Spud-The Madness Continues

Spud-The Madness Continues, John van de Ruit (YA)

This is one of my YA books. I read Spud a few weeks ago. This was a grand follow up. Truly just an extension of the first book. A nice change from the YA chick-lit type books, more of a dude-lit.

Best Friends & The Office Of Desire

Best Friends & The Office of Desire, by Martha Moody

I'm not sure what to say about these 2 books. Best friends was her first book & the one I read first. Now let me say that I give a book about 50-100 pages before I quite reading it, if I don't like it. Too many books & too little time for books that don't hold my interest. I didn't stop reading either of these books. They were just different. Odd twists thrown in at odd places. They were interesing, but for me, were lacking a certain type of sparkle & they really could have used a little humor. I'd say they were just "okay".

Spud

Spud, John Van De Ruit (YA)

This YA book is different than most I have read. It's written by a South African and is set in a South African boys school in 1990, the year Nelson Mendela was released from prison. I personally have a soft spot for books about boarding schools & this one did not dissapoint. Spud refers to the main character. He's given this nickname because at 13 puberty hasn't hit him yet. As the mother of 2 teen boys, it was really an interesing perspective. Spud likes girls, falls for a couple girls, but his body hasn't caught up yet. Good book.

Apart From The Crowd

Apart From The Crowd, by Anna McPartlin

This was a great book. Set in Ireland it's the tale of 4 lifelong friend & what happens to them with a handsome American moves into their small town. I really thought this book had it all. It was funny, but had plenty of real touches of sadness. McPartlin has 2 previously written books & I'm headed over to my library's website now to put them on hold.

Love The One You're With

Love The One You're With, by Emily Giffin

I have read her books in the past & enjoyed them. I really enjoyed this one, too. It wasn't too predictable, which is good. The only complaint I would have is that after take approx. 320 pages to get to the crux of the story, it's neatly wrapped up in a bow in merely 20. It did, however, keep me guessing as to which path our heroine would end up taking. I would recommend it.

Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty

Now as a person who reads voraciously, I often read young adult (YA) books. Maybe part of it is because I think that I could be a successful YA writer someday. The other part is probably my immaturity, but does that really matter?

Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, by Jody Gehrman (YA)

Geena, a high school junior desperately wants her cousin Hero & her BFF Amber to get along over summer break. Predictably the path is rocky, but not in a way you would assume.

Triple Shot Betty is set in the wine country of Sonoma, so that might explain why these teenagers are often given alcohol by the 'responsible' adults in this book, but it just seems like a bad literary choice on the part of Gehrman to make this seem o.k. The kids in this book drink often, and drink often with their parents. Only on one occasion does this have any negative effect to our lead characters. I really think this was an detriment to the book.

The girl power ending was a little trite for me, but it was a fun read overall. I would not recommend it to the tween audience it was intended for, given casual approach given to high school drinking.

My bloggy friend Rachael at Scientific Nature of the Whammy posted a book re-cap of 2008. Now besides my Mr. Bear,

books were my first true love. I have decided to kind of copy Rachael & my good friend Leala, at The Bookwhore's Guide to Books and keep a running commentary of my books read this year.

Let me know if you find any books you love this year!

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