Monday, July 25, 2011

From My Bookshelf



Most recent YA Novels I've read and RECOMMEND:








HOURGLASS




For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there; swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.
So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.




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POSSESSION




Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.




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LIKE MANDARIN

It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin.




When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.




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A SCARY SCENE IN A SCARY MOVIE




Rene, an obsessive-compulsive fourteen year old, smells his hands and wears a Batman cape when he’s nervous. If he picks up a face-down coin, moves a muscle when the time adds up to thirteen (7:42 is bad luck because 7 + 4 + 2 = 13), or washes his body parts in the wrong order, Rene or someone close to him will break a bone, contract a deadly virus, and/or die a slow and painful death like someone in a scary scene in scary movie.




Rene’s new and only friend tutors him in the art of playing it cool, but that’s not as easy as Gio makes it sound.




****




A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL




We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be forgotten.

Charlotte's best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she's cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what's really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become—her mark on this earth, her very existence—is in jeopardy of disappearing completely.




****

(sources: Goodreads and Amazon)


WHAT ARE YOU READING?

13 comments:

Unknown said...

This is too funny but I just finished reading these!! Well, minus the scary title you listed.

I'm onto...

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jennifer Violi

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Christine Danek said...

Oh I will have to check these out. I read Elana Johnson's and it was very good.
I'm reading The Radleys by Matt Haig. Not a YA, but really awesome.

Amparo Ortiz said...

I've only read Possession and it is made of WIN. Really, really want to get my hands on the other books!

Right now, I'm glued to Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer. #werewolvesFTW

Stina said...

I LOVED A Need So Beautiful, and I'm almost finished reading Possession. I still have to read Like Mandarin. It's sitting patiently on my bookshelf. Fortunately my kids have decided I can't buy anymore books until I finish what I have, so it will be read soon.

Liz Mays said...

The 2nd and 3rd ones really popped out at me. Thanks for the recommendations!

Maddy said...

I know I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I couldn't help it! The covers on #1 and #2 are so intriguing! And the synopsis makes it all the more appealing!

Sarah said...

Great recommendations. I've heard of each of these but haven't yet read them!

K. M. Walton said...

Just read BAD TASTE IN BOYS and MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN - and I loved, loved, loved both of them.

I definitely want to read HOURGLASS : )

Emy Shin said...

I haven't read any of these, but they're definitely on my to-read list.

Janet Johnson said...

I just finished Possession, and am now onto "Vespers Rising" . . . book 11 of the 39 clues series. Very fun read!

Samantha VĂ©rant said...

Hourglass is on my list. Right now I still have to finish The Help. Then, I want to read Lunch in Paris, which I've read the first chapters of. And, of course, I'd like to read a Need So Beautiful!

Caryn Caldwell said...

These sound FANTASTIC! I'd heard of the first few, but not the rest of them. Now I'm off to check them all out on Amazon. Because, of course, my Kindle needs even MORE unread books on it. :-)

LisaDay said...

The last Robert B. Parker book my fav author wrote before he died. Sixkill I think it's called. However, some of these sound like a trip to the library is in order.

LisaDay