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yayeahyeah

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hello hello hello
can someone recommend me some good contemporary novels where the main 'hook' isn't romance or a kid with a terminal illness? if possible, one without a major personal trauma either (ie. no LIVING DEAD GIRLS and the like)

thanking you kindly!

DRUMMER GIRL by Bridget Tyler and YOU DON'T KNOW ME by Sophia Bennett - Both about girl groups entering talent shows. Some romance but mainly focusing on the rise to stardom, with really good character development.

GEEK GIRL by Holly Smale - Girl gets discovered by modelling agency. Light, funny, and again there's romance but it's definitely not the main hook.

Also seconding the Jaclyn Moriarty recommendations.
 

nerdyglam

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Anyone have some recommendations for books about mermaids?
 

Fuchsia Groan

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I'm looking for dark psychological thriller recs. Murder and nasty stuff; a paranormal element is OK, as long as it's not a full-fledged paranormal romance.
 

lenore_x

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I'm looking for dark psychological thriller recs. Murder and nasty stuff; a paranormal element is OK, as long as it's not a full-fledged paranormal romance.

Excellent, that's like all I've been reading this year. :evil

SCOWLER by Daniel Kraus (Horrendously f'ed up. Use caution.)
THE MARBURY LENS by Andrew Smith
FROST by Marianna Baer
TIGHTER by Adele Griffin
LIAR by Justine Larbalestier
LIVING DEAD GIRL by Elizabeth Scott (if I don't say it, someone else will. not "thrilling" per se but psychological torture ahoy)
 

auriel

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How about thrillers that aren't so dark? :) More like murder mystery type thrillers?
 

LadyA

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Can anyone think of YA novels (written in 2000-present, please) set in the 1950s or 1960s? Thanks!

Eeep! I love these decades!

THE LOST ART OF KEEPING SECRETS by Eva Rice: An 18-yr-old girl who is defined magnificent house, beautiful mother, and tragic father, makes a new friend and in doing so opens up a whole new world of society parties, rock and roll gigs, and romance. Set in the early 50s.
Bonus point for: Hot brother, humorous writing, read-alike to I CAPTURE THE CASTLE.

And I know you want 2000s-onwards written, but anything by KM Peyton, although written back in the 60s, is brilliant and timeless, and doesn't read old-fashioned at all.

Anyone got any recs for contemporary YA that has an international travel aspect to it? Particularly Europe. I've already read Anna and the French Kiss, Wanderlove, Nobody's Girl by Sarra Manning, 13 Little Blue Envelopes and its sequel, and I'm reading Just One Day right now. Are there any I'm missing?

These might be cheating because they're UK-to-US, but JESSIE HEARTS NYC and EMMA HEARTS LA by Keris Stainton are great, light-hearted contemporaries, with a few issues sprinkled in and swoony romances.

Just don't read FALL1NG 1N LOVE W1TH ENGL1SH BOYS by Melissa Jensen (girl spends summer in London, experiences a cliched and unrealistic version of the UK where everyone is cockney or related to the royal family). The MC has possibly the most annoying voice in history ;)

I'd love some classic YA. Think stuff that was written in late 90s, early 2000's. I feel like I read a lot of today's YA but not the beginnings. :) Thanks in advance!

I'll give you a couple of each catagory - none are particularly famous, but all are highly recommended.

Contemp issues/romance:

GOOD GIRLS by Laura Ruby: I admit I bought this because it said 'parental advisory content' on the sleeve, but this is such a good book. About a 'good girl' valedictorian who gives a boy a blowjob at a party and instantly becomes infamous when the moment is recorded on someone's camera phone. She has to negotiate her parents reactions, school's, and the relationship with the boy in question. It's feel good but not mushy, and examines some important issues.
Read-alike: THOUSAND WORDS by Jennifer Brown, anything by Sarah Dessen or Elizabeth Scott.

Crime/Issues/Dark Contemp:

COUNTERFEIT SON by Elaine Marie Alphin: Boy's dad, a serial killer of young boys, is killed in a police shoot-out. Boy takes on a dead (but body unrecovered)boy's identity in the hope of a new life. Very dark but also uplifting, with a very sympathetic and likeable MC.
Read-alike: I HUNT KILLERS by Barry Lyga.

BIRTHDAY BLUES by Anne Cassidy: About teen pregnancy, and how it's not always a black-and-white situation. Also a bit of semi-incest thrown in.
Read-alike: AFTER by Amy Efaw (only not as grim).

LOOKING FOR JJ by Anne Cassidy: JJ has a new identity, a new life. Only she knows that the girl on the television, the evil girl who killed another child and has recently been released from prison...is her.
 

LadyA

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I'm looking for contemporary YA set on the beach, in the vein of THE SUMMER OF SKINNY DIPPING by Amanda Howells. I'd love something that has romance in, but isn't absolute fluff, like so many beach books are.

