Thought

So here's the thing. I think I suck at book clubs.

'Cause I either don't get around to reading the book everyone's reading, or I'm not in the mood for the book, or I've already read the book, or whatever. But I love books, and I really love you guys, so here's what my book club participation is gonna consist of:

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!

Feel free to join me in this endeavor, or comment if you've read one of these books. You are also free to ignore all of these recommendations. I'm also on goodreads, and you're welcome to check out more book reviews there. Also, when it's my turn to pick a book, I'll let you guys just decide from among these posts.

So, here are a few recommendations I have from the last few months. (I was about to recommend Anna Karenina, but I'm only a third of the way through and that seems like breaking the rules. It's HECKA good though.) These are all YA reads.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown
This book is told from the point of view of a girl whose boyfriend opened fire on their high school, using a list they created together of people they hated to target victims, before turning the gun on himself. She never had any intention of harm, but she now finds herself in the difficult position of being both a victim and an accomplice.

Purity by Jackson Pearce
I worried that this was going to be one of those cheesy "Christian questioning her desires for chastity" books, but it totally wasn't. Through a series of circumstances, 16-year-old Shelby decides to try to lose her virginity in the next 5 weeks before the "Princess Ball," where she's supposed to make a vow of chastity. She feels restricted by the idea, so she figures that if she has sex BEFORE the ball, she won't have any purity to pledge and the vow is void. But things are more complicated than she thought, and she has a series of misadventures, including buying condoms from a pharmacist who looks like her grandfather and trying to seduce a guy who looks like Jesus. A beautiful coming of age story about identity, love, selflessness, and what it truly means to keep a promise.

Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell
I was so enchanted by this book that I immediately ordered it on Amazon after reading the library's copy.  I almost always judge books by their covers, and this one lived up to its fantastic cover design. I love this book so much I'm going to buy it. A great story about letting go and living in the moment, told by a narrator I recognized as, well, a lot of myself. The author herself has lived a life of travel and adventure, and reports that at least half of the things that happen to Vassar in the book happened to her at one point or another (including being held hostage in the jungle of Laos). The truth is always stranger than fiction, they say, but this fiction is delightful enough for me.

Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green
If you can find this book on tape (or cd...or...mp3 file--man I gotta get with the times), LISTEN to it. The actor who reads it is phenomenal. John Green is a master, and all of his books are wonderful. In this one, the themes of identity and truth and fear are true to life and confusing and beautiful. **NOTE: Homosexuality is a major theme in this book, and while none of it is explicit, it IS talked about. There's also a lot of language in this book. If you're uncomfortable with either of those things, you may want to skip it.**

Happy reading!