Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

It's the typical rock and roll story arc: youngsters form a band, tour and party, find fame, then eventually self-destruct. Always captivating, and somehow I never get tired of reading it!

This time it's fictional, but that's sooo easy to forget while reading this one. The book's written in the typical music bio style of quotes drawn from interviews with those involved. The players don't agree about what happened exactly, and we get multiple perspectives on the drama.

The Six is a 1970s group led by Billy Dunne. He recruits his brother, another pair of brothers, and a couple other musicians (including a female keyboard player), and they eventually get some notice as a straight-forward rock band. They get along, they fight, somebody has a crush on the girl.

Daisy Jones is a wild child with a killer voice and the face of an angel. She wants to be a star, but she doesn't want to sing somebody else's words. Plus, she's got major rock star "habits," even before the fame. Eventually, somebody decides The Six and Daisy should work together.

You think you know what will happen, but you can't be sure - no Wikipedia to check the stories, and there's no YouTube clips to watch because THIS IS FICTION! (Continually, I wanted to actually hear these songs!) And there are surprises along the way.

I loved this one a whole lot. It's like "A Star Is Born" mixed with the juiciest rock bios. Love, ego, drugs, and flashes of genius. Divine.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

The end is nigh (or maybe not)!

An unlikely angel and an odd devil work together to stop Armageddon in this genius partnership between two of my favorite writers. I picked it up now because it's about to be released as a TV series with Gaiman at its helm.

A kid in England is actually the Antichrist, but nobody knows that. Every time he thinks about something hard enough (Atlantis, UFOs, or tunnels to China) it happens - and let's just say Adam is a real thinker.

It's very funny, and wicked smart, so I can't wait to see how they film it, since Neil's overseeing it so maybe they can't bleed the fun out of it.

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

Dancing through the New York drag ball scene of the 1980s, this is a heartbreaking, fantastic story of love and friendship.

A young queen in love begins the first Latino house on the circuit. But we know gay love stories of the 80s usually end badly, so she must rely on friends to be her real family. There is music and fashion, there are drugs and there are tears. There is money to be made the hard way, because there is always rent to be paid.

But don't let me depress you out of reading this, because it's wonderful. Angel and Venus and Hector and Daniel and all the rest are friends you'll be glad to have met.

Also, the 80s weren't so long ago, and we should not forget.

Behind You by Jacqueline Woodson

In a follow-up to If You Come Softly, Woodson explores what a life without Miah feels like for his family, friends, and girlfriend.

It's a short book (about a hundred pages) and I'm not sure how strongly it would stand on its own if you haven't read the first book. But as a continuation of the story - as a pondering of "what comes next" I enjoyed this revisiting of the characters. Each character deals with grief in their own way, and for that exploration, it might be valuable for teens - you get to see lots of different ways to react to life's changes.

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson

My sewing friends and fans of historical fiction will love this one - a novel based on the real-life women who sewed the gown worn by England's future Queen Elizabeth when she married in 1947.

Two women, survivors of the recent wars, become friends over their embroidery frame working in the London fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Because of their skill, the friends are chosen to work on a very special, ultra-secret dress. Their stories are contrasted with a modern Canadian woman seeking information about her recently deceased grandmother, who bequeathed her some unexplained samples of exquisite lace embroidery.

The book is very, very well done. I was captivated by the historical fiction sections, with these brave women who had survived so much. Also, there's so much of the story that's true and it's possible to lose yourself for hours researching the real fashion houses of Europe and royal sartorial history.

Little Fish by Casey Plett

When she's told her grandfather may have been "like her," a Canadian woman seeks out more information. Because that's more interesting than figuring out the now ... where Wendy and all her trans friends are living pretty close to the edge: drinking too much, partying too hard, dangerously fraying around the edges, picking up sex work for cash.

It's a bleak story, but fresh and true in an amazing way. Wendy knows things aren't great, but she can't drum up the fucks nor the cash to do much about it. Even if you don't know someone exactly like this, you know (or have been) close enough for this story to ring true. Additionally, it's an interesting look at a group of true friends in a unique situation - trans women just living their lives, figuring shit out, and supporting one another.

Elevation by Stephen King

When a man starts losing weight (but not getting any smaller), he uses the strange situation to subtly affect change in his small town.

When we meet Scott, he's embroiled in a nasty disagreement with his lesbian restauranteur neighbors about their dogs pooping in his yard. He's super-busy with a big project for his website development business, but unhappily divorced and lacking human connections. He visits with a retired doctor about the weight problem, not because he thinks there's a cure but because he wants someone to confide in.

