Current TBR shelf: 3354
Last week's TBR shelf: 3360
The rules
- Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
- Order on ascending date added.
- Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
- Read the synopses of the books
- Decide: keep it or should it go?
Lisa, Bright and Dark by John Neufeld
Lisa Shilling is 16, smart, attractive—and she is losing her mind. Some days are light, and everything is normal; during her dark days, she hides deep within herself, and nothing can reach her. Her teachers ignore what is happening. Her parents deny it. Lisa's friends are the only ones who are listening—and they walk with her where adults fear to tread.
Mixed reviews are evident here, the fact that it's a 60's novel about teenage mental illness interests me but does it hold up? I'm not sure.
Verdict: Remove
My Sister's Bones by Cathi Hanauer
At sixteen, Billie Weinstein has plenty of problems: She's the only Jewish girl living in the all-Italian neighborhood of West Berry, NJ; she's trying hard to please her know-it-all father who listens to opera at full volume and drives full speed, and her too-accommodating mother who is either taking care of Billie's father, or Billie and her sister, or the two dogs; and on top of everything else, her older sister Cassie goes off to college, leaving Billie to fend for herself.
And now Billie's studying for the SATs. The task her father has given her is to learn twenty words a day, read the New York Times at least twice a week and watch Masterpiece Theatre whenever he tells her to, mostly because he likes it. Then Billie discovers her sister's secret: Cassie is battling anorexia and Billie's parents excuse Cassie's weight loss as stress due to the competitive atmosphere at college. Billie knows something is drastically wrong with her sister; something that could be fatal.
I'm always wary of eating disorder books due to having struggled with the illness on and off since I was a teenager but I think this could be one of those that handles this topic well.
Verdict: Keep
So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti
When Brooke discovers that the love of her life, Scott Abrams, is moving from their New Jersey suburb to New York City for senior year, she decides to follow him there. Living with her estranged father and adjusting to a whole new school are challenging--and things get even worse when she finds out that Scott already has a girlfriend. But as she learns to navigate the big city, she starts to discover a whole new side of herself, and realizes that sometimes love can find you even when you're not looking for it.
It's giving Felicity vibes (one of my fave shows) and probably will be cute but I don't read as much YA contemporary as I used to.
Verdict: Remove
The Breakup Bible by Melissa Kantor
Jen Lewis is having a great junior year. She is the features editor of the school paper, and she’s dating Max Brown, the paper’s editor-in-chief.
Everything is perfect—that is, until Max says, “Maybe it would be better if we were just friends.” In shock and total denial, Jen wonders how she is going to deal with the pain of seeing Max in school every day. Her misery only intensifies when her grandmother gives her a book that she heard about on the radio. Dr. Emerson’s The Breakup Bible claims that “there’s no reason a woman can’t get over a breakup very quickly if she’ll just follow a few basic commandments.” Jen is doubtful. What does Dr. Emerson know about her and Max?
I'm going to give this one a chance if only for the fact that she doesn't appear to jump straight into another relationship to get over the breakup which makes me more interested in the overall plot.
Verdict: Keep
Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty by Jody Gehrman
Geena can't wait to spend summer vacation with her two best girls: her friend Amber and her cousin Hero. All three are working at the Triple Shot Betty coffee shop together, but the moment Amber and Hero meet, the claws come out. They hate each other on sight. Geena's dream of a girl-bonding summer flies out of the window, and then threaten to disappear completely when a few cute (okay, drop-dead gorgeous) guys come along to woo the Bettys. But all is not what it seems, and in a story of mistaken identities, crazy summer high jinks, and enough romance to make Shakespeare proud, Geena and her friends learn that when Bettys unite, they can take on the most powerful force in their world: a hot guy.
Too foamy, not enough flavour. (I tried to do a coffe pun, not sure it worked 😂). Also, this is such a late 2000's cover!
Verdict: Remove
Black Painted Fingernails by Stephen Herrick
"How about we toss a coin? Heads, it's west and a lift. Tails, it's still west, but no lift."
James is heading into the country on his first teacher-training round when a mysterious girl asks him for a ride. Sophie has him all worked out: "You live with your parents and they bought you this car, and a very nice car it is too." At first James can't see past her wild hair and attitude, but when Sophie trusts him with a secret she's been keeping too long, she changes his direction completely.
Aussie road trip sounds fun but I don't see myself getting to it any time soon.
Verdict: Remove
Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel
Travis Morrison is a champion diver and one of the most popular kids at school. On the first day of summer vacation, while boating on the lake with his friends, Travis attempts a silly stunt dive that goes wrong. He fears he has broken his leg. Instead, his trip to the hospital reveals he has a rare form of cancer, and to save him, the doctors tell his parents they must amputate. In an instant, Travis's life and the lives of everyone around him are forever changed.
Travis is determined that he and only he should decide the course of his life. He has a plan, but he can't carry it out alone. Will he convince one of his friends to fulfill his most important request?
Just not feeling this synopsis.
Verdict: Remove
Confessions of a Serial Kisser by Wendelin Van Draanen
Evangeline Logan wants a kiss. Not just any kiss—a “crimson kiss,” like the one in a romance novel she’s become obsessed with. But the path to perfection is paved with many bad kisses—the smash mouth, the ear licker, the “misser,” the tentative tight lipper.
The phrase “I don’t kiss and tell” means nothing to the boys in her school. And worse: someone starts writing her name and number on bathroom walls. And worst of all: the boy she’s just kissed turns out to be her best friend’s new crush.
Kissing turns out to be way more complicated than the romance novels would have you believe. . . .
Another one that seems nice and fluffy but this author also wrote Flipped which became one of my favourite films so I'd like to read that the most out of her work.
Verdict: Remove
M or F? by Lisa Papademetriou & Chris Tebbetts
When Frannie is desperate to get the attention of her crush, her fabulous (and gay) best friend Marcus suggests that Frannie chat with him online. Too bad Frannie’s terrified. She won’t type a word without Marcus’s help.
In the chat room, Marcus and Jeffrey hit it off. But the more Marcus writes, the more he’s convinced that Jeffrey is falling for him, not Frannie.
I do like a Cyrano De Bergerac retelling...
Verdict: Keep
Game. Set. Match. by Jennifer Iacopelli
Nestled along the North Carolina coast, the Outer Banks Tennis Academy is the world's most elite training facility. In this pressure-cooker environment, futures are forged in blood and sweat, and dreams are shattered in an instant.
Penny Harrison, a rising female star, is determined to win the French Open and beat her archrival, Zina Lutrova. But when her coach imports British bad boy Alex Russell as her new training partner, will Penny be able to keep her laser-like focus?
Tennis is all Jasmine Randazzo has ever known. The daughter of two Grand Slam champions, she's hell-bent on extending her family’s legacy and writing her own happily-ever-after...until her chosen Prince Charming gives her the just-friends speech, right before the biggest junior tournament of the year, the Outer Banks Classic.
With a powerful serve and killer forehand, newcomer Indiana Gaffney is turning heads. She’s thrilled by all of the attention, especially from Jack Harrison, Penny’s agent and hot older brother, except he keeps backing off every time things start heating up.
With so much at stake, dreams—and hearts—are bound to break.
I love Emma Raducanu and have gotten more into watching matches so now seems like the right time to tap into that interest with a tennis book.
Verdict: Keep
This Week:
Kept: 4
Removed: 6
Overall:
Kept: 314
Removed: 685
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