Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Samantha dies in a car crash after a party. But wait.......why does she wake up in her bed, only to relive the entire Friday over? Sam has to do this SEVEN times before there is any resolution!!! Does it sound like Groundhog Day? Way more emotional............Read it and think about your choices!!

Pod by Stephen Wallenfels

Do you like science fiction? Did you watch the TV show "V"? If you did, you will like Pod. The story begins with a screeching, screaming noise that wakes up the world As people investigate and look outdoors they see immense, pod-like, spinning disks descending from the sky. Walking outdoors ensures a quick death -- you are immediately "zapped" and disappear. Is it the end of the world? You'll have to read the book to find out!

Dozens of new books

Dozens and dozens of new books are in! It's better than Christmas!! Stop in and see what is available.....Or........ are you at home? Access the Destiny West Catalog. Click the "Catalog" tab. Click the "Catagories" tab. Find "November 2010" and you should see a listing of everything that is new. Not sure if this link will work off site? http://10.50.1.184/cataloging/servlet/handlecategorysearchresultsform.do?categoryID=3231&categoryDescription=November+2010&collectionType=0&page=0&collectionType=0

Stealing Henry by Carolyn MacCullough

The first line got me: "The night Savannah brains her stepfather with the frying pan is the night she decides to leave home for good."

Savannah's stepdad is abusive, not only to her, but to her younger brother Henry. Mom is oblivious to everything.....so "Sav" decides to hit the road. Much of Savannah's childhood (she is now 17) was spent riding cross-country with her single mom, Alice. Alice could never seem to make a home for them ....obviously she is a bit dysfunctional.

I picked out this book because I liked the retro look of the cover. I know I always say....don't judge a book by the cover. The "feel" of the book is old, the copyright is new!

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Sophie is 16 years old. After using her powers in a "prom night spell gone bad".... she is sent to Hectate Hall. It is a "boarding school" for prodigium teens. What are prodigium? Witches, warlocks, vampires, shape-shifters, fairies, etc...... who have used their powers incorrectly. Hopefully Sophie will now find the correct way to channel her powers.

After her arrival a student is maliciously attacked and left for dead. Sophie's vampire roommate is blamed. Who is responsible? What about the very handsome warlock that Sophie crushes on? Read the book and find out. It will leave you waiting for the next one.

lessons from a dead girl by Jo Knowles

I only meant to read this book for a short time last night. I got home late from conferences and needed something to put me to sleep. (The Viking game wasn't doing it!) I ended up staying up late, too late, to finish this book.

Laine is a victim. Leah is a victim. Leah is dead. That about sums up the book!

Laine has always wanted to be a part of the popular crowd. When Leah, the most popular girl in the school, wants to be her friend, Laine is ecstatic! But popularity comes at a price. When Leah is at Laine's house she wants to go in the closet with her and "practice". Laine is very conflicted in her emotions. She wants Leah's friendship, but she feels wrong. She tries to end the friendship and there are disastrous results. Laine tries to help Leah, but it is as though she doesn't want help. There are risky behaviors and lessons learned. I couldn't put it down.

Another one!!

I read another graphic novel! This time it was Welcome to the Jungle from Jim Butcher's Dreseden Files. I'm really liking this genre!!

Harry Dresden is a wizard "on-call" with the Chicago Police Department. He is brought into a case involving the death of a security guard at Lincoln Park Zoo. The guard was viciously killed -- perhaps by a gorilla? No one appears to know. Harry suspects there is some bad magic at work. He finds himself working against not one, but three hags.

Read the novel, see what you think! There are more titles by Jim Butcher in our collection. Have you outgrown Harry Potter? Try these.

I read a graphic novel!!!

Finally.....I read a graphic novel. Last night I read In the Small by Michael Hague. I've really been liking the "dystopia genre".... and this book fit the bill.

On a beautiful September day a strange blue light swept over the earth. It went everywhere --- inside buildings, to the bottom of the ocean and inside subway tunnels. It only lasted a second -- then life returned to normal - almost. The only life form that changed were humans. Humans are now about 6 inches tall --- approximately the size of a pencil! Think of all the dangers that present themselves when you are that small. Pets - cats and dogs - think you are food, how would you navigate the stairs in an office building, how would you push the button for an elevator?

Somehow "Mouse" and "Beat" short for Beatrice become two of the leaders in the chaos that ensues. Read the book and see if you like it as much as I did.....I'm waiting for a sequel.

Compromised by Heidi Ayarbe

The FBI has finally caught up with Maya's dad. He's pulled one scam too many ..... and is now in prison. Maya is in foster care, but has no intention of staying there.
Aunt Sarah lives in Idaho - at least that is what Maya thinks. The problem is .... she is in Nevada. How to get there? Maya and another girl in foster care run away. She have only the clothes on their backs and a few dollars in their pockets. Life on the streets is hard -- hitchhiking, shoplifting to try and get food, rats...... Read the story and see if they get to Idaho and find the elusive Aunt Sarah.

Huge by Sasha Paley

April and Wil are roommates at "Fat Camp". That is about the only thing they have in common. April has saved and saved to afford the expensive tuition at Wellness Canyon. She desperately wants to lose weight. Wil, on the other hand, does not want to be at camp. Her thin, successful and beautiful parents are owners of Excalibur Sport and Health Club. When your parents are owners of a string of work-out facilities, the last thing in the world you should be is overweight. Well....guess what? Wil is. Wil is also determined to "show" her parents that she is in-charge. Wil is actually trying to gain weight!!

