Four young ladies at the side of the ballroom make a pact to help each other find husbands . . . no matter what it takes

Proud and beautiful Annabelle Peyton could have her pick of suitors—if only she had a dowry. Her family is on the brink of disaster, and the only way Annabelle can save them is to marry a wealthy man. Unfortunately her most persistent admirer is the brash Simon Hunt, a handsome and ambitious entrepreneur who wants her as his mistress.

Annabelle is determined to resist Simon's wicked propositions, but she can't deny her attraction to the boldly seductive rogue, any more than he can resist the challenge she presents. As they try to outmaneuver each other, they find themselves surrendering to a love more powerful than they could have ever imagined. But fate may have other plans—and it will take all of Annabelle's courage to face a peril that could destroy everything she holds dear.

After reading my first book by Lisa Kleypas I knew that I had to continue this reading endevour. So onward with the wallflowers! And by onward, I mean that I need to get all the rest of Lisa Kleypas books because I think she is my new reading obsession. Who knew I could be a historical romance girl? I didn't. Learn something new every day.

Like I also learned that one may not only like a character at the beginning, but may love them by the end. Usually for me this kind of character is the antagonist that I always hate to love. Love to hate? Yes, definitely that one. In this lovely book however, Annabelle was the character that made me want to sigh and roll my eyes in the most polite of manners. In the beginning after all, it was as if I could feel her pretentious feelings towards herself and that of the peer society seeping off the page. If I could have leaped into them and told her get over herself at some points I would have. There is a hot man who obviously has the hots for her after all and she was ignoring him!

“You…you mustn’t stare at me like that.” Soft as the murmur was, he caught it. “With you here, nothing else is worth looking at.”



From the first pages it was obvious, if darling Annabelle wanted to find herself a pleasing husband to her in all ways (wink wink) she need look no further than Simon Hunt. Though of course not a peer, but rather a wealthy climber in the ranks of society being born a butcher's son, he still makes a rather dashing impression even if he is rough around the edges. The chemistry between these two however is undeniable and makes for fun games from chess to compromising sort.

“Let me spoil you,” he whispered. “Let me take care of you. You’ve never had anyone to lean on, have you? I’ve got strong shoulders, Annabelle.”

I couldn't help myself but read and read and read this book until I finished it in record time for me recently coming from a book slump, or rather a feeling like I have no time to read between classes sort of slump. Silly me. There will always now be time for Lisa Kleypas historical romances to keep me smiling and on my toes from the moments of swoon worthy romance to tragedy and humor to keep me a fan forever. Yep, I was hooked and will continue to be happily.
Soon I will be reading onto the next book to see which wallflower has some romance in store for her next? Will it be on the American friends of Annabelle? Or perhaps precious stuttering Evie that for some reason I absolutely love. Can't wait to see what comes next...obviously I need more books, and quickly.

Though I am writing this post it is possibly one of the hottest October days I have ever experienced, it is Autumn, and I love autumn. It is the times for cozy sweaters and beautiful foliage. It is also a time to get back into the wonderful zone of reading. Thus, after looking through some other lovely blogs, I have come across the Autumn reading tag I was not tagged in. Yay!

Let's do this fall fabulous book thing.

Are there any books you plan on reading over the autumn season?

I plan to read. That is my only goal and I think that it is a very good goal for me. To read and keep reading. Not sure exactly what books specifically I will be reading, but definitely the books that strike me and make me want to keep reading. I need to get out of this school stress reading slump and read all the great funny fantastic novels I can get my hands on.

Recently, The Kiss Quotient has made me definitely need to dive back into my one true reading love. Romance. Next up on my list for right now is some Lisa Kleypas.

September brings back school memories: what book did you most enjoy studying? And what were your favorite and least favorite school subjects?

Back in school I was one of those people who hated being told what to read and how many pages per day. It made any book lose its fun and excitement somehow. Recently, the most fun I had in college reading a book for class has been The 2017 Pushcart. A lot of short good reads all in one.

Also, I remember that one class my freshman year got to read A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Lucky! They were definitely an exception to the my hating assigned reading rule.

