Z is for Zoink

I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. It's the last day of the month and I've made it to Z. But what genre starts with Z? None that I can think of. So I'm bending the rules a little bit. Today, Z stands for Zoink. Zoink doesn't actually mean anything, and that is the definition I'm going with. Today I'm recommending five wonderful books that are all similar and also all impossible to define. I'm talking about crazy genre bending stories that read kind of like contemporary YA, except that something in the is just a little bit off. The Zoink factor. So for my final five recommendations of the month, here are the books that made me go zoink.

Fracture by Megan Miranda - This book is about a girl who falls through the ice in a nearly frozen lake in Maine and manages to survive her eleven minutes in the frozen water. But when she wakes up from her coma she discovers that in escaping death, she also gained a new ability. She can now sense when the people around her are about to die. What she's going to do with this new power is the question.

Forgotten by Cat Patrick - London's memory is backwards. Every night when she falls asleep she forgets everything that happened to her that day. She has absolutely no memory of the past and is forced to write herself detailed notes to keep track of what her life has been. But London does remember something. She has a clear memory of all the events in her future. Some of her memories change and peoples choices force new futures. But what does it all mean when she meets a boy she doesn't remember? She sees him every day, she maybe even loves him. But he's nowhere in her future. Could it be that his story lies somewhere deep in her forgotten past?

If I Stay by Gayle Forman - Mia is in a car accident with her parents. They both die on impact and she is tossed into a coma. Except that her mind does seem to want to stay in her body. As her body lies in the ICU, her mind floats around the hospital, observing the lives of her friends who come to mourn her parents death and hope for her recovery. But the choice is up to Mia. Does she want to stay? Does she want to wake up from her coma and live the rest of her life as an orphan? Or does she just want to fall asleep and rejoin her family?


As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott - In this confusing tale of unknown identity, Ava wakes up without any memory of where she is or who she is. But what appears to be a contemporary tale about a girl with amnesia becomes a lot more complicated when Ava's memories begin to return, and they are from a parallel universe.
Wake by Lisa McMann - When Janie falls asleep, she doesn't dream like most people. Instead, she finds herself caught inside the dreams of the people around her. This ability can be traumatising as she learns the subconscious secrets of the people closest to her. But could this curse actually be a gift. That is what Janie asks as she tries to catch a killer by sneaking into his dreams at night and learning all of his deepest darkest secrets.

What about you? What's your favorite genre defying book?

Y is for Young Adult

I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. So today, Y is for Young Adult. I know what you are probably thinking, way more than half of the 120 books I've already recommended this month have been YA, but I write YA and therefor read a LOT of YA. So don't worry, coming up with five more recommendations for today's list wasn't a challenge.

Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - I'm a big Maggie Stiefvater fan, and this is my favorite of all of her books. It's a weird modern legend that I kept out of my urban fantasy list because I really don't know how to classify it except to call it YA. It's about these legendary wild man-eating waterhorses that rise out of the sea each fall. The islanders capture them and compete in a race for fame and riches called the Scorpio Races. Maggie's story focus on two competitors, the orphaned past winner whose closest companion is his beloved wild waterhorse, and a young girl who enters to ride her land pony in a final attempt to win the money needed to save her family and their farm.

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin - In this futuristic tale a prohibition has been put on chocolate. Anya's family is the center of a powerful chocolate producing mafia. But when her ex-boyfriend falls ill after eating a bar of poisoned chocolate, Anya finds herself in the center of a battle over more than just sugar and coco.

Saving Francesca by Melina Merchetta - This is a great Australian YA about a girl who is one of only 30 female students at a predominantly male pre-school. Francesca's mother is suffering from acute depression, and Francesca wants nothing more than to return to her days at an all girls school with her friends. But somehow, Francesca maneges to navigate the muddy waters of adolescent males and find a close family of supportive friends.

Heist Society by Ally Carter - Katarina is a kind of a moder day Robin Hood who steels from the rich and gives to the poor, but that's may be a bit to generous. Really she is just the daughter of one of the worlds greatest art thieves. But when her father's life is threatened after he's accused of steeling a painting he didn't take, Katarina's mission is simple. She has to find the actual thief, steel the painting back, and then return it to it's rightful owner. This fun teen caper has a Tomas Crown Affair or Oceans Eleven feel, only it stars a spunky crew of high school delinquents turned master criminals.

Far From You by Lisa Schroder - This is a very beautiful lyrical novel (written in verse) about a teenage girl who is caught in a snow storm and trapped in a freezing car for three days. At times sad, at times uplifting, this emotional story is definitely worth reading.

What about you? What's your favorite YA?

