17. Good Girls

This book is about a "good" girl who does something "bad." Audrey has never done anything wrong, she gets good grades, her parents trust her, etc. And then a picture is taken of her at a party in a compromising position with a boy. And that picture causes her a ton of trouble, as one would expect. Everything resolves itself, culminating in an annoyingly happy and perfect ending.


I liked the book because it was a quick read. Audrey's group of friends was likable; they had very authentic voices and were described so perfectly that I could imagine the group sitting at a lunch table. However, the syntax of the book was very simple; just, easy writing. This normally wouldn't phase me, but I think it created a problem in this book. It felt like the writing was aimed at a younger group than the subject matter. And to me, that just felt weird. I liked the use of flashback. I think Ruby worked it into the 


While I didn't immensely enjoy this book, I didn't hate it either. I don't think I'd read it again and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, especially with all the other amazing YA books out there.


Visit Laura Ruby's website *** Buy this book on Amazon

16. The Book Thief

So I just finished reading Mark Zusak's The Book Thief. And omg. It was so good. I absolutely loved it. Zusak has an amazing way with words. I do love a book with quotable passages and this book abounded in them. There are also lots of bits where the narrator takes a step back to directly address the reader. I love that.


I absolutely give it a 5/5.

Visit Mark Zusak's website ***** Buy this book on Amazon

15. Scrambled Eggs at Midnight

My love for this book cannot be put into words. Suffice it to say that these two authors write perfectly together and that this book is about the mixture of Jesus fat camp and a Renaissance Faire. Also lots of quotable quotes. Loved it.

14. Foreign Exposure: The Social Climber Abroad

As with the first book in this series, I felt that I was a bit older than the target audience. I enjoyed this one quite a bit more, though. Perhaps it was the setting of first Berlin and then London. I do love London. Like the first book, this one definitely took advantage of its European location. I also loved the descriptions of Mimi's job at a gossip newspaper.

13. Wintergirls

A masterpiece by Laurie Halse Anderson. I lovelovelove Speak and I found Wintergirls to be similar to it. They both featured female narrators who were suffering. Both narrators had trouble with what they were going through. In Wintergirls, I particularly liked Lia's voice. She lied to both herself and the reader and the lies were clearly visible by the thoughts she had that were crossed out. I liked the ending - hopeful, uplifting, but not exceedingly happy.

12. Mockingjay

The third book in The Hunger Games series. I finished it with a sense of love for the characters that I haven't felt since Harry Potter. I liked that it wasn't a perfect ending. I liked that the epilogue didn't tie up all the strings with a nice little they-lived-happily-ever-after bow.

11. Catching Fire

The second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I liked the first one more than the second, but this one was still very good all around.