Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay’s dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

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I won this book from a contest being held on J Kaye’s Blog. I had my pick of several books to choose from but this one with its title and what it was about for some reason called to me.  I wanted to read it.  I had to read it.  A fiction book on teenage suicide and I was drawn to it.  I am so glad that I was.

Hannah was in high school.  As this book opens, she is already gone.  As we enter the read. Clay has just received a series of tapes, 13 actually, that turn out to be from Hannah with instructions to listen to all the tapes and then pass them on to the next person as instructed.

Clay, who secretly had loved Hannah from afar, is appalled that Hannah would record her reasons for committing suicide and wondered what he had to do with it.  In an almost addictive like manner, Clay begins to listen to the cassettes one after another and Hannah’s story unfolds before our eyes.

Told in Hannah and Clays voice, I found myself as addicted to the read as Clay was to listening to the cassettes.  It was hard to stop, knowing what was at stake.  occasionally I would get so caught up in Hannah’s story, when it switched to Clay’s voice I had to pull myself out and read parts again.

I read this book in two days.  On the second day I didn’t plan on sitting down and finishing the book but I just couldn’t put it down.  Each tape, each chapter, each new character drew me in further….. who was it?  Was it one person who caused Hannah to finally end it all or was it a combination of people, of events.

Hannah’s story, while fictional, brings up a valid and important topic.  High school years are hard.  Within the pages of this book you discover that it is not one person or one event that sends Hannah spiraling downward.  As you read, while some of what happened to Hannah is hurtful, I didn’t find where it was intentionally so.  No one in the story knew how fragile Hannah was.  Perhaps someone knowing would have changed the outcome, perhaps not.

This book is a good reminder of how we treat others.  We never know where someone is coming from or where they have been.  I took so much away from this book and could go on and on but instead of saying too much I am going to play the spoiler card and say that if you have read this book and wish to discuss it further, join me in the Spoiler Room where this can be talked about more deeply.

I leave you with this information on Suicide which I pulled from Author Jay Arthur’s Blog called Hannah’s Reasons:

**Later this week I will be posting an author chat with Jay Asher about this book!

My Amazon Rating

I won this book from J Kaye’s Blog

Read in its entirety from the comfy recliner

Maura Sullivan thought she knew what she was getting into when she married soon-to-be pastor Nick Shepherd. But when “the other woman” in her marriage turned out to be her husband’s congregation, she ran. Three years later, she’s back in the small community of Granger, Ohio, for the reading of a will that names both her and Nick as beneficiaries. Now Maura must face the husband – and the congregation – she left behind.

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A friend passes way…. a will is left mentioning both Nick and Maura…. and a stipulation in order for each of them to get an inheritance that they both desire.  But is the stipulation too great?  Maura has been gone from Granger, Ohio for three years.  Three years is a long time and old wounds are still easily rubbed raw and unhealed.

Maura arrives back in Granger having put her own faith on the back burner believing that God has done nothing but let her down time and time again.  As Nick tried to help Maura through this faith crisis it looks as though their is hope for repairing their long damaged marriage as well – yet there is one secret that Maura has yet to share with Nick that may destroy what they are working so hard to repair.

It is a book about love, forgiveness, and letting go.  I appreciated the real characters with real issues. Maura and Nick were real feeling characters and I enjoyed getting to know them with in the walls of their home and in the pages of this book. Watching my own Pastor (I am the Office Manager at our Church)and the hours he puts in really makes me appreciate all it must take to be a Pastor’s Wife.

Jennifer AlLee was born in Hollywood, California and for the first 10 years of her life lived over a mortuary one block from Hollywood and Vine. An avid reader and writer, she completed her first novel in high school. That manuscript is now safely tucked away, never again to see the light of day. Her first inspirational romance, The Love of His Brother, was released in November 2007 by Five Star Publisher.

Besides being a writer, she is a wife and mom. Living in Las Vegas, Nevada, her husband and teenage son have learned how to enjoy the fabulous buffets there without severely impacting their waistlines. God is good!

My Amazon Rating

I received this review book from The Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

This book was mostly read at the gym on the treadmill and eliptical

You’d think Polly Martin would have all the answers when it comes to love—after all, her grandmother is the famous syndicated advice columnist Miss Swoon. But after a junior year full of dating disasters, Polly has sworn off boys. Now she’s just trying to survive her summer job at Wild Waves western-themed water park (under the supervision of ex #3 Sawyer Holmes) and focus on herself for once. So Polly is happy when she finds out Grandma is moving in for the summer –think of all the great advice she’ll get.
But Miss Swoon turns out to be a man-crazy sexagenarian! How can Polly stop herself from falling for Xander Cooper, the suddenly-hot skateboarder who keeps showing up at Wild Waves, when Grandma is picking up guys at the bookstore and flirting with the dishwasher repairman? And why, despite her best intentions, does Polly keep letting boys get in the way of her relationship with her best friend Jane?

No advice column in the world can prepare Polly for what happens when Jane convinces her to go on a group camping trip with three too many ex-boyfriends and the tempting Xander. Polly is forced to face her feelings and figure out if she can be in love—and still be herself.

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OMG… What do you do when you work summer duty at a waterpark with your oh soooo cute ex boyfriend, have a mom who is a 5th grade teacher and in the summer takes a job at the local teen hangout serving greasy burgers and making lame jokes to all your friends, a 10 year old sister who is just you know… ten, a best friend who you are having trouble connecting with, another sort of friend who blogs about every wrong move you make – and then there is the geeky boy…. who really…. come to think of it…. isn’t so geeky any more.

I really (totally) loved this book.  It was light and refreshing.  This book takes you through one summer of happenings in Polly’s life and the paragraph I wrote above pretty much sums up what is going on.  Oh – but I didn’t mention the bulldog…. or the kiss…. yeah the kiss…..

I can’t tell you everything and give away the book but I can tell you if you are looking for a great YA read this is a good pick.  My only tiny thing I would mention is that the characters are mostly 17 years old and there is some underage drinking going on.  Other than that, I had moments I laughed out loud.  A fun read.

I received my copy from 1 Arc Tours

Read in its entirety in a car on the way home from Illinois