X is for Expository

I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. Except X-ray isn't a genre. So I'm going to cheat and start today's genre with an E, and then I'm going to cheat some more and rename one of the genre's that I somehow missed earlier this month. Memoir starts with an M, but I had M stand for Middle Grade. So today X is for Expository, and we are just going to pretend that Memoirs are all expository writing. So here are five of my favorite memoirs.

Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robinson - John Elder Robinson is a very interesting guy. Back in the 70s he got super obsessed with both music and electronics and managed to combine those passions by making super powered amps that drove the current sound ordinances and pimping out fire throwing guitars for rock legends like Kiss. John Elder Robinson is also autistic and his memoir talks a lot about his experiences growing up different from most of the normal people around him. He may not have ever fit in, but he did make flame throwing guitars for Kiss, so you can't really call his life a failure.

Bossypants by Tina Fey - I expected this book to be funny, because hello, it was written by Tina Fey. I was pleasantly surprised to find that is was also pinioned. Tina talks a lot about being a woman in a male dominated world and how gender effects the way we view comedy, intelligence, and even politics. This book is funny, but just like Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live often tells more than just jokes, this book is deeper than a blond joke and besides Tina Fey is a brunet.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - This book is seriously depressing, especially because it is true. It's about a man who returns to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban and attempts to reestablish a relationship with his family. The horrors that his family endured during the reign of the Taliban are difficult to read. Still I'm glad Khaled Hosseini shared this story with the world.

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynmen! by Richard P. Feynman - Richard Feynman was a nobel prize winning physicist, apparently, he was also a really entertaining guy. I first read this book in high school at the same time as I took my first physics class. I've read it again in adulthood, and find Feynman's antics equally entertaining. Feynman was one of those guys that was WAY to smart for his own good, so he did a lot of crazy things to entertain himself. During WW2, when he was working with Einstein and many of the other leading physicist of the day on the manhattan project, he found great entertainment out of outsmarting and harassing the department of justice. He would do things like break into top secret safes and leave little notes to the generals saying things like "Feynman was here". I'm never going to win a nobel prize in physics, but I still appreciate a story about a world class nerd creating world class nerd level mischief.

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs - Religion is a complicated subject. Many people strive to follow the Bible literally and to live their lives by God's commandments. But nobody follows every rule. Even the most devout pick and chose what commandments they follow as they struggle to turn a 3000 year old text into a guild for modern moral living. A.J. Jacobs decided to take things one step farther, and spend a year following every law in the bible to the letter. The result involved many humorous events, like punishing his toddler son via a swat from a foam fun-noodle in an attempt to spare the rod and spoil the child.

What about you? What's your favorite memoir, or expository tale?

W is for WW2

I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. If you've been reading since A is for Adventure, you may have noticed that I've been doubling up on a few of my favorite genres. It's hard to come up with 26 different genres that start with 26 different letters. So today we are going to return to H is for Historic but with a slightly narrower approach. Today, W is for WW2. I love historical fiction, and there are a lot of really great historical fiction pieces written about WW2. Here are five of my favorites.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - While this book is YA, I recommend it to adults all the time and everyone I know that has read it regardless of age agrees it's one of the best books they have ever read. So if you haven't read The Book Thief yet, do it. This WW2 tale is different than many of the other WW2 novels filling the shelves for a couple of reasons. First, it is narrated by death. During WW2, death witnessed a lot, why wouldn't he have a story to tell? Secondly, this story takes place in Germany and the main characters aren't Jewish. They also aren't evil. Instead, this death shows us how normal humans with feelings and emotions very similar to everyone else's somehow lost control of their lives and the world in the movement known as the Third Reich.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - This MG story is about a girl in Denmark who's best friend is Jewish. When the Nazi's invade her country, her best friend's parents flee and her friend suddenly becomes her sister, taking on the identity of a sister who died in infancy. While this story doesn't take place in a secret attic it has a very Anne Frank feel to it and beautifully shows the things that brave people did to protect the lives of Jewish children.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford - Most WW2 stories focus on the horror known as the Holocaust. But the interment of Japanese Americana's is another very important part of 1940's history. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a very touching story about a Chinese American boy's love for a Japanese American girl and the future that they both lost when she was taken away by US soldiers for the protection of the country.

A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell - While Italy was technically an ally of Germany during WW2, Mussolini and his Italian forces were not anti-semitic. Priests issued fake baptism papers to most Italian Jews, but there were also a number of European Jewish refugees who crossed the Alps and hid from the German's behind Italian lines. A Thread of Grace is a touching story about the lives of many of those refugees.

