Love, Life, and the List, by Kasie West

Love, Life, and the List is another fun read from Kasie West. It's full of sarcastic humor, challenges, friendship, and family. I love the easy to read pace and the go-getter character. The main character has many wants and she's doing everything she can think of, even stepping out of her comfort zone, to win the things she wants. There are setbacks, but she picks herself up and try again and it's very inspiring to read where everything is not perfect from the start.

This book is told in the first person point of view, following Abby Turner, a seventeen year old who loves art. She wants to display and sell her paintings at the museum, a fundraising the museum does once a year, but was told her paintings doesn't have heart and depth. She sets out to make a list of things for her to do to achieve heart and depth. Abby recruited her best friend, Cooper Wells to join in her challenges. One of the challenges is to face her fears and Cooper takes her out to the sand dunes for a quad ride. Another challenge is to try something new and they both auditioned for a play. Some challenges are harder to achieve than others, especially when her heart already set out for someone but that person doesn't reciprocate. This book also introduce agoraphobic, a condition where a person doesn't leave the house. Abby's mom stays in the house all the time while her dad is deployed to the Middle East. This story takes place in the summer so time is abundance for Abby to explore new things and take care of her family.

This book is very well written. I love books with characters that strive for what they want and don't give up when things don't go according to plans. The challenges that Abby face can  be relatable to many readers. Read this book if you are looking for motivation! Just read it for sarcastic humor because they are great! *JK*

Landscape with Invisible Hand by M.T. Anderson

There is something that I cannot resist about a slim novel and this one comes in at 149 pages plus has a great cover.  I'll be honest and say upfront that this isn't a book for everyone but I really liked it.  It was weird, which I love, and it was scifi without feeling like scifi.

This is our world after the vuvv, an alien race shaped somewhat like coffee tables, have landed.  The vuvv are all about efficiency and when they first landed they promised Earth a world with no more work and no more disease.  However, all of their tech was sold to the highest bidders and now the economy is in ruins.  Adam used to have a normal life but now his father is gone, there's another family living in his basement, and his mother has been unemployed for months.  Adam is a painter in a world where most art is digital and each short chapter feels like a painting.  Adam is trying to find ways to support his family, by recording his relationship with Chloe for the vuvv and entering in an art contest, while dealing with a disease makes digestion miserable.

I thought this was a really interesting book.  It looked at the line between the haves and have-nots in a way that didn't feel heavy handed.  Adam's family used to be middle class and I like how it painted the picture that anyone could lose everything.  Adam's mother never gives up hope and Adam is always trying to come up with a better way.  Great scifi for someone who doesn't necessarily like scifi. -RYQ

Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee

Growing up with a twin I've had my fair share of sharing things- birthdays, bedrooms, toys, even friends. However, he (I'm a she) is my fraternal twin. Meaning we don't look a lot alike and aside from things and days, we don't share any of the same physical attributes. Hailey and Clara are also twins, they do look a lot alike (aside from the fact that Hailey has dyed her hair hot pink). They also happen to share more than a birthday and a bedroom. They share a spinal column. Hailey and Clara are conjoined twins.

The girls are in their senior year of high school in the small town of Bear Pass. Here most of the people are use to seeing the girls, who are conjoined back to back (or butt to butt as they put it). Daily life is routine and as normal as it gets for the girls. They may not physically be able to play on a sports team, but they (secretly) have a love for astronomy and the arts. Everything is thrown upside down when a new senior boy moves to Bear Pass. It's someone that has never seen the girls before. How will he react? With his reaction comes a new turn in the girls' lives, one that may just split them apart.

Gemini is a great coming to terms books for all readers (the characters are seniors in high school and speak heavily of college, this may make the book more relatable for older teens). The characters are strong and smart (how could you not be?). There real sides and feelings are also shown from each point of view as the chapters switch between the girls. They battle every day high situations such as applying for colleges and dealing with the opposite sex, while managing to be individuals. Individuals that happen to always be with each other. I love the characters personalities and how they manage their lives. Mukherjee does a fantastic job at not only describing big things, like a Sadie Hawkins Dance, but how the girls manage little things like setting the table as well. Gemini is a fantastic, fast pace read that is located on our new shelf. Check it out today! Let us know what you think!

