As Simone Elkeles’s “Perfect Chemistry” begins, you may feel the need to strangle the main characters. Brittany is the cheerleader with mouthwatering looks and bitchy friends. Alex is the bad boy with gang paraphernalia and an accent. Of course, they’re both secretly miserable. However, despite their initial unoriginality, these characters set the scene for a novel that transcends stereotypical images.

“Shiver” by Maggie Stiefvater is delightfully romantic, humorous and heartbreaking. For years, Grace has been fascinated by the yellow-eyed wolf who seems to watch her with an intensity and longing that is almost human. Bitten by a wolf as a boy, Sam is Grace’s wolf. He has always felt alone, forced to become an animal when the cold racks his body with chills, only to be granted humanity in the precious summer months.

With the leaves changing color and the weather getting colder, what better to do than to hole up in a dimly lit room and read a horrifying novel? Halloween is only a few days away and reading Mark Z. Danielewski’s “House of Leaves” is a perfect way to embrace the season.

Rarely has a decision by scientists been watched with the anticipation of a presidential election and the outraged fascination of a Michael Jackson trial. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “The Pluto Files” follows Pluto’s strange journey from beloved planet to demoted dwarf.

Many have lamented the loss of reading time to activities like video games and Web surfing. Now with the launch of Harry Potter social networking site MuggleSpace, literature lovers and MySpace maniacs alike will have something to agree on.

Megan McCafferty, the author of the popular “Sloppy Firsts” and its sequel, “Second Helpings,” spoke with Speakeasy about her long-awaited third addition, “Charmed Thirds,” coming out April 11.
In 2001, McCafferty introduced readers to Jessica Darling, the witty narrator of the author’s celebrated coming-of-age novels. Darling, originally created as a female counterpart to J.D. Salinger’s Holden [...]