Books we are reading (and loving) right now.
Adaptation
by Malinda Lo
Who: Reese—debate champion and car accident survivor who is starting to notice strange things about herself since she has left the hospital.
What: Conspiracy theories, aliens, romance and strange flocks of birds.
When: Now—though it’s not such a familiar world.
Where: Area 51 + San Francisco.
Altered
by Jennifer Rush
Who: Anna, whose father runs experiments on four genetically altered boys in the basement of their house.
What: Anna falls for one of the boys, and when he stages an escape she will do anything to be with him.
When: Present day.
Where: Treger Creek, New York (an everyone knows everyone sort of town).
Ask the Passengers
by A.S. King
Who: Astrid Jones—teenage dreamer and sender of love.
What: Staying true to herself and learning that love in all forms is powerful.
When: High School, circa now, when Astrid starts to ask questions about her life.
Where: Unity Valley, the small-town with big gossip.
Beautiful Redemption
by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Who: Star-crossed lovers Ethan Wate and castor Lena Duchannes.
What: The thrilling conclusion to the bestselling Beautiful Creatures series in which boy meets girl. Boy realizes girl is a sort-of witch. Things get complicated.
When: Present-day.
Where: Gaitlin, South Carolina.
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
by James Patterson
Who: Tandy Angel, Dakota-dwelling daughter of Manhattan millionaires.
What: #1 suspect in her parents’ murders.
When: Present-day.
Where: Manhattan’s Social Elite.
Days of Blood & Starlight
by Laini Taylor
Who: Art student and monster’s apprentice, Karou, and Akiva, the enemy with fire-colored eyes.
What: An angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.
When: Present-day.
Where: Prague/ Elsewhere.
The Diviners
by Libba Bray
Who: 16-year-old sassy, smart, aspiring flapper Evie O’Neill.
What: An occult-based serial killer is on the loose and Evie has a special power that could be the key to catching him.
When: The Jazz Age; Prohibition Era, 1920s.
Where: New York City.
Etiquette & Espionage
by Gail Carriger
Who: Sophronia Temminnick, whose mother is desperate for her to become a proper lady.
What: A finishing school where ingenious young ladies are trained in the fine art of finishing... others.
When: 1851.
Where: Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality; Victorian England.
Fathomless
by Jackson Pearce
Who: 1) Celia Reynolds, youngest in a set of triplets, has the power to see directly into the past, 2) Lo, once human but quickly morphing into something much darker, 3) Jude, the dreamy boy who falls off a pier and into a love triangle.
What: A darker, modern re-telling of “The Little Mermaid.”
When: Present-day.
Where: Alternating between coastal town and under the sea.
Fearless
by Cornelia Funke
Who: Jacob Reckless, who is very, very quickly turning into a not-so-attractive Goyl.
What: If he wants to be able to save his own life and (maybe!) realize his feelings for Fox, Jacob must find a way to beat the fairy curse.
When: Once upon a time.
Where: Mirrorworld.
Game: The Sequel to "I Hunt Killers"
by Barry Lyga
Who: Jazz, whose serial killer father has now escaped from prison.
What: With a new serial killer on the loose, Jazz is called in by the professionals to help solve the case.
When: Present day.
Where: New York City.
I Hunt Killers
by Barry Lyga
Who: Jazz, the son of the world’s most famous serial killer.
What: Years after his father is locked up, another serial killer is on the loose and Jazz feels a personal responsibility to find the killer.
When: Present day.
Where: Lobo’s Nod.
The Kiss
by James Patterson
Who: Siblings Whit and Wisty Allgood—defeaters of the New Order and their oppressive regime.
What: The fourth adventure in James Patterson’s bestselling dystopian saga, Witch & Wizard.
When: A dark future.
Where: Shadowland.
Now Is The Time for Running
by Michael Williams
Who: Deo, his older brother Innocent, and their group of soccer-playing friends.
What: A chronicle of the journey Deo and Innocent must make after soldiers enter their village forcing them flee.
When: A dark chapter in South Africa's recent history.
Where: Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Perfect Escape
by Jennifer Brown
Who: Kendra, and her brother Grayson, who suffers from OCD.
What: When a cheating scandal threatens the perfect life Kendra has created for herself she escapes on an epic road trip with her brother.