And my favorite subjects? Probably English of course. My favorite part of the day was when I would skip the cafeteria to go to the library and hang out with the fantastic librarian instead of my peers. Art too was wonderful when sitting next to a good friend who was much better at the art than I was.

My least favorite subject, of course, was the dreaded math. Typical, but true. It still is as I push through statistics this semester.

October means Halloween: Do you enjoy scary books and films? If so what are some of your favorites?

As long as they aren't slasher films in the gratuitous nature, I am up for the next scary movie night this month. Then again, I am also that person who says they have to watch all the scary movies that Netflix has put up for the month only to continue to re-watch Gilmore Girls and wait for Fall break so that I can go home and watch Hocus Pocus or even better, a nostalgic Disney Halloween film.

Book wise...man, have I read any horror? I have never even read Stephan King. What kind of reader am I??

With November it’s time for Bonfire Night and firework displays. What’s the most exciting book you’ve ever read that really kept you gripped?

Though I have never seen fireworks in the fall I don't think, fires in the crisp air of weekend evenings is always something that will hold memories. Books that kept me on the edge of my seat that I will never not remember include A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Also, Fracture Me and the rest of the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi.

What book is your favorite cozy comfort read?

My favorite cozy reads are the kind of reads that I wrap myself in a blanket with and read and read and read until I finish the whole book in one crisp cool fall day. A few favorites include Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and rereading A Court of Mist and Fury for the tenth time (at least). Definitely cozy, definitely favorite books ever if I am being honest.

For a longer less known book that kept me settled in all day a few years ago includes The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly.

Curled up with a good book, what is your hot drink of choice?

Warm apple cider! Homemade it tastes delicious and it makes the house smell perfectly autumn, because autumn does have a smell.

Any plans you’re looking forward to over the next few months?

Going home for Fall break is definitely on my list, as well as other breaks. Oh I really need a good away from school break.

Recently all I have been thinking about is the books I cannot read. You know the ones, the ones that you have been waiting for for so long finally coming out soon, and the other books that you still have a long while to wait for. From fantasy to contemporary romance, here are a few of the books stuck in my head that I cannot wait for.



There are a lot of them.

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

October 2, 2018

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice—save the woman he loves, or everyone else?—while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

I am excited for this book. As it is a Laini Taylor book, it is sure to be weird, but sure to be utterly fantastic. Be sure to read Strange the Dreamer in prep for this upcoming page turner.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Oct. 16, 2018

It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.

Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother.

But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.

Tahereh Mafi's writing never ceases to make me fall in love. I cannot wait for this more serious contemporary I have only been hearing amazing things about.

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

October 23, 2018

Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas’s #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius’s journey from slave to king’s assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world. . .

Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day…

With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world.

And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever.

Who isn't waiting for the final chapter within the Throne of Glass series? If there is any indication that I am it is the rant that I just had while at work to my poor coworker who has never heard of the series let alone read it.

It is just sooo good.

Picture Perfect Cowboy by Tiffany Reisz

Nov. 5, 2018

Jason "Still" Waters' life looks perfect from the outside—money, fame, and the words "World Champion Bull-Rider" after his name. But Jason has a secret, one he never planned on telling anybody...until he meets Simone. She's the kinky girl of his dreams...and his conservative family's worst nightmare.

Original Sinners? Tiffany Reisz? Please, you know that I am already in and ready for the fun picture perfect time that this book is offering.

The Rose by Tiffany Reisz

April 16, 2019

On the day of Lia’s university graduation party, her parents—wealthy art collectors with friends in high places—gift her a beautiful wine cup, a rare artifact decorated with roses. It’s a stunning gift, and one that August Bowman, a friend of her parents and a guest at Lia’s party, also has his eye on. The cup, August tells her, is known as the Rose kylix, and it’s no ordinary cup. It was used in the temple ceremonies of Eros, Greek god of erotic love, and has the power to bring the most intimate sexual fantasies to life.

