Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

I actually went to see Marissa Meyer and Malina Lo speak at Wordstock in early October! I have never gone to see an author speak, and it was a very interesting experience. They talked about their inspirations (such as the retelling of fairy tales in a futuristic, dystopian world) and future works. But I digress...

Scarlet is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood (which Marissa told us the actual Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, which is actually very creepy in nature). Scarlet meets a street fighter named Wolf while trying to find out who kidnapped her grandmother, where they were holding her, and how to get her out. Meanwhile, our protagonist from the first Lunar Chronicles, Cinder, needs to escape her prison cell so she will not be deported back to Luna and killed by her aunt who wants to marry Prince Kai and rule Earth.

The third installment, Cress, releases next year and is based on the story of Rapunzel.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Marie Semple

I thought this book was very entertaining and told in a unique way. The book is told through collections of correspondence, so you have Bernadette's neighbor Audrey sending letters or emails to her gardener about Bernadette's blackberry bushes; Bernadette emailing her contact in India who can order her motion sickness pills; Audrey emailing Soo-Lin, Bernadette's husband, Elgin's, admin assistant; etc. The premise of the story is that Bernadette and Elgin have promised their daughter, Bee, anything she wants as long as she gets straight As. Bee has decided she wants to go to Antarctica. Bernadette (it sounds like she has agoraphobia) has motion sickness and is desperate to get out of the trip. A lot of other "I Love Lucy"-type things occur surrounding Bernadette, and I found the book wholly enjoyable and look forward to more books by Maria Semple.

The Erotic History of Advertising by Tom Reichert

I found this to be a really insightful book. It went through using sex in advertising through the ages (starting in the late 1800s and going through present) and also in specific campaigns (perfume/cologne, intimates, jeans, etc). It shows and explains a lot of examples and also goes over how not only are items sold, but the lifestyle surrounding them. Like if you wear Guess? Jeans, you instantly become desirable and people flock to you. I would recommend this book if you are interested in the history of advertising and how sex sells things, including sex itself.

The Elite (The Selection #2) by Kiera Cass

The Elite is the second book in The Selection trilogy. It continues where The Selection left off: with six girls remaining trying to win Maxon's heart. However, America is still deciding if she loves Maxon or Aspen, one of the guards that she knew from before the Selection began. As she struggles, both men show her what they can give her. Aspen can give her security now that he is a 2, but Maxon offers her a princess crown and the possibility of changing their country for the better. The final installment, The One, will be released next year.

These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen

I think this was my first "chick lit" book I have ever read. The story revolves around three women: Cate, who had an affair with her professor and dropped out of college and hopes no one finds out that secret; Renee, who is vying for a beauty editor position and is desperate to lose weight; and Abby, who had an affair with the father of the girl she was nannying. I thought how the story was told was interesting. Renee and Cate's go from present forward, while Abby's starts presently and then goes back into the past, bringing her to the present moment, and then forward. It was a very light, fluffy read, perfect for those summertime days at the beach.

Pure (Pure #1) by Julianna Baggott

This book takes place after the Detonations, which is what occurred after the Dome was built. People who made it inside the Dome (bought their way in and whatnot) are known as "pures" since they are not liked the "fused" who live outside the Dome. Those who are fused are just that--were fused to whatever they were touching or whoever they were near or holding when the Detonations occurred. Pressia is the main character who lives outside the Dome and has a doll head for a right hand (since the Detonations occurred when she was six and holding her favorite doll) and glass in her face. Another character is Patridge, who is inside the Dome. He figures out that his mother is still alive, but lives outside the Dome. He escapes and goes on a search for her, and while outside the Dome, Pressia runs into him and protects him from Groupies (people who were fused together, so three individuals but in one connected body) and helps him in his search to find his mother. I found this book to be fairly dry for a fiction book, but I do want to know what happens. It felt like an adult version of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

Outpost (Razorland #2) by Ann Aguirre

This book picks up where Enclave left off: Deuce, Stalker, Tegan, and Fade living in Salvation and trying to find a life there. There is a love triangle afoot, as well. Fade thinks that Deuce likes Stalker, while Deuce likes Fade (and Fade likes Deuce), while Stalker also likes Deuce, but she does not reciprocate that. The Freaks/Muties are also becoming smarter to the point of understanding the fields that the Salvationites plant are imperative to their survival and thus destroy them. This leads to an outpost (hence the title) being set up to protect the fields. Deuce, Stalker, and Fade go on a recon mission at night to find out where the Freaks/Muties are and they discover that they have their own little semi-civilization like Salvation. They return to the outpost and tell Longshot (the leader of the outpost who also rescued them and brought them to Salvation) what they saw, and even though he believes them, he does not decide to do anything about it. Later, both Fade and another outpost soldier are captured in the night, leading Deuce, Stalker, and two other soldiers on a mission to rescue them. I thought this book picked up really well from where Enclave left off and I could figure out/piece together what had happened in the end of the first book. I am looking forward to the third installment, Horde, to come out later this year.

The Richer Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Sex, Love, and Family by Liza Mundy

I loved this book! I seem to be having a streak of really great feminist nonfiction books and I am not complaining! Mundy discusses the increase of women in college, which is leading females to be taking higher-paying jobs than their male counterparts. This has impacted the family dynamic and has led to an increase in non-traditional home lives, such as stay at home fathers/husbands, since the wife makes more money. I thought the book was really interesting. It does discuss the difficulties of women who don't want to "marry down" (marry someone less educated than them), since more and more women are getting graduate degrees, which leads to less (graduate-educated) men to match them with. Mundy also talks about how work/school/home life will be in the future if the trends continue the way they are going.

One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper

This book revolves around the character of Silver (his last name), a has-been one hit wonder, who was diagnosed with a fatal heart condition, has a pregnant teenage daughter, and an ex-wife who is getting remarried soon. He decides to forgo the surgery to save his life, as he determines that the life he had been living since his divorce is not one he wants to continue to live (and not because the ex-wife's fiance would be performing the surgery, which he would do if Silver wanted it). I thought this book was really good. It showed a lot of growth of the characters both as individuals (grappling with difficult life decisions) and with each other (Silver setting out to be a better father and improve his relationship with his daughter). I thought the ending was a little confusing, but I would love it if someone could clear it up for me!

Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick

Gorgeous is about a girl named Becky Randle who just graduated high school. Her mother dies and while she is going through her things, she finds a jewelry ring box that has a phone number in the bottom of it. She calls the number and Tom Kelly, a famous fashion designer, answers it. Becky flies out to New York to meet him and he presents her with an offer: to make her the most beautiful woman in the world. She agrees to it and he makes it happen via three dresses: a red one, a white one, and a black one. She isn't sure how this can be accomplished since she is rather plain looking, but when she wears the red dress, she transforms into Rebecca: a taller, thinner, and more beautiful version of herself that even models are jealous of her. At the end of their first night out, he tells her that she can stay looking like this for the rest of her life if she falls in love and gets married within a year. I honestly really did not like this book. I thought it was too supernatural (something I was not expecting from it), at least for my tastes, and also pretty predictable.