Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

On his way to visit his father in the Canadian oil fields, the small plane carrying 13-year-old Brian veers off course and crashes. Up until that point, his parents' divorce was the biggest problem the "city slicker" boy had endured. Now, he must figure out how to survive.

I chose this one off The Great American Read list for the library's book discussion group. I'd never read it, and I had to do the audiobook because HELLO PETER COYOTE!

It's short - it's a juvenile book that checks in at about 200 pages and 3 hours of audio - but I was surprised by how quickly the ending snuck up on me. I got so used to survival mode that, like Brian, I maybe forgot that rescue was an option.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown

In the finale of the Red Rising trilogy, Darrow and the Sons of Ares rise to battle for control of Mars - and other planets in the modern system too. Their goal is the end of government based upon class distinction and birth caste. The battle is mighty.

While Red Rising was about character development and Golden Son was about political positioning, Morning Star is completely about the war: battles, fighting, blood, death, strategy and survival. Who can you trust, and who must you kill? But also, is it all worth it?

This book has twists and heartbreaking betrayals, and just when you think you know how it will end, it twists again. Oh!

What a great series, overall. Highly recommended!

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

In the second of the Red Rising trilogy, class rebellion is nearer to erupting as red-hiding-as-gold Darrow negotiates the political and social intrigue of the ruling class.

This book is all about tactical planning - political, social, and in battle. There are crosses and double-crosses, friends who turn out to be enemies and enemies who aren't what they seem either, and lots of literal and figurative backstabbing.

While Darrow believes every person should be free, he can't let that be know. And now that he's lived among the ruling class for a few years - and enjoyed the fruits of that class' position on the hierarchy - does he still have the drive his wife Eo's death once lit within him?

I could NOT put this book down. It's all scheming and doing, running and fighting, leading and inspiring - action from start to finish. I'm totally recommending this series to my teenage nephew as his next read (and I cannot wait for Morning Star).

The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

In this third book in the Fox and O'Hare series, our favorite uptight FBI agent and her handsome rogue con are working to 1) clear his name in a bunch of international thefts he didn't do, 2) bring down a major player in the drug-smuggling world.

They find an ingenious way to tease a crook out of hiding, then take him for everything he's worth. There's lots of Hollywood theatrics that make the con work, and the usual cast of characters joins the job: Kate's retired Special Forces dad and his undercover buddies, drive-the-wheels-off-anything Willie, eccentric Method actor Boyd. plus a few new faces too.

It's a light read, but also hard to put down. I've loved every one of these books, and this one's the best yet.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Darrow's part of a hard-working clan who spend their difficult, short lives mining underground on Mars in order to make the planet above hospitable for future colonization.

So he's shocked to discover everything he knows is a lie - for one, that Mars aboveground and many, many other planets and moons have been successfully inhabited for a very long time - when he's given an opportunity to join the rebellion and try to change things.

Comparisons to the Hunger Games series is inevitable - a "game" between young people that leads to the victor's eventual success in politics and society. But this book stands on its own - I didn't feel it was reactionary or derivative of Suzanne Collins' series. It's a great action-adventure story, full of strategy and twists, espionage and doubletalk. It's easy to forget (as it is for the competitors) that there's more to life on Mars than what's happening inside the game.

The book ends in a place that made me say "REALLY? Really!" and the countdown for the second in the series has begun ("Golden Son" has a January release date).

Lexicon by Max Barry

As unlikely as it seems, this is a geeky word-nerd action-adventure novel with guns. Seriously!

A secret organization has discovered how to control people simply with language: using the right combination of sounds, and they can instantly hotwire your brain to believe anything or do anything they tell you. They call it "compromising" a person, and the expert practitioners of this art are called poets.

This is a fast-moving, hard to put down book. The story shifts around in time a bit, so you're often uncertain if the events are now, later, or before - which adds to the suspense. What students we meet will eventually become the poets? What on earth did they unleash in Australia? Seriously, a WORD could do that?!?

It's very good, and moves along quickly. Once I finally picked it up, I read it in just 2 days.

