16. The Program by Suzanne Young

Oh boy! The Program is one tough book to swallow. At 405 pages it isn't huge in length, but the subject matter is suicide and mental illness. Given that, there were times that I was a bucket of tears at what these characters are going through. While suicide is not labelled an "epidemic" in our society, you can see the correlation between today's teens and the teens in The Program. I devoured this first book in a day, and I absolutely can't wait to read the rest of the series. The Program is my favourite read of February (so far), and I really enjoyed Suzanne Young's take on dystopian with this original storyline. Strong characters and she handles the tough subject matter perfectly. Recommended for fans of dystopian fiction, that like a suspenseful story.
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15. Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

The absolutely perfect Christmas book. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan pack 12 days of Christmas magic into this novel, and each page is pure magic! I loved visiting with Dash & Lily again, and seeing that all is not perfect after the reader turns the last page. It's a year of difficulties for Dash and Lily and they have to find their way back to each other. The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily is a perfect Christmas read, that will soften even the Grinch's heart.
Let me leave readers with one spoiler... ice-skating librarians!! Read this book. You won't be disappointed!!

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14. Mother-Daughter Book Camp by Heather Vogel Frederick

Oh the sweetness of Summer Camp! I started this series with a audio re-listen of Mother-Daughter Book Club, and I'm so hooked on the adventures of these girls! The girls are about to head off for college, and they have one more adventure together, at Camp Lovejoy! This time the girls are starting a book club with their young campers, who are feeling a little homesick, and they're reading Understood Betsy. The Book Club gang always have the best adventures, and I loved this final hurrah! It will remind older readers of camp days and have younger readers excited to head off to camp.

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Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Summary from Goodreads:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. 

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Review:
I feel I need to kick this review off with the words "I don't like fairytales". Maybe it is that I have my feet firmly on the ground, or that I haven't found the right fairytale for me, but I'm not a fairytale kind of girl. Nor am I a remake of a fairytale kind of girl. This is why I put off reading Cinder for so long. However, I finally picked this one up on several recommendations and I'm glad I did.

Let me say fairytales on their own... meh! Fairytales with cyborgs... awesome! I'm a science fiction fan through and through and I loved the combination of the cyborgs in this one. Cinder is a cyborg and she's under the legal guardianship of Adri. She has two step-sisters, one decidedly more mean and evil than the other. There is a disease ravaging its way through the country, called Letumosis, and of course there is a handsome prince.

There is all the elements of the original tale of Cinderella, but with a twist. The twists are definitely what makes this story awesome.

I liked Cinder, she's tough and determined. The Queen and her step-mother "legal guardian", Adri, certainly fill up the "evil" quota quite nicely, and there were quite a few other interesting characters, especially some fascinating androids.

This was a really good first introduction into what is a 4-book series and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

Comic Book Review: Star Wars #1 (Marvel Comics 2015) by Jason Aaron

It's here! Marvel is publishing a "classic" Star Wars series, featuring our favorites from the original movies! As soon as it hit the shelves today I had to scoop it up and read it.

Skywalker Strikes sees the gang visiting a weapons factory with a cover story of negotiations between the Empire and Jabba the Hutt. Of course this is anything but that as the rebels try to make a further dent in the Empire's plans.

This story is set between Episode IV and V and for those that have read the novel "Scoundrels", it would seem it is set just before Scoundrels too, as Han Solo is still in the action (or maybe just after - if anyone cares to clarify please comment below!). It has a really classic feel to it and I liked the story line a lot. Jason Aaron writes with humor too and, of course, I liked the humor between C3PO and Han Solo.

I liked this first issue, and the only downside that I see is that I have to wait another month before the second issue!!

If you like the original movies this would be a really good starting point to start reading Star Wars comics! 

Book Review: Two of Us by Elizabeth Eulberg

Summary from Goodreads: 

Penny Lane Bloom founded The Lonely Hearts Club, which means that she basically doesn’t date. She’s got her awesome girls to hang out with, she’s got her hilarious (and sometimes annoying) family, she’s working towards high grades to get into a great college–she’d never give up any of that to be with a boy.

But all of a sudden, the rules of the Club have changed and Penny’s not only allowed to date–she’s going out with Ryan Bauer, longtime friend, all-around amazing guy, and her best friend Diane’s ex-boyfriend. It’s not like Penny hasn’t been on plenty of first dates before, and it’s not like she hasn’t seen Ryan practically every day for years… so could someone please let the butterflies in her stomach know it’s okay to calm down?

My Review:

This book contains a major spoiler to The Lonely Heart's Club so if you haven't read that book yet I recommend reading it before starting in on these short stories. The first short story could be read before The Lonely Heart's Club, but this one should definitely be read after.

In this story Penny and Ryan go on their first official date and it's sweet and lovely. I loved that he took her to a bookstore!! 

Since it has been a while since I had read The Lonely Heart's Club these stories are a nice refresher for the first book, and make me even more excited for the second book in the series to be released.

Book Review: A Hard Day's Night by Elizabeth Eulberg

Summary from Amazon:

Penny Lane Bloom, founder of The Lonely Hearts Club, has never loved Halloween. Her dad's a dentist, so she's never been allowed much in the way of candy. And forget being a witch or a ghost or a superhero--Penny is always one of the Beatles, along with the rest of her family.

But this year, she's got the Club, and the support of an amazing group of girls who all have each other's backs. So when someone tries to ruin Halloween for one member, the Club sets out to prove revenge is a dish best served en masse.

My Review:

I was introduced to Elizabeth Eulberg with Prom and Prejudice, and then her book, The Lonely Heart's Club. I enjoyed both immensely and was thrilled to hear recently that The Lonely Heart's Club is getting a sequel. Even more exciting was finding out about several short stories recently released with our girls from The Lonely Heart's Club.

This was a fun short story about Halloween and the girls dressing up. Penny's family is very big into the Beatles and dress up as the Beatles every year, which sounds very cool.

This story likely could be read without reading The Lonely Heart's Club, but I do recommend reading The Lonely Heart's Club first. It's a enjoyable YA contemporary that embraces girl power, and I can't wait to read the other short stories.