Every time I read or hear this story I notice more things. Flawless.

A collection of essays on Paris. Some are about family, others about work, others about politics or fashion or school or self discovery. They are funny and dark and paint Paris as a magical place and a melancholy one. The one thing they all have in common is an endless fascination with the City of Light.

A surprisingly dark-humored tale, The Scarlet Letter follows Hester as she is sentenced to wear a red "A" upon her dress until she does for her crime of adultery. A brave and impressive character, Hester refuses to name the man who fathered her child, and spends the next seven years being so good and kind and helpful that the townspeople end up respecting her and referring to the mark as A for Able. It is the men of the novel who are weak: the father of Hester's child is drowning in his own guilt and her cuckolded husband is overcome by the need to exact revenge. Hawthorne has a flair for the dramatic and a penchant for mocking Puritans that makes this an entertaining read once you get past the old fashioned language.

I picked up this book because when I went to Austria at the tender age of sixteen a tour guide yelled at our school group because when he took us to the burial place of Sisi Hapsburg none of us sighed sadly at the mention of her name. So when I saw this book I decided I needed to see what all the fuss was about, and after 400+ pages I admit I am at a loss. This book spins ever onward tempting the reader with romance that never comes to fruition (not ONE MEASLY KISS FROM BAY HOW DARE U ALLISON PATAKI YOU ARE A MONSTER), political intrigue that Sisi ignores, travels to new places where Sisi does nothing except moon over her youngest daughter and moan about how sad she is, lots of ignoring her children while whining about how no one thinks she is a good mother, and other aggravating nonsense. The facts are fascinating, the novel itself was a letdown.

Well that was fucking depressing.

A high school novel with the requisite peer pressure, bullying, high school parties, and rich vs poor dynamics. But Kuehn delves deeper into the hearts of Sadie, kicked out of school for almost killing a classmate, Emerson, the boy who killed animals all grown up but still fucked up, and Miles, the younger brother who is definitely sickly but might be crazy, too. I devoured this in one sitting. A powerful story about the darkness that hides in plain sight.

A cute but uninventive and entirely forgettable story of a girl who turns into a mermaid, finds out her mother was a mermaid, lies badly to all her friends who somehow forgive her, and manages to save the day and come to terms with being a mermaid. I liked the scary scenes with the mermaids who wanted to kill her but I thought it was really annoying how she kept referring to her tail as gross and was so incapable of coping that she literally skips a ton of school and avoids her only friend because of it. A middle grade beach read.

A melancholy story about assorted teenagers in Alaska dealing with familial and societal issues in 1970. It's an interesting look at a culture that is not often seen in literature, young adult or otherwise, but it is the kind of story that leaves you feeling rather wretched after you've finished it.

Bone Gap, Illinois, though not apparent at first, is a town with gaps that lead to strange worlds. It is populated with a varied and wonderful cast of characters full of depth and weirdness and complicated relationships. It's a well-written and well-paced story that I would recommend to people looking for something new, weird, charming, heart-racing, good.

Lou is a soft, unambitious twenty-something content to live with her hilarious family while working at a cafe and dating a nonpassionate, boring man -- until she loses her job and has to become a caretaker for a quadriplegic to help support her family. Every character is amazing, from Lou's mom who never sits down, her dramatic sister Treena who is a loose cannon trying to get an education, to Lou's ever optimistic father, to the quiet grandfather who pops in and out of the background for great comedic effect, all the way to Will, incredible Will, who convinced Lou that she deserves better and that she can actually get it. This story is laugh out loud funny, touching, and memorable. Yes, it is sad, but this isn't a book about being sad. This is a book about life and people and being human.