The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

It's a familiar setup: a wily con man with a true talent for the big score and an FBI agent who will stake her career and go to any lengths to capture him. There's a bit of professional teasing and sexual tension that drives their cat-and-mouse game, but midway through the book things shift and the game changes when they're asked to work together, playing for the same side to bring down an even worse bad guy.

This is a great, funny book that moves at lightning speed. The combination of these two writers brought out the best in both: Evanovich's comedic female lead is wittier, faster, and more competent with Goldberg's lift.

You can tell this will be a new series (and this book introduces us to a great cast of characters I'm anxious to explore) yet this book feels whole - it's not simply a lead-in setting the platform for something bigger. The story's complete and satisfying, but I guarantee it will leave you wanting more.

Perry's Killer Playlist by Joe Schreiber

Perry's got a new, sophisticated girlfriend, and the band's going on a European tour ... which will probably lead to a record deal. What could possibly go wrong?

This book picks up in the fall, about six months since Perry nearly got killed on prom night in "Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick." Europe is a big continent - there's no way the band will run into Gobi, right? And especially not when Perry goes looking for her at their pre-assigned "someday" meeting place in Venice.


With chapter headings that are song titles, I really want to create an actual playlist of this book; the music's a blend of hip alternative, classic punk and kitchy cheese.

Again, the action-adventure is big-budget movie-worthy. Guns get turned and the double-cross is stunning but not entirely unexpected. Fast action and quick chapters make this entertaining story zip right along.

Binky Adventure series by Ashley Spires

If you've ever lived with and loved a feline, you'll appreciate Binky's cat-ness. Binky thinks he's a brave, adventurous, hero cat - which means in reality, he's a sleepy, crazy, and utterly normal kitty with a rich fantasy life. Much of his time is consumed by napping, eating, stretching, and chasing bugs - when he's not building rocketships, digging secret tunnels, and generally saving mankind. Holy fuzzybutt!

Each of these graphic-novel style books are only 64 pages long- but each page packs a wallop with anywhere from 3-10 panels in evolving and continually shifting configurations.

While they books are generally marketed to children, there's no way you adults won't find a few grins at Binky's expense. Great for reluctant readers of all ages!

Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I have been threatened that if I did not read these books SOON, I would no longer be sheltered from spoilers. So as my end-of-vacation and holiday-weekends converged, I consumed all three books. I'm going to blog them together but discuss each a bit individually too.

Overall, I loved this series - obviously, I read them all, and fast. Although I had moments of despair, I forced myself to remember that one of my favorite 12-year-old boys told me to plod on ... it gets better. So if he could endure the "which-boy-should-I-choose" dithering, so should I.

• "The Hunger Games" was my favorite of the three - fast-moving drama, unexpected twists. Several times I shouted out loud to myself as I was surprised by the direction of the story. "Romeo and Juliet!" I exclaimed at one point. Nice!

• About halfway through "Catching Fire" I got frustrated. It had deteriorated into Bella Swan territory with the helpless fretting on which boy I should love. Yuck. (Even though I did love the Twilight books) But once the Games began, I was again captivated. I loved the new characters and learning their histories and motivations.

• "Mockingjay" threatened to be just like every other dystopian future fiction: establishing a new colony, reinventing government, chafing at uniformity, etc. And again, once the action began I was swept away. I didn't know what would happen in the end, yet was satisfied by both the events and their conclusion.

Collins does a phenomenal job with the characters in this series. The victors stories were amazing, and kept getting better the more you knew. Even characters that had been present from the start continued to evolve in the third book. You could never just assume you knew anybody. And I thought that was brilliant.

I'll recommend these books - but will add the disclaimer I was given: Keep going. Whatever drags the narrative down will eventually pick up again. It gets better!

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

A boring, forced prom date with the foreign exchange student turns into a night of action and adventure the likes of which high school senior Perry Stormaire could never have imagined.

This book is a movie waiting to happen (and apparently, Hollywood agrees) with gun battles, frumpy-to-fierce wardrobe change, and a tuxedo that becomes more and more tattered throughout the evening. Edge-of-the-seat exciting, with super-fast chapter breaks and a truly riveting storyline, this book is a major keeper; it's easily one of my new favorite teen books.