“Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side” by Beth Fantaskey – This book is much better than it sounds! I read it with the girl I tutor and I liked it a lot. It’s another vampire book, but this time the characters are actually interesting and I would recommend it to teenagers. The book explores teenage relationships and body image in a positive way, while asking the question: are there any people who cannot love? “Dawn” by Octavia E. Butler – Fabulous! I just love Butler’s science fiction, because her characters and plots are really believable. I also like it that her stories tend to be set in not-too-distant future, as I think that helps make her stories and characters relatable. This is the first book in the Xenogenosis trilogy. In this series, aliens have saved the human race and I think her imaginng of aliens is really original. “The Fairy Realm #3 – The Third Wish” by Emily Rodda – Great book for reading to a young child. I really enjoyed this book! Maybe I’m getting senile, but I didn’t catch on to how the problems in the book were solved until afterwards and I liked how there were no truly evil characters. “Adulthood Rites” by Octavia E. Butler – The ending was unexpected and it just makes you itch to start reading the last book in the trilogy. I think Akin is an interesting character, but I do miss reading about Lilith, the main character in the first book. I think the alien race’s take on human beings is really compelling and disturbing-that our main problem is of having a predisposition towards hierarchical systems and intelligence. Currently reading: “Imago” by Octavia E. Butler