and sneakers. They dressed her in a long red gown. And they shackled her to the wall of an abandoned mansion-within easy reach of a figure stirring in the moonlight.

She knows that it is a vampire.

She knows that she's to be his dinner, and that when he is finished with her, she will be dead. Yet, when light breaks, she finds that he has not attempted to harm her. And now it is he who needs her to help him survive the day... 

I only started reading this series because I won an advance copy of this book. I fell in love with after the first few paragraphs. Anything with demons crawling the earth and people having to trap them sounds pretty awesome to me. Plus Riley Blackthorne is a badass! Even if she doesn't know it. There are four books in this series so far. I'm not entirely sure how many more there will be. The paperback is $9.99 and the Nook book is $7.00.

Overview:

Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself—and that's exactly what the demons are counting on… Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps. The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta's local Trappers' Guild needs all the help they can get—even from a girl. When she's not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley's out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils—Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life's about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen. But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley's routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood.  And, as if that wasn't bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers' Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart—and her life? 

 I know, I know. I put this book in almost everything. I really can't help it. They are so amazing it's hard not to want everyone to read them. The world Tolkien came up with is so deep and rich with its own mythology that you can almost imagine it being apart of our own history. There are three parts to this book. Not three books as some like to think. There is a prequel to these books called The Hobbit. You don't have to read it to understand these books, but its just as good as these are. The paperback is $11.00 and the Nook book is $8.00. 

Overview: 

 One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

I'm going to start this off with a warning this book has a very descriptive scene of rape in it. If that's something that is going to make you upset (which it made me upset too) then you might want to use caution when reading this. Other than that this book had me hanging off the edge of my chair as I read it. The first part of it is a little slow but after you get past that it becomes one of the most thrilling books you'll ever read. There are three books to this series. The paperback is $13.00 and the Nook book is $9.99. 

 Overview:

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption. 

I had no idea when I picked this book up that I would be in for an emotional roller coaster.  This book spoke to me in a way that not many do. It taught me at 22 that you deserve much more than you think you do, and to never stay with someone just because you think that's all you deserve. There is talk of homosexuality in this book. So if that is something you don't want to read about then do not pick up this book. This is a book I feel everyone should read. The paperback is $12.00 and the Nook book is $10.00.

Overview: 

 Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective…but there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

 The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends. Of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

 I have not read this yet either, but I was very intrigued when I saw it. This is a graphic memoir. Meaning its a comic. Which is probably the coolest thing about this book (not to say that the rest of the book isn't equally as cool). Well that's what caught my attention when I saw it. I really want to buy this and read it. The paperback is $25.00. 

Overview:

Back in 1984, a rebellious,17-year-old, punked-out Ulli Lust set out for a wild hitchhiking trip across Italy, from Naples through Verona and Rome and ending up in Sicily. Twenty-five years later, this talented Austrian cartoonist has looked back at that tumultuous summer and delivered a long, dense, sensitive,and minutely observed autobiographical masterpiece.

Miraculously combining a perfect memory for both emotional and physical detail with the sometimes painful lucidity two and half decades’ distance have brought to her understanding of the events, Lust meticulously shows the who, where, when, and how (specifically, how an often penniless young girl can survive for months on the road) of a sometimes dangerous and sometimes exhilarating journey. Particularly haunting is her portrait of her fellow traveler, the gangly, promiscuous devil-may-care Edi who veers from being her spunky, funny best friend in the world to an out-of-control lunatic with no consideration for anything but her own whims and desires.

I keep seeing this book everywhere. I have yet to read it, but I know I will eventually. I know as soon as you read the first sentence of the overview your going to be like "I don't want to read about school while I'm on summer vacation!". Just read the rest of it. It sounds really good. The hardback copy is $13.00 and the Nook book is $9.99.

Overview:

A teen at boarding school grapples with life, love, and rugby in a heartbreakingly funny novel.

Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.