Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas

Lisa Kleypas is one of my favorite historical romance writers, and this was her first foray into contemporary. It was of course well written because she is a good writer, so I did enjoy it, even though contemporary isn't my favorite. She also wrote in the first person which I generally don't like, but at least it wasn't in the present tense. I read it in one night because I couldn't put it down and I didn't even know until near the end who the hero was going to be. I was disappointed at first until I realized that the heroine made a wise decision. It was so interesting to see how Kleypas described the life of a contemporary character who had a rough life and came out on top. She made the book more than just a romance- it was an actual book about a character, rather than just about the relationship between a hero and heroine. I can't wait to read Blue-Eyed Devil, which is the story of one of the characters in the book.

Taken by Edward Bloor

Edward Bloor's books are always well-written and imaginative in a way that appeals to their target readers, and Taken is no different. In 2036, society is much different- the gap between economic classes is vast and people with money are forced to live behind gates and arm themselves and their servants for protection. In a way that shows just how directly this book is influenced by modern society, reliable medical care is notoriously difficult to come by. Rich people have qualified doctors at their service, while in the poor neighborhoods, anybody can open a clinic and call themselves a doctor, even with no medical equipment, and charge whatever they want.

At the opening of the story, Charity awakes to find that she has been "taken" and is being held for ransom. Being taken is a common way for the lower class to make money, and the kidnappings generally go off without a hitch. Children are taught at school to go along with their kidnappers and that the ordeal will be over within 24 hours, when the parents pay money and get their kids back. So Charity starts out basically unconcerned and is confident that her father will pay the ransom and get her back easily. As the story unfolds though, and alternate between the present and flashbacks, she begins to piece together unsettling details that lead her to believe she may be in over head. The flashbacks also serve to describe the world as it is in 2036, and while kids are basically the same as they are now, everything around them is different.

Eventually scenes of high drama lead to a surprising but satisfying conclusion, as the reader has the chance to think about ways in which our society has led to that of Charity's.

Tangerine will always be my favorite book by Bloor, but Taken was a very interesting story that would especially appeal to middle school age readers.

Town Boy by Lat

This book, the sequel to Kampung Boy, was even funnier even though it lost the charm of the country setting. The main character Mat has begun attending school in town, Ipoh, and his daily adventures are related through words and pictures. It's the 1960s so all the boys walk around with a classic rock and roll swagger that Lat portrays perfectly through nothing more than a series of lines.

The boys all think they're so cool and original, and Lat draws them all standing in a line outside the cinema, each with the exact same rebellious pose which isn't quite so rebellious when it's ten boys lined up, with the only difference between them all their height.

The book spans Mat's teen years and many of the things that befall him during that time. He spends a lot of time in school learning many different subjects, and because he is now in town , there are people with very different backgrounds than himself, especially Frankie, his soon to be best friend who is Chinese. There is of course a beautiful girl that everyone in town likes, and who Mat actually gets the courage to invite to a movie one day. One of the funniest scenes is when the boys are doing this required run for school, which includes crossing the river, and Mat and his friend decide to use the forbidden bridge. Unfortunately, they are ambushed by the principal at the other end and punished. Anecdotes like this would be interesting even if only written on words, but Lat's drawings make the scenes so much richer and even more entertaining.The book spans Mat's teen years and many of the things that befall him during that time. He spends a lot of time in school learning many different subjects, and because he is now in town , there are people with very different backgrounds than himself, especially Frankie, his soon to be best friend who is Chinese. There is of course a beautiful girl that everyone in town likes, and who Mat actually gets the courage to invite to a movie one day. One of the funniest scenes is when the boys are doing this required run for school, which includes crossing the river, and Mat and his friend decide to use the forbidden bridge. Unfortunately, they are ambushed by the principal at the other end and punished. Anecdotes like this would be enjoyable even if only written in words, but Lat's drawings make the scenes so much richer and even more entertaining.

What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles

This book was quite short and super quick to read, but I enjoyed plowing through it. Up until the end at least.

It's told from the perspective of two teenagers- Kyle Kirby and Cass McBride, and alternates chapters between their two points of view. It turns out that Kyle's younger brother David has recently committed suicide and he holds the popular social butterfly Cass to blame. He comes up with what he considers a fitting punishment, and as the drama unfolds through the narrative, police detectives are working to uncover exactly what happened before it's too late.

