I Heart Ed Small by Shirley Johnson

From Goodreads.com:
   In the summer of 1968 Baby Hunnicutt's mama dies and her daddy gives her to her aunt to raise. The only trouble is Aunt Clem works all day and leaves Baby in the hands of her teenage twins. Stoic protector Allen and kind and gentle Jeffrey, along with the help of their best friend, the unwashed and untamed Ed, raise up Baby the best they know how.
   I Heart Ed Small takes the reader back in time to the late sixties, when adventure and friendship were to be found outside in the hot sun of public pools and the smoky haze of pool halls. It's the story of how one little girl gets three lazy hippie boys to get of the couch, clean up their language, and grow up. I Heart Ed Small is the coming of age story of how Baby Hunnicutt captures the wildest heart from the very beginning and never relinquishes it from her sweet little hand.
   As the twins and Ed raise Baby they teach her about everything they deem important from playing pool and cussing to smoking and belching and yet she still remains pure and innocent and follows her own path as she grows up. These three smart-mouthed ruffians are the ones who are left with the responsibility to guide Baby as she begins her journey through puberty. They are the ones left  to help her deal with something Ed knows a lot about; the tricky persistence that is boys. But just as Baby needs the three of them most, they leave her life. The Vietnam War, marriage, and the call of adventure pull the boys away until the tragic threads of life reunite them all once again.

   I found I Heart Ed Small through one of my many daily emails for free! It took me a couple weeks to get around to reading it, but once I did, I just kept right on reading. The writing was nice and flowing, there isn't anything to get caught up on.
   I felt the gamut of emotions while growing up with Baby Hunnicutt. Grief at the loss of her mother, confusion, happiness, contentment, more confusion, love, hope, and grief of a different kind. The boys really stepped up for Baby helping her through times a teenage boy shouldn't have to help a young girl through. They took care of Baby as much and as best as they could. Even though the title is very leading, I still enjoyed the journey getting there.
   If you're looking for a simple book to just get lost in, this would be a great choice (not that the story is "simple" but the book is just easy to read and follow.) Also, I just read that there will (hopefully) be a sequel to this book, which I am very much looking forward to, so read this before it comes out.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

From the hardcover:
   Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls and that Ari has built around himself.
   But when Ari and Dante meet, they bond. They share books, thoughts, dreams, laughter. They teach each other new vocabularies and begin to redefine each other's worlds. And they discover that the universe is a large and difficult place.
   This is the story about two boys, Ari and Dante, who must learn to believe in each other and the power of their friendship if they ever are to become men.
   In breathtaking prose, American Book Award winner Benjamin Alire Sáenz captures those moments that make a boy a man as he explores loyalty and trust, friendship and love.

 
   Two boys who are not "normal" meet by chance one summer day. One is sad and withdrawn, the other is sociable but weird in the eyes of his peers They become best friends and help bring out the best in each other in this fantastic book. Ari never felt like he fit in (the above quote is an Ari thought) he just din't know how to act around people. Dante was strange in his own way but never pressures Ari to be something particular. He didn't expect him to be a certain way so Ari is able to be less guarded, more himself. And a beautiful friendship begins.
   For me, this is just one of those books that hit so hard. I think the first time I read this (almost two years ago) I did so in one sitting. After I finished, I read it again starting the next day. I devoured it slower the second time, really letting everything sink in, discovering new bits of information. I told my best friend about it and said I had to buy a hardcover copy for myself. (I borrowed it from the library to assess it before purchasing.) Next thing I know she bought me a copy (such was my gushing about it.) When she gave it to me, I told her she had to borrow it first, because I knew she'd love it too. I also sent a copy, all my favorite parts marked with post-it notes, to a friend for Christmas.
   It's a little difficult for me to put my finger on exactly what about this book spoke to me. It is beautifully written, but I think more than anything it was Ari. Dante had his moments too, and their parents, oh how I loved their parents. I'm hard pressed to find anything bad about this book, I may have rose colored lenses on though, but that's what happens when you fall as hard as I did. If you are not one of the people I have basically forced to read this book, you should read it, chances are, you won't regret it.

Wreckage by Emily Bleeker

From Goodreads.com:
   Lillian Linden is a liar. On the surface, she looks like a brave survivor of a plane crash. But she's been lying to her family, her friends, and the whole world since rescue helicopters scooped her and her fellow survivor, Dave Hall, off a deserted island in the South Pacific. Missing for almost two years, the castaways are thrust into the spotlight after their rescue, becoming media darlings overnight. But they can't tell the real story - so they lie.
   The public is fascinated by the castaways' saga, but Lillian and Dave must return to their lives and their spouses. Genevieve Randall - a hard-nosed journalist and host of a news program - isn't buying it. She suspects Lillian's and Dave's explanations about the other crash survivors aren't true. And now, Genevieve's determined to get the real story, no matter how many lives it destroys.
   In this intriguing tale of survival, secrets, and redemption, two everyday people thrown together by tragedy must finally face the truth...even if it tears them apart.

   Wreckage is told by two different characters, Dave and Lillian. Each chapter starts out with who is narrating and when it is taking place, post-rescue or pre-rescue, but you still jump around in time during chapters (sort of in the style of Gone Girl.) It was a little odd to start but I soon got the hang of it. The characters are a little flat, but still (sort of) interesting.
   It was a little bit of a mystery, mostly because I was trying to suss out the lies from the truth. It did slow down about halfway through, when you started to see what the lie included. I still felt the need to know how it ended despite thinking it was becoming predictable.
   If you're looking for somewhat of a guilty-pleasure mystery this is a good book for you. But I wouldn't completely label it as a mystery. I think it easily fits into the contemporary fiction genre also. It's a good, relatively quick read that should hold your attention and perhaps make you think a little on the nature of lies.