Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares is written in alternating chapters by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. The book begins with Dash, written by David Levithan, finding a red notebook hidden on a shelf between two of his favorite books in his favorite bookstore. The book sends him on a scavenger hunt around the store. Dash, a lover of the written word, enjoys the game and decides to add to it. Besides finding the clues around the store, he creates a dare for Lily the girl who left the notebook. Dash, whose mother thinks he is spending Christmas with his father and whose father thinks he is spending Christmas with this mother, has plenty of time to come up with fun dares for Lily.

Lily, whose chapters are written by Rachel Cohn, is sad because her parents have gone on a 25th anniversary trip and left her at home with only her older brother Langston with whom to spend Christmas. Langston has a new boyfriend, so he comes up with the idea of the book of dares to keep Lily occupied during the holidays. Lily has never had a real boyfriend and immediately becomes impressed by Dash. However, more than Dash, Lily discovers a lot about herself through how she deals with the various dares. She has been very sheltered by her extended family, so when Dash dares her to go to a club at 2:00 a.m. she cannot even imagine fallowing through, but she does and surprised even herself.

I liked Nick an Norah's Infinite Playlist which is also by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, but I liked Dash and Lily even better. I found Lily to be delightfully strange and a great character and while Dash was a bit arrogant and pretentious, I enjoyed reading about him too. I really like books with interesting characters and I enjoyed their adventures combined with the gently developing romance between the two.

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

I love to travel. In fact, I have been to all but 3 of the 50 states and 4 of the 7 continents. And I really like a good road trip. There is not a better way to see the United States than to drive across it. It is amazing how vast, varied and beautiful our awesome country is.

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson is a story of a road trip. When Amy's father is killed in a car accident, her life is turned upside down. Even though she has lived all her life in the same house in California, Amy's mother suddenly gets a job and moves to Connecticut. Her twin brother deals with the death through drugs and is sent to a treatment center in North Carolina. Amy finds herself finishing her school year up while living alone in California. When the school year is over, her mother has arranged for a Roger, a family friend, to drive with Amy from California to Connecticut. She has the trip all arranged with reservations at hotels along the way. However, Amy and Roger have other plans. They take an "epic detour" that takes them through Nevada on the loneliest highway, to Colorado to visit Roger's college, through Wichita, KS, to Louisville to visit Roger's girlfriend and end with a trip to Graceland to see the King. Of course, in Wichita, they eat at Nu way and enjoy Freddie's frozen custard.

It is fun to read about the details of their journey. However, this book is more than a road trip. It is part love story, but more than that, it is about Amy trying to deal with her father's death and Roger trying to come to grips with the end of a relationship. Both have to find a new beginning without someone they loved dearly.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Okay. I know. I have really been slacking lately. My last entry was in October which is really embarrassing. However, I am going to try to be better. I have read several good books lately so I should have several things to blog about.

I really enjoyed the book Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Samantha Kingston is a mean girl. She is part of the In-Crowd and she never lets anyone forget it. She has her popular friends and her good looking boyfriend, so why would she need anything else. She ignores the "little people" at school and enjoys making fun of many of her classmates. She doesn't think that anything can ruin her "perfect" life. However, in the beginning of the book, Samantha and her friends are in a car wreck and she dies. Now she is forced to live the same day over and over again until she gets it right.

This book is like Groundhog Day meets Mean Girls which makes it a really fun read. Samantha is clueless at the beginning of the book. She doesn't see how awful her friends really are. She thinks that everyone thinks she is cool and wants to be her. As she is forced to relive the same day over and over, she is surprised to discover that she isn't as great as she thought she was. She sees her friends as they truly are and she starts to explore her relationship with her boyfriend. As Samantha becomes more introspective, so does the reader. This book makes the reader think about his/her life and what is really important in his/her life.