Cool Reads for a Hot Summer!

I've finally finished my list of summer reads. It proved more difficult than expected.

More things I learned while digging through the pile:

-Many "new" releases have been released in another format (but I didn't include them)
-There's a heck of a lot of YA parnormal/fantasy
-A ridiculously large portion of those are vampire romances- I can only imagine how many more didn't make it
-Agents and editors are superheros- 3 days of swimming through that pile and I've had enough
-I totally fell in love with the Penguin Group's Speak Imprint. If a girl could marry an imprint... That would make one heck of an interesting letter to the editor!
-YA is really not a genre, it's an audience. All the other genre still exist within YA, but it's sometimes hard to tell if a book is fantasy or contemporary etc., based purely on the back cover blurb.

Okay, so the list. Now, I haven't read any of these books. Nor do I know many of the authors. They've been judged purely by their premises. I've enclosed a few notes in brackets, and if the book is part of a series, you'll find that info in square brackets. Happy reading.

June

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt- Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (Contemporary, a girl tries being different characters at a boarding school)

Rush- Jonathan Friesen (Contemporary, male 18 year old MC)

Sea- Heidi R Kling (debut, contemporary, romance, Indonesia)

So Many Boys [Naughty List]- Suzanne Young

Summer of Skinny Dipping- Amanda Howells (In the style of "I know what you did last summer")

Star Shack- Lila Castle (contemporary, horoscope, romance)

Girl, 16: Five-Star Fiasco- Sue Limb (romance, humour)

Battle of the Sun - Jeanette Winterson (Urban Fantcasy, London, Male MC)

Magical Mischief- Anna Dale (fantasy, humour, set in a bookstore)

Forgive My Fins- Tera Lynn Childs (fantasy, mermaid, romance)

Freak Magnet- Andrew Auseon (Contemporary, romance, humour)

Bruiser- Neal Shusterman (Contemporary, at least one male MC)

Only the Good Spy Young [Gallagher Girls]- Ally Carter (suspense, thriller)

Queen of Secrets - Jenny Meyerhoff (romance, cheerleader MC)

Things I know about love- Kate le Vann (romance, NYC, British)

Tweet heart-Elizabeth Rudnick (romance, humour, told in tweets, emails and blogs)

The Deathday Letter- (contemporary, last day alive)

Reality Check- Jen Calonita (reality tv, tagline: Friends don't let friends so reality shows)

Deception [Haunting Emma]- Lee Nichols (paranormal)

The Mosts- Melissa Senate (popularity)

My Ultimate Sister Diasaster- Jane Mendle (contemporary, sibling rivalry)

Nocturne- L.D. Harkrader (Romance, Paranormal, vampire, bookstore)

Poser- Sue Wyshynski (surfing, popularity)

Queen's Daughter- Susan Conventry (historical)

The Secret to Lying- Todd Mitchell (Male MC, adrenaline rush, dreams)

Sisters Red- Jackson Pearce (fantasy, family, love)

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner- Stephenie Meyer

Carter's Big Break- Brent Crawford (Hollywood)

June [Conspiracy 365]- Gabrielle Lord (Male MC, Boy finds out someone killed his father and he has a year to live- one of these books is released every month.)

July

Blindsided-Priscilla Cummings (MC is told she will lose her sight)

The Grimm Legacy- Polly Shulman (A library of fairy tale things from Brothers Grimm Legends, contents start to disappear)

Paisley Hanover Kisses and Tells [Paisley Hanover]- Cameron Tuttle (contemporary, popularity, reputation)

Watch Me- Lauren Barnholdt (reality tv, romance)

Come Fall- A.C.E. Bauer (based on A Midsummer's Night Dream)

My Life As A Book- Janet Tashijan (Male MC, slow learning)

August

Divided Souls [Darke Academy]- Gabriella Poole (suspense, murder, Istanbul)

Plus- Veronica Chambers (romance, weight, contemporary)

Thresholds- Nina Kiriki Hoffman (magic, paranormal)

You wish- Mandy Hubbard (A girl wishes for all her birthday wishes ever to come true, and it happens)

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May and June- Robin Benway (paranormal, magical sisters)

The Wonder of Charlie Anne- Kimberly Fusco (historical, Depression era)

The Madman of Venice- Sophie Masson (based on The Merchant of Venice, historical, mystery)

Mockingjay [Hunger Games]- Suzanne Collins

The Life and Opinions of Amy Finawitz- Laura Tofflier (told in emails and one act plays, contemporary, NYC)

No and me- Delphine de Vigan (translated, Paris, homelessness)

Juggler in the Wind [The Wand Bearer, Book 1]- Wim Coleman and Patt Perrin (Male MC, fantasy)

The Charlatan's Boy- Jonathon Rogers (hoax, paranormal)

Butterfly- Sonya Hartnett (coming of age)

I was also happy to see that they're releasing the Famous Five Series (I don't know how big they were in America, but I think they were a rite of passage for us British system babies) and some of the Ramona the Pest books, since a movie's coming up!

Happy Summer Reading!