★★★★★ "It's all right, my dear," I tell her. "It's all right. I'm dying, too." Elise Sontag lives with her mother, father and younger brother in Iowa. Her parents are from Germany and as the 1940s roll through, the witch hunt for the Nazi's is under way. No one said anything to one another. We were tired.… Continue reading The Last Year of the War – Susan Meissner

★★★★ Never do anything you can pay someone else to do Patricia Marx's mother has always had advice aplenty to pass along to her daughter...and luckily, Patricia kept all of it. Her mother has saying for every situation - from the mundane to the highly specific - and all were absolutely hilarious. If you feel guilty about throwing out… Continue reading Why Don’t You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It? – Patricia Marx & Roz Chast

★★★★ ½ Population decline isn't a good thing or a bad thing. But it is a big thing. Throughout my childhood, I've heard time and time again about the rise and fall of human population.  Well, for the past few decades, we saw a rise like no other but soon (very soon) that will reverse. And the… Continue reading Empty Planet – Darrell Bricker & John Ibbitson

★★★★ ½ Val looked at me and said, "This would never happen back home." Keith and Val, two Americans, have fallen in love with France. After all, who hasn't? Magic seems to happen to us in France. What began as a semi-annual adventure has turned it a three-month-per-year commitment. Are We French Yet? is a collection of… Continue reading Are We French Yet? – Keith Van Sickle

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.” Every year, Panem (post-apacolyptic North America) hosts a Hunger Games involving one female and one male representative from each of its twelve districts to fight to the death.  All of the Districts of Panem must watch the Games as a form of yearly "entertainment"… Continue reading The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

"You're very honest." "I have been told it's one of my worst qualities." Ayesha is in her late twenties, unmarried and works for a living ( *cue the muted gasps of horror* ). As a modern Muslim, she walks through life with her head held high. Her best friend has a live-in boyfriend, she teaches at a coed school… Continue reading Ayesha at Last – Uzma Jalauddin

★★★ ½ "It feels irresponsible. What if it doesn't work?...It goes against everything my parents taught me." Telly has always had this wild, crazy dream - to become a professional poker player. Only there were a few things that got in the way...talent and...well, that's pretty much it. He was a bad poker player. How bad? Very bad. But, through a… Continue reading Polkergeist – Michael Phillip Cast

★★★★ Humanity survived Zombie apacolypse.  Like after any great tragedy, the government wants a record. Max Brooks is their oral historian...well...he was their oral historian. When he hands his documents, the bureaucracy whittles it down to the bare facts. Humans, over every nation, dragged their bone weary bodies through this war. They are now faced with the numbing task of rebuilding society.… Continue reading World War Z – Max Brooks

★★★ ½ Before I begin, just letting you know that I got my copy from Uppercase - a lovely monthly book subscription box. All I could think about the whole time was - OMG Marie Lu touched MY book!! Everything's science fiction until someone makes it science fact. Emika Chen - bounty hunter, hacker, programmer, liar - is about to… Continue reading Warcross – Marie Lu