The Librarian Writer

Title: Trouble Is a Friend of Mine Author: Stephanie Tromly Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books Publication Date: August 4, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-0525428404 336 pp. ARC provided by publisher There are hi-jinks aplenty in this screwball mystery by Stephanie Tromly . Zoe is the new kid at school when she meets Digby, a weird, smart, completely impossible boy who drags her into an investigation of a missing girl. An investigation that may be linked to Digby's sister, who also went missing years before. The dialog snaps, crackles, and pops as Zoe becomes Digby's somewhat willing accomplice in break-ins, drug deals, and fictional class assignments ... all in the name of finding the truth. The action is over the top, from a mysterious cult next door to a Gatsby themed winter formal where nothing goes right. It reads like a television pilot that's been turned into a YA novel, because while one mystery is wrapped up, another is remains, sending up for a sequel. And th...

Title: I Remember You Author: Cathleen Davitt Bell Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers Publication Date: February 10, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-0385754552 320 pp. ARC provided by publisher Juliet is a good student who has never had a boyfriend before. So when hockey player Lucas tells her he remembers their first kiss, she's not sure what to make of him. Cathleen Davitt Bell creates a premise where Lucas-from-the-future is trapped in the body of Lucas-of-the-present, sort of Peggy Sue Gets Married set in the 1990's. Juliet is left to wonder if Lucas is nuts or if this weird phenomenon is actually happening to him. And if it is, what can she do to help him? It's a romance story with (very) light science fiction elements. The novel is told from Juliet's POV and it's mostly reactive. I think the tension and stakes would have amped up if was a dual POV of Juliet and Lucas. Juliet is also dealing with friendship drama and figuring out if the future th...

It's that time of the year again! Voting has opened up for Teens' Top Ten nominees! Get the vote out to teens! Voting will close at the end of Teen Read Week, which is October 24th, so there's still time to catch up on the titles you haven't read yet. Teens can vote here . This year's nominees are: Alsaid, Adi. Let’s Get Lost. Harlequin Teen. Armentrout, Jennifer L. Don’t Look Back. Disney Hyperion. Blackburne, Livia. Midnight Thief. Disney Hyperion. Blake, Kendare. Mortal Gods. Tor Teen. Clare, Cassandra. The Bane Chronicles. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry. Cremer, Andrea. The Inventor’s Secret. Penguin Group/Philomel. Dellaira, Ava.  Love Letters to the Dead. Macmillan/Farrar, Straus, Giroux Books. Despain, Bree. Into the Dark: The Shadow Prince. Egmont. Han, Jenny. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Simon & Schuster. Howard, A.G. Unhinged. Abrams/Amulet Books. Lu, Marie. The Young Elites. Penguin/G.P. Putnam's Sons. Ma...

Title: Night Film Author: Marisha Pessl Narrated by: Jake Weber Publisher: Random House Audio Publication Date: August 20, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0307932655 Listening copy via local library Marisha Pessl's debut novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics , was a hot read a few years ago. I read it and thought it was intelligent and intricately plotted, but overall a meh from me in terms of being invested in the characters. There was a lot of buzz about her second book, Night Film , and I decided I'd give it go, especially since the audiobook is narrated by Jake Weber. I've been a fan of his since American Gothic , so I was willing to spend a few hours listening to him. Night Film centers on a disgraced reporter, Scott McGrath, who's obsessed with finding out what happened the night the daughter of a famous director committed suicide. The director is Stanislas Cordova, a provocateur as much as an auteur, whose controversial horror films are only shown at ...

Title: We Should Hang Out Sometime Author: Josh Sundquist Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publication Date: December 23, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-0316251020 336 pp. ARC provided by publisher Josh Sundquist is a Paralympian, motivational speaker, and YouTuber who's not so good with the ladies. This biography tells the tale of all the girls he's loved before (or at least crushed on) and what went horribly wrong. It's a quick, funny read about a guy who thinks having a girlfriend means a pretty girl likes him and he doesn't have to, you know, talk to her or actually have to work at a relationship. It takes a long time, a pseduo-scientific study, and some honest friends to set him straight. This book shows how clueless guys really are about girls, and the big reveal is that girls are human beings with their own inner lives and don't exist to make boys feel special. Josh is not entitled to a girlfriend just because he's a nice guy. ...

Title: Exquisite Corpse Author: Penelope Bagieu Publisher: First Second Publication Date: May 5, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-1626720824 128 pp. ARC provided via NetGalley Fun fact: "Exquisite Corpse" was a game invented by Surrealists where a piece (of art, of literature) was constructed by each participant adding to what the earlier participant had created.   This French import by graphic novelist Penelope Bagieu plays with that conceit in Exquisite Corpse . Zoe is a "booth babe" with a ne'er-do-well boyfriend and no real direction in life. Then she has a chance encounter with famous author, Thomas Rocher. Except she doesn't recognize Thomas as a famous author. And she certainly doesn't know that Thomas is supposed to be dead. All she knows is that she's met a lonely, kind of weird guy who treats her so much better than she's used to. But when she finds out the truth, everything about their relationship changes. I absolutely loved th...

Title: Mort(e) Author: Robert Repino Publisher: Soho Press Publication Date: January 20, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-1616954277 368 pp. ARC provided by publisher "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords."  Kent Brockman Mort(e) by Robert Repino was an ARC I picked up at last summer's ALA Annual Conference and I finally found the time to read it. I was intrigued by its animal apocalypse premise: superintelligent ants bring sentience to animals, who rise against humans in "the war with no name." A neutered housecat, Sebastian, becomes a soldier and possibly a messiah. You don't expect something like that to be especially realistic, and the science given to explain how the ants brought about the war is nonsensical. The author would have better served his readers by making this a Great Unknown. (Not particularly spoilery: the ants put hormones in the water to mutate the animals. And yet it doesn't affect the humans. If you...