Scarlet  and Cress by Marissa Meyer

These are the second and third installments in a four-part series of a YA dystopian/fairy tale mash-up. Fair warning, the fourth part doesn’t come out until November. I enjoy Young Adult literature, so I often check out the popular series. These were quick reads and the clever way the fairy tales are woven in made me happy. The first book in this series is Cinder, and you really would need to start there. Recommended.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

This is a book that tells the fictionalized version of the wives of Brigham Young, alternating with a modern-day plural wives situation and excerpts from Ann Eliza Young’s own plea against plural marriage, Wife No. 19. This book sparked more conversation at our book club than any other book to date, I think. There is a lot of curiosity surrounding the LDS church and its origins. I enjoyed the book, particularly during the parts that showed Ann Eliza’s life. Recommended.

10 Things We Did (and probably shouldn’t have) by Sarah Mlynowski

This was not my favorite YA novel. The set up is hard to swallow, as are most of the 10 things they did. It was better in the end than it appeared at the beginning, though, which helped me finish it.

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

I love everything I’ve read by Jennifer E. Smith. She writes very believable teens, and she writes yearning extremely well. The characters in this book are delightful people, and I enjoyed reading about them. Young Adult romance of high quality. Recommended.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

I had never read anything by Sarah Dessen, even though she was a favorite of my daughter’s, and I follow her on twitter. So in the middle of my young adult binge, I picked up her latest from the library. Her writing is on another plane from most of the young adult I’ve read. This was as good as most of the adult fiction I read. I plan to get some more of her work at the library soon. Highly recommend.

Mini Habits by Stephen Guise

This is a short little book, but I look forward to putting it’s plans into action soon. I’m re-reading it now, and I really think it could be beneficial for me. I’m going to write a blog post on my progress with it in December, probably. Recommendation on hold until I put it into practice, but I love it.

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

An excellent YA book on accepting people not just in spite of their differences, but maybe because of them. Two wounded teens connect and discover love isn’t any harder or any easier just because you have a disability. Highly recommend.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Our October Book Club pick, this was another WWII novel (we seem to have read a lot of those this year). This had incredible reviews, and it didn’t disappoint. I was a little prejudiced against it, but it won me over quickly. War stories from the woman’s point of view aren’t as common, and this one was beautifully done. The main characters were nuanced, not black and white good guys or bad guys. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I’m always looking for more book recommendations, so if you have favorites, let me know.