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Hysteria

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Title: Hysteria by Megan Miranda
Format: Book
Who’s It For? Adults and Young Adults

Mallory remembered that her boyfriend Brian was dead. Yet she didn’t remember that she had stabbed him. The police didn’t charge her with the crime. Brian, from his history, was probably the aggressor. If only she could remember. Meanwhile, Mallory took a sleeping pill at night.

To give her a fresh start, Mallory’s parents sent her to a private prep school: Monroe. At first, she was making friends, including Reid. Reid and Mallory’s fathers attended Monroe years ago. Yet, when her roommate moved out, Mallory figured that word of her past had spread. Mallory frequently heard a loud thumping noise at night. And when she woke, her shoulder was bloody and blistered. Was someone tormenting her? Or was Mallory losing touch with reality? She had to find some answers before it was too late.

If you enjoy a suspenseful tale with flawed characters, I highly recommend this author.  While Hysteria is my favorite Megan Miranda book, I would also suggest The Perfect Stranger and All the Missing Girls.

You can find Hysteria here.

The Shadows Between Us

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The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
Format: Book
Who it’s for:  Young Adults, Adults

Alessandra is the second daughter and must wait until her older sister is engaged before she can attend any royal social gatherings.  While she waits for her turn, she plots.  She wants to marry the Shadow King and then kill him so that she can take over the kingdom.  She plans how she is going to catch the eye of the King – what she will wear and how she will act.  When she does, she soon learns that she is not the only one trying to kill him.  She gets to know him and even begins to like him.  Liking the King was not part of her plan.

Alessandra is not your ordinary noblewoman.  She likes to design her own outfits and she doesn’t follow society’s rules.  She does as she pleases which includes having some relationships before she is married.  She is determined to do her own thing and her goal is to change the way women are made to follow the rules made by men.  And, if someone displeases her, she just might kill them.

Someone on Good Reads described this as a “Slytherin Romance” and I think that is a good description.  You want to hate Alessandra because she is so unapologetically evil, but you like her anyway.  She knows what she wants and she is going to get it!

Find it in the catalog.

The Voting Booth

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The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Teens

It’s Election Day! Marva and Duke, seniors at different high schools, are voting for the first time. Marva has thoroughly researched and planned for this day, just like she does with everything in life. She is ready to vote! Duke registered a couple years ago when he was 16.

It turns out that Duke isn’t registered where he thought, his car breaks down, and Marva shows up to save the day. The two have never met, but Marva believes every vote counts, so she is going to get Duke to his polling place. The story follows the two through this one election day and the craziness that ensues. Everything that can go wrong does, all while they run all over town trying to get Duke’s vote in.

As they spend the day together, they get to each other, and they start to understand themselves and their relationships better. Marva is having a tough time with her boyfriend who she thought was a perfect match for her; and Duke is having a tough time with his parents since his older brother died.

The chapters alternate between Marva and Duke, and the story moves at a surprising pace. I enjoyed the quick wit and momentum of Duke and Marva’s relationship. The author touches on a number of issues relevant to the lives of young people of color, and the impact young people can make by voting and participating in the elections process.

If you can, register to vote, go vote; and then check out The Voting Booth!

Anna Dressed in Blood

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Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Format: Book and Eaudiobook
Who it’s for: Teens

Tis the spooky season, which I believe calls for something about the things that go bump in the night. I found that in Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. It is the first of its ghostly series, and put eloquently: “It’s the old boy-meets-girls story. if the boy is a wry, self-destructive ghost hunter bent on avenging his father and the girl is a homicidal ghost trapped in a house full of everyone she’s ever murdered.” – Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of Red Glove.

It’s perfect for people who want a light and easy paranormal read that happens to be a teen urban fantasy, rather than a teen urban fantasy that has paranormal elements. I like ghost stories, and while this one isn’t particularly scary (in my opinion. You may find otherwise.), it does manage to be fun, full of magic, a bit of mystery, and interesting characters. Find it in the catalog!

Daisy Jones & The Six

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Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Format: Full cast digital audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

“Daisy Jones & The Six” is a fictional story about a rock band in the mid-sixties-seventies. The audiobook includes a full cast ensemble and it did not disappoint. Taylor Jenkins Reid does a fantastic job of making the listener think they are reading non-fiction. The structure of this book is incredible. It is written in interview format, minus the questions. Each beloved character takes part talking about Daisy Jones and how she joins the rock band The Six. We get into the personal and professional lives of these characters, the rise and fall of the band, love, drug addiction, cheating, friendship and forgiveness. The book has an amazing but subtle twist that made me go search for her other books in our catalog.

Find it in the catalog

Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan

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Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan
Format: Book
Who It’s For: Adults

After graduating from college and working for a year, Kelly Corrigan and a good friend decided to set out on the adventure of a lifetime.  Everything was great until they began to run out of money in Australia.  Instead of asking their parents to wire them money, Kelly and her friend decided to get jobs.

Kelly took a job as a live-in nanny for the Tanner family.  The mother of the family had just passed away after battling cancer.  Kelly was responsible for taking the children to school, doing their laundry, cooking their meals, taking care of them when they returned home, cleaning up after them, and getting them ready for bed.

Glitter and Glue is a memoir in which Kelly examines her relationship with her mother while being the substitute mother for the Tanner children.  The book is heartwarming.  Kelly has a style of writing that will leave you laughing and sometimes crying.  It will leave you thinking of your relationship with your own mother and reflecting on what it means for one parent to be the “glitter” and one parent to be the “glue”.  This is a book that you won’t be able to put down.

Find it in the catalog