Summer Reading and a confession

First, the confession. Well, I didn't finish the 11.5 things. I only got finished up through number 9. I was putting off number 10 because it involved second life, something I am really not excited about. I don't like video games, and I don't like "virtual" meetings. I feel like most of the time (not always) they are a waste of time. I understand that they may be beneficial if some of the meetees are separated by geographical space, but I don't see any need to pretend to be some avatar, and walk into a pretend library, etc. I much prefer some type of online meeting between real people with voice/chat. So sue me. Anyway, the deadline snuck up on me, and I realized I hadn't finished number 10. Bummer. Oh well, I learned a few things anyway.

Here are the highlights of my summer reading:

Nailer is just trying to survive. In the not too distant future, the melting ice caps have changed everything. Coastal people make a living, if you can call it that, by salvaging what they can from oil tankers left to rot near the shore. After a hurrican, he finds more than he bargained for aboard a clipper that has run aground…

Dawn doesn’t talk much. She doesn’t have any friends, really, and her Mum spends most of the time in an alcohol induced haze. Dawn is trying desperately not to remember something, to hide it. When some girls at school take an interest in her, things begin slipping…will she be able to keep her secret?

Finnikin’s world changed forever when the unspeakable happened. The king’s position was usurped, and the royal family killed, at least everyone thought so. Finnikin had pledged a blood oath to protect the heir to the throne, and is still serving his scattered people by working to gather them together and to find the missing heir, rumored to be still living. Meanwhile, there are dangerous plots swirling all around him as he searches for his father and tries to help his people regain their homeland.

Violet has a special talent. She can sense when someone has been murdered. What is more, she can sense who was involved in the violence. Her uncle is the police chief, and when a rash of teenage girls turn up missing, Violet uses her talent to help track down the murderer.

Samantha has the perfect life. She is part of the popular crowd, she has the right clothes, the right friends, the right boyfriend, everything. Then comes the accident. When she wakes up, it is yesterday again. And again, and again. How long will she repeat this day, what will she do? Will she change her life or someone else’s for the better?