Throughout the course of the story, both of the main characters reveal more about themselves and their motivations than they intend to, and it seems that they both have reasons for behaving the way they do.

This was a good story throughout, but I was quite disappointed by the ending. I felt it took what could have been a greater book about serious issues and turned it into an episode of Without a Trace, and sort of made light of the serious actions and consequences of the story.

Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja

Buddha Boy is a YA book about bullying that takes a different and refreshing look at a common topic. Justin, the narrator, is a sophomore at a typical high school in an affluent community, where he is just trying to make it through the year without garnering excessive attention. He has a couple of close friends, Jakob and Megan, and the three of them form a tight knit group. As far as Justin is concerned, the three of them only need each other.

That is, until Jinsen arrives on the scene, a strange new student with no self-consciousness, who begs at lunch tables and who seems impervious to taunts and harassment. Justin doesn't think it's funny when the jocks make fun of Jinsen and throw things at him, but there's nothing he can do about it except not participate. Justin and Jinsen end up paired in a group project, and Justin reluctantly gets to know his partner better. Jinsen turns out to be a fantastic artist and attends the Buddhist temple. It's his faith that enables him to ignore the mistreatment of his peers, but as Justin comes to know, like, and respect Jinsen, it's not as easy for him to put up with the ignorance and bad behavior of his classmates.

Because the narrator was a separate character from the kid who was getting bullied, I was worried for a lot of the book that Justin was only describing events as they occurred and that something really bad was going to happen. Luckily, over time Justin became more involved in the story and was a more active participant, and I felt like this happened at a realistic pace. I enjoyed reading about a kid who felt the peer pressure but didn't necessarily buy into it. Justin was also confident in his friends even though they were less accepting of Jinsen at first, and he was lucky to have a supportive, functional family.

I ended up listening to the book on tape because it was more readily available than the print version, and I am not an audiobook kind of person. I enjoyed the story well enough but I would have probably liked it much better if I had read it on paper. I was never able to go back and check something I had read earlier as I often do. The vocies were distracting as well- they often didn't have the tone or inflection I would have expected. I wouldn't choose a full cast reading if I listened to another audiobook. But I feel like they are worth trying every so often considering their popularity.

Arrogant Invader by Jenny Arden

For one I don't know why I let this book get to me, and for two my life would be so much simpler if I could resist reading everything I see in print. I would never have inflicted this book upon myself. I don't even know how it got into my house- it's a Mills & Boon title from 1990 that I saw lying under some other books, including a Christopher Pike behind a bookcase between my room and my brother's.

Usually I can give this type of category romance some leeway in the realism department because I know what to expect, but lately I haven't able to take them with a grain of salt, which is why this book irritated the crap out of me.

The story opens with Gwenyth and her fiancé Marc flying into Wales from France where they met and fell in love during her junior year abroad. G is taking M home to meet her family as a surprise. So far everything seems good- G & M are in love, he has a successful career in France, she's sporting a big old rock on her finger, he's French and she's a French major. As far as I'm concerned, that's an HEA right there. However, when they land expecting to be greeted by G's father, they're surprised to see Jeb, the arrogant jerk who bought out G's father a few years back when he was injured at his slate quarry.

The antagonism between J & G is palpable as he begins subtly taunting her, slipping into an old familiar pattern. Apparently he's amused by her irritation and dislike of him, which is bad romance shorthand for a latent sexual attraction that she's too sweetly naive to pick up on. J is snide to the fiancé, harasses G when they're alone together, even casting aspersions on M's ability in bed even though G's obviously a perfect virginal heroine, and otherwise comes across as a rude, arrogant jerk, except around the rest of the family who finds him charming and generous.

This is how the book proceeds- J's harassing G left and right, grabbing her and kissing her until she submits to his will, making fun of her fiancé, and eventually blackmailing her, virtually forcing her to dump M and marry him. The one advantage I found him to have over M and which apparently proves that M is bad husband material, is that J wants G to finish the last year of her degree before spending the rest of her life as a SAHM, while M wants her to begin the SAHM part immediately and to quit her fourth year of studies. She already knows French after all, so why get the piece of paper to prove it? I'm inclined to agree with M in this because it's not like she needs the degree to pursue a career or anything; she's never going to work outside the home and she's already successfully been living in France.

