Mysterious Skin (by Scott Heim)

I saw this movie when it came out, and it's just astonishing. One of those incredibly powerful, beautiful films that will disturb you and stay with you. The novel is just as good, and in fact, has one of the most amazing last lines ever. I recommend both very highly, although they do tackle subjects such as child abuse and male rape, very graphically, so not for the faint of heart.

Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (by Sue Townsend)

I think this is the last book in the Adrian Mole series, and it was a really funny and poignant one one. Adrian gets deeper and deeper in debt, does a series of incredibly stupid things, yet somehow clings to a shred of the reader's sympathy. There's a whole lot of stuff in here about the Iraq war but it's handled for the most part amusingly, until the inevitable happens at the end. A fun read.

New Moon and Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

Yes, I am continuing to devour (ha, ha) the Sweet Valley Vampire books. They model terrible behavior to teenage girls, and I kind of think each one should come with an essay by some feminist critic so that these teenage girls and their insane mothers (the "Twilight Moms" or whatever) can figure out that stalking is not sexy and that the vampire dude is emotionally abusive and that you can live just fine without a boy to love you. And yet I LOVE READING THESE THINGS. The second one is so emo, it's hilarious. The love triangle is really dumb because there's no contest at all, and it's a really stretch to make it seem like Team Jacob has a chance. Wait, you have no idea what I'm talking about at all, do you? Nevermind. Save yourselves!