New Year's Eve

Well, looks like I'm done. I know I would have been able to pass 100 if I hadn't started college. But I did, so I wasn't. Anyway, I've started a new blog. So, if you enjoyed this blog, or even if you didn't, go follow it. :)

-Bre

www.readingsforarainyday.blogspot.com

Book 92 - The Future of Us

My 92nd book was The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. This was one of the most interesting concepts I've ever seen for a book. Emma (whose perspective is written by Mackler) is a teenager living in 1996. Her father, as a present to make up for his guilt for living her, sends her a new computer. Her best friend Josh (written by Asher) lives next door. He gives her 100 free hours on the internet that he got in the mail. While on the internet, they discover a webpage called Facebook. They soon find out this website tells them exactly what will happen in the future. As they find out about their futures, Josh is ecstatic. He marries the most popular girl in school and looks happy. Emma, however, has a cheating husband and no kids. She decides to take this into her own hands, but she soon finds out that even the littlest change in the present can drastically affect the future. As Emma desperately tries to change her fate, Josh desperately tries to keep it the same. Because he's happy in the future. Or is he? While this was a good book, it was a let down from Asher's previous book, Thirteen Reasons Why, which is probably my favorite book of all time. (Of course, just about any book would be a let down from that book, which everyone, but especially high school kids, should read.)
Grade: A
SC: 5
V: 2
C: 3

Book 91 - Saving Zoe

My 91st book was Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel. Now, as I know there are only 5 days left in the year, I know I'm not going to make it to 100 books. I'm just trying to get as close as I can. This book is about Echo, who, instead of struggling with the problems of her freshman year of high school, is struggling with the lingering memory of her dead sister. Everyone loved Zoe. She was beautiful, mysterious, and cool, everything that Echo isn't. Ever since her murder, everyone stares at Echo, wondering why she is so different from her sister. Just when she thinks things can't get any worse, her sister's ex-boyfriend, Marc, shows up with Zoe's diary, claiming that Echo didn't really know her sister at all. At first she laughs it off, sure that he doesn't know what he's talking about and that her sister would never hide something from her. When she starts reading the diary, she realizes that Zoe lived in a world that Echo didn't even know about. And, as she makes her way through the diary, she wonders what other secrets the book holds. Overall, good, short read.
Grade: B+
SC: 7
V: 5
C: 6

Book 90 - Waiting for You

My 90th book was Waiting for You by Susanne Colasanti. Marisa is starting her sophomore year and she is ready for a fresh start and, most importantly, a boyfriend. Not just any boyfriend but the hottest guy in school, Derek. When he asks her out, she thinks it's too good to be true. Marisa thinks her long wait for happiness is finally over. But several bumps in the road—including her parents’ unexpected separation, a fight with her best friend, and a shocking disappointment in her relationship with Derek—test Marisa’s ability to maintain her new positive outlook. Only the anonymous DJ, whose underground podcasts have the school riveted, seems to understand what Marisa is going through. But she has no idea who he is—or does she? I loved the first book I read of hers, Take Me There, but in my opinion, this one surpassed it.
Grade: A+
SC: 5
V: 2
C: 4

Book 89 - The Body Finder

My 89th book was The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting. This book was a little creepier than the books I normally read. Every once and a while, I'll read a scary one and this was definitely one of them. This book is about Violet who, ever since she was little, could sense the bodies of dead things around her, and the predator that killed them. Anytime one is near, she gets a sense, such as a specific taste, smell, or sound. Each body is different. The strongest scents she gets are from human beings. When she was eight, she found the body of a little girl and ever since then, she has been protected by her parents, her aunt and uncle (the police chief), and her best friend, Jay (who Violet definitely wants to be more than friends with). While she is working out her newfound feelings for Jay, a serial killer is on the prowl. While water skiing in the lake, Violet (and Jay, as her passenger) accidentally stumble onto the first of this killer's victims. As subsequent bodies start showing up, Violet must figure out not only how to find this killer but how to stop him. Because, after a terrifying moment in the woods, it becomes clear that the killer intends for Violet to be his next victim. Will Violet and Jay be able to stop him? Or will the killer catch her before she can catch him?
Grade: A
SC: 5
V: 8
C: 3

Book 88 - The Boyfriend List

Book number 88 was The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart. This book is about Ruby Oliver, who has just been dumped by her boyfriend. Not only that, Ruby's boyfriend of six months, Jackson, has dumped her in favor of her best friend, Kim. Ruby's resulting panic attacks land her in the office of a shrink, Dr. Z. Part of her therapy involves writing a complete list of the boys with whom she's ever had a crush, kiss, relationship or "little any-kind-of-anything." As readers learn about each entry on the boyfriend list (including lots of authentic-sounding dialogue and asides, which appear in the book as footnotes to the list), they hear the Jackson drama and every painful, truthful detail about the clique land mines Ruby must maneuver when it comes to her former friends, to whom she's now a "leper."

Book 87 - Girl at Sea

My eighty-seventh book was Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson. I read some of her other books (13 Little Blue Envelopes, The Last Little Blue Envelope, and Suite Scarlett) and I've loved all of them. This one was also pretty good. Clio plans on spending the summer in a quiet little art store, working with gorgeous fellow employee and potential future boyfriend Ollie. When her mother gets a grant for a new project, she's obviously happy for her. But when she finds out the job is in Kansas and she's not exactly invited, she suspects that something even worse is coming. And it does. Her mother informs her that she has to spend the summer in Italy. For most people, this would be a summer to dream about. For Clio, however, this summer also involves her crazy father. After she arrives, she meets her father's new girlfriend, Julia, her daughter, Elsa, her father's friend, Martin, and Julia's research assistant, Aiden. Clio soon realizes that they're not just going for a cruise. They're searching for something. And this something is a major secret. So secret they won't even tell her what it is. While Clio tries to figure out what they're hiding, she also has to figure out what to do about her dad, Aiden, her dad's new girlfriend, and how to get back home to Ollie before it's too late.
Grade: B+
SC = 3
V = 5
C = 2

Book 86 - Take Me There

My 86th book was Take Me There by Susane Colasanti. I've heard that her books are a lot like Sarah Dessen's and everyone knows how much I love those books. This book is about Rhiannon and her two best friends, Nicole and James. Through the book's two parts, the point of view switches from one to the other. The story starts with Rhiannon, who's boyfriend Steve has just dumped her, giving the much used excuse "it's not you, it's me...I just think we're in different places". Yeah...right. As she tries to get him back, she begins to realize that maybe it was her after all...maybe it's the fact that she's not the school's hot-yet-extremely-byotchy girl Gloria. Nicole sees what Steve has done to Rhiannon. She also sees what she did to her boyfriend, Danny, when she broke up with him. Even though it's clear that he still loves her, and that she still loves him, she can't get back together with him, for reasons she doesn't even know. After James' girlfriend Jessica dumps him because of Rhiannon, why most of his other girls dump him, he begins to wonder if there really is something between them. Although he has (deep down) always felt that way about her, he wonders if there is anyway she could feel the same way as him. Especially with the dirtbag Steve always hanging around. But what's a guy to do? As James and Danny help each other with their respective girl problems, Rhiannon and Nicole just try to live through the week without suffering too much of Gloria's wrath. As the school dance approaches, the guys try to work up their nerve to put their plan in action. But can Nicole get over her past before Danny gives up on her? And can Rhiannon finally see that there is something between her and James? Or will she never see the light?
Grade: A++
SC: 6
V: 3
C: 5