Happy Halloween!
I feel like here in Michigan, we haven't had much of an autumn for the last several years. It's hot, there are like three days where it's in the 50's or 60's, and then there is snow, and those three days are our fall. But autumn keeps stretching on and on this year and I'm loving it. We've kept away from corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and apple orchards because of the pandemic, but there has been lots of walks and hiking and yummy fall foods. And of course, a lot of curling up under a blanket with a book and a cup of tea.
1. When I was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
I have become a huge Jason Reynolds fan. I have yet to read a book of his that I haven't loved, and When I was the Greatest is no exception.
A lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I don’t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.
Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble—and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.
And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it.
Yeah, it’s cool…until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be…somewhere they never should've been—where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.
2. The Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
Let me count the things I love about this book. 1. It's a fantasy novel set in Asia, not medieval Europe! 2. It's main focus isn't on love or war! 3. It stars an anti-hero! If you feel like you're reading the same fantasy novel over and over again, and what something fresh, I recommend The Forest of a Thousand Lanterns.
Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her.
Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.
3. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
Not going to lie, the movie poster cover on this book really turned me off. But I had found it on a list of recommended LGBTQ+ list on Tumblr so I checked it out of the library anyway. I'm glad I did. Loved the book so much I watched the movie, however, I didn't love the movie so much.
When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.
But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone, and Cam becomes an expert at both.
Then Coley Talor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship, one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to “fix” her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self—even if she’s not quite sure who that is.
4. Two Boy Kissing by David Levithan
Found this book on the same list as the previous book. It's mostly told through a collective narrator, which took me a while to get used to. However, once I did, I began to really enjoy just not the story but how it was told. It's not a surprise that this book has won multiple awards.
Based on true events—and narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS—Two Boys Kissing follows Harry and Craig, two seventeen-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record. While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teens dealing with universal questions of love, identity, and belonging.
5. The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
This is my very favorite Holly Black novel. I checked it out from the library last year and knew that I needed to own it. This month I finally went out and bought a copy, and I loved it just as much on the second read through as on the first.
In the woods is a glass coffin. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives....
Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake.
Until one day, he does....
As the world turns upside down, Hazel has to become the knight she once pretended to be.
Bonus Books: Nathaniel Fludd: Beastologist series by R.L. LaFevers
I don't usually read anything younger than middle grade, but I adored LaFevers's Theodosia series so I gave these chapter books a chance. They are so fun and absolutely adorable. I also really like Kelly Murphy's illustrations.
Nathaniel Fludd’s life has taken a turn for the worst. With his parents lost at sea, he lands on the doorstep of a distant cousin—the world’s last remaining beastologist. Soon Nate is whisked off on his first expedition, to Arabia, where the world’s only phoenix prepares to lay its new egg. When disaster strikes, Nate quickly finds himself all alone.
Will he be able to see the phoenix safely hatched, keep his accidental pet gremlin out of trouble, and rescue his guardian from the Bedouin? If he fails, nothing will stand between the world’s mythical creatures and extinction.
Too bad Nate’s not the sort of boy who enjoys adventure . . .yet.
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