City of bones, City of Ashes & City of glass, by Cassandra Clare

This is a trilogy that weaves a complicated fantasy. Clary has been raised in New York by her artist mother and her mother's circle of friends. But as she turns 16 she learns that all is not as it appears. An evening in a club with her friend Simon is the lifechanging moment when a whole new world opens up to Clary and she learns that she is a shadowhunter - a race gifted with the ability to see demons and trained to battle them. But Clary has no such training, and as events spiral out of control she needs to learn fast how to survive. Children of the moon (werewolves), of the night (vampires), of Lilith (witches), and of Faerie all have their roles and must unite with the help of angels to defeat the army of demons being raised by Clary's own father, Valentine. Loyalties are forged and tested, and always there is love. The love between Clary and shadowhunter Jace, love between Clary and her best friend Simon, whose life takes a tragic turn when he is bitten by a vampire. Love between Clary's mother and Lucian, an ex-shadowhunter now turned werewolf. A powerful story well told.

(See September blog of City of Bones)

A big little life; a memoir of a joyful dog, by Dean Koontz

If you have ever had the company of one of those special dogs - the dignified, intelligent, lovely ones - you will appreciate Dean Koontz's memoir of his good dog Trixie. I've enjoyed sharing my home with four dogs, all special in their own way, and one of the four was one of those rare ones that considered it her duty to care for her human family. So I enjoyed reading about Koontz's Trixie, even if I'll admit to skimming bits and doing some picking and choosing among the chapters. I suspect the proceeds of this book will go to a canine charity tho I could not find that it actually said so anywhere in the book. Or maybe the entire book said that.

Front and center, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This is the third book in the series that began with Dairy Queen and continued with The off-season. D.J. Schwenk is a junior now, and the year is complicated by college scouts, by a new romantic turn in her old, comfortable friendship with Beaner, by her brother Win's expectations for her. And then ex-boyfriend Brian Nelson comes around. And suddenly D.J. is being pressured from all sides, and she's forced from her comfort zone in the back row, out of the limelight right into the limelight - front and center.

Reading this was like visiting an old friend and I loved seeing how D.J. handled the pressure (besides throwing up). This one is for fans of the first two books tho.

Going bovine, by Libba Bray

This is a wild road trip - kicked off when teen slacker Cameron gets the bad news that he is going to die from Creutzfeldt-Jacob's (mad cow) disease. Every anti-hero needs a sidekick, and Cameron's sidekick is germ-phobic dwarf, Gonzo. And then there's punk angel (or maybe halucination) Dulcie - pink hair, torn black fishnets, and attitude to spare. The lines between reality and halucination are never clear, and in the end it doesn't really matter. Because Cameron really needs to LIVE before he dies, and live he does - reality be damned.

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

This is book 2 of the Hunger Games Trilogy, and it is just as good as the 1st book, Hunger Games. I hated the cliffhanger ending, only because it is going to be August 24th before book 3 is out, and I hate waiting so long to know how this is going to get wrapped up.