When:Present day.
Where: An American roadtrip through the Midwest.
Rapture Practice
by Aaron Hartzler
Who: A younger Aaron Hartzler.
What: Growing up in a fundamentalist Christian household, Aaron starts to question himself and his beliefs.
When:1980s/early 90s—queue Amy Grant references!
Where: Kansas City, smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt.
Reckless
by Cornelia Funke
Who:: Jacob Reckless, adventurer and heartthrob
What: After his younger brother follows him through the magical mirror their father left behind when he disappeared, Jacob must do whatever it takes to save him from a dark magic that threatens to turn him into a Goyl. Yeah, it’s pretty intense.
When: Once upon a time.
Where: The other side of the mirror.
Return to Me
by Justina Chen
Who: Rebecca “Reb” Miller—aspiring architect and obsessive planner.
What: A family secret turns Reb’s ideas for the future on their head.
When: Summer after high school/before college.
Where: Contemporary Seattle and New Jersey – plus a brief stop in Hawaii.
Revived
by Cat Patrick
Who: 15-year-old Daisy Appleby and Matt and Audrey McKean, charismatic siblings who quickly become Daisy’s first real friends.
What: Ever wonder what would happen if you had access a top secret government super drug (called Revive) capable of bringing you back from the dead? This is what would happen.
When: Present day.
Where: Omaha, NE.
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
by Jennifer E. Smith
Who: Hadley and Oliver, two teenagers flying from New York to London.
What: One fated plane ride.
One chance meeting between an American and a Brit.
24 hours of second chances and first loves.
When: Present day.
Where: Somewhere over the Atlantic (plus a little more once they depart in England).
Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal
by Chris Colfer
Who: Sarcastic high schooler Carson Phillips.
What: Carson blackmails the school into helping him create a literary journal to boost his college application to Northwestern.
When: Present-day.
Where: Clovis, California.
This Is What Happy Looks Like
by Jennifer E. Smith
Who: Movie star Graham Larkin and small town girl Ellie O’Neill—both 17 years old.
What: An accidental email exchange between a movie star and an ice cream parlor employee that turns into a friendship which turns into…can you guess?
When:Present day, summertime.
Where: Summer in Maine and two email inboxes.
Trinkets
by Kirsten Smith
Who: Tabitha, Elodie and Moe—a beauty queen, a wallflower and a burnout.
What: An unlikely trio who have the habit of stealing.
When: Now, when a challenge to a steal-off finds them confronting their bad habits.
Where: Shoplifter’s Anonymous meetings.
The Twilight Saga Complete Film Archive
by Robert Abele
Who: Bella, Edward, Jacob, and all the other usual suspects.
What: A veritable treasure trove for any Twilight fan featuring candid set photography and artwork and exclusive stories from the stars.
When: 2008-2012.
Where: Forks, Washington.
What We Lost
by Sara Zarr
Who: Samara Taylor—pastor’s daughter.
What: After Sam’s mom lands in rehab, she starts to question her faith. At the same time a young girl in Sam’s town goes missing and Sam is consumed by the story.
When: Present day.
Where: Small town America – specifically Pineview.
When We Wake
by Karen Healey
Who: Tegan Oglietti—teenage political protester turned government experiment.
What: A cryogenically frozen teen who is the first person to be revived by science. Tegan has newfound celeb cred by her situation, but can’t shake the urge to continue her fight for a better future.
When: 2027 and then 2127.
Where: One minute a political rally, the next a futuristic world locked in a government facility.
ZOM-B
by Darren Shan
Who: B, an Irish teenager with a judgmental father who hates anyone unlike himself.
What: A zombie attack of epic proportions written by the international master of horror.
When: Pre-Zombie Apocalypse.
Where: England.
ZOM-B Underground
by Darren Shan
Who: B.
What: Book two in the ZOM-B series. Months after zombies attacked the school, B struggles with the new norm in the UK and begins to wonder if there is anyone left in the world to trust.
When: Post-Zombie Apocalypse.
Where: A military complex.
ZOM-B City
by Darren Shan
Who: B Smith, our favorite survivor of the zombie apocalypse.
What: With his city devastated, B is on the search for someone, anyone who won’t eat his brains.
When: Post-zombie apocalypse.
Where: London.