You’re Not You by Michelle Wildgen



Bec is a college student at loose ends. Not crazy about her advertising major, she’s successfully avoided deciding what to do with her life thus far by partying hard with her roommate and best friend Jill and carrying on a guilty affair with a married professor. Then, while looking for a new part-time job that pays more than waitressing, she answers an ad for a home health-care aide. Expecting a weak, bed-ridden old lady, Bec is surprised to find that wheelchair-confined Kate, afflicted with Lou Gehrig’s disease, is young, smart, and sophisticated, with a wicked sense of humor. Like this exchange: “‘Oh my god,’ I said embarrassed. ‘You think I’m like those TV movies where the person with the disease teaches everyone how to live.’ Kate laughed soundlessly. ‘It’s always so nice of us.’” When Bec begins working for Kate and her husband Evan, she discovers a whole new world of witty conversation, gourmet cooking, and urbane dinner parties. Soon Bec is so immersed in Kate’s life that it becomes difficult for her to distinguish where Kate’s life leaves off and her own begins. Kate is dying, but Bec’s life has just begun. Will she ever be able to establish her own identity and personality while under Kate’s charismatic shadow? This sharply observed novel, full of painful realizations, hilarious conversations and some of the best food descriptions I’ve ever read, perfectly captures that time in our early 20’s when our adult identities are beginning to form and we are so easily influenced by those around us whose personalities are set and stronger than our own.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale Margaret Lea leads a reading life in her father’s antiquarian bookstore, making a modest living writing short biographies of interesting, if little known, dead people. Then the famously reclusive author, Vida Winter, asks her to write Winter’s own biography. Margaret is puzzled by the invitation. The solitary woman is known for her habit of publishing conflicting accounts of her life, all of which have been proven to be utterly fictitious. Still, Margaret is intrigued, so she accepts the challenge of teasing the truth out of Vida. As Vida begins to spin a Gothic tale of an insane mother, a set of feral twins, a ghostly gardener, and a tragic fire, Margaret begins to question whether or not she’s being told the truth. She wants to believe Vida, but her own deep, dark secret, also having to do with damaged siblings, makes her question the writer’s every word. Can Margaret trust Vida’s story? And as the tale grows more grisly, does she even WANT to? This wonderfully chilling suspense novel, a 2007 Alex Award winner has a slow build and a stunning conclusion. This book reminded me of Jane Eyre, Rebecca, and of course, the now classic Flowers in the Attic. Go ahead, try and put it down after the first chapter–I dare you!

What Girls Learn by Karin Cook

what girls learn Tilden is a twelve-year old mess. Her free-spirited mom has just uprooted her and her sister Elizabeth AGAIN, this time to go live with this guy on Long Island who owns a chauffeur business. Just as she and her little sis are getting settled, Tilden’s mother discovers she has a lump in her breast. How Tilden and Elizabeth deal with their mother’s cancer makes for a story that is both brave and tearful. This is definitely a three-hankie read.

The Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr

necessary hungerBack in the day (1986), the WNBA was just a twinkle in some future sports promoter’s eye. But girls were still taking the ball to their male counterparts. Nancy and Raina, stepsisters and all-star players, are living out their last year of high-school stardom living, breathing and worshipping the Cult of the Hoop. But the girls are tired of dealing with the college recruiters that dog their every step, and the racism that is leveled at them because of their mixed African-American and Japanese-American household. In addition, both girls are dealing with their emerging sexual identities as young lesbian women of color. Can their already stressed-out friendship take the pressure when their teams come into direct competition–with each other? After reading this sharp and sweaty novel of competition on the riot-grrl level, you’ll be saying, “SHE got game!”

The Tribes of Palos Verdes by Joy Nicholson

tribesMedina Mason may know how to catch a wave, but she just can’t catch a break. In this psychologically tense first novel by Nicholson, Medina tries to surf away her problems. But that is getting harder and harder to do with a mother who is eating herself to death, a father who has a new girlfriend every week and a twin brother who is growing more and more distant. While Medina eventually finds redemption in the waves, it’s a wild and bumpy ride, filled with exhilaration and disappointment. Crack the binding on this baby and prepare to hang 10!

