The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

by E. Lockhart

Frankie Landau-Banks is a sophomore at prestigious Alabaster Preparatory School. This school, like some other famous private institutions, is rumored to be home to a secret society called The Basset Hounds, made up of male, usually rich or well-connected, members who have to be 'tapped' to be accepted.

Frankie knows that her father and his close friends were members, though they swore themselves to secrecy as to what transpired in the society. The notion of the secret society doesn't cross Frankie's mind too much until she discovers that her boyfriend, Matthew. may not only be a member but the King of the Basset's himself!

Frankie longs to be apart of this world, part of the Basset's, feeling excluded from such an important part of Matthew's life. She is not only excluded but even lied to about his whereabouts and dealings due to the society's code of secrecy.

Frankie wants to infiltrate the society, but she gets more than she bargained for!

This book was a little slow at first, but gets really good. I enjoyed the author's comments on the Panopticon and the purpose that secret societies serve.

Escaping North Korea

An insiders look at those fleeing Kim Jong Il's regime. Mike Kim is a missionary and an activist, helping people through legally murky means in their bids to escape. His viewpoint is heavily religious and highly personal. Viewed through any lens, though, the tales he recounts are vivid and harrowing.

Monster by A. Lee Martinez

A witty, fantastical book, similar to Christopher Moore's style of writing.

Monster is employed by the pest control company but his expertise lies in the more extraordinary household pests....hungry yetis, walrus dogs, pesky demon goats, and the like.

Judy is an ordinary woman, working the night shift in a local Food Mart, until one day her life is turned upside down when she finds a couple of yetis eating all the ice cream in the frozen food section. Enter Monster.

From then on, Judy and Monster keep running into each other and lots of unwanted company in the form of mystical creatures bent on destroying them. What they don't know is that they both have a greater destiny and the universe is keeping tabs. They'll need each other to get out of the biggest scrap of their lives and save the universe's hide in the process.