Broken for You by Sephanie Kollos - This book isn't set in the 1940's but it is one of my favorite novels. Margaret is an elderly woman living in a Seattle house filled with treasures. Treasures that her Nazi sympathetic father stole from European Jews during WW2. Margaret wants to return the fine art and porcelain, but how do you return something to a person who was executed in a concentration camp? So Margaret does the next best thing, she takes in a young artist with a great ability to break things. Together they destroy the treasures collected by her Father and out of the ruble build something new and beautiful.

What about you? What's your favorite WW2 story?

V is for Vacation

 I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. So today, V is for Vacation. I don't know about you, but I love traveling. And sometimes, I also enjoy reading books about other people's travels. Here are five of my favorite vacation books, or travel memoirs if you want to use the official genre title (except travel memoir doesn't start with a V).

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell - Sarah Vowell is quirkier than the average journalist, and when she takes vacation's they are suitably entertaining. In this book, she chronicles her journey to visit all of the historic sites associated with presidential assassinations. It is an interesting blend of history and travel that is a very fun read.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson - Bill Bryson's one of those writers that every time I read one of his books I find myself wishing he lived next door to me. He's the type of guy I know would be really fun to sit down and have a beer with. And even if hiking the Appalachian Trail with him isn't something I would want to do, A Walk in the Woods is still a very funny read.

Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers - I want to hang out with Bill Bryson, but I want to be Jim Rogers. They guy is like a gazillionaire, so who wouldn't want to be him. As a former Wall Street Broker, he understands the importance of a diversified portfolio and investing in foreign markets. So what better way to managed his assets than by taking a three year around the world road trip? This book does talk some about the banking practices of the 100+ countries he road tripped through, but mainly it focuses on the great international adventure part of the journey. I would LOVE to one day go on a round the world road trip, so I also loved reading this book.

Getting Stoned with Savages by Maarten Troost - This is a very funny memoir about a man who left his stressful corporate life to move to the Pacific Islands and commune with the cannibals. I don't I want to be Maarten Troost, or even live next door to him for that matter. But I did find this book very entertaining.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - This is probably the best known travel memoir these days. It's about a woman who spent a self centered year in the land of I, dividing her time evenly between Italy, India, and Indonesia. It's a great glimpse into not only Gilbert's turbulent life but also three fascinating cultures.

What about you? What's your favorite vacation read?

U is for Urban Fantasy

I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. So today, U is for Urban Fantasy. In case you aren't in the fantasy know, regular fantasy (or high fantasy) takes place in some other world like Middle Earth in the case of Lord of the Rings. Urban Fantasy, on the other hand, takes place here on Earth in a traditional Urban environment. Urban Fantasy is an extremely popular genre these days, especially within the YA world. So narrowing my list down to five choices would be really hard. Fortunately, I've already recommended several great Urban Fantasy books this month under the names of P is for Paranormal, A is for Adventure, and others. So I won't claim these are my five favorites, I'll just say here are five more great Urban Fantasies.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - This book actually hugs the line between urban and high fantasy. It is about the adopted human daughter of Beelzebub, who was raise at the gates to the underworld. The second half of the book focuses primarily on the other world aspects of the story, but the story begins in Prague and most of my favorite scenes are very urban, so for the sake of today's list I'm going to call this great Fantasy and Urban Fantasy.

Infinite Days by Rebecca Marizel - I know, everybody is sick of vampire books, but this is a really good one. Instead of being about a human girl who falls in love with a vampire, it's about a vampire girl who becomes human. For 400 years, Lenah was one of the worlds most powerful and dangerous Vampire Queens, but she always longed to return to her human life that was cut short far to early. So in the early 20th century she undergoes a secret ritual that will allow her to wake up fully human 100 years in the future. Now fully human and hiding at a boarding school in New England, Lenah is trying to come to grips with a new life in a new century. Except that her dangerous old coven is hunting her in hopes of returning her to her vampire state and her old throne.

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - This is a fun werewolf story about a human girl who was rescued from predators that killed her parents as a toddler and raised by a pack of werewolves. As Bryn grows older she finds herself holding an unusual position within pack politics, eventually gaining Alpha status as the packs leader despite remaining human.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore - This is a very funny book about the grim reaper, also known as a soul broker. He actively reaps souls in modern San Fransisco and then sells them to humans needing souls at a pawn shop. It's very tongue in cheek and truly hilarious.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - This is a dark Middle Grade story about a little boy who is raised by an cemetery full of ghosts. Even though Bod is human, he lives in the graveyard and is cared for by it's ancient residents. When dark forces come searching for Bod, he learns there are some things spirits can't do and he has to learn to take care of himself.

What about you? What is your favorite Urban Fantasy?

