Other Award(s)

I chose this book because it is a genre I like to read, romance. This book was romantic and very funny. I was hooked throughout the entire book, and the plot twists just never seemed to end. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a story about a girl named Lara Jean. She writes love letters to boys that she’s loved, but she has never sent them. And one day, someone found them and sent them. One of the five boys, Peter Kavinsky, proposes that he and Lara Jean should fake a relationship because he wanted to make his ex jealous. The story follows their fake relationship as it grows into something more and Lara Jean realizes more things about herself and Peter. At first I thought this book might be a bit predictable, but it surprised me as it was not. There were plenty of plot twists to the story that kept me interested up until the end of the book. I really recommend this book to romance lovers and people who like realistic fiction.
Reviewer Grade: 8

The Selection by Kiera Cass is a teen-romance novel, following protagonist America Singer. America, along with 34 other girls is chosen to compete in The Selection. The Selection is a chance for these girls, coming from all sorts of social classes to seize a position in royalty. But for Prince Maxon, The Selection is a chance for him to find true love. We join America and the other girls as they journey to the royal palace to meet the Prince and compete for a chance to become future Queen of the kingdom of Ilea.
When I was reading The Selection, it reminded me a lot of the premise of The Bachelor. 35 girls all competing for the hand of a handsome prince? Sounds pretty much like the plot of a reality TV show to me!
And just like a reality TV show, I found myself completely hooked on this series. There was drama, romance, friendships, and even a hint of politics in this first book of the series. And even though some parts of the novel felt very cheesy and overdone, I couldn't help but want more. The Selection is the sort of book that you pick up for some lighthearted fun, just as you would binge a trashy reality TV show. While I definitely wouldn't recommend The Selection if you want something deeply moving, I'd make sure to give it a try if you're looking for something easy and fun to read to get you out of a reading slump.The Selection by Kiera Cass is a teen-romance novel, following protagonist America Singer. America, along with 34 other girls is chosen to compete in The Selection. The Selection is a chance for these girls, coming from all sorts of social classes to seize a position in royalty. But for Prince Maxon, The Selection is a chance for him to find true love. We join America and the other girls as they journey to the royal palace to meet the Prince and compete for a chance to become future Queen of the kingdom of Ilea.
When I was reading The Selection, it reminded me a lot of the premise of The Bachelor. 35 girls all competing for the hand of a handsome prince? Sounds pretty much like the plot of a reality TV show to me!
And just like a reality TV show, I found myself completely hooked on this series. There was drama, romance, friendships, and even a hint of politics in this first book of the series. And even though some parts of the novel felt very cheesy and overdone, I couldn't help but want more. The Selection is the sort of book that you pick up for some lighthearted fun, just as you would binge a trashy reality TV show. While I definitely wouldn't recommend The Selection if you want something deeply moving, I'd make sure to give it a try if you're looking for something easy and fun to read to get you out of a reading slump.

The Martian is a novel by Andy Weir about a lone astronaut trapped on a foreign planet, surviving solely off of his wits and knowledge. Andy Weir's premiere story is a tale of persistence, ingenuity, and the human need to help one another.
Mark Watney is an incredibly charismatic protagonist, and the fact that this is so obvious even without direct dialogue between him and other characters makes Weir's writing even more impressive. The format of the novel is unique, with Watney mostly speaking through logs of his time on Mars, before the perspective switches to his colleagues on Earth in a more common third person perspective. Although this format doesn't sound like it could be exciting, the book can be thrilling at times, as problems continue to stack up, making Watney's return to Earth more unlikely each time.
Overall, The Martian is a gripping story and a treat to adult fans of science fiction.

Well that escalated quickly.

Here we are just floating along fly fishing with our main characters, when BAMMM - some bat-* crazy stuff goes down in the last 15-20% of this book. Sure, we’re given warnings along the way that something sinister is afoot, but there’s sinister and then there’s… whatever this is.

If you haven’t read Peter Heller before, The Guide does have the stylistic hallmarks of his novels. Restrained length, staccato sentences, and a slight dystopian undercurrent. It’s the not-too-distant future, and strains of the coronavirus are still part of everyday life. Much like there are flu seasons, now there are COVID seasons. (Talk about a bleak bummer!)

The titular guide of The Guide is Jack, a semi-tragic character who appeared in Heller’s 2019 book, The River. There’s enough of that backstory sprinkled throughout this follow up that it can be read as a standalone should you choose. Jack is now 25 and working at a chichi lodge in Colorado teaching fly fishing to rich peeps. He and the woman (young and beautiful, of course) he’s guiding sense that something is strange about the place and begin to investigate. Heller must have watched a Scooby-Doo marathon during lockdown in 2020. Meddling kids can always save the day, amiright?

Even if the resolution of the novel gave me whiplash, The Guide still managed to be my favorite so far from this author. Outdoorsy types will enjoy the setting and poetic language about fishing, and thrill seekers will get their payoff with the bonkers ending. I guess you could say Heller reeled me in with this one. (I'm here all week, folks!)

