Have you read anything good lately?

 I'm fine w/ swimming, except for the fact that I don't like to be wet, cold, or wear a bathing suit in public. It took me 14 years of motherhood, but my kids are all finally good enough swimmers that I can leisurely sit in the shade and read while they swim. I won't even have to remove my cover-up (so please pass the brownies!). Are you looking for some summer reads?  Here are some books I've been reading over the past few months:

 This is the story of a boy that is trapped in a world where fairy-tales are real.  These fairy tales are quite a bit darker than your average Disney films.  At one point, he learns that "happily ever after" is really just a euphemism for "died quickly.  4 stars

 This sequel to Matched tells the story of a dystopian society (Books about dystopian societies are my kids fav, so I read a lot of them) where all your decisions are made for you especially who you have to marry.  I enjoyed it more than the original, but my daughter loved it and is counting the days until the third one comes out. Action, romance and good clean teen book.  4 stars

 3 short stories that remind me of Outer Limit episodes.  I think someone should so bring that TV series back.  It's way better than CSI Miami and that's been on forever.  My full review here.

 Daniel X is an orphaned alien that uses his super powers to fight evil aliens that are trying to take over our planet.  This is just plain fun.  4 stars

 The story of an orphaned boy and a cast of imaginary creatures looking for the lost homeland of the dragons.  I listened to the audio version while painting my craft room and really enjoyed it.  The narrator was Brendan Frasier and he just makes everything better and so I think it may earn an extra star that if I had just read it myself. 4.5 stars

 Another Dystopian society where there is a huge divide between poor and wealthy.  Only the rich can afford proper medicine and use the poor as unkowing human guinea pigs to test out new vaccines.  A poor young male Robin Hood type meets up w/ a wealthy girl on the police force trying to catch him.  It's the first in a series. 4 stars.

Weird, but in a good way. The author wove a story around old very odd pictures of carnival and freak shows. I loved it, but was a little unsatisfied with the ending (but there's a sequel in the works). 4 3/4 stars.

 The love story of a mentally handicapped girl and a deaf African American man in the 60's.  An amazing look into how those with disabilites were treated in this country until very recently.  I thought it would be awful and depressing, but I really love it.  Perfect choice for book club (thanks Suzanne).  5 stars (that may be a tad generous, but it's the best book I've read lately).

 Kind of like if Grease was set in a Dystopian society, but with out all the singing and dancing and if Sandy was only behaving herself b/c electronic eyeballs were "scoring" her every move.   I think the author was trying to make a point that society places too large of a weight on numbers like ACT scores and GPA's. It was entertaining, a page turner, and a great little romance.  However, I'm not sure what I think about it.   I think I would rather have my daughter want to be goody-2-shoes innocent Sandy over leather jumpsuit wearing  big-haired Sandy at the end of Grease.  A big moment for the repressed heroine of Scored  (can't remember her name) is when she lets loose and drops an f-bomb.  The male hero of the story swears all the time and has a mini-fridge stocked with beer in his bedroom.  I know this is super-popular with teens, so if you're a mom, read it first and decide if you want your kids reading it or not.  

 I'm a big fan of Coben.  This is a new Young Adult series that features Myron Bolitar's nephew Mickey.  His new girlfriend disappears and he has an entire crime-fighting adventure trying to find her.  I don't want to give any spoilers, but  although it doesn't go into graphic detail, there are some strip clubs and the mention of girls being sold into sex slavery, so again read it first before you hand it to your kid.  4 1/2 stars

 Another audio book for me.  It started out good, but I got bored. I might have liked it better if it was shorter. Mythical creatures are all obsessed w/ baseball and try to save the universe through the game.  2 stars

This is the third in the series,  and I haven't read the first 2, but was desperate one night a swim practice w/out a book and borrowed it from my kid.  Another dystopian society where a vaccine against aging allows people to live forever, but they must sign a declaration to never have children. A page turner, and makes you think.  4 stars

I love Sci-fi.  I love Harry Potter.  I have never read any Tolkien and thought I'd love it too and decided to read the entire trilogy for my 40 by 40 list.  I was so very wrong.  Tolkien is a great writer-the man invented an entire new world for goodness sakes.  I liked how it shows such loyalty and friendship and it is a literary masterpiece, but honestly I was bored out of my mind by all the battles and poems.  I decided yesterday, to skip the next 2.  It's a wonderful book, it's just not my type of book. (I'm going to refrain from rating it to avoid hate mail).  

Another fun book about the adventures of modern Greek and Roman teenage demi-gods. 4 stars

I know everyone is on Goodreads, but I like Shelfari better: here's my shelf if you're interested: http://www.shelfari.com/o1517343040/shelf

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

So what are you reading?

To see where I link up or to add your party, please click here.