This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

This Is What Happy Looks Like

by Jennifer E. Smith

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O’Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie’s Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media’s spotlight at all costs?

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “What a cute book! It reminded me a bit of some of Sarah Dessen’s works. These are real kids with some typical problems, and some not-so-typical problems. I loved the romance, and the way it developed. I think the characters were quite well done, and the writing is very enjoyable. This is a great, lighter read for those who enjoy sweet romances with a little fairy tale thrown in.”

Miranda rated it ★★★★ and said, “3.5 stars. Not super original, but a cute story. I will be looking for her other titles. A great read-a-like for Janette Rallison and Lindsey Leavitt.”

Lorna rated it ★★★ and said, “It was an O.K. story for a light summer romance.”

Betsy rated it ★★★★★.

Emma rated it ★★★★.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

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Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

by Morgan Matson

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Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it’s Amy’s responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn’t ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip—and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar—especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory—but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

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Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Before I Fall

by Lauren Oliver

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With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today’s foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman’s If I Stay, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person’s life can affect so many others.

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—”Cupid Day”—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

Named to numerous state reading lists, this novel was also recognized as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, The Daily Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly. It has been optioned for film by Fox 2000 Pictures.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “Excellent book! The characters stay with you a long time after the book is finished.”

Miranda rated it ★★★★★ and said, “Edgy and real. A great book to be on the [Teens’ Top Ten] nominee list.”

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

romancefantasyYAfiction

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

by Jennifer E. Smith

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Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Imagine if she hadn’t forgotten the book. Or if there hadn’t been traffic on the expressway. Or if she hadn’t fumbled the coins for the toll. What if she’d run just that little bit faster and caught the flight she was supposed to be on. Would it have been something else – the weather over the Atlantic or a fault with the plane?

Hadley isn’t sure if she believes in destiny or fate but, on what is potentially the worst day of each of their lives, it’s the quirks of timing and chance events that mean Hadley meets Oliver…

Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Betsy rated it ★★★★★.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

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Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

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From the author of the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park.

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “I LOVE Rainbow Rowell! She has such a great ability to create realistic, believable characters and situations. This one isn’t quite as dark as Eleanor & Park, but these characters still face some real challenges. I LOVE the character of Cath! What a great person she is! I think Rowell’s portrayal of the mother was spot-on. Cath’s family dynamics were very real, and, in spite of their various challenges, it was obvious this is a family that really cares for each other. Of course, the best part was the romance. Rowell also has a real talent in depicting young men and their cares. What fantastic boyfriends she creates! While not as powerful as Eleanor & Park, this book is every bit as enjoyable. Highly Recommended!”

Lorna rated it ★★★★.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

romanceYAfiction

Persuasion by Jane Austen

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Persuasion

by Jane Austen

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Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen’s most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne’s family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?

Jane Austen once compared her writing to painting on a little bit of ivory, 2 inches square. Readers of Persuasion will discover that neither her skill for delicate, ironic observations on social custom, love, and marriage nor her ability to apply a sharp focus lens to English manners and morals has deserted her in her final finished work.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★★ and said, “I think this is the best of all her books. More mature, and more depth to the story. Beautiful. Better every time I read it!”

Cathy rated it ★★★★.

Rebekah rated it ★★★★★ and said, “Have you ever found that book that isn’t so much a book as a part of you? This is the book I read when I’m surpassingly sad or when I’m surpassingly happy. Every time I wonder if maybe I just imagined how much I love Persuasion, I reread it, and by the last page, I know again that no other book will ever come close to it in my heart.”

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Me Before You

by Jojo Moyes

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Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “This was a very emotional book! I always like a good cry. I liked this twist on the romance genre, with an unconventional plot. Even with the differences, however, there are a lot of typical elements of a good romance. I very much liked the main character, and thought she was quite well done. I also like the main romance interest, not quite as much as the girl, but he was an interesting change from the typical ‘boyfriend’ character. The plot was well done, if a bit predictable. The only thing I didn’t like were the short chapters told from a completely different character’s point of view—the way they were added to the story threw me out of the flow of the narrative. Other than that, this was an enjoyable read. It’s definitely a Girl Book! I would be interested to hear what readers of more conventional romances think of this one.”

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

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The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 1, 2015 | 0 comments

The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

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Audrey Niffenegger’s dazzling debut is the story of Clare, a beautiful, strong-minded art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: his genetic clock randomly resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous and unpredictable, and lend a spectacular urgency to Clare and Henry’s unconventional love story. That their attempt to live normal lives together is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control makes their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “A nice grown-up book.”

Miranda rated it ★★★★★.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

by Rebekah Layton | Dec 1, 2015 | 0 comments

The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern

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The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices plastered on lampposts and billboards. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

Within these nocturnal black-and-white striped tents awaits an utterly unique, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stare in wonderment as the tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and become deliciously tipsy from the scents of caramel and cinnamon that waft through the air.

Welcome to Le Cirque des Rêves.

Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, a fierce competition is under way–a contest between two young illusionists, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in a “game” to which they have been irrevocably bound by their mercurial masters. Unbeknownst to the players, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.

As the circus travels around the world, the feats of magic gain fantastical new heights with every stop. The game is well under way and the lives of all those involved–the eccentric circus owner, the elusive contortionist, the mystical fortune-teller, and a pair of red-headed twins born backstage among them–are swept up in a wake of spells and charms.

But when Celia discovers that Marco is her adversary, they begin to think of the game not as a competition but as a wonderful collaboration. With no knowledge of how the game must end, they innocently tumble headfirst into love. A deep, passionate, and magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

Their masters still pull the strings, however, and this unforeseen occurrence forces them to intervene with dangerous consequences, leaving the lives of everyone from the performers to the patrons hanging in the balance.

Both playful and seductive, The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern’s spell-casting debut, is a mesmerizing love story for the ages.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★ and said, “I really don’t know how to rate this book! It’s very strange, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. I don’t know if I actually like it or not, thus the 3 stars – right in the middle. It’s definitely interesting, and compelling enough to read through ’til the end. But its not a typical novel. Its fairly well written and the character development is fairly good. Its just a very DIFFERENT book. I will be very interested to see what this author does in the future.”

Lorna rated it ★★★★ and said, “4 1/2 stars…This was a nice change from everything I’ve read lately. It stands apart from other books. The plot is quite intricate and the writing is so elegant. The circus and the characters all spring to life on the written page. The only thing that kept it from 5 stars was that the story seemed too drawn out in many places.”

Miranda rated it ★★★★ and said, “This was very close to getting five stars. I felt a little slighted at the end, but maybe because I just always want more than there is to a story. I really want to have my own Midnight Dinner. It sounds really fun!”

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

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