Have you ever had a span of time when it seemed that you chose books that just never satisfied that itch that a good story scratches? Over the past few months, this has been my experience. At first I thought it was me being a jaded reader…then I read a book (Lev Grossman’s “The Magicians” that I’ll likely review soon because so far it’s gripping) that described my criteria for declaring a book ‘good’, and I realized that I was just waiting until I read the right book:

“a book that did what books always promise to do…get you out, really out, of where you were and into somewhere better”

While I wouldn’t say I read to get somewhere better, I do want a book to get me into somewhere else. (Reason: I like horror and thriller novels – not places I’d like to be, but places I like to read about!) I’ve read adequate books — meaning not really bad — over the past few months, but I like to recommend books that have taken me somewhere else completely. Is that too harsh a criteria? Please let me know. While I’ll be giving more in-depth reviews in the near future, I at least wanted to get the titles out there. This list includes both teen and adult items.

Adult:

“The Last Policeman: Book 1” by Ben H. Winters. Image courtesy goodreads.com

The Last Policeman: A Novel (Last Policeman Trilogy Book 1) by Ben H. Winters What would you do if you knew the world would be ending, thanks to an asteroid on a collision course with earth? Henry Palace is spending that time being a detective who still cares about solving crime in a world that has lost all structural norms.

Adult & Teen

“The Infinite Sea: 5th Wave Book 2” by Rick Yancey. Image courtesy goodreads.com

 The Infinite Sea: The Second Book of the 5th Wave by Rick Yancey [9780399162428] This book entertained me almost as much as the first one*  although sometimes the transferring point-of-view left me wondering who the narrator was…but perhaps that was intentional, to keep the reader guessing? *since Book 1 was my #1 teen book for 2013, it would be hard to match that…and I already know the setting, so I can never be as intrigued simply because Yancey has managed to make this world knowable.

Teen

“Angelfall” by Susan Ee. Image courtesy goodreads.com

 Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days Book 1) by Susan Ee [9780761463276] It’s six weeks into the angel apocalypse — why are the angels here and why are they killing humans? And, more importantly, how do we survive them? Penryn has the added burden of needing to find her little sister, stolen by one of the angels…what do they want her for?

“World After” by Susan Ee. Image courtesy goodreads.com

World After (Penryn & the End of Days Book 2) by Susan Ee [9781477817285] Penryn needs to find her kidnapped sister while figuring out how to help defeat the angels. Note: I don’t usually recommend a series as a whole, as I’ve found that sometimes the second or third book isn’t as good as the first…when they are, I figure they deserve the special recognition.