The Glittering Court
By Richelle Mead
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 7/10

The Glittering Court is a school that takes girls from lower classes and raises them up to become the nobility of the new world. Adelaide, a countess, isn't the ideal candidate for such school, but in order to escape an arranged marriage she takes on the identity of one of her servants and runs away to the Glittering Court. The only person who knows of her identity at the school is Cedric, son of the owner. When Adelaide discovers Cedric's dangerous secret, they work together to come up with a way to save both of them from being discovered. But complications arise when a forbidden attraction forms between the two.

This book was very entertaining. It's written likes it's about America and England but with a surprisingly enjoyable fantasy twist. I loved all the details about the school--the fashion, etiquette lessons, ect. It was very entertaining for a history nut like me, even if it wasn't supposed to be a historical novel. The description in this book was amazing!

This world had a weird religious system set up, but overall I felt like a main theme was about religious freedom, and what we do to fight for it. There were some other aspects in this book I didn't agree with, but the language was clean, and there were
no explicit scenes.

 I've herd a lot of good things about Richelle Mead,, but this was the first book of hers I've read. There were certain elements in this book that I wasn't crazy about, but I did really enjoy her writing style. I look forward to reading the rest of her work.

P.S. I Like You
By Kasie West
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 10/10

I adore Kasie West's books! She writes adorable, fun, and clean contemporaries that I always fly through. This one is my new favorite of hers.

To get through her Chemistry class, Lilly scribbles lyrics and song ideas into her fateful notebook. One day she absently writes some of her favorite song lyrics onto the desk. The next day, she discovers that someone else had continued the lyrics. This escalates into Lily and her mystery pen pal exchanging letters back and forth. At first it's a fun distraction from Chemistry lessons, but soon Lily and her pen pal are opening up to each other, sharing secrets and hopes. So when Lily discovers that her pen pal is a boy, she begins to fall for him. But what if the boy on paper isn't exactly who she's expected?

This book was adorable. I expected to love it, since I love everything Kaise West wrights, but I didn't expect it to be my new favorite contemporary novel. This book was clean and romantic, funny and sweet. The plot line does have a lot of potential to be overly cheesy, but I actually thought it was full of compelling characters and real-to -life problems I actually could sympathize with. These books are the only contemporaries I feel comfortable
recommending to my little sister, and I'm happy to have a new one to give her.

Fight Club
By Chuck Palahniuk
Genre: Fiction
Personal Rating: 7/10

While I have definitely heard of Fight Club before, it never appeared to be a book I would want to read. But then a few weeks ago my brother declared it to be his new favorite book, and I figured I should check it out. To say I was surprised would be an understatement.

"The first rule about fight club, is that you don't talk about fight club."

And that's about as much of an introduction as I can give. I really had no idea what this book was about, except for maybe a club where people fight, and I think that's the
best way to read this book. However, I will say that I was shocked to discover what the real focus of this story is.

While I was entertained and surprised by the end, I did not give this book a very high rating. This is because I wasn't actually a very big fan of the writing style. It was unique, but it also made it hard for me to get into the story. Also, this book has some very mature content in it that I really feel like was just added for shock value and not really to enhance the story. I liked how complex the story was, and how much was open to the reader for interpretation, however.

It was an interesting book to read, and I'm glad that I read it. However, there was just a lot about it that I did not agree with.

Hearts in Hiding
By Betsy Brannon Green
Genre: LDS Fiction
Personal Rating: 7/10

As far as LDS fiction goes, this was actually a very well written book. It was about Mormons but also included many other different religions and cultures then just that of Utah County. It was a clean romance that was written without being overly cheesy.

When Kate's FBI agent husband is killed in the line of duty, she is placed in the witness protection program. The people who killed her husband want her dead, taking her unborn child with her. For her safety, the FBI send her to a small town in Georgia, where she poses as the wife of another FBI agent, Mark. She is given a completely new identity, one that can be overwhelming to live. The plan is for her to stay hidden until the warrant for her death is lifted and the bad guys in jail, but as feelings start to kindle between Kate and Mark, the more this small town begins to feel like home.

The only real problem I had with this book is that pacing. It was a very cute and entertaining story, but there was so much repetition for the first half of the book that could have easily been taken out. Then the story continued on for quite awhile after the big climax was resolved, and I was bored by the end simply because of the extra chapters that didn't add practically anything.

I do think that this book was well planned and thought out. The details and little clues about the FBI investigation were honestly very interesting. However, while Kate is in the witness protection program they basically give her an unlimited credit card and she spends her whole time in hiding decorating a house. I found that not only highly unrealistic, but a but boring to read about. But it was a nice, clean, and entertaining story overall.

Frostfire
By Amanda Hocking
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 4/10

Bryn is a tracker. Her job is to go into the human world and retrieve the changelings-- troll babies who were hidden in the human world as infants. She's the best at her job, but when an enemy from her past shows up, she finds her self in a tricky situation where she can decide if she needs to kill or help him.

If this synopsis sounds bland and confusing, then it describes this book pretty well. I'm not a big fantasy fan in general, but I gave this one a try, mostly because I thought the cover was pretty. But overall I just did not like it at all. There was nothing really unique about the story or the characters, and it just had a really immature tone to it, when the character tries to come across all serious and mature. The cover is still very pretty, but the rest of the book is less than thrilling.

More Than the Tattooed Mormon
By Al Fox Carraway
Genre: LDS Non-Fiction
Personal Rating: 10/10

It's been a while since I've read a Church Biography, but when I read that Al Carraway (the Tattooed Mormon) had a book out, I knew I had to read it. Her story is an amazing one about converting to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, even when all her family and friends were against it. She became famous through a blog she started shortly after her move from New York to Utah. She is a very popular public speaker for the Church, and has traveled all over the world to speak.

This a really short and sweet book--only 147 pages--but I felt like it really leaves a mark on the reader. Al did not grow up in the Church, so hearing about her conversion, and her strength through everything, was a point of view I rarely get to hear about. If there's anyone reading this who isn't a member, or doesn't know much about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (and I doubt there is, since I think my mom is the only one who reads this thing) I encourage you to pick this book up. It won't answer all your questions, but it will give you a sense of what the Church really is about, from the point of view of someone who joined against all the odds.

Overall, this was a very worth wile read, something I can see myself rereading several times. I would recommend it not only to every member of the Church, but those who have even a little bit of interest in what the Mormons believe.

Scarlett Epstein Hates it Here
By Anna Breslaw
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 4/10

 Scarlett is a fanfiction writer. She spends most of her time with her online friends, writing about fictional characters.It may not be a very popular activity, but it makes her happy. Then her favorite TV show is canceled and her long time crush is sucked into the dark hole that is the popular group. Feeling alone with no TV characters to rant about, Scarlett turns to writing fanfiction about her classmates. It seems harmless at first, but what happens when the people in her stories find out what she really thinks of them?

Overall, this story is very hilarious. I was immediately intrigued by this synopsis, it sounded like that old Disney Channel show, Read it and Weep. And I did actually enjoy the fanfiction part of this book, it was a story line I would actually read. However, I felt like what should have been a big part of the story climax was just a short part of the book. I felt like the author was trying really hard to make these characters seem unique, but it ended up with them just seeming outrageously unrealistic to me. I felt like this is a book where the author was just trying to stuff as much diversity in as she could, whether it related to the story or not. This is a very modern book, so there are a lot of modern pop culture references, and while it added to the humor, I think all the references just really dated the book. I can't see it being relevant past the end of this year.

I would have liked to give this book a higher rating, but in the end it just focused too much on subjects I didn't agree with, and was full of unnecessary vulgar language and inappropriate slang.