Bossypants - by Tina Fey

How can you not love Tina Fey? Throughout this book she tries to make it seem like she has succeeded in spite of herself. She is immensely talented! There are so many places in the book that are laugh-out-loud funny. She tells amusing stories about the cast of Saturday Night Live, gives good overviews of the politics of the show, and also goes way back to when she was in theatre in Chicago. The stories of her time at SNL playing Sarah Palin are hilarious! The book is conversational and a really quick read. Definitely one of my favorite books of the year!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - by Stephen Chbosky

I loved this book. Charlie is an odd 15 year old kid who spends a lot of time reading books to quiet his brain. We are let in on the fact that Charlie had a breakdown a while ago and while he is recovering nicely, his family is still on the lookout for signs of problems. Charlie makes some friends including Patrick and Sam, who are brother and sister. The list of "first experiences" that Charlie has in this story is long and yet he makes it through in pretty good shape. It is the secret he has been carrying since childhood, though, that was the reason for his breakdown. This is a must-read for anyone who likes quirky characters. These few sentences did not do the book justice.

The Social Animal - by David Brooks

David Brooks writes a pretty fascinating book about how a person's culture affects his life. He alternates chapters about human development and psychology with chapters that use characters that embody these characteristics. One of his major points is that people develop in relation to others and in relation to the experiences they encounter in life. The events that help shape an individual (family life, friends during childhood, tragic events, etc) influence how a person lives their lives. This point may seem obvious but along the way Brooks feeds the reader a steady diet of psychological studies that shed light on why people behave as they do. An interesting read.

The Juvie Three - by Gordon Korman

Douglas Healy has set up a halfway house for a few juvenile delinquents. All three of the boys, Gecko, Terrance and Arjay, were convicted of crimes based on shaky evidence. Healy thinks that he can assimilate them back into society and help them get their lives in order. One night, while trying to stop the boys from going out after curfew, Healy is knocked off of a second story fire escape. He is taken to the hospital as a "John Doe". It is up to the boys to lay low and do exactly as they are supposed to in order to keep the caseworker from visiting and discovering their secret. They file Healy's reports to the court, infiltrate the hospital in which Healy is being treated (he is unconscious), and behave well enough to keep the nosy neighbors away - for now.

Twelfth Grade Kills (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod #5) - by Heather Brewer

It looks bad for Vlad. The Elysian Council has decided that Vlad must die in a matter of weeks. At the same time, the Slayer Society aims to kill him, or, if they cannot kill him, they will kill the entire citizenry of Bathory. A bloodbath is inevitable. Vlad can fulfill the prophecy of the Pravis but he does not know who he can trust. Those on whom he thought he could rely are no longer loyal to him. His judgment will be tested as he tries to make it to high school graduation!

Revolution - by Jennifer Donnelly

This book is pretty extraordinary. Andi, a very talented and pissed-off teenage girl, is having a tough time at school. Her family life is miserable: her father is never home, her mother is bordering on insane and her younger brother has died (Andi thinks his death was her fault). Through it all, music is her one escape.

Eventually she accompanies her father on a trip to France where she discovers a diary belonging to Alexandrine Paradis, a girl who lives through the French Revolution. This book flashes from present to past as it evolves with each of the chapters more riveting than the last. Andi learns of true heartbreak and a level of sadness that even she has not experienced. This is a first-rate piece of historical fiction. Excellent stuff!

Empire: The Novel of Imperial Rome - by Steven Saylor

This is the next book in the Roma saga. It picks up after the assassination of Julius Caesar and goes through the reign of Augustus to the height of the Roman Empire. All of the stories are told through the eyes of the Pinarius and Potitius families. We get a look into the greatness and madness of some of the emperors like Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Trajan and Hadrian. There are some riveting and barbaric scenes in this book: the Great Fire and the persecution of the Christians. While I still cannot put all of the Roman Emperors in order, I do have a greater sense of who they are. Saylor fleshes out the history with stories and these stories are memorable.

Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome - by Steven Saylor

I love this book! Anytime I can read history in novel form, I do. This book begins in the time of Romulus and Remus and traces the history of Rome through two founding families: the Pinarius and the Potitius. The story traces the ownership of a talisman as old as the city itself, which is passed from father to son. Since these families always play a key role in the politics of the day, the reader gets a great picture of what life was like in ancient Rome, what the emperors were like, and what the political climate was at the time. This book concentrates on the beginning of Rome through the assassination of Julius Caesar. A real saga.

Everlost - by Neil Shusterman

Nick and Allie die in a car crash but like many books lately, they hang around in some middle-world, able to see what is going on in the real world while dealing with others who are suspended in this middle world as well. In Shusterman's book, there is a whole hierarchical society of kids who live in this limbo they call Everlost. The world that he creates is intriguing and the characteristics of the kids in this state, like sinking into a road as if it were quicksand, are clever. This is the first of a series. The first book is good enough to want to go on with the series. Good stuff.

Blood Crimes: Book One - by David Zeltserman

At first I didn't think I would like this book but I was drawn in anyhow. The main characters are Jim, who is infected with a vampire virus, and Carol, who is not. They make their way cross-country so that Jim can feed off of the worst of society (Hello Dexter!). Carol is a willing accomplice, acting as the bait to draw in a lowlife, so that Jim can sweep in, save her and feed. What they don't know is that there are others that are hot on their trail. This is a great summer beach book. The story moves quickly and it keeps the reader interested. It won't win any prizes, but it's a good read.

The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education - by Diane Ravitch

This may be my favorite book of the year and I am not an education policy geek. Ravitch goes through the major educational reform movements and shows the successes and failures of each. She demonstrates why the worst reform movements are the ones that treat schools like businesses. From New York to San Diego, Ravitch puts in countless hours of research before writing up her findings in surprisingly readable prose. This is a good book that gives great insight into why large urban districts are "failing". I first heard about this book on The Daily Show. The conclusion I drew from the book is that we are much better off with educators in charge of education.

13 Little Blue Envelopes - Maureen Johnson

Ginny receives a package with 13 little blue envelopes from her "artistic" aunt. The package was delivered to Ginny upon her aunt's death. Each envelope is an instruction, "Take a plane to London and find this address...". These 13 envelopes take Ginny on a journey halfway around the world. She meets an interesting cast of characters along the way. The envelopes provide Ginny with insight into her aunt's life and the people she met before her death. While the method is similar to that in the book 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, the story is much more uplifting. It is a fun book to read.

The Singer's Gun - by Emily St. John Mandel

Anton Walker grew up in a corrupt household. His parents sold stolen goods and he and his cousin Aria began selling fake passports and other documents at an early age. As Anton tries to get out of the family business, his cousin is starting a whole new side to the business: human trafficking. This novel traces the corruption, back-stabbing, infidelity, murder that surround Anton's life.

In addition to Anton's family and business, he is to be married to a woman who has canceled the wedding twice already. What a twisted life this man leads. The book has enough intrigue to keep the pages turning and is set in some beautiful places. Really worth reading.

Darkness Under the Sun - by Dean Koontz

This is a spooky story about a killer named Alton Turner Blackwood, a man so ugly he could scare animals. He has a chance meeting with a boy whose injury has left him physically unattractive. While the boy tries to strike up a friendship with this transient, Blackwood is planning to torture and kill the boy's sister and mother. Through a couple of twists and turns the boy realizes that Blackwood is not his friend at all. Koontz creates a character in Blackwood who is as evil as the boy is innocent.

This is a short novel and serves as a prequel to What the Night Knows. Good stuff!

Hick - by Andrea Portes

Luli is a survivor in a poor, dysfunctional family. Luli's mom is an opportunist with a dramatic flair and her father is a drunk who is hopelessly in love with her. They drink, they fight, they drink some more, they fight some more. Luli knows how big the fights are going to be by how many drinks her parents have had. A three-drink fight is nothing but a nine-drink fight - look out! Luli takes off one day and gets picked up from a roadside ditch by Glenda. From here things get pretty bad for Luli. She deals with some pretty ugly stuff and comes through pretty much intact. This story is told in first person from Luli's point of view. This is a great read! Luli draws you in to the narrative and does not let go!