Crystal Aura's Top 10 Book Choices

Named for a flower whose blood-red sap possesses the power both to heal and poison, Bloodroot is a stunning fiction debut about the legacies—of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss—that haunt one family across the generations, from the Great Depression to today.

The novel is told in a kaleidoscope of seamlessly woven voices and centers around an incendiary romance that consumes everyone in its path: Myra Lamb, a wild young girl with mysterious, haint blue eyes who grows up on remote Bloodroot Mountain; her grandmother Byrdie Lamb, who protects Myra fiercely and passes down “the touch” that bewitches people and animals alike; the neighbor boy who longs for Myra yet is destined never to have her; the twin children Myra is forced to abandon but who never forget their mother’s deep love; and John Odom, the man who tries to tame Myra and meets with shocking, violent disaster. Against the backdrop of a beautiful but often unforgiving country, these lives come together—only to be torn apart—as a dark, riveting mystery unfolds.

With grace and unflinching verisimilitude, Amy Greene brings her native Appalachia—and the faith and fury of its people—to rich and vivid life. Here is a spellbinding tour de force that announces a dazzlingly fresh, natural-born storyteller in our midst.

This debut novel by Jen Sookfong Lee offers an eloquent yet predictable look at the multigenerational experiences of a Chinese-Canadian family in Vancouver. While the prose is raw and the creative energy evident, Lee’s novel stays within conventional and claustrophobic narrative territory.

The story revolves on the fraught identity struggles of the Chan family, as they try to reconcile the competing claims of East and West. The death of the family patriarch, Seid Quan, prompts his granddaughter, Samantha Chan, to return to Vancouver to sift through the fluctuating and ambiguous fragments of the past. From her grandfather’s alienation in his adopted Canadian “home” to her mother’s disappointment at birthing five daughters and no sons, Samantha finds herself drawn to haunting and often painful memories that refuse to fade away.

As Samantha unearths these forgotten stories, she effectively situates her family within a history of social and legislated racism. Seid Quan arrives in Canada in 1913, six years after the race riots in Chinatown and a decade before the Chinese Immigration Act, which virtually excluded all Chinese immigrants from entering Canada. The pervasive sense of entrapment comes from a historical context that prevented Chinese Canadians from breaking out of a ghettoized Chinatown existence.

It is left up to Lee’s prose, which occasionally glimmers beyond the confines of the novel’s safe narrative borders, to bring the book a sense of possibility.

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those who have fallen — and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

Summary: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before — and survival.

Clare's debut novel, first in the Mortal Instruments series, is a sprawling urban fantasy packed with just about every type of creature known to the genre, and still spacious enough to hold more. Fifteen-year-old Clary Fray witnesses a killing in an "all-ages club"; when she confronts the attackers, she learns that they are spectral Shadowhunters, charged with killing demonic creatures called Night Children. Clary returns home to find her apartment vandalized and her mother missing, apparently kidnapped by creatures in the service of someone named Valentine. An attack by a slithering beast sends Clary to the infirmary at the Institute, hidden home of the Shadowhunters. There she befriends the hunter Jace, who tells her of Valentine's intention to find the Mortal Cup, one of three Mortal Instruments the Angel gave to the first Shadowhunters (the others are a mirror and sword). Great secrets abound both in Clary's past and in her own head—secrets that are gradually revealed to her about her mother, her mother's eccentric friend Luke, her relationship with Jace and, eventually, about Valentine himself. Clare's atmospheric setting is spot-on, informed equally by neo-gothic horror films and the modern fantasy leanings of Neil Gaiman. Werewolves, vampires, angels and fairies all fit in this ambitious milieu. At the core, though, this is a compelling story about family secrets and coming-of-age identity crises. Fans of the smart/chic horror typified by Buffy the Vampire Slayer will instantly fall for this new series.

After surviving a car accident that killed her entire family, 16-year-old Ever gains the ability to see auras and read thoughts. The overwhelming nature of her new powers and her guilt about the accident turn the once-popular teen into a loner at school. She makes friends with stereotypically gay Miles and mega-Goth Haven, and does everything she can to drown out the din of psychic energy around her. Her loner status comes under siege, as does her friendship with Haven, when a new boy, Damen, shows an interest in her. By accident, Ever learns that he has no aura, a fact that pushes her to uncover more about the mysterious newcomer. Some obvious clues, like the red liquid that Damen drinks instead of food, lead Ever to conclude that he is a vampire when in fact his true nature is more complex. Teens will identify with Ever, who not only has to deal with relationship and friend issues, but also with a dead sister who refuses to cross over and crippling psychic powers that make it hard to cope with everyday life. Though the familiar premise may hook many paranormal romance fans, none of the plot elements receive the thorough treatment they deserve, and the revelation in the end relies too heavily on backstory. Not a first pick in this ever-expanding genre.

All Chloe Saunders wants is a life like any normal teenager – the chance to get through school, make friends, and maybe meet a boy. But when she starts seeing ghosts, she knows that like will never be the same again.

Soon the ghosts are everywhere, demanding her attention. When Chloe finally breaks down, she’s admitted to a group home for disturbed kids. At first Lyle House seems okay, but as she gets to know the other patients – charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek; obnoxious Tori; and Rae, who has a ‘thing’ for fire – Chloe begins to realise that something strange and sinister binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual ‘problem kid’ behaviour.

And they’re about to discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home, either…

Mackensie, Laurel, Emma, and Parker have been friends since childhood. Now, they run a wedding planning company called “Vows.” Parker’s obsessive-compulsive nature makes her the perfect person to plan out all the niggly details. Emma has a green thumb with the flowers—growing them herself—and is a whiz at decorating. Laurel creates cake masterpieces, as well as lovely pastry desserts. And Mackensie—Mac—is a professional photographer whose work has graced many a magazine. Together they have the perfect set of talents, and the mansion Parker’s parents left her acts as the perfect setting for bringing couples’ dreams to life.

In the first of four novels, Vision in White, Nora Roberts brings us Mac’s story. Despite Mac’s involvement in the wedding business, getting hitched doesn’t seem to be in her future. To be honest, she doesn’t really believe in happily ever after. Her parents, after all, seem to be living proof that marriage doesn’t last. Just look at her mother, Linda, who’s been married who-knows-how-many times and is always on the trail of yet another man. To make things worse, every time things fall apart it’s Mac she comes to with all of her drama, wanting a shoulder to cry on, someone to care for her… and, of course, money. Why would Mac ever willingly subject herself to that kind of madness?

Fate, however, seems to have a different opinion on the subject. Mac’s having “one of those days” when she meets Carter, a bride-to-be’s brother, in a rather awkward manner. Combined with one of Linda’s stunts, somehow it all leads up to a half-drunken confession and an all-too-brief, all-too-hot kiss. Mac never imagined herself falling for anyone, much less an English teacher in tweed and glasses with a dry sense of humor, but soon things are heating up much faster than she’d like… and she’s going to have to find a way to come to grips with her own hang-ups if she wants it to last.

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey.

But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding...