Golden

Golden by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Lissy James moves from California to Oklahoma, starts in a new school, and is soon overwhelmed by the social scene. The popular kids call themselves "The Goldens" and classify everyone else as a "Non." That would be plenty bad, but Lissy has bigger worries. Her Aura Vision, which allows her to see the colors that surround each person, has suddenly become much stronger. She has not yet learned how to control her power. Worst of all, her math teacher gives her the creeps, because his aura is completely wrong -- not a color at all and very scary to see. As Lissy looks around the hallways of her new high school, she sees the connections and relationships between everyone. She'll need to concentrate her power to survive at this new school!
teen paranormal fiction
I listened to it. And was COMPLETELY irritated when it had a Sylar-from-Heroes villian at the end. I mean, hello? Must we be so scary? Must we invoke that nightmare-inspiring stupidhead? (Okay, so I am maybe a little bitter that I can't watch Heroes because Sylar is too scary for me. because it's a really good show.)
6 hours.

Making Money

The new Terryy Pratchett Discworld novel Making Money kind of snuck up on me - I saw it in the library's new books area before I knew it was coming. And is there really anything better than the instant gratification of diving right into a new book by a favorite author? (that was rhetorical. there is not. unless the book also came with a bowl of ice cream and a diet coke to sustain my reading frenzy.) Still, it's funny fantasy/social commentary/weirdness and how many authors can pull that off consistently? (also rhetorical, in a post Adams/Vonnegut universe)
Anyway, we last saw Mr. Moist Lipwig when he was transforming the Ankh-Morpork post office in "Going Postal" and he was so successful that he is offered (forced/coerced) a position at the Royal Mint, where it costs more than a penny to make a penny and the bank still seems to be operating on the gold standard. It's Discworld, so chaos ensues. I'm glad that we got to see more of Moist's girlfriend Adora Belle and also of the huge clay golems, and I can't wait to see what Terry Pratchett comes up with next - the book hints that he (and Lipwig) may take on taxation.
I checked it out. 393 pages.

The Little Lady Agency

Apparently I have missed two other books by Hester Browne, although I didn't feel like this book read as part of a series, I can see how the backstory would have filled a few other novel. While I am sure that the last two novels also had happy romantic endings, I like to believe that this one will be "for real" but I would also welcome another novel continuing Mel's story.
Anyway, in this book "The Little Lady Agency and the Prince", Melissa is a London woman who runs her own business as a consultant to help single men with a variety of tasks aimed at cleaning up their lives, their wardrobes, their manners, etc. (which is introduced in the first book, The Little Lady Agency)/ Mel is newly engaged to Jonathan, and planning to move to Paris to be with him in a few months, (presumably their romance was covered in the previous book Little Lady, Big Apple) When her grandmother asks her for a huge favor, to help return respectability to the family of an old friend, Mel can't say no, even though it means reforming a wild playboy prince. Mel is busy maintaining a long distance relationship by visiting Jonathan in Paris on the weekend, paying her share of the bills with her flatmate Nelson's, and running home to her family in the country where her parents and grown siblings are increasingly out of control.
Mel has a lot riding on the reformation of the suave, sultry prince. This job will give her the down payment to buy her office building and also make her grandmother very happy. But as her attraction to the sexy prince increases, and the moving date from reliable Nelson's flat to Jonathan's home in Paris grows near, Mel's work/life balance is unexpectedly confusing!

I will review it for freshfiction. 386 pgs.

So Yesterday

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld

Hunter Braque is not your typical New York City teenager. He makes spare cash by "cool hunting" on the streets - spotting emerging trends and snapping photos with his phone to forward on to his employer. When he sees Jen (and her shoelaces - which are tied in a way that he has never seen before) he realizes right away that she is an innovator - she is one of those people who come up with new cool ideas. As Hunter introduces Jen to his world of watching and reporting, she introduces him to spontaneity and adventure. When a meeting with Mandy, who works for a major shoe company, goes awry, it looks like Mandy has been kidnapped. Some weirdly dressed, highly stylized people are chasing Hunter while he tries to locate Mandy and trying to stop Jen while she searches for the coolest shoes anyone has ever seen. Hunter and Jen have only known each other a few days, but they will have to trust each other if they are going to survive the weekend.

For a book about consumer culture, popular brands, and the next best thing in shopping, author Scott Westerfeld introduces a marvelous twist on name-dropping. He consciously refers to the companies through sarcastic description (a certain credit card company that is a four letter word) (A certain shoe company that shares its name with a Greek goddess) that share the inside joke with the reader instead of seeming like a product-placement. Hunter's unique voice, his observations about what he sees, and his insights about what it means to be cool make this book worth reading, although the mystery, adventure and romance don't hurt!

I listened to it - 6.5 hours.

Also, - I read about 50 pages of short stories by Edgar Allen Poe for book group this week - even though So Yesterday had already ruined Murders in the Rue Morgue for me...Seriously the day before I needed to read the story, Hunter was talking about innovators on this audiobook and said something like "And one day, Poe's child bride asked Edgar to write something new and he created the modern detective story and wrote Murders in the Rue Morgue. I'll save you some time - the monkey did it." AHHH! Sorry if I just gave it away for you too, but you see how this was bad for me in a coincidental way?

RASH

So, I listened to a book called RASH in which people get a contagious rash at a school that is completely psychosomatic and yet the school can't stop it from spreading. And at the same time, I myself (irl) have a weird rash on my face that I believe was caused by stress (although I went to the doctor finally today and got antibiotics just in case). UNlike my real life, the book turns out to mostly be about good old fashioned sports - football and track - in a futuristic USSA (United Safer States of America) where everyone is padded, equipped, drugged and rule-abiding, or else sent to the prison system to do manual labor. Frankly, much like my real life, I'd rather just have the rash.... :)
RASH by Pete Hautman - YA fiction
Great book, weird timing with my own issues....
I listened to it - 7 hours.

how to be popular

Driving back from Collinsville yesterday evening, I listened to Meg Cabot's "How to be Popular" which was pretty much what I expected -- a girl finds a book on how to be popular, follows the advice, and finds that the popular people she seeks to emulate aren't all that great after all. Plus, you know, she falls in love.
I listened to it. 5.5 hours.