The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a solidly good middle grade book that is full of appeal, if not life changing. This book is packed full with life truths about love, loss, grief, ignorance, hope, and endurance. Its quite amazing now that I think about it in retrospect but this little book had a lot to say about some pretty heavy topics. The Girl Who Drank the Moon is about a town who lives in fear of the witch that haunts their local woods. To appease the witch and keep her from their door they offer up the youngest…
Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
I was an avid reader of Rae Carson’s Girl of Fire and Thorns series and I was prepared to fully enjoy her Walk on Earth a Stranger series as well. Upon finishing this first installment I am a little let down to admit that this book was good but not great. I’ve never been enthusiastic about magical realism but the historical setting and strong female lead persuaded me to set aside my apprehensions and take a chance on Walk on Earth a Stranger. Lee Westfall is the only child of a prospecting couple in Georgia. Her life is standard for…
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
I was such a mess after finishing Educated; Westover’s account of her path from rural Idaho to Cambridge doctorate is the most emotional book I had read so far this year. It is a harrowing and beautiful memoir, and many will be drawn in immediately. Westover’s memoir directly addresses the three topics I feel most passionately about: family, faith, and education. She is tried and tested to her limits in each element and is forced to make a choice no one should ever have to make (especially in the twenty-first century). As a heartbreaking result, two of the three are…
The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin
It’s no secret that I am a dedicated disciple of Gretchen Rubin. Her book “The Happiness Project” changed my life more than any other book in the past couple of years. And she’s done it again with her newest book “The Four Tendencies”. Have you ever wondered why you can readily meet the expectations others have for you but can’t make yourself stick to a regime you set for yourself? Or why you’re completely bent out of shape over a last minute change to plans? You may be an Obliger or an Upholder (respectively). Or maybe you’re a law only…
Twilight of Avalon Series by Anna Elliot
I have a lot of good things to say about this series-so get comfortable. It’s a hidden gem that I stumbled upon last week and couldn’t rest until I had completed the trilogy. Before there was Romeo and Juliet there was Tristan and Isolde. Star crossed lovers who gambled everything on their love. If you saw that horribly awful movie from 2006 then forget everything you know about Tristan and Isolde. The Twilight of Avalon series is the story the legendary couple deserve. Isolde is the granddaughter of King Arthur (of Knights of…
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
This book wasn’t what I was expecting, but I actually really enjoyed it. This is an alternate reality story where the outcome of WWII went the other way and Germany and Japan won. The story follows a young concentration camp survivor Yael who, because of experiments performed on her at the concentration camp, can change her appearance at will. She escapes the death camp to be groomed by the resistance as human weapon thanks to her special abilities. By 1956 the post war world looks very different and Yael is an educated, competent, and stone cold seventeen year old about…
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
This book was the Goodreads 2017 Contemporary Fiction winner and my expectations were high. So much of it was masterfully done, the author did a fabulous job with creating a sense of place, an impossible problem, and a pointed conclusion. I admired the way Celeste Ng navigated the story and effortlessly pulled the reader along. It was both easy to put down and pick up; which is something I find rare, curious, and I appreciate. I can’t deny Celeste Ng’s talent and the moral questions raised left my book club with hours of discussion, but at then end of it…
Castle of Water by Dane Hucklebridge
I give pause every time I hear a book touted as “literary fiction”, my guard goes up and I usually find an excuse to shelve the book all the while promising myself that “its still on my to-read list”. Literary fiction for me is very polarizing, a few of my favorite books can be categorized as literary fiction, but I also have an unfortunate history of sampling other literary fiction that has left me empty, angry (that I invested so much time), and depressed. “Castle of Water” hits just the right note with what it’s author calls “fun brow”. Dane…
The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1) by Jessica Townsend
I can’t remember a book I have had more fun with in the past year than “The Trials of Morrigan Crow”. Before I had even hit the half way mark I was texting my sister, my cousin, my friend saying “you need to read this, now!” “The Trials of Morrigan Crow” follows a young girl on the eve of her 11th birthday. Morrigan had the misfortune of being born on the last day of a twelve year cycle, this of course means she is cursed and the cause of all the problems in her home town. Her cursed state also…
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Lilac Girls will test your nerve, break your heart, and replenish your spirit. It is a thoughtful book that deserves high praise and a place on your bookshelf. I haven’t been this wrapped up in a book for a long time. You know a book is good when from the moment the kids go to bed until your own bedtime four hours later all you want to do is read. This was a compelling yet difficult book to read. I almost abandoned it because some of the holocaust content was so hard for me, but I’m very glad I read…