As I had hoped, November was a much better reading month for me! I read a lot of great books that I'm excited to share with you right now. Let's get started...
As I've mentioned previously, I've been very interested in learning about eating disorders and have picked up quite a few books on the topic. Most of them have been fiction, and this one is too...sort of. Johnson really did go to an inpatient facility in the winter of 1988 for bulimarexia (which is a term that doesn't seem to be used much anymore), but she admits to fictionalizing bits of her personal story to give it a good flow. Think of it as a more believable and honest approach to what James Frey did with "A Million Little Pieces". Even though this book takes place in the late 80s and plenty has certainly changed since then, I still continue to see common threads in books about eating disorders. I really like ones that focus on recovery, such as this, Paperweight, and What I Lost. Despite taking place nearly 30 years ago, the book doesn't feel dated and I believe plenty of people can relate to it.
Yup, I read the new John Green! There is no denying that Green is an excellent author, and I really love this extremely honest look at OCD. Like so many other mental illnesses, OCD is one that is misunderstood and gets tossed around like it's no big deal (ex. "I like things organized and neat, I totally have OCD:) and deserves as much representation as possible. Compulsion is absolutely explored in this book, which is what people usually think of with OCD, but we also learn the thought spirals that lead to such compulsions. As much as I appreciate the honest look at OCD, there was an underlying story here that promised a bit of adventure and it didn't really deliver. Still, Green is great and the characters acted like teens, which I truly appreciated.
Far From the Tree - Robin Benway
This book, which just won the National Book Award in the young reader's category, was undoubtedly one of my favorite books of the year. It. Is. So. Good. I cannot stress how wonderful and engaging the writing is. It's a beautiful story about 3 teens who decide to meet each other because they share the same birth mother. It's the perfect balance of emotion and humor, joy and pain. I would recommend this to anyone!
I randomly decided to check this out from Overdrive on a whim and I'm glad I did. This book is written in diary format, something that can be hit or miss but that I really enjoyed for this particular story. Gabi is a senior who struggles with a meth-addicted father and the pressure to be a "good Mexican girl". The diary format is a peek into her true feelings, not just the things she does to please the people around her. We learn about Gabi's love of food ("Tacos are like what the voices of a hundred angels singing Bob Dylan while sitting on rainbows and playing banjos would taste like if that sound were edible.") and cute boys and her fears about her friend's pregnancy and her father's addiction. I also loved the way that Gabi sorts out how she chooses to portray herself as opposed to the expectations of her family and society, which is a realistic way of discovering feminism.
I hate to say it but this was a big disappointment for me. The premise was promising and I read some good reviews, but it was a 400-page repetitive cycle of I like this person, do they like me, something is complicating this, why is this person denying themselves the truth etc. etc. etc. It took about 100 pages to get to the meat of the story and then it felt like I hardly got to know the relationship that was at the heart of it all. It just didn't do anything for me, which is a bummer. This is a book that would've benefitted from a duel narrative (Sebastian is dealing with a much more difficult dilemma between his homosexuality and his Mormon faith, whereas Tanner's life is arguably less complicated and, also, less interesting.).
This book kind of left me speechless. And a little frustrated. But in the best way. Told in verse, the majority of this story takes place in 60 seconds on an elevator. You might wonder if a story can accurately be told with such little time to work in and fewer words than a novel, but dang if Reynolds isn't just that good. Verse is tricky, but this story still felt fully fleshed out. I felt like I was in that elevator. This is a one-sitting must-read.
This is a book about rumors and reputations. In 4 different perspectives, we hear about Alice's torrid past and how she came to be the "school slut". The only thing is, Alice's perspective is not here. We only hear what these people hear, what conclusions they come to, the way that they use words to cover their own tracks. It's a frustrating read because you kinda want to shake the people who are narrating and force them to be nice people, but I also loved how realistic it was, because people DO suck sometimes. I read this over the course of a Sunday and it was just such an easy read. Though it doesn't deal with suicide, I think people who enjoyed Thirteen Reasons Why will enjoy this one, because reputation and rumors play such a big role in both.
The holiday season calls for Richard Paul Evans! My friend Irene got me into him last year. It's hard to find enjoyable Christmas books that don't get too cheesy or don't keep the spirit, but RPE is pretty good at that. This particular story is a retelling of the Prodigal Son, and Christmas doesn't play the largest role in the book, but it still has the emotions that will make you feel thankful for your loved ones this time of year. RPE has a simple writing style that is easy to get into...he's never overly descriptive and yet he is still able to evoke emotion and paint a picture of the situation. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to reading another of his before the season is over!
This is another book in verse that I read last month, and at first I thought it was going to be a disappointment. At first, the writing was a bit too poetic and not as descriptive as I needed to get into the story. But once I got to the heart of the plot, which didn't take long (luckily!), I truly enjoyed it. The verse ended up working in a wonderful way, as well as the use of astronomy and moon phases to signal the time passing. I finished this while having lunch at Panera and I honestly teared up in public. I had to give this one 5 stars because it just filled my heart with emotion in every possible way.
Comments
Post a Comment