As his health problem becomes more extreme, Scott takes on "fixing" things with his neighbors as a project. A sort of quest, as you may.

I had a hard time starting this book - I actually read the first 30 pages twice, because I'd set it down for quite a while and had to begin again. But once I got into it, I was hooked. It's a modern parable about the "weight" of one person on a community. Bonus: I had no idea what would happen in the end!

Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner

Sixth grade was supposed to be different. But AJ's still short, still boring, and still invisible to the girl of his dreams. When he's paired with the lovely Nia for a class project, he begins adopting various characteristics of pop culture vampires to draw her attention.

I really enjoyed this middle-grade graphic novel with its mish-mash of vampire lore and all the angst 11-year-olds can inhabit. It wasn't as predictable as I'd feared, and I quite enjoyed the twists.

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

While watching The Magnificent Seven at the local cinema, a young woman is struck by an idea. Nayeli and three friends set off on a quest (like all epic stories) to America to find seven men to return to their village and begin life there anew.

It's a fun, entertaining "road story" as the group encounters big cities, bus travel, new experiences, love and lust, illegal border crossing, American tourists, and much more.

While written in 2009, the story has some very timely elements. The Mexicans in the book have many, many opinions about migration from the south (and control of their southern border) along with simultaneous, opposing opinions about migration to the north and control of the northern border.

I'd highly recommend listening to this one: The book is an interesting blend of English and Mexican-Spanish - some translated, some left to inference - which made it a fantastic audiobook full of language and nuance and local flavor.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

A gang of tough boys form their own kind of family in a world that doesn't accept them. Conflicts with the popular kids, avoidance of the law, and general poverty conspire to make life tough for a 14-year-old boy and his gang.

This is the book that's widely celebrated as introducing the genre of teen literature - before this, books were either for children or adults with nothing in between. I picked this one for the library's book discussion from The Great American Read's list because somehow I missed this as a teen. Stranger yet, I'd also never seen the movie. Got 'em both out of the way now!

I enjoyed the book, but it's dated. There's still plenty to talk about, and there are universal thoughts and discoveries to be found within ... but it's a piece of historical fiction since the kinds of discrimination and the conflicts in the book are downright quaint when compared with modern problems.

The Summer of Jodi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding

Fashion-obsessed teen Abby Ives is excited to start her summer internship at a trendy vintage-inspired boutique. Even though things are a little rocky at home right now, it's going to be a great summer.

And it will be ... but not in any of the ways she may have expected.

I absolutely LOVED this book! It's funny and realistic, and I had a hard time putting it down - I just wanted to spend more time with Abby and the gang.

Abby gets wrapped up in a friend-of-a-friend's quest to load a new app with the "best burger" info for Los Angeles - and ends up with a new buddy, along with a great way to avoid her mom's weird food. She also finds her first girlfriend, worries too much about how the world sees her, and learns a lot about fashion.

Highly, highly recommended. My favorite book of recent history.

A Dublin Student Doctor by Patrick Taylor

I'm back to reading this "Irish Country" series. I got a few behind.

This one is told mostly in flashback - the "modern" 1960s story (about knock on the noggin for a familiar regular) is mostly a framing device for the reminiscence about Fingal's days in med school and his first romance with the pretty young nursing student Kitty O'Halloran.

I liked that this one shifted less back and forth, and left me longer in the storyline. It also filled in a lot of backstories, not just on the romance with Kitty, but with Fingal's dislike of the doctor in the next town over and also how he decided to become a general practitioner.

Catalina by Liska Jacobs

Elsa's life is a slow-speed trainwreck. She got fired after an affair with her NYC boss, so she's returned to California to spend every severance penny while popping pills, swilling drinks, and dragging everyone along for the shitshow.

I enjoyed the tension created by the band of walking disasters that includes Elsa, her ex-husband and his girlfriend, best friend Charly and her husband, and a rich asshole friend Tom who owns a boat. The gang decides to sail to Catalina for the jazz fest.

You know Elsa's going down in flames ... or can she be saved? She'll probably take somebody down with her - but who? There are several likely candidates.

It was a quick read, and highly enjoyable: A flit from drunk to stoned, from smash to crash to bellyflop.

The Cay by Theodore Taylor

A boy and his mother flee the Carribean at the start of World War II, but their boat is hit by German submarines. Phillip ends up injured and afloat with an elderly black man - the start of their survival adventure.

This 1969 children's book was recommended to me by a former librarian who cited it as a forgotten favorite. I read online it has been criticized as racist - and while there are spots of racism, they're included to show how Phillip grows and learns. How the experience allows him to overcome perceived differences and learn what even his mother didn't know.

