It’s time for another recommendations post! Here are 5 books that I would highly recommend everyone to read.
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
“I know what you’re thinking. How can a whole person, a kid, disappear and no one say a word? Like if the sun just up and left one day, you’d think someone would sound an alarm, right? But Ma used to say, not everyone circles the same sun. I never knew what she meant by that until Monday went missing.”
Genre: YA Mystery
Summary:
Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.
As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?
Recommend for people who like: Mysteries, Conversations about race and justice, Books with strong friendships
My Thoughts:
This book is actual perfection. The friendship between Claudia and Monday is one of the strong points in this novel. Flashing back between before and after Monday goes missing, you get to understand the friendship dynamic they have and the lengths that Claudia will go to find Monday. Another strong point of this novel is the conversations between Claudia and her mother. The conversations about race and the lack of justice for black girls.
If you are trying to decide which Tiffany D. Jackson book to read first, highly recommend this one to be the first one although all of her books are amazing!
My Rating:
How To Be A Bawse by Lilly Singh
“A Bawse understands that there are many things in life you have no control over and it is inefficient to become frustrated by that reality.”
Genre: Nonfiction
Summary:
From actress, comedian, and YouTube sensation Lilly Singh (aka ||Superwoman||) comes the definitive guide to being a bawse—a person who exudes confidence, reaches goals, gets hurt efficiently, and smiles genuinely because they’ve fought through it all and made it out the other side.
WARNING: This book does not include hopeful thoughts, lucky charms, and cute quotes. That’s because success, happiness, and everything else you want in life needs to be fought for—not wished for. In Lilly’s world, there are no escalators, only stairs. Get ready to climb
Recommend for people who like: Books that are empowering, Books written by strong women, Are a fan of Lilly Singh
My Thoughts:
This book is probably one of the best and most helpful books I have ever read. It conquers life, relationships and work ethic, just how a Bawse does. For anyone who wants to take control of their lives (at least the parts you can control) this is a must read for you. After reading this masterpiece you will never look at your life the same. It’s going to be game time for your mind, body and soul. Time to get to hustling.
My Rating:
Final Girls by Riley Sager
“Because here’s the thing about details—they can also be a distraction. Add too many and it obscures the brutal truth about a situation. They become the gaudy necklace that hides the tracheotomy scar.”
Genre: Thriller
Summary:
Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.
Recommend to people who like: Thrillers, Unexpected endings, Somewhat unlikable characters
My Thoughts:
Although I had to set this book down for a while because of the anxiety it gave me, I have to say this book was amazing! The writing is well done and the plot is something I have never read before. But I think the thing that gets me the most is the twist. I am not always the best with figuring out what the big reveals will be but this one blindsided me completely. I was amazed at how Sager was able to connect all the dots almost flawlessly and there were so many twists and turns to connect that Sager has to have a true talent. I definitely recommend this book. It may give you anxiety and make you lock your doors at night, but it sure is an amazing novel.
My Rating:
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
“I thought that it was more likely the opposite. I must have shut grief out. Found it in books. Cried over fiction instead of the truth. The truth was unconfined, unadorned. There was no poetic language to it, no yellow butterflies, no epic floods. There wasn’t a town trapped underwater or generations of men with the same name destined to make the same mistakes. The truth was vast enough to drown in.”
Genre: Contemporary
Summary:
Marin hasn’t spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks. Not even her best friend, Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the life and tragedy she’s tried to outrun. Now, months later, alone in an emptied dorm for winter break, Marin waits. Mabel is coming to visit, and Marin will be forced to face everything that’s been left unsaid and finally confront the loneliness that has made a home in her heart.
Recommend to people who like: Beautiful writing, Stories that go between past and present, Conversations about sexuality and friendship
My Thoughts:
This is a book that will change you after reading it. The perspectives on life, running from your past and sexuality are so honest and raw. Marin is a flawed character but her flaws make her one of the realest characters that you will come across in a book. Nina LaCour just knows how to build a story that is so lasting in the reader’s mind. Mabel and Marin are characters that you can’t help but relate to and fall in love with.
My Rating:
The Inexplicable Logic of My life by Benjamin Alire Saenz
“Life had its seasons, and the season of letting go would always come, but there was something very beautiful in that, in the letting go. Leaves were always graceful as they floated away from the tree.”
Genre: Contemporary
Summary:
Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and realizing he no longer knows himself. If Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?
Recommend for people who like: Friendship stories, Books about characters trying to find their identity, Sad books
My Thoughts:
This book is filled with tragedy. Although I did not cry. I’m not sure how else to put it. This book is filled with tragedy but it also is filled with hope and a future.
Salvador, Sam and Fito are flawed characters that you can’t help but fall in love with. They are all going through different struggles while also dealing with their worlds falling apart. Somehow they are able to keep their heads above water with the help of each other and their close-knit friendship. I absolutely loved Salvador and Sam’s connection and the way they interacted with each other.
Overall, I have to say that this book was fantastic and although it might have been a little too long at some points, I became so wrapped up in the lives of the Silva family and all of the people that walked into the families life and became part of it.
My Rating:
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Comment if you have read any of these books and your thoughts on them. Would you recommend them?
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