Countdown: June 2013 (4)

While it might not feel like Summer is right around the corner right now it's not that far away.  May might mark the beginning of Summer and all the fun that comes with it, but when June rolls around I'm always ready to get into the full swing of things.  I'm ready to pack up my cold weather clothing and instead of curling up on the sofa with a book I'd rather take one out either poolside or to the beach.  Who doesn't like to lay around in the sun and enjoy a great book at the same time?  I've been known to like to grab a tan and soak up the sun but I can only lie around in the heat for so long without getting antsy so that's when I pull out the good books.  They get me through the hotter temperatures and keep me entertained while I try to get all the vitamin D a girl could want.  What's on your June 2013 list to pick up at your favorite bookstores?

Countdown Pick #1:  Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider (06/04/2013)

Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes? 

Robyn Schneider’s Severed Heads, Broken Hearts is a lyrical, witty, and heart-wrenching novel about how difficult it is to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.

While this one might not sound like it's all fun and games, I get the feeling that it could be a good read and one that readers will walk away thinking things through.  That book that makes everyone reflect a little on the inside and out.  Sign me up.

Countdown Pick #2:  A Trick of the Light by Lois Metzger (06/18/2013)

Mike Welles had everything under control. He was a good student, an outfielder on the baseball team, a good son, a loyal friend. But that was before. Now things are rough at home, and they’re getting confusing at school. He’s losing his sense of direction, and he feels like a mess.Then there’s a voice in his head. A friend, trying to help him regain control. More than that: The voice can guide him to be better and stronger than he was before, to rid his life of everything holding him back. To figure out who he is again. If only Mike will listen.

Writing with devastating power and precision, acclaimed author Lois Metzger gives us the story of one young man’s battle with his own shadows—a spare, stark, and vital tale of the way in which the things we build to protect ourselves can threaten to destroy us.

Goodreads has a giveaway going on now through April 5th for the chance to win one of five copies of this future release.  Head on over and enter for your chance to win if you haven't already.  The description of this book had me adding it to my TBR list without a seconds hesitation!

Countdown Pick #3:  Rules of Summer (Rules of Summer, #1) by Joanna Philbin (06/04/2013)

THE RULES OF SUMMER is about two 17 year-old girls living in the same beachfront mansion in East Hampton for the summer, one “upstairs” (the daughter of a very blue-blooded family) and one “downstairs” (the niece of the family’s housekeeper.) Isabel is the privileged daughter who’s used to having guys fall at her feet. Rory is the no-nonsense girl from a small New Jersey town who’s always been the friend, never the girlfriend.  Besides becoming each other’s unlikely allies, both Rory and Isabel have a summer romance that will change their lives.

I love these kinds of stories where characters from completely different backgrounds and upbringings are thrown together or come together and hopefully come out on the other side with a better understanding of their lives as well as the lives of others.  Not sure what kind of romance and adventure these characters will end up going through but it's a tale I'm excited to read in order to find out.

Countdown Pick #4:  Boy Nobody (Boy Nobody, #1) by Allen Zadoff (06/11/2013)

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target. 

When his own parents died of not-so-natural causes at the age of eleven, Boy Nobody found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission.

I'm not sure why but something about this book's description has me so excited I almost can't stand it.  June seems very far away right now and this countdown will surely have me at my last nerve by the time this title hits the shelves.  I can't wait to see what this teenage version of Jason Bourne has to offer.

Countdown Pick #5:  When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney (06/2013)

Filled with humor, raw emotion, a strong voice, and a brilliant dog named Sandy Koufax, When You Were Here explores the two most powerful forces known to man-death and love. Daisy Whitney brings her characters to life with a deft touch and resonating authenticity. 

Danny's mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see.

Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn't know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore.

When he gets a letter from his mom's property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother's memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harijuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.

With a dog named Sandy Koufax....come on!  Of course I was going to want to read this one before I even got any further into the book's description.  After finishing the synopsis I've got to say that Whitney seems to have another great book on her hands and I'm looking forward to checking it out.