This is How, Help for the Self by Augusten Burroughs

I read this for myself, obviously.  I'm not really good at reading self help books; they're boring.  This one isn't.  It is insightful and covered with truth and life examples.  It was very enjoyable.  I'd like my own copy to highlight and re-read a lot of points until they stick in my head.  One thing that stuck out was about quitting smoking.  He said that it's easy; it's just uncomfortable.  Or maybe that was about quitting drinking....anyway, it's funny.  If you think it might be good for you, just google the book and see if it might be for you.

The Gift by Danielle Steel

This was a cutesy story.  A girl lives in a little town and she is smart and good and her father isn't very nice and she goes to a dance with a date, leaves the dance with another, has a one night stand and gets pregnant.  Her father says she disgraced the family and sends her away to another town with nuns to have the baby.  She quickly discovers she doesn't like the house of the nuns and gets herself a job in another town, and a place to live.  She meets this boy who lost his little sister and they help one another, fall in love, etc.  I won't ruin the end of the story.  I think I liked it, it just started out as "oh please nothing is THIS perfect."

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This was a pretty good book.  Any dog lover will appreciate it..  Any race fanatic will also appreciate it.  I don't know anything about racing or care about it, but from Enzo's perspective it sounds like one of life's wonders of the world!  Enzo is a dog, this story is told from his view.  It is very interesting in places, the things he makes the reader think of.  The fact that he understands and can't reply.  Gestures are all he has.  He'd love to have thumbs.  Makes you think of the things we may take for granted.  It's a quick read.  Try it out.

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

I picked this book randomly, although the author was not random.  She is friends with John Green, and you know how much I love John.  So I thought I'd give her a try.  I didn't enjoy this book very much, but I think I will eventually read another by her and see if I like it better.  It wasn't the writing I disliked, it was the storyline.  Scarlett lives in a hotel, doesn't have a lot of money, and has two sisters and a brother.  And parents.  In the beginning the book is about a boy she likes, Eric, who I guess broke her heart.  She works for an agent (AAA), an acting agency consiting of one woman who overworks her.  Anyway it focuses on her going to school and working for this woman with side stories involving her brother who is an actor and her sisters.  Then a girl named Chelsea who becomes a client gets involved and that tangles up Chelsea's brother into the story.  And the book ends just when I was becoming involved.  Seemed like another few chapters could have summed some things up nicely.  But I found the ending abrupt. 

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

This is the second book I've read by this author.  I enjoyed the first one better (Anna and the French Kiss), this one was still cute, and had Anna and St. Clair as minor characters.  Lola is ...well Lola.  I don't know how to sum her up.  She has a wild, hot rocker boyfriend, dresses in a different outfit everyday which are always crafty, and as the title hints, is involved with the boy next door.  Cricket.  I love his name and character.  This was basically a teenage drama / romance.  I enjoyed it.