-JAC

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Ever since that family reunion 10 years ago when she and her cousin, Lindsay, were inseparable, Raina has wanted a sister. Someone to have fun with, someone to share adventures and secrets with, someone who would be a built-in best friend. So naturally she is thrilled when her parents finally, finally bring home baby Amara.

But having a sister isn't at all like Raina imagined. From the start, Amara is grouchy, argumentative, and prone to tantrums when she doesn't get her way. And she doesn't share any of Raina's interests. Except art. And, worse, Amara is the better artist. Naturally, none of this sits well with Raina. Or Amara, for that matter. And when a brother is introduced into the equation, things at the Telgemeier household go from bad to worse. And the years don't improve the situation any.

Sisters, by Raina Telgemeier, is an autobiographical graphic novel that illustrates Raina's summer before high school when she, her mother, Amara, and brother Will road trip it from California to Colorado for a family reunion. As the story (told partly in present day and partly in flashbacks) unfolds, the reader gets a better picture of Raina and Amara's stormy relationship and also of the drama that's going on within their family. Sure, the sisters fight and annoy each other. All. The. Time. But when life throws an unexpected curve ball their way, they're also are willing to be there for each other. Not that that'll admit to that, though. 

Over the years, I've become a big fan of Telgemeier's books. Smile, where we first meet Raina and her family, was (and still is) my favorite of the author's. And Drama was a cute and fun departure from the autobiographical books. Sisters is being promoted as a sequel/companion book to Smile, but you don't have to read one to fully enjoy the other.

Highly recommended! --AJB

What It Is, by Lynda Berry

"Do You Wish To Write?" Cartoonist and writer Lynda Berry poses this question in her visually stunning how-to guide that's almost impossible to put down or fit into any genre or category. Part collage/scrapbook, part autobiography, part graphic novel, What It Is uses memories, imagination, dreams, hopes, fears, past experiences, future maybes, and the mundane-ness of day-to-day life to stimulate the mind inspire writing ideas. Read it cover to cover or open it at random. Either way, you're sure to find that cure for writer's block.

If nothing else, What It Is makes for a very entertaining read.

Darkly Awesome

After his parents mysteriously disappeared when he was only a couple years old, Christian Cage became obsessed with "The Sideways Place," a alternate dimension where he's convinced himself his parents are trapped. This, and an incident involving the suicide of one of his teachers, has made Christian an outcast among his peers. A highly accomplished artist, Christian finds he has the ability to draw the fears and nightmares of people around him. And then bad things happen to those people. Things escalate after an incident of vandalism--which Christian apparently did in his sleep. Christian begins to have violent visions of a WWII era murder that happened in his sleepy little town, but was apparently covered up by a powerful factory owner. When Christian must perform community service at a local assisted living facility, he gets the surprise of his life: Could one of the patients there have the answers to his disturbing visions and the mystery of The Sideways Place? To find out, Christian must face his own darkest fears.

Draw The Dark has about it a certain Stephen Kingish, hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck quality that makes you want to sleep with the lights on and keep checking behind you as you read (because you're sure something's there). This is one of those strangely creepy books that stays with you a long time after you've finished it. So if you're looking for a good suspenseful read as Halloween approaches, this one's for you! --AJB

Artistic "Expressions"

Whether cartooning, animating, sculpting, or life drawing, Facial Expressions is your one-stop shop for how to create lifelike artwork of the human head. This book's 250 + pages contain 100 models of different genders, ages, and ethnicities posing in a variety of moods. All to inspire your artwork. For animators, there's a sequential-expression gallery and a phonemes gallery (how the mouth shapes different sounds), both to help you accurately chart your animation sequence from beginning to end. There's even examples of drawings--some lifelike, some caricature-like--to further inspire you. So if you're looking to get into any sort of artwork involving facial expressions, give this book a browse. You're sure to find it helpful--as well as entertaining! --AJB