I had another strong reading month in August with 11 books
read. I am fully expecting this number
to drop a bit in the next few months, but then again I also read a ton in the
early months of newborn Isla. However, I
will now have 2 children and some more responsibilities, but the hours of
breastfeeding lend to great reading time!
Young Adult/Middle Grade Books
Front Desk by Kelly Yang was so so so good! It is about a
young girl who has come to America with her family from China. It’s really hard for her parents to find good
jobs and they find a listing to manage a motel that sounds too good to be true,
which it is. Mia struggles with fitting
into a new school and country. She wants
to be a writer but her mother tries to discourage her language arts abilities
and push her towards mathematics. This
is just a great story about racism, discrimination, perseverance, and people
helping people.
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen was a quick read
about Maci, whose boyfriend is gone for the summer and she is slated to take
over his duties as a reference librarian at a local library. Her dad passed away in the recent past and it’s
been hard for her to figure out herself and her interests since then. She jumped into Jason’s (her boyfriend) interest
and now that he is gone, she has a wide open summer to explore some new
interests on her own. She also
experiences a parental conflict because of the paths she wants to follow vs what
her mom wants of her.
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas is a must read! She is the
author of The Hate U Give, which I shockingly haven’t read yet, but keep looking
out for at my library! I talked about this book in another
post last month, so
I will just leave the description from goodreads here..
“Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to
be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her
neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died
before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly
lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life
as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family
down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.
On
the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that
sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day.
It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked
against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects
you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black
families.”
Ban This Book by Alan Gratz was also a really great middle
grade read! It is about a young girl b y Alan Gratz was also a really great middle grade read! It is about a young girl whose favorite book is banned from her
library. She finds out that a mom who
dressed nice and talked well showed up and bypassed the system to ban books in
the libraries and got her favorite book banned and then many others. She has a hard time speaking up for herself,
but does decide to start a banned book library in her locker. She learns a lot of her classmates are
interested in all of these books now that they are banned!
Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake
is also a must read! Ivy Aberdeen’s life is turned upside down one night when a
tornado completey takes out her family’s house.
She is able to save her pillow and her notebook, that has pictures she’s
spent hours drawing. Pictures that
include two girls holding hands among other pictures of two girls. However, at the shelter she is in after the
storm her notebook goes missing. Then someone
starts leaving her pictures in her locker to find. Who knows her secret??? This is a great book
about finding yourself and taking risks.
Adult Fiction/Romance
The Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani follows a
young Italian girl who busts through stereotypes and lives a more feminist life
than what her parents plan and predict for her.
It follows through her life from 8th grade until death. It was a quick read and got you involved in
the whole family/town history.
The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman is about a
midwife who is actually running from the law and practicing/living under an
assumed name. She invites a young black
girl to live with her, which in 1930s West Virginia is not a safe thing to
do. The book follows a year in her life
as she serves the community and worries about her identity being found out. I liked how it included real history into the
fictionalized story.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate was really good as
well. It is based on Georgia Tann’s despicable
practice of stealing poor riverboat children from their parents and selling
them to rich parents who want kids.
This is what goodreads says about it.. “Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and
her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi
River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital
one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force.
Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home
Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be
returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy
of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother
together in a world of danger and uncertainty.
Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and
privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a
federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But
when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter
leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey
through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead
either to devastation or to redemption.”
Toxic Toffee by Amanda Flower
is the latest Amish Candy Shop mystery.
It was quick fun read and this is a series I think I will go back to
when I want a quick fun read.
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey
McQuiston was a bit disappointing. There
was some pronoun mishaps, time zone mistakes and just other things that annoyed
me and took me away from the plot. It’s
a cute romance between the First Son and the Prince of Wales, but it was a bit
too long and I rolled my eyes a bit much at it.
Us Against You by Fredrik
Backman was also a letdown. It is the
follow up to Beartown which I loved. It
tried to cover far too many topics. It
had good intentions, but just fell flat.
I am now at 68 books read for
2019, which is over my goal of 52. I
think I may finish at around 90 books for the year, which is pretty impressive
for me.
What books did you read in
August? What book are you recommending to everyone? How is your goal for 2019
going?
