The Lonely Hearts Club

Penny is sick and tired of so-called love. Her boyfriend has cheated on her, and thinks apologizing is enough. Yeah, right. From what she has experienced, all boys are the same- cheaters or dumpers. And she is tired of being the dump-ee. So, she starts up the Lonely Hearts Club. Even though she is the only member, she is certain that she will not lose sight of the purpose of this club- to swear off boys and dating. What she doesn't realize is how eager her friends and schoolmates will be to join her. But what happens when Penny decides she doesn't dislike all boys after all? How can she drop out of her own club?

Sisterhood Everlasting

Ten years after we last left them, the 4 "sisters" are back. Carmen, Bee, Tibby, and Lena have all traveled to their own corners of the world and taken up different careers and lifestyles, but in their hearts they all have that same deep connection they did when they were in highschool. Sometimes it can be more complicated though. It seems like they all have secrets and things they dislike about themselves and theur lives (doesn't everyone?) and that none of them know how to make the connection and start up their close friendship again. Who could've known that it would take several tragedies to bring them all together?

Wither

When Rhine is just a teenager, she is captured in a truck with a bunch of other girls. A lot of the other girls are shot, but Rhine survives and is taken to a mysterious house. She is then married, along with 2 other girls, to a young man whose wife is dying. She is dying from the virus. They all are, not knowing how much longer they have. A few years, maximum. The virus strikes and kills men and women alike in their early twenties. Rhine has a happy enough life. While her sister wives are struggling to please and survive, she is a favorite among her new husband and father-in-law. Maybe its her one green eye, and one blue. Or maybe it's because she so resembles Rose, the deceased wife. Whatever the reason, Rhine finds it easier to escape the daily trials like becoming pregnant or talking to her father-in-law that has a lab underneath the house where he looks for a cure to the virus. This book is the best I've read in a long time. I highly recommend it.

Break

Jonah is hurting inside, but he doesn't want to admit it. His brother Jesse is allergic to almost every food. His 8 month old brother, Will has some kind of colic. His life is crazy, filled with visits to the ER and babysitting one or both of his brothers. But Jonah doesn't realize that when he starts out on a mission to break all of his bones...yep, all of them...that it will cause other people pain too. He thinks that breaking his bones will cause them to come back stronger. But what he doesn't realize is that the situations in his life might make him just as strong.

Between Shades of Gray

This book is set in 1941 during the deportation of Eastern Europe to Siberia. Lina, a 15 year old girl is the narrator, and her voice is clear, telling of the horrors she and her family had to try and survive while being tortured by Stalin's soldiers. Lina is first, separated from her father. Then the soldiers try to get her mother to agree to be a translator for them between the soldiers and the deportee's. She suspects her cousin may be a traitor and also her could be boyfriend. Then her brother gets deathly ill. Through all of these trials, Lina is able to put on an about-face and stand firm for her beliefs, all the while trying to find her father and just survive.

The Happiness Project

This is a non-fiction book that is very inspiring. If anyone wants to borrow it, they can...okay, anyone that knows me personally! The woman who wrote it was fed up with New Years resolutions and not keeping them, so instead she drew up a graph and started her Happiness Project. The book is split up into months (I read one a month) and it has tabs that tell what the author's goals were for that particular month. Things like singing in the morning, how to be happier, play more, and take time for yourself are just a few of the subjects and projects she tried and completed. I think the world would be a better place if we all did our own Happiness Projects!

Cryer's Cross

Last spring a girl went missing from the small town of Cryer's Cross. Nearly everyone in the town searched for her, but she was never found. Ever since, the citizens have been on their guard just waiting for whoever took her to make their next move. In late summer, just as school is beginning again, a boy, Nico goes missing. And his best friend/girlfriend is left feeling scared and hurt and alone. She has so many questions running through her head. The questions, paired with her OCD nearly drives Kendall insane, or so she thinks. Butt then she realizes that she hears Nico's voice when she is near his old desk...the desk that was also the missing girls. This book is gripping, and terrifying, telling the story so well, you might just have nightmares as Kendall comes closer to the truth.