Serial killers, zombpires, and pranks (oh my!) — Three mini recommendations.

Here's a quick recommendation for three books I've read and enjoyed recently:

TEN* by Gretchen McNeil
(Balzer & Bray, Sept. 18, 2012)

You remember that time you and your friends went to an exclusive island party and got trapped there during a raging storm and were murdered one by one for reasons unknown? No? Well, Gretchen McNeil's TEN harkens back to the days of SCREAM and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. Like real life, only better ... because you're not actually on the hit list of a serial killer.

THE IMMORTAL RULES* by Julie Kagawa
(Harlequin Teen, Apr. 24, 2012)

If you like your vampires bloodthirsty and conflicted, this is the book for you. Love the mix of traditional vampires and a post-apocalyptic society that's been decimated by a disease that's created the "rabids" ... basically, zombpires. Complete ending, with plenty of potential for this Blood of Eden series to develop.

THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS** by E. Lockhart 

(Hyperion, Mar. 25, 2008)

In the world of YA, Frankie Landau-Banks has staying power. This clever, engaging novel covers a year of a secret society's pranks at a prestigious boarding school, but it's really about Frankie's struggle to discern her place in the world (the eternal conflict between what she feels, what she wants, and what society tells her to be). She figures it out by questioning everything, pushing boundaries, and sometimes screwing up royally ... but she never stops being relatable and awesome.


* I got these books at BEA!
**I've owned this book for years and finally got around to reading it — actually, I listened to the audiobook, which was excellently narrated.