Other Award(s)

A thriller that takes an already scary concept - the systemically racist practice in real estate known as red-lining - and makes it into a more tangible threat. In an historically black neighborhood, Sydney is still grieving the loss of her mother when her neighbors start disappearing one by one. Can she figure out who is behind the accelerated changes of her neighborhood before it's too late?
This book has some genuinely terrifying moments, particularly when the narrative is breaking down the historical practices of red-lining, gentrification, systemic racism, slavery, and the shifts of old practices into new formats. It brings these concepts forward in an approachable way (unlike my review, probably).
This book is a thriller-romance with a John-Wick-esque style by the end. So if you're into social commentary with the just-right amount flair of romance, this is for you! My only frustration is the ending felt a tad bit rushed...but overall, it was satisfying.

Ready Player One is an amazing Sci-Fi book with the protagonist being Wade Watts. The Year is 2045 and us humans have used almost all of our fossil fuel and are keeping worse care of our planet. Thankfully technology has further developed and there is a Virtual reality called the OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation) created by James Halliday. The OASIS is accessible to anyone in the world, aside from the wondrous video game aspect from it there is an entire school system embedded in the code. Although Halliday died in 2040 his legacy lived on. Halliday created a challenge for any OASIS users, before he died he proposed a contest. Halliday hid secrets within the code and if you could figure them out you could inherit his fortune (half of a trillion dollars) along with control of the OASIS itself. Even after 5 years though no one had come even close to solving his riddle,
“The Copper Key awaits explorers
In a tomb filled with horrors
But you have much to learn
If you hope to earn
A place among the high scorers” (Ernest Cline, Ready Player One)
But one day, Wade was attending school and it hit him like a monster truck he knew how to solve the riddle.

Ready Player One is a truly fascinating novel. I would recommend it to anyone 14+. If you have an interest in highly developed characters, a futuristic dystopian world, 1980’s pop culture, and video games this will be a book that’s hard to put down. Wade Watts is of course the most advanced character since he is the main protagonist. Ernest does a wonderful job at explaining Wade’s backstory and how it is affecting him in the present. And the way that the world is now so messed up in the book and how Ernest depicted how it would be is amazing. Wade lives in a place called the stacks, an old field that has multiple RVs stacked on top of each other. Also people who were born in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s will get a kick as they remember their teen years in the 1980’s and understand the references. And of course if you love video games you will hear yourself cheering on Wade as he has to defeat bosses and figure out the riddles. Overall, I think that Ready Player One should be a book that most teens and young adults should read because I genuinely think that you will love this book as much as I did.

This story follows the main perspective of Jonas. Jonas lives in an alleged utopian society. They feel no pain, see no colors, feel no love, and hear no music. At the age of 12 every child is given an assignment based on their abilities and what they excel in. Jonas was living a perfect life until his cycle was broken. When Jonas turned 12 he was decided to be the receiver of memory, the highest role in the community. Now everything that Jonas once thought was true and right all come crashing down leaving him with a reality of the community that he can no longer stand for.

The giver is an amazing book full of surprising twists and just a spectacular over all plot. Lois Lowry did an excellent job of not only creating a completely fascinating story, but also leaving you wondering once you finish the read. A main theme of the giver could be the significance of memories to all life. The giver is a dystopian novel as the citizens are living in an extremely censored version of life. I did not particularly enjoy some of the more disturbing memories of death and war that Jonas receives but it is important that they are present so that Jonas will make the final decision. The giver is an amazing book that all would enjoy!

It's a good book.

Pachinko is a critical darling and bestselling epic that is a must read for historical fiction fans wishing to learn about Korea and Japan from the early 1900s to recent times.
What makes Min Jin Lee’s second novel (2017, 496 pages) stand out is the well-developed characters who battle the tides of history and the message showing how cruel life can be for second-class citizens in a war-torn country.
There are strong women throughout, notably Sunja, the naive daughter of a Korean fisherman who is seduced by a wealthy, married businessman, becomes pregnant by him but rejects becoming his mistress to marry a sickly Japan-bound minister which kicks off a dramatic saga that resonates through the next four generations.
This epic provides a window into life from Japan’s best universities to the criminal underworld and everywhere in between while displaying how these stubborn, devoted women find the strength to maintain family bonds against forces that could destroy them.

I have been a Kingsolver devotee since 1988's 'The Bean Trees', have read everything she has published and have attended two book readings. It follows that anytime she publishes a new work I am immediately on it. While she has an incredibly wide-ranging ability to create memorable characters from Taylor Greer to the Poisonwood Bible daughters to Dellarobia Turnbow, this title character is without a doubt the most jarring. Kingsolver is back to her Appalachian roots in this first-person saga of Damon who is a victim of the inept foster system and his own resulting bad choices. I vacillated between heartbreak for the cascading tragedies he suffers and yelling at the page, "What are you doing???" In Kingsolver's talented hands we move back and forth between rooting for this broken child and disliking the person he becomes. I found it to be her grittiest novel and it took me some time to adapt to the language, yet it was completely necessary for Damon to tell his tale. (If you have not read Dickens' David Copperfield take a few minutes to go online for the synopsis and character summaries.) Even as she forced me to step outside my long-standing expectations of her novels, Kingsolver remains my literary hero.

I enjoyed this book a lot. A lot. I saw the movie first. At that time, I didn't even know it was a book. I enjoy this story a lot. I like the time hopping of seaming two different stories that merge into one.

What I loved the most, was how descriptive this book is. Beautifully descriptive.

When I finished the book and I read some of the negative reviews because I wanted to know what people didn't like about the book. While yes, some of the characters don't seem realistic or act overly cheesy, to me, that didn't bother me. I didn't think about those things while listening, because I was so enamored by the story.

I'd highly recommend listening to the book. Cassandra Campbell is a phenomenal voice actor.

There were some parts that were a little triggering (domestic violence and sexual assault), but thankfully I knew they were coming because I saw the movie, and those scenes didn't last long.

Travelers In The Third Reich tells the stories of some people who lived in Germany during the second world war. The book shows the horrors of life in Germany at the time by describing the hangings and executions through the eyes of the people that were there. It also talks about the politics and economy during the war and how it changed the lives of the German civilians.

In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family’s farm, until another “third” convinces him that the government is wrong.

The book is a dystopian world set in present day where teenagers are able to come together in crisis to try and change the government and let their voice be heard. I chose to read this book back in third grade and still remember to this day how good it was. The elements of the book were enticing and had me looking forward to what was next. It gave great arguments of why the government is wrong and how the rich, called “barons,” get to do what they want. As a kid I didn’t have any negative thoughts, and if I were to pick it back up, I would still have good thoughts about it. This book is part of the Shadow Children collection, with seven books in it and each of the books get better. People who enjoy adventure, plot twists, and exploring different perspectives would like Among the Hidden.

I loved this series! As a big sister, I was hooked the moment Katniss said "I volunteer!" It is a great read about hardship and rebellion. How one person can make a big difference even without intent. I have read it with my oldest and will read it with my youngest at some point. But this is the book that got me reading again and I love to read it over and over.