Sophia by Michael Bible

This brief 120-page novella is a stream-of-counsciousness rant - the loves. lust, and life of a unlikely, intoxicated minister of dubious ethics.

Rev. Maloney has sex dreams about the female Holy Spirit and makes a killing hustling his friend Eli in chess games. He's likely to light up a spliff in the confessional, and he just might be sleeping with several female parishoners.

It's a quick read, and I think best if consumed all in one gulp to make the most of the rapid-fire delivery and wildly careening plot. It's profane, but also thought provoking in that Maloney may be the most truthful guy you're likely to meet.

Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys by Francesca Lia Block

How much trouble can a bunch of teenagers get into, being left alone in Los Angeles for an extended period of time? Turns out, exactly as much as you'd expect.

All the adults in the Bat family have gone to South America to make a movie. They've left Cherokee and Witch Baby home alone, but they can check in with Coyote if they need something.

The kids start a band (the Goat Guys of the title) and are given a boost by the special gifts Cherokee makes with help from their mystical sage guardian Coyote. The wings, pants, horns and boots hold special magic that may be more than they'd bargained on. Also, kids alone always discover sex.

This is the third book in the Dangerous Angels series, and it's maybe the one I've loved best yet. While there's a strong magical realism, it's not a stretch to see the cautionary message applicable to the real world, and even now more than 20 years after the book was written.

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Going into senior year, Tyler's hoping to just get through it and move on. But his court-ordered community service (helping the school janitors) and his summer landscaping job have left him buff and attractive, with a bad-boy reputation - much different than the nerdy kid everybody laughed at previously. All eyes on are on Tyler.

But for a kid who's not used to attention, having the school administration eagle eye his every move waiting for him to screw up, the girl of his dreams paying attention to him, his dad breathing fire about college acceptances, and his previous bullies warily circling just waiting for their big chance ... something's bound to crack.

This book is EXCELLENT. It's meaty and thought-provoking, and it has characters you really want to see come through it. The novel's themes include the challenges of growing up (maturity) and how you shape the perception other have of you (reputation) are relatable for anyone. Through Tyler's homework and even his favorite video game, a number of perspectives on hell presented - enough you may want to revisit some of your own high school reading.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to read my first Laurie Halse Anderson book - I've always heard they're good, but for some reason I never sought one out. Live and learn!

Soup by Robert Newton Peck

In this classic children's tale, a pair of boys growing up in small town America find "innocent" trouble and make mischief. Actually, it's more like a collection of short stories - vignettes of days gone by (the stories take place in the 1930s).

I'd never read any of the Soup series of books, and picked up this audiobook for some car time. Narrated by Norman Dietz, the book felt like your favorite grandpa telling you about his childhood: rolling down the hill in an apple barrel, getting in trouble at school, having a crush on that one cute girl.

For those who haven't read this series, "Soup" is the narrator's best friend (who doesn't like his real name and at threat of violence, no one calls him Luther), and the narrator is Rob. Soup's the mastermind behind all kinds of hijinks, and Rob's usually the action man. I'd say the series is on par as a boy-oriented alternative to the Little House on the Prairie books.

Leaving the Bellweathers by Kristin Clark Venuti

Benway has had it. He's the unappreciated, under-duress butler for a crazy family of eccentrics. The Benway family's 200-year old contract of indentured servitude to the Bellweathers is about to expire, and he can't wait to get away. Benway is counting down the minutes.

In the mean time, though, there are messes to clean up, lunches to pack, an albino alligator to avoid, groceries to gather, holes in the yard to sidestep, a family of circus performers hiding in one bedroom ... and a tell-all memoir to write, in order to afford a quaint, quiet cottage somewhere far, far away.

Benway won't miss the Bellweathers at all! They probably won't even notice he's gone! And good luck to the next poor sap who has to try to meet this family's needs!