There are lots of clashes between the two girls.....yet as you read the story you will see that they have more in common than you think.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

This book is best described as a psychological thriller! It was made into the 2010 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
The setting is Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The hospital is located on an island. It is 1954. Teddy and Chuck, U.S. Marshals, are summoned to the island to locate a missing patient. Rachel, the missing patient, has been convicted of a horrible crime --- killing her three small children.
The book has one plot twist after another. A hurricane throws havoc into the scene. Teddy discovers that unorthodox brain surgery is taking place on patients. He has been drugged through the food he has been eating and the cigarettes he has been smoking. His partner, Chuck, disappears.
What is real? What is not? I'm still wondering..........I finished this book over the weekend, yet it still sticks with me. Next I need to rent the movie and see what director, Martin Scorsese did with the screenplay.

Willow by Julia Hoban

Willow is a cutter. She cuts herself to cope with the pain and guilt of .... as she puts it...."killing her parents." Willow was driving her parents home from a restaurant on a rainy night. She only had her temps and her parents had too much to drink. There was a horrible accident. It was just that, an accident. But in the blink of an eye everything changed.

Willow now lives with her brother, sister-in-law and her baby niece. How do they cope? How does Willow continue to live with the pain? Read the book and find out.

Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

Furnace Penitentiary is a prison located miles underground. Only the worst offenders are sent there. Fourteen-year-old Alex is framed for murder and sent there for life!!!

The prison is ruled by gangs, the guards are sadistic, furless deformed dogs are unleashed to attack the inmates....but the worst is the "middle of the night" raids when the "wheezers" come. Wheezers are human-like creatures with a gas mask stitched onto their faces. Wheezers mark cells with a red "X". After that the "black suits" come to take you away.....forever. Are you a fan of horror? If so, you'll like this book.

Alex discovers there might be a way out. Will his plan work? Will he be able to escape the black suits? The sequel Solitary comes out December 21. Hopefully that will answer some of the questions.

In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

Eagan is a 16 year old competitive figure skater from Milwaukee. Amelia is 14 and dying of congestive heart failure. After a freak accident where Eagan dies, Amelia receives her heart. Eagan had checked the small box on her new driver's license that listed her as an organ donor. Amelia has no idea whose heart she has received, yet she starts to take on some of Eagan's personality. The story is heart-breaking --- two girls, two families --- and one heart.

This World We Live In

This is Susan Beth Pfeffer's third book about the meteor hitting the earth. Alex and Miranda, characters from the previous books, are brought together in this companion novel.

Earth has still not recovered. The struggle for enough food is a daily occurrence. Scavenging for essential supplies like toothpaste and toilet paper is constant. Everything is gray -- the result of volcanic ash in the air. It is a desperate time.

Miranda's dad, stepmother and new baby brother arrive. There are even more challenges as the families try to house and feed more people. The book closes with yet another disaster. I won't give it away.....but I wonder whether there will be another book? There almost has to be.....

The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and (HIV) Positive

Do you like to read true stories about people? How about trying this new memoir......

Marvelyn Brown was 19 years old when she found out she had been infected with the HIV virus. She is a "straight", for the most part "non-promiscuous", young woman from Nashville, Tennessee. She was athletic, just graduated from high school, and had met the man she thought was "the love of her life." He is the one who passed on the HIV virus to her.

Marvelyn could have given up....and for a while she seriously thought about it. After an article about her appeared in The Tennessean, her life changed. She was offered a job working for Nashville CARES, an organization devoted to helping people living with HIV and AIDS. This was a stepping-stone to national coverage of her story. You have to read Marvelyn's inspirational story....and learn from it!

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

This was the eagerly anticipated companion to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I just finished it.....and it left things totally unresolved:( Gabry is the main character. Her mother is Mary --- the main character that escapes in the first book. The action continues. The world is still populated by the "Unconsecrated" or as they are also know, "Mudo".

I will now have to wait until Spring 2011 for The Dark and Hollow Places. I don't think I can wait! Click here for Carrie's blog.

Lots and lots of new books!

Boxes and boxes of new books are appearing. Stop in and check something new out before the end of the year!

Breathless

Can you believe we have three new books titled, Breathless? The one I read over break is by Jessica Warman. I found it interesting that the events in this story parallel her life. She first wrote it when she was just out of high school

The main character is a girl named Katie. She has just been sent to a fancy boarding school. While she doesn't mean to.....she implies that the reason she is there is because her brother died. Her brother, Will, is alive, but not well. He has schizophrenia. It has caused him to be extremely violent toward himself and others. The story looks at the effect of a serious illness on the entire family.

Katie is an expert swimmer. The only time she honestly feels like herself is when she is in the water. But.....even that changes. ............. Read the book!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I LOVED this new book by Carrie Ryan!!

Mary lives in a village in the middle of a forest, that is completely fenced in. Guardians patrol the perimeter of the fence line to make sure that the fences are in good repair. Outside the fences the moaning of the Unconsecrated fills the air. The Unconsecrated are described as wearing "tattered clothes, having sagging skin and fingers scraped raw from pulling at the metal fences. " They are "zombie-like" creatures.

The fenceline of Mary's village is breached. The villagers do all they can to try and escape the Unconsecrated. It is a horrific battle for survival. Mary along with several others escape down a path. What happens? Do they escape? Will Mary find the ocean that her mother insisted is "out there"? You've got to read this horror/romance!