msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

The most comforting, delightful, and pleasurable read I have had in a long time, AO tells the story of 16 year-old Morwenna, who has just been sent off to boarding school in order to escape her evil witch of a mother and connect with a father she has never known. Grief struck after the death of her twin sister (while evading her evil mother), Mor finds solace in the world of books and magic. She has incredible appeal for oddball bibliophiles around the world: "What I mean is, when I look at other people... and see what they like and what they're happy with and what they want, I don't feel as if I'm part of their species. And sometimes - sometimes I don't care... Sometimes it feels as if it's only books that make life worth living..." A gorgeous book, endorsed by Ms. Le Guin herself, and a perfect match for sci-fi book clubs. Give it to fans of Le Guin, Vonnegut, Rowling, and magic. Guaranteed to make you feel less lonely. Grade 9+

Set in a small midwestern town in the 70s, IZ follows the escapades, angst, and ennui of the unnamed narrator and her best friend Felicia as they come of age amidst parental neglect, fluctuating social status, and budding romance. Click here for a full review . Grade 9+

A haunting look at what happens when a kid slips through the cracks (which happened to be gaping wide throughout the ubiquitous 'hands-off-I'm-too-busy-having-a-breakdown/affair/addiction/vision" parenting style of the 70s and 80s). Most of us remember Jeffrey Dahmer as the guy who ate people, but Derf Backderf knew him as the guy who entertained his classmates with an ongoing and entertaining schtick (imitating his mother's seizures), the guy who didn't quite fit in yet maintained a bizarre celebrity status (including his own club), and, eventually, the guy who could finish a six-pack in mere seconds and always had a bottle at the ready to drown out the darkness at home and in his head. Backderf masterfully crafts a thoroughly researched cautionary and poignant tale of a lost young man without glossing over details or over sympathizing. Don't miss it - and pair it with Jeff Jensen's Green River Killer for more graphic serial killer memoir. Click here fo...

Are you still an artist if you don't have an audience? In spare prose reminiscent of Joan Didion, Dana Spiotta tells the story of Nik and Denise Worth, aging siblings who grew up during the 1970s-80s in Los Angeles and were involved in the art scene, Nik as a member of up-and-coming local band the Fakes and Denise as an actress. When singer-songwriter Nik's break-out deal with a big label turned sour in the 1980s, he turned inward, and began writing the "Chronicles," or the documented fantasy life of a successful musician complete with fabricated album reviews. Although she have up acting decades earlier, Denise's life isn't completely meaningless. She has a daughter she loves and a guy she gets together with every couple of weeks, but ultimately her existence is streaked with regret and painful self- awareness that she "had strayed from an acceptable course, that our lives were going in the wrong direction: I actually thought those words, how far we h...

Unforgettable seventeen-year-old Luke has grown up in an essentially matriarchial society surrounded by an eclectic bunch of women, including his bohemian New Age mother, his New England puritan grandmother, and his two charming and lovely half sisters. In the midst of all this kind chaos, Luke manages to create his own belief system that revolves around his passion for brain science. According to Luke, "without evidence, you just have hope, which is nice, but not reliable." It is the end of his junior year and he is drowning in college applications when his unbeknownst-to-him-father writes him a letter inviting him to spend the summer with him in Los Angeles. Did I mention his father turns out to be a fairly well-known television star? Luke accepts his offer, and the pair get to know each other, set against the backdrop of Hollywood life. Secrets are revealed, innocence is lost, and when Luke returns to his mother in New England, he quickly realizes that that "we don...