Franco American Dreams by Julie Taylor



Abbie is no stranger to the club scene. As a nineteen year old aspiring fashion designer, she’s “been there, done that” about a hundred times. And she’s got a plan to get the hell out of the boring Dallas Design Institute and onto the catwalks of New York City. But what she didn’t plan on was falling for the fabulous Franco. Now Abbie has to make a difficult decision. Will she wimp out and follow Franco, or will she dump the dude and go for fashion and fame? Way back in 1997, Julie Taylor was paving the runway for couture-chick-lit., when the ideas for Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model were still waiting to born in Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks’ collective brain cells. But you know what, RR readers? Taylor’s novel still feels funky fresh. If you loved The Devil Wears Prada, you’re gonna want to follow THIS Donna Karan wanna-be on her wacky adventures through life, love and the pursuit of style.

Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates



You probably thought gangs were just for guys. Well, you haven’t met Mad Maddy Wirtz and Legs Sadovsky. In this totally tuff novel, Maddy, Legs, and three other girls decide that they have had enough of the conservative 1950’s scene and form a girl-gang called Foxfire. They pledge to always uphold the sisterhood no matter what, in the face of male oppression. Only the men aren’t going down without a fight. One group has to lose and one group has to win, and Legs is determined that Foxfire will overcome the odds…or die trying. And if you saw the lame modern-day version of this story on the big screen, forget about it! (Even though it was one of Angelina Jolie’s first roles–she’s good, but the movie sucks!) The book is way better, so shelve the video and give this paperback a chance. You won’t regret a single boy-bashing minute of it!

The Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham

romance readerCan you imagine being forced to marry someone you didn’t know and couldn’t possibly love? That’s the situation that’s facing Rachel, a tough independent chick who’s trapped in the strict traditions of a Hasidic Jewish family. The only way Rachel can escape the hard demands of her family is through the romance books that she is forbidden to read, but that she manages to beg, borrow and steal anyway. Will Rachel bow to the traditions of her religion? Or will she make a stand for her own, new beliefs? Either way, its gonna suck for Rachel, and you’ll find yourself hanging in with her until the bitter end of this novel.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks


Year of Wonders
A harrowing look at how the bubonic plague of the 17th century almost destroys a small English village’s spirit. Anna Frith is just 18 years old, but already a widow with two small boys when a traveling tailor arrives from London, carrying a bolt of cloth that he intends to make clothes out of for the village people. Anna has a room to rent in her little house, and offers it to him. A few short weeks later, he dies painfully in bed of a high fever and pulsing sores, and soon everyone who bought a dress from him is also sick. For the tailor’s bolt of cloth carried fleas, and the fleas carried the dreaded Plague. And so begins a year of sickness that affects both the minds and bodies of Anna’s little village. In their fear and delirium, the townspeople begin to turn on each other, and claim that it is witchcraft that is spreading the disease. Anna, one of the few who doesn’t seem to be affected, works day and night helping the sick, squashing rumors of witchcraft, and questioning her own beliefs and morals when her two small sons die in her arms. A terribly sad yet thoughtful story full of complex questions about life, death and fate.

Here’s Your Hat, What’s Your Hurry by Elizabeth McCracken



Almost indescribable, this collection of stories about complete oddballs will challenge you to try and figure out what a tattooed librarian, a homeless old lady named Aunt Helen and a little girl who’s dad is entirely too nice to strangers, have in common. This book defines the word “quirky.” A really original read that I haven’t been able to get out of my head, and I hope you will invite into yours.

