Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Goodreads Summary:

This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.

My Thoughts:

This is the high school that I wish I had attended. From the drag-queen quarterback to the straight kids not being judgy assholes I would have actually liked high school if this had been my school. As it was, I went to high school in a Utah suburb which was not even close to accepting of diversity.

David Levithan captures a great "I wish it were true" reality. We walk in the shoes of Paul throughout the book. Paul is super secure in his sexuality and identity and it is nice to have a teen have his shit together. We have secondary characters who represent the rest of us, ya know, the hot mess folks. Those of us who aren't sure about our sexuality or who we are and what all of that even means are represented clearly and when it is cliched it doesn't work against the story.

I wish this story were true.

I would recommend this book to fans of David Levithan and the not so normal kids out there. I will say that sometimes the story is a bit over the top, but I like it. I know not everyone digs exaggeration in this style so I definitely don't think it is for everyone.

While writing this review I was listening to Justin Beiber. He is just awful. I really need to stop listening to pop music. If only it wasn't so catchy!

Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Goodreads Summary:

The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.

For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.

Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.

Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

My Thoughts:

I was not sure I would like this book when it started to take on a ghostly feel. I really should start reading descriptions of books before checking them out at the library (yes I judge books by their covers). Lucky for me I didn't give up on this read and thankfully the ghostly stuff was minimal.I really enjoyed the set up for the character development. We learned things slowly along with the main characters. None of the ghostly stuff was cheesy or excessive. I think it gave the book a nice level of supernatural intrigue without being an outright ghost story, rather, this book felt like it could be anyone's story.

Will is a woman who hasn't quite figured herself out, but only realizes it when she sees herself through the eyes of those who barely know her. I enjoyed learning about these characters through the observations of the other characters. It was refreshing to have narrative that was well written and not just in the first person.

I would recommend this book to those who love a Southern flare to their reads. I would additionally recommend this book as a fast and fairly light summer read. It was engaging but not so heavy that it impacted the day. I could put it down, but I didn't want to.

While writing this review I was listening to Jennifer Lopez sing about wanting to make love to her baby. No I didn't look up the title of the song because I didn't care that much :) Really shouldn't JLo go away already? She just isn't good. Also, I am really tired of her ass, and I mean her actual ass.