All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven - 4 Stars

Meet Theodore Finch, a boy who thinks constantly about suicide, but always find something, even something small that always stops him.
Meet Violet Market, a girl who thinks about nothing but the future and getting out of the small Indiana town she lives in after the death of her sister. 
When the 2 meet on the edge of the bell tower at school, both of their lives change. It's unclear as to who saves who, but the two quickly become friends. Violet learns that there's more out there than what she's looking at and Finch learns that he can be himself around Violet, no matter how weird. 
A story of 2 unlikely friends who changes each other's worlds forever.

This book was a bit slow starting out for me. It really didn't pick up until about half way through. But once it picked up, it really moved. I enjoyed the story. 

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich - 5 Stars

Stephanie is a bounty hunter for cousin Vinnie. Problem is that she's not that good at it and she always gets herself in a bind. In #15 of the series, Stephanie is out to find who decapitated a BBQ mogul who was in town for a cooking contest. Her sidekick, Lula witnessed the murder and now the culprits are after her. Throw in a mix of Grandma Mazur and things are even more hilarious.

The Stephanie Plum books are always a quick fun read. I love the predicaments that Stephanie manages to get herself in to.

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather - 4 Stars

Amazon describes it as the Salem Witch trials meets Mean Girls. When Samantha moves to Salem, strange things start happening and people are blaming her. Being the descendant of Cotton Mather, a man who was responsible for the hangings centuries ago, people do not welcome her with open arms. To top it off, the descendants of those witches have it out for her as well. 

On top of that, Samantha comes in contact with a spirit who wants her to go away, being that she moved in to his old home. Samantha doesn't know what to think of all this, but knows that there is a cycle that she must break before more people die.

This was a fun read that was a bit spooky at times. There's another one by Mather that I think I may check out and see what kind of twist she puts on that historical event. 

Final Girls by Riely Sager - 3 Stars

Quincy, Lisa, and Samantha are all what the press calls a "Final Girl". All of them have survived a horror movie style killing spree. Lisa survived a sorority massacre while Samantha survived the "sack man" killing while working the night shift at her local hotel. Quincy, the newest final girl survived a night of killing in a cabin in the woods.

Quincy has finally put her life back together, thanks to xanax and her caring boyfriend, Jeff. But when the first final girl, Lisa, is found dead in her bathtub and Sam shows up on her doorstep, things start to go awry. Why, after all these years, does Sam seek her out? Why is Sam so intent on her remembering what exactly happened at Pine Cottage all those years ago?

This book took about 3/4 of the way to really pick up. I was really pushing myself to get through it. The end did have a twist that I wasn't expecting. I was thinking through the whole middle part of the book that I had it all figured out, but was surprised at the end that I didn't. Other than that, it probably would have gotten a 2-star rating from me.  :(

The Red Hat Club by Haywood Smith - 5 Stars

Georgia, SuSu, Teeny, Diane, and Linda have all been best friends since high school...30 plus years. They meet weekly at a local restaurant wearing, of course, their red hats to gossip and catch up with one another.
When the group finds out that Diane's husband is cheating on her, they hatch a plan to bust his no good behind.
Love, laughter, and friendship prevail as the story tells the history of each one of the women from the 60's through the present.

I thought this was such a fun read. It reminded me of my 35 year friendship with my best friend and what we'd be getting up to if we lived close to one another. I read it for the decathlon and am happy with the choice. I plan on reading book #2 and can't wait to see what the girls get up to in it.

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Calahan - 4 Stars

Susannah is a young, vibrant reporter for the New York Post with a promising future when things start going awry. She wakes up strapped to a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Now she was labeled as violent and psychotic. She has spells of catatonia and delusions, along with mysterious seizures. She has many tests that all come back normal and as things get progressively worse for Susannah, her family fears there may not be a cure for her, let alone a diagnosis.

This was an interesting story that took several different turns, as far as what doctors thought was wrong with Susannah. It's a scary story, too, knowing that something like this could happen to anyone.