T is for Time

I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. Unfortunately, as I get closer to the end of the alphabet I'm also beginning to run out of genres. So today, T is for Time. More specifically, today I'm going to recommend books that do interesting things with time. Here are five of my favorite time bending reads.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler - While this book is YA, it is also a great read for 30-somethings like my who were teens back in the mid-90's. Because in this book, when a teenager in 1996 tries to install AOL on her computer she somehow connects to her 2011 Facebook page. She's facebook friends with her next door neighbor, so he is able to view his future too. As the teens make decisions in their teenage lives it changes the status of their future profiles in an entertaining way.

The Little Book by Selden Edwards - This is a weird time-travel book about a modern day rock star who is shot, but instead of dying wakes up in Vienna in the late 19th century. His grandmother is there as a teenager which doesn't surprise him to much. The shocking thing is that his father, who died in WW2 when the rock star was just a baby is also there in Vienna. This bazaar time-traveling family reunion is complicated but still a very entertaining read.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - This is a book that is very hard to classify, but it works for my time bending theme. Jacob grew up hearing crazy stories from his grandfather about the home for peculiar children where he grew up. In the stories this children's home in rural England is filled amazing children possessing all sorts of supernatural abilities. The version of the story Jacob's father tells is that it was really a home for Jewish children hiding the Nazi's during WW2. After Jacob's grandfather dies he travels to England to visit the home and try to piece together more of his families history. He discovers a portal into the past and a home filled with peculiar children even wilder than the stories he always heard from his grandfather.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - I haven't seen this movie but heard really bad things about it. The book, however, is great. It's a touching romance about a woman who falls in love with a time-traveling man. So he appears in her live at all different ages and times. It's kind of sappy, but sappy love stories can be very fun to read.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - This is a great classic middle grade novel about a group of kids that bend time in hopes of saving their father. It has been loved by children for generations, but can also be a fun read for adults.

What about you? What is your favorite time bending tale?

S is for Sci-Fi

I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. So today, S is for Sci-Fi. Here are five of my favorite science fiction stories.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - Somehow, I managed to make it all the way until last December before reading this classic sci-fi. I was shocked at how amazingly good it was. Seriously, this is a classic for a reason. So if you haven't read Ender's Game yet, stop procrastinating and read it already. You wont be sorry.

Feed by M.T. Anderson - In this futuristic world the internet is surgically implanted into people's brains. It's a reality I hope never comes true, but it does make for an interesting narrative structure.

The Host by Sephanie Meyer - I didn't love Twilight, but I really enjoyed The Host. In this book a species of parasitic aliens comes to earth and takes over by inhabiting all the humans. When one human learns to fight back and coexist with her controlling alien they meet up with a group of resisting humans living in a cave.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E Pearson - I guess Jenna Fox is technically a cyborg. Regardless, she's a girl who should be dead but isn't thanks to ethically questionable scientific developments. This story puts a human face on an important ethical debate in what turns out to be an entertaining and thought provoking story.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - This is a story about the last human on earth after a genetically engineered sub-human lab experiment takes over. The story has a nice blend of adventure and philosophy and is an all around very entertaining story.

What about you? What is your favorite science fiction tale?

R is for Romance

I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. So today, R is for Romance. Who doesn't love a good love story? Here are five of my favorites.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - Stephanie Perkins is a great writer and OMG, Cricket is the cutest guy ever to appear within the pages of a YA romance. Oh, and Lola is a great character too, but no, really it's all about Cricket. I totally love this story and cannot recommend it enough.

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt - This is a great younger YA book. When Payton's councilor instructs her to keep a focus object to help her deal with the drama in her family life she picks the back of Sean Griswold's Head, because he sits in front of her in class and he has a really big head. The more she studies Gean's head the more she finds herself curious about the things going on inside it. This is a very PG rated first love story that is more about Payton's family drama that forced her into counseling in the first place than it is about her romance with Sean. But subtle romance can be really compelling and this story is definitely that.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen - Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite YA romance writers and today I'm tossing out The Truth About Forever as my romantic selection. This is a cute story about a predictable girl with a predictable life who spends one summer discovering the beauty of chaos.

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger - There is nothing even remotely PG about this book. It has a LOT of sex. It also has some really great characters. Despite all the licentious behavior, I still cared a lot about these characters and found myself caring about far more than just when they would learn how to keep their pants on.

Awkward by Marni Bates - Marni is one of my good friends, and she is now a published romance novelist, yeah Marni. Awkward is a really funny book about a girl who's most embarrassing moment is captured on camera and uploaded to you-tube. Before she can say oops, the video has gone viral and Justin Timberlake is making fun of her on twitter. It's a really fun read with a proper smattering of cute boys tossed between uncomfortable situations.

What about you? What is your favorite romantic read?