Fangirl

Another win for Rainbow Rowell. Her books all read differently - mostly realistic fiction, with some fantasy peppered in - but different styles make each book unique.

Fangirl is about Cath, a fan-fiction writer, becoming an adult during her first year in college. She encounters hardships - boys, difficult classes, fighting with her twin sister Wren, a roommate - but through it all, still writes in Gemma T. Leslie's alternate world of magic and mystery.

The Simon Snow series reminds readers of Harry Potter, both in the subject of magic and huge popularity among youth. The experiences Cath has dealing with loving a children's series and yet growing up are experiences I can relate to as a huge Harry Potter fan.

Cath is a quirky but fun protagonist that has a strong cast of supporting characters in her world. Even the villains of Cath's world are interesting additions to the story, providing challenges for Cath to overcome and grow as a person.

You won't be disappointed in Fangirl if you love fan-fiction, quirky romances, nerds, and Rainbow Rowell's writing!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One is a debut novel by Ernest Cline, published in 2011. His second novel, Armada, came out this summer. A film version of Ready Player One is in the works, produced by Steven Spielberg. The difficulty lies in obtaining rights to the myriad of 80's pop culture references - music, movies, video games, and entire literary worlds are experience in the global virtual reality environment called the OASIS.

This book was an absolute pleasure to read. Even though I did not grow up in the 80's, the references were so well described that it did not matter. I enjoyed experiencing virtual worlds with the unlikely protagonist, Parzival/Wade3/Wade Watts, a poor kid from the mid-west.

If Willy Wonka was the creator of a global virtual reality in a dystopian future, that would be Ready Player One. Read it if you grew up in the 80's, if you love video games, dystopian fiction, virtual reality, or are a nerd of any kind.