The book moves quickly - despite the fact it covers quite a bit of time, it's only 140 pages. To keep kids interested and engaged it's dramatic but doesn't dwell overlong on the machinations of life marooned on the island. I found it interesting and well told. 

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

I finished this book with a big sigh of, "What a GOOD BOOK!" John Green is really a genius.

Aza and her friend Daisy get swept into a mystery when a local, dirty businessman disappears - the dad of a kid Aza once knew from camp. They reconnect, and then they start spending time together. But Davis' parent problems aren't the only challenges to this teen relationship.

Green has talked a lot about the depiction of OCD in this book and his own struggles with mental illness. He worked hard to give an honest view of a misunderstood condition.

Which is why, honestly, this book reads a bit like a Matthew Quick book. That's a little weird to say because, "it's like a John Green" book is its own genre, but I mean it as a huge compliment.

As expected from Green, these are realistic teens with flaws and bad choices and internal struggles. But he's gone into new territory (one Quick has made his home) with this frank look at mental illness. You'll grow to love these kids, and also feel for them.

If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth

Junior high is hell anyway, but imagine the special kind of torture for a "different" kid in class. In this case, it's that Lewis is the only rez kid in the "smart" class full of white kids.

Lewis spots an opportunity to make a friend when a new Air Force kid comes into class; George doesn't know anyone's social status yet, so Lewis hopes that he can get a hook into him before the local prejudices jell. The boys bond over music, and it's the start of something special.

While the book is set in 1975, there's a lot that seems modern about Lewis' life, middle school friendships, and social prejudices. Seriously, haven't we evolved farther than this? Nope.

The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis

Three young men, connected only by their friendship with Isaac; when suddenly he's gone, what do they have left?

These guys couldn't have less in common, and yet there's something special in each of them and it's not just Isaac. The book is told in three separate parts (you read all of one before you get to the next), so there's a bit of back and forth over the same timeline, but from different perspectives.

Each struggles with his grief differently - and all have unique ways of dealing with the loss. They're written as realistic teenaged boys: keeping secrets, making dumb choices, figuring things out.

What an awesome book! I'm going to be handing this one over a lot in the near future.

The Reason You're Alive by Matthew Quick

David Granger wakes up from brain surgery muttering a name - but not Hank (his son), Ella (his beloved granddaughter), or even Laura (his deceased wife). No, it's the name of an arch enemy from his Vietnam War days, and the time has come for him to make things right.

Hank doesn't understand David, but their living together during David's convalescence will be good for them all (if nobody dies). Soon Hank learns you have to go deeper than David's words to find out who he really is.

I adore everything Matthew Quick writes, and this is no exception. It's a tough book sometimes - David is a crabby old bastard - but like Hank we see there's much more going on that first glance suggests.

David's friends are a diverse and interesting bunch, and he loves them as if they were blood. They're a fun bunch to meet, and they keep the story moving as they aid and support David's quest. The book's title is a bit of a surprise: a story from Laura that's not fully explained until the very end.

Moo by Sharon Creech

Reena's not sure what to expect when her family packs up and moves to Maine, but somehow she hadn't even considered befriending a cow.

Zora the cow comes with an elderly lady, Mrs. Falala, who owns her. Reena's parents volunteer their kids to "help out" at the neighbors, which is a learning experience for all involved.

The book is mainly told in prose, with some well-placed poetic pieces and graphic presentation. Reena's 12 years old, but I think the book could be read younger, too. It's sweet and funny, a little sad and very, very good.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

A truly odd woman navigates modern life, awkwardly. It's also a wonderfully weird book about the power of friendship!

Eleanor goes to work, does her job, and then goes home. Her wardrobe and meal plan - actually her whole existence - are designed for simplicity and hardiness. Except for the vodka, which gets her through the weekend.

We don't know much about Eleanor at the start, but throughout the story more information is dosed out in drips and drabs. Some truly startling pieces are laid down almost casually when you least expect it. She's a tough nut on the outside, but that protective shell hides the true core of her story - and things she's been trying to protect herself from, too.

Eleanor almost accidentally makes a friend one day when her work computer goes on the fritz and the IT guy pays a visit. Through that friendship, Eleanor also gains lots of perspective on human interactions, common pleasantries, and social mores. She goes to a party! She attends a funeral! She orders a drink in a pub!

This blossoming throughout the book is funny and inspiring (don't we all feel a bit socially awkward at times?) and offers hope that no one is ever too damaged to move forward.