Bookanistas: Playing Some HEAD GAMES

Happy Bookanista Thursday! I've read so many great books lately that it will take us MONTHS to get caught up. I guess that's what happens when you finish a draft of a book. You finally get kinda caught up on your reading list. I think I should finish books more often.

Anyway. Bookanistas. Don't know about us? We're authors who recommend books once a week--you guessed it--ON THURSDAYS. Read anything fabulous lately? I wants to know about it.

This week, I'm giving a little love to HEAD GAMES by my friend (even though she spells her name wrong), Keri Mikulski. Here's the dealio:

Taylor Thomas is a total all-star on the court. Off-court, not so much. She may be model-tall, gorgeous and quite a catch, but try telling her that. With a showcase game and playoffs fast approaching, Taylor’s basketball career is totally on the line. She doesn’t know which way to turn first when her BFF ropes her into a fashion show and she finds herself torn between Zach, the super-tall, super-off limits basketball star and Matt, the super-sweet guy from her English class. Can Taylor stop her head from spinning long enough to strike a pose, land the boy of her dreams, and win the game?

Confession time. I am not sporty. If it has a team and a point system and does not involve little pieces that you move around on a board, I automatically suck at it. So I don't usually read sports books. Gimme something with a marching band in it, or theater geeks. Those sports people are in a different world than me.

Yeah, I can be an idiot sometimes.

So when MY FRIEND asked me to read her sporty book, I said, "Of course!" and was secretly frightened. Sure, I realize that I don't have to be a serial killer to read about serial killers, but somehow this felt like a genre I was going to have a tough time liking. I was wrong.

Not only is Taylor a normal girl with normal problems who happened to play basketball, but I enjoyed getting a peek into a world that I know so little about. Sure, I had to look up "full court press," but even without knowing the meaning of the phrase, I understood the tension and the pressure to succeed. Taylor learns to deal with that during the course of the book, although we sometimes want to smack her along the way.

I read a lot of books about monsters gone amok and things like that. For a change, it was nice to read about some people I could have known in high school. I enjoyed the glimpse into the locker room, and I'll be coming back for more!

WHEW. What a relief.

Have you read this? I'd love to hear what you think.

And check out these other great Bookanista recommendations:

• Elana Johnson shares her love for Like Mandarin
  
• Christine Fonseca purrs over Save the Cat
  
• LiLa Roecker is sweet on Like Mandarin
  
• Shelli Johannes-Wells explores Dark and Hollow Places
  
• Carolina Valdez Miller gushes over Will Grayson, Will Grayson
  
• Bethany Wiggins is enchanted by My Fair Godmother
  
• Rosemary Clement Moore travels Across the Universe
  
• Katie Anderson goes Retro
  
• Corrine Jackson celebrates Where She Went
  
• Stasia Ward Kehoe sings about The Mockingbirds