Book Recs
A couple of days ago, a commenter asked for book recs, seeing as how I didn't post my "just read" list for June. It was a mighty long list comprised mostly of adult romance titles and advanced copies of YA books that I picked up at BEA. Rather than post the whole list, I thought I'd just give you guys the highlights. Justine Larbalestier's LIAR is an awesome and mind-warping thriller, told from the point of view of a self-professed liar. It's creepy and thought-provoking and a page turner in the extreme- one of the most unique books I've read in a long time, and one that I am DYING to talk about with other people. I've already pimped BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, which is an awesomely complex Southern gothic paranormal love story that lives up to each and every one of those adjectives. Also in the "books that aren't out yet but you should read when they are" category is FIRE by Kristin Cashore, which is sort of a prequel to GRACELING, but primarily stands on its own, with a unique fantasy mythology, a layered plot, and a romance I found super compelling.

While reading ARCs from BEA, I also discovered Shannon Hale's books, as I'd received an ARC of FOREST BORN. I read it without having read any of the previous Books of Bayern and the went back and read the others, and Forest Born is still my favorite. The connection between the main character and her powers was seamlessly written and incredibly compelling- totally worth checking out, even if you're not familiar with the rest of the series.

So there you go- book recs. Except that I'm an evil person, because I'm fairly certain that I've just recommended four books that haven't been released yet, so to make up for it, I have two more that you CAN go out and read today, if you so choose.

THE YEAR MY SISTER GOT LUCKY by Aimee Friedman is a contemporary story about two ballet-dancing sisters who move from NYC to a small town and have to adjust, and it's pretty much pitch perfect. I'd recommend reading it back to back with PEACE, LOVE, AND BABY DUCKS by Lauren Myracle, for a sisters-pa-looza of awesome sibling relationships and coming of age goodness.

And finally, I'm going to rec (again) MY SOUL TO TAKE by Rachel Vincent, which is a YA urban fantasy about a teenage banshee- it's got a fabulous (and very rare) mix of real world teen stuff and the supernatural, and having gotten a sneak peak at the sequel, I can tell you that the world only gets better the more time you spend in it. The bad news is, it's not out yet. The good news, however, is that you can read the prequel for free online! 87 pages of Kaylee! Trauma! Supernatural creepiness! Check it out here: http://rachelvincent.com/mysoultolose.pdf