But of course J eventually convinces G that M will stifle her and would otherwise be wrong for her. He also issues a challenge to M saying that he plans to court G himself. This made me so mad! He should have respected the ring on her finger. If he had been nice to her at any point during the years of their acquaintance, that would have redeemed him more than his eventual confession that he did it all for love. Not to mention the blackmail- her father needs a job at the quarry because of bad investments, and J says he will offer the job if G agrees to marry him. I can't see a heroine falling in love with a man like that, but more likely with a man who would help her family out because it's the right thing to do.

J and G have their sham of a wedding but she is unable to go through with the wedding night because she has gone and fallen in love with her masterful new husband. After her tearful confession he professes his long hidden love and they proceed to have the best sex ever, and presumably live happily ever after.

I hated that J couldn't just be nice to the woman he loves, and I hated G's lack of self-awareness- apparently all the bad feelings J made her feel were really the hots that she had for him. This is a common romance novel heroine theme- they hate the hero, don't get along with him despite his cold handsomeness, they get angry whenever they're around him, and then one day this is all magically converted into true love. This seems like laziness on the writer's part- the better writers are able to make a conflict out of something believable and can make a budding attraction feel like something delicious and worth exploring.The book really is typical for its time, and I certainly took it way too seriously and personally, but I'm glad category writing standards have come so far since then-well, some of them anyway.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

This book was absolutely captivating and well-written. Everything about it just fit together so well. Green did an excellent job of both characterization and scene-setting.

Colin has just finished high school and been dumped by his 19th girlfriend named Katherine. He's at a loss of how to spend his summer when his best friend Hassan proposes a road trip. They end up in the hick town of Gutshot, Tennessee, where they decide to settle down for a while.

The thing is, the author could have written any series of adventures for these characters and it would have been equally as entertaining. Colin's a former child prodigy who feels that since he has outgrown his prodigy-hood, he has nothing else interesting or unique to show the world. To me it seemed like he had a touch of Asperger's, but that is never mentioned in the book. Hassan is his devout-Muslim-when-it-suits-him friend who graduated from high school a year prior and although he's smart, he specializes in laziness. He's the fat funny kid. The author does really well at showing people's common insecurities, and he effectively deals with the theme of being able to be yourself. All the main characters deal with some form of this issue.

I would absolutely love to read a sequel to this book- I just want to know more about Colin's life and see how things turn out for him.

Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock

This YA novel was a very enjoyable story that ended too quickly for me. I read it because I had to and didn't expect to like it, or really to sympathize with the protagonist who farms and plays football, but I really ending up liking her, and I felt the author captured the voice of a teenage girl very well.

D.J.’s father is waiting for a hip replacement and is unable to get around without a walker, so D.J. is basically running the family’s dairy farm on her own. A close family friend who happens to be the rival high school’s football coach in a town where high school football is taken very seriously, sends over his quarterback to help out with the chores but also to teach him how to work. D.J. is nonplussed at the idea of training a privileged, lazy town kid the ropes of haying, baling, and milking and makes this clear through her superior attitude, but D.J. and Brian eventually learn to at least get along and work side by side, whether they’re thrilled about it or not. At the same time that she is trying to sort through her own feelings about life and choices we make, she realizes that not only would she make a good personal trainer for Brian but also that she might make a pretty good football player herself.


D.J. has an engaging and amusing personality; she is self-aware but not unrealistically so. She is aware of her shortcomings, often judging herself too harshly. Although she sometimes wishes things were different, like her looks, her family’s lifestyle, her social life, she doesn’t spend time complaining or sulking but has a pragmatic attitude and does what she needs to. She is an admirable character and speaks in a refreshing voice. There is much description of football and of farming, and while it’s clear that the author is knowledgeable about both, her tone is neither condescending nor didactic. Murdock describes both these subjects in a conversational way so the tone of the story is never interrupted but the description is all there. I also loved the way she didn’t sugarcoat anything; she was frank about the hardships people face.


D.J. was a character I would have still enjoyed reading about even if the book was more serious or weighty, which is often not the case with YA novels. I would love to read more about her.