This is a beautiful story that has been waiting years to be told. It is the story of three sisters who are broken apart by an abusive father. They are pulled back together as if by magic. The sisters are so different and the way they experience the story is told so amazingly well. It is not a light read, but it is almost a profound experience when you do sit down to read it. Enjoy!

Offering a nuanced understand of identify and lived experiences, Peters poses the question, “What constitutes family?” The complexities that accompany transness, family, and self expression are explored beautifully in the book.

Howl's Moving Castle is a fantasy novel about the infamous wizard Howl, and a cursed hatmaker named Sophie.
Sophie Hatter is a pretty average girl whose been left to maintain her family's hat shop. However, she gets cursed one day by the Witch of the Waste and is turned into an old woman. Sophie, seeking out an end to her curse, finds her way into Howl's mechanical moving castle, and in it, she meets Calcifer, a snarky fire demon, Michael, Howl's kind apprentice, and of course, Howl. Howl, rumored to be an evil wizard who eats the hearts of young women turns out not to be so harmless after all. Sophie quickly decides to appoint herself as Howl's castle cleaner, and we follow Sophie and Howl through their escapades, rooting for Sophie's curse to be broken.
Howl's Moving Castle is truly a very lovely story, and as I read the story, I found that it was very easy and light to read. I enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of the fairytale-like novel, and each of the characters all held a special place in my heart. I enjoyed how eccentric Howl was, and it was very entertaining to read through his and Sophie's bickering. I've also seen the Studio Ghibli film version of the story, and I think that both the film and book versions were equally as charming. All in all, I highly recommend this novel if you're looking for a light, magical read.

Reviewer Grade: 11

In a teen fiction romance meets Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar, Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer is a very interesting "spin-off" from Plath's breakout novel. We follow our protagonist, Jam, a troubled high-school girl sent to the Wooden Barn, a place to help teens with mental illnesses. Jam, although wary of the Wooden Barn, soon meets an interesting circle of friends, most of them in her Special Topics English class, led by Ms. Q, a quirky and interesting teacher. Special Topics only admits very few students each year, and we soon learn why that is so.
Jam and her friends at Special Topics all suffer from prior trauma, leading each of them to the Wooden Barn. Jam is currently attempting to get over her boyfriend--of 41 days, death. To work through these traumas, Ms. Q hands out special journals to each of the students, but the journals are far from normal, and instead teleport each of the students back into the time before their lives were ruined. But the catch is this: the students are only transported to this dream world when they're writing in the journal--and there's only a limited amount of pages left.
The plot of this novel was interesting enough, however, I found that as I continued to read, I began to not be able to stand Jam. I honestly found her to be a bit self-absorbed and delusional, and maybe Wolitzer did this deliberately, but I found Jam to not be a favorable protagonist. I also really didn't like the cliche stereotypes Wolitzer scattered throughout the novel, and there was a lack of good character building and the arcs built for the side characters all seemed rushed and sloppy. Truth be told, while the plot was creative enough, everything else seemed pretty surface-level, and the huge plot twist at the end really unraveled any scrap of importance that the story had left. I wouldn't say that this novel was the worst book I read, as it was a pretty fast and easy read, but I doubt that I'd ever consider picking this book up again.

Reviewer Grade: 11

Catniss Everdeen is the young girl in District 12 who comes from poverty and hunting. When the Annual Hunger Games start their draft picks, Catniss volunteers as tribute to spare her sister. She has always had talent with a bow and arrow for hunting for food to provide dinner for her family. Catniss uses her skill to win the Hunger Games and eventually eliminate President Snow, the background of the merciless games. I loved the intelligence put into the book of the making of the games. Because of the fighting, there is some violence and gore, but it’s still family-friendly and can be read comfortably. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves quick thinking and thought-out mystery. Hunger Games is intriguing, well-planned, and is an all-time favorite for my family.

Neil Gaiman has written a lot of different books. His writing has been hit-or-miss for me, but nothing that's truly middle-of-the-road average. That was until I listened to Neverwhere. I appreciate how Gaiman narrates most of the audiobooks of his works that I've listened to so far, and Neverwhere was in line with the narration quality I expect from him. However, the content felt so mediocre that I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if it came from any other different British authors like Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams (both of which are talented writers, mind you).

There's a distinct flavor of British comedy that comes through in the absurdist naming of characters and places in Neverwhere. Perhaps it's why I felt this book was so generic. It's your classic "Institutionalized" story where a man has (what seems to him) a stable life, only to have this life upended by a fantastical parallel world introduced by a character he eventually ends up falling in love with. While his interaction with this "London Below" made the main character invisible to his old life, he takes far too long to realize that the status quo he seeks is no longer desirable to him.

Maybe it's that I don't connect with these kinds of stories. They just seem so "meh" with bland characters trying to go back to their bland lives that it's always so obvious to the reader their life would be so much better in this new reality. Of course, I probably wouldn't pursue this fantastical new reality given the choice in my own life, but that's beside the point. Neverwhere contains all the trappings of this type of story, which is certainly entertaining for a bit but gets annoying the longer the main character refuses to change into their new selves.

An average institutionalized story with average British humor, I give Neverwhere 3.5 stars out of 5.