Alice’s Tulips by Sandra Dallas

Alice's TulipsSassy 18 year old Alice doesn’t know if she can take being shut up with her dried up mother in law one second more. Her handsome new husband Charlie has gone off to fight in the Civil War on the side of the Union and left her in the care of his mother, a sour old lady who thinks Alice is too flighty and flirtatious. Alice’s story is told through a series of letters to her sister, where she complains about her mother in law, gossips about neighbors, worries about Charlie and shares quilt patterns. And Charlie isn’t the only one seeing action. In his absence, Alice contends with homeless vagrants, food shortages, and even accusations that she is being untrue to Charlie with a local man of ill repute. But through it all, Alice tries to stay hopeful that one day her solider boy will come walking home again. An earthy read with a little old fashioned scandal that will show you a side of the Civil War your textbook didn’t cover.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely BonesThis may be the most unusual weepie I’ve ever read. At the beginning of the story, 14 year old Susie Salmon is already dead. She’s just been brutally murdered by a quiet serial killer in her 1970’s neighborhood, and now she’s in heaven watching the results of her death unfold down on earth. It’s painful for her to see her younger sister become older than Susie ever will, her parent’s marriage start to disintegrate as they grieve for her, and the first boy she ever kissed begin to grow up and forget her. Maybe worse is seeing Mr. Harvey, her murderer, continue to live contentedly in the house a block away from her parents, as the search for her killer tapers off and is finally closed. Susie finds that heaven doesn’t mean eternal happiness. But it helps that whatever you imagine becomes part of your own personal heaven, and for Susie, that means an ornate gazebo, a high school that is all extracurricular activities and no studying, and a gazillion dogs to play with and cuddle whenever she wants. Susie is terrified that her family will forget her. But until they learn to let her go they will never be healed. And neither will Susie. A contemplative weepie that will make you think and cry and then think some more. (3 weepies)

Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Lamb Forget WWJD–instead, think What Did Jesus Do when he was a rock and roll teen way back in the day? According to his best friend, Biff, J.C. was a happening guy. All the girls dug him, even though he couldn’t really date, seeing that he was the son of God and all. And he really did perform all those miracles–but Biff will be sure to fill you in on all the early ones that umm, backfired a little bit. Filling where the Bible leaves off (for those of you not in the know, the Word never gives any detail about Jesus as a teenager) author Christopher Moore has provided us with a highly irreverent and completely hilarious behind the scenes view of Jesus–the sort of guy who, according to the all-too-human Biff, is almost impossible to be best friends with, because he’s, well, perfect!

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob GreenDuring the late 70’s and early 80’s, Jacob Green comes of age in a Jewish family where his narcissistic father Abram rules supreme. There is no getting around his father’s demand for perfection in all things, so Jacob just tries to hide his worsening learning disability from Abram’s prying eyes. He lives a vicarious life through his older brother, Asher, who never shrinks from confronting their father, and often belittles the one thing Abram reveres most–their Jewish religion. Jacob also escapes by having “unthinkable thoughts”–fantasies about his hippie babysitter and what he wishes he could REALLY write on his bar mitzvah thank you cards. But when Jacob’s mother Claire leaves Abram for another man, the shaky family finally falls apart and Jacob is left to pick up the pieces of his father’s shattered ego. You may have noticed that the author shares a last name with a certain brilliant actor/writer who penned the incredibly cool “Garden State” screenplay. You go on with your bad selves, burgeoning literary genius Braff brothers!!

Project X by Jim Shepard

Project XEdwin Hanratty and his only friend, Flake, are two marginalized 8th graders who spend their miserably long days at school dodging the twin bullets of bullying jocks and sarcastic teachers. Edwin, who worries chronically about getting his locker open, spends many sleepless nights reminiscing about his childhood, when he felt connected to his parents and school was a place he enjoyed going. As Flake’s unstable temper grows shorter, he begins to convince Edwin that the only way to solve their problems is to kill themselves with his father’s guns and take as many people as they can with them. Edwin loves his parents and little brother Gus, but can’t see his future ever being anything but wretched. But when the moment of truth comes, and the gun is in his hands, Edwin is surprised and humiliated by his own extreme reaction…This is one for parents and teens to read together, to start discussions that help us avoid another Columbine. There’s powerful stuff between these pages–don’t be fooled by the short length. It really packs an emotional wallop.