Bonus if the setting is so well done you feel like you're there, or if there's humour, or, conversely, if there's a kind of end-of-summer wistful feeling.

And don't worry about the Summer I Turned Pretty series, because I just couldn't get into the first one.

Thanks a million! :)
 

Becca C.

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These might be cheating because they're UK-to-US, but JESSIE HEARTS NYC and EMMA HEARTS LA by Keris Stainton are great, light-hearted contemporaries, with a few issues sprinkled in and swoony romances.

Just don't read FALL1NG 1N LOVE W1TH ENGL1SH BOYS by Melissa Jensen (girl spends summer in London, experiences a cliched and unrealistic version of the UK where everyone is cockney or related to the royal family). The MC has possibly the most annoying voice in history ;)

Thanks!!

Yeah... I've steered clear of Falling in Love with English Boys, even though the title is tantalizing :p I can tell from the cover that it's annoying, lol.
 

Windcutter

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Give me some recs for the recent (2013) "big books", please. I mean bestsellers, books with a lot of buzz, NYT list books, book that got huge deals, that sort of thing. Something that wasn't just big but you also liked it.
 

ellio

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Can anyone recommend me some (err, preferably good) books that alternate between first and third person? I want to see how well it works.
 

Cjiadon

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I recently had the urge to read about amnesia. I prefer spec fic, but if it's really good, then contemporary is okay too. My exact urge is to read about a couple where one person has amnesia and cannot remember his/her former lover at all.
 

frankiebrown

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I recently had the urge to read about amnesia. I prefer spec fic, but if it's really good, then contemporary is okay too. My exact urge is to read about a couple where one person has amnesia and cannot remember his/her former lover at all.

ARCLIGHT is scifi with amnesia. Coming up blank (ironically) with YA amnesia couples.
 

frankiebrown

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Give me some recs for the recent (2013) "big books", please. I mean bestsellers, books with a lot of buzz, NYT list books, book that got huge deals, that sort of thing. Something that wasn't just big but you also liked it.

SIEGE AND STORM, the sequel for SHADOW AND BONE. THE 5TH WAVE. FANGIRL, when it comes out in September, is going to be huge. Will add more if I think of some.
 

GracieAmelia

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I'm looking for contemporary YA set on the beach, in the vein of THE SUMMER OF SKINNY DIPPING by Amanda Howells. I'd love something that has romance in, but isn't absolute fluff, like so many beach books are.

Bonus if the setting is so well done you feel like you're there, or if there's humour, or, conversely, if there's a kind of end-of-summer wistful feeling.

And don't worry about the Summer I Turned Pretty series, because I just couldn't get into the first one.

Thanks a million! :)

It's been a while since I read it, but I really enjoyed Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen.
 

KateSmash

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(Let's post this in the right thread now, yeah?)


Ok, I'm going on vacation in a few days and wanted to bring something with me. I tore through Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper/Provost's Dogs trilogy last summer and I want more. But I really couldn't get in to Alanna: the First Adventure. So bearing all that in mind ...

Which of Tamora Pierce's books/series do I read? What's your favorite? And, yes, I am silly for never having read her sooner.
 

Taylor Kowalski

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Which of Tamora Pierce's books/series do I read? What's your favorite? And, yes, I am silly for never having read her sooner.

I haven't read Tamora Pierce's books in a long while, but I really enjoyed The Song of the Lioness series when I was younger.
 
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(Let's post this in the right thread now, yeah?)


Ok, I'm going on vacation in a few days and wanted to bring something with me. I tore through Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper/Provost's Dogs trilogy last summer and I want more. But I really couldn't get in to Alanna: the First Adventure. So bearing all that in mind ...

Which of Tamora Pierce's books/series do I read? What's your favorite? And, yes, I am silly for never having read her sooner.


I prefer the Circle books to Tortall.
 

MostlyBecca

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Ok, I'm going on vacation in a few days and wanted to bring something with me. I tore through Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper/Provost's Dogs trilogy last summer and I want more. But I really couldn't get in to Alanna: the First Adventure. So bearing all that in mind ...

Which of Tamora Pierce's books/series do I read? What's your favorite? And, yes, I am silly for never having read her sooner.
I love Tamora Pierce. I've read all of her series except for Protector of the Small. No real reason except that I keep forgetting she's written books I haven't read yet.

Circle of Magic and The Immortals are my favorite series by far. The Alanna books are actually my least favorite, but I still really enjoyed them, and I've always liked her character in other books. I guess her story just didn't do a lot for me. Maybe because it focuses a bit more on the love interests than a lot of Tamora Pierce's books do.

If you want something set in the Tortall world, I would go with The Immortals, but if you want something completely different, I would go with Circle of Magic. Circle of Magic is also nice because there are 11 or 12 books. That will give you plenty to read if you end up tearing through them like the others.
 

Becca C.

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I read a couple Protector of the Small books and really liked them, but I loved the Circle of Magic books when I was 11/12. I should dig those out again.