Summer's Coming!

Here comes all the graduates all dressed in black (or in a colored gown)! Graduation time has come for college students to step into the real world and embark on a new journey. Congratulations graduates!

Now, on to book news. It's been a couple of months since I last blogged. About a week ago, I read Summer and the City. I definitely feel inspired to be my own leader. Carrie Bradshaw's determined to make it in New York City and postpone her trip to Brown University. The spontaneous and insightful Samantha Jones takes Carrie in after she manages to get herself kicked out of the tiny room space she lives in for less than three days. Carrie meets Miranda on her own and with the three women bond. Girls can have different personalities and positively affect each other which is the idea I love so much about this book. It's truly an inspiration story about women wanting to have a luxurious and independent lifestyle. I hope there's a third book in the series to come next year!

Love is in the Air

Continuing with my recommendations of great books to read, I recommend Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal.

Ari's not the the popular girl in school. She's the outcast but her beautiful best and only friend Summer has been there for her. Her family isn't that great as her mom always puts her sister Evelyn down by comparing the two sisters to each other. Her dad

Things change when Ari's family inherits money that sends her to the elite prep school where she meets Leigh, a normal and laid-back girl. Rivalry begins when jealous Summer sees their friendship growing. While this rivalry causes broken friendships, Ari begin's dating a college guy, Blake who's Leigh's cousin. Ari's falls deep for Blake and stops worrying about everything and everyone else around her. She's on cloud nine until a misfortune takes a toll on Blake. Poor Ari has to start her life all over and deal with reality.

Authentic, heart-warming, and beautiful, this novel is the story of change in friendships in the beginning years of transformation for teens moving into adulthood. Another great reason to read this book: it takes place in New York City!

Choker & The Running Dream

I haven't updated in a while. On the good side, I have been reading books and 2011 has certainly started the year off with newly released books.

Choker, a first novel for Elizabeth Woods is about an outcast Cara who happens to be ridiculed for choking on a carrot in the cafeteria lunchroom. Not too long after, Cara's childhood friend, Zoe, surprises her with a visit. Cara and Zoe are both thrilled to be together again but disaster hits quickly. One of Cara's high school classmate is found dead. With news of this, Cara is suddenly popular with the girls at school but things go awry again when Cara's number one bullier and the girlfriend of her crush is missing. Cara's intuition is telling her Zoe has something to do with it. Cara's trying not to confront Zoe about her suspicions but everything's leading back to Zoe.

Another great book is The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen. After surviving with one leg in an car accident, Jessica is devastated that her passion to run is over. It's the absolute end in Jessica's world knowing life won't be the same again. Recurring dreams of morning jogs, people staring at her, and never having two legs again. Jessica isn't the only one who's life isn't normal anymore. Rosa knows what it's like to not be the same as others. With the help and encouragement from friends, family, and the track team, Jessica will see that the end is just the beginning of a whole new life with her passion to run in it.

Choker is a thriller and I will say that is is similar to Black Swan and that shocked me a little.The Running Dream is a refreshing story about a young girl's passion to run and I admire it to be about passion for wanting to do more than the body can physically handle.