But Lia is skeptical of August’s claims of the cup’s mythology and magic—after all, he’s a collector himself, and she suspects he just wants to get his hands on this impressive piece of art. So he dares her to try it for herself, and when Lia drinks from the Rose kylix she is suddenly immersed in an erotic myth so vivid it seems real—as though she’s living out the most sensual fantasy with August by her side…

Realizing the true power of this ancient and dangerous relic, Lia is even more wary of giving it up, though August insists it is only safe with him. He’s willing to pay the full value of the cup, but Lia has another type of trade in mind. One that finds them more tangled up in each other—and in fantasy—than either was prepared for.

After reading The Red, unaware there was going to be a sequel, I am preparing myself for this absolutely stunning to look at book as much as I am preparing for the perfectly pornographic pages sure to be read very quickly. Tiffany Reisz has a talent for one sitting reads. I am sure this lovely thing will be no different.

Again, but Better by Christine Riccio

May 21, 2019

Shane has been doing college all wrong. Pre-med, stellar grades, and happy parents...sounds ideal -- but Shane's made zero friends, goes home every weekend, and romance...what's that?

Her life has been dorm, dining hall, class, repeat. Time's a ticking, and she needs a change -- there's nothing like moving to a new country to really mix things up. Shane signs up for a semester abroad in London. She's going to right all her college mistakes: make friends, pursue boys, and find adventure!

Easier said than done. She is soon faced with the complicated realities of living outside her bubble, and when self-doubt sneaks in, her new life starts to fall apart.

Shane comes to find that, with the right amount of courage and determination one can conquer anything. Throw in some fate and a touch of magic - the possibilities are endless.

For all my feelings about how excited I am for this book, check out my cover reveal for it!


Anyone else have books on the brain lately that are just out of reach?

In case you haven't heard about this upcoming release in 2019. Keep it on your radar, because I am pretty sure it is going to be the next great thing in happy-making contemporary fiction world. What book is this in case you haven't already seen the cover? It is...

Again, but Better

Release Date: May 21, 2019
416 pages

Shane has been doing college all wrong. Pre-med, stellar grades, and happy parents...sounds ideal -- but Shane's made zero friends, goes home every weekend, and romance...what's that? 

Her life has been dorm, dining hall, class, repeat. Time's a ticking, and she needs a change -- there's nothing like moving to a new country to really mix things up. Shane signs up for a semester abroad in London. She's going to right all her college mistakes: make friends, pursue boys, and find adventure! 

Easier said than done. She is soon faced with the complicated realities of living outside her bubble, and when self-doubt sneaks in, her new life starts to fall apart. 

Shane comes to find that, with the right amount of courage and determination one can conquer anything. Throw in some fate and a touch of magic - the possibilities are endless.

photo by Christine Riccio via Instagram

Beware of pickpockets they say, especially in France. I kept my cross body purse held with my hand tightly to the front of my body each time I walked the streets of Paris alone. Along the Seine was the only place that made me pause now and make me scream at myself to use my head. Still, all I can think of now is that it was a pretty good thing that at the time where I wasn’t using my head as much as I should have, high after spending a good hour or so in Shakespeare and Co., that I spoke terrible French and could understand it even more terribly.

The sun shone down on me as I walked along past street vendors and postcard sellers that sat in fold-able chairs and scrolling on their phones until a customer grabbed something off their cart. As I approached a few more to pass, a woman smiled and came up to me with a clipboard, and I think now, had I been in New York City, would I have paused?

Um, no. Definitely not.

I am the person who drags friends away from the sales people in the mall that try to get you try that new flat iron at their kiosk until you end up buying some sort of hair oil. Yet, I paused as she quickly spoke in French, pushing the clipboard towards me as if to sign a petition of some sort.

“Je…” I didn’t understand her, and held my purse tighter as after that millisecond of pause happened, I took a step or two forward. Keep walking, I needed to keep walking...and yet…



In that moment one of the two older men who were sitting in their chairs next to their carts of postcards and trinkets called out towards me and the woman who was already a few steps behind me, giving up in sort of a huff.

As I passed one of the older men, he ran a hand through his white hair and pointed after her, trying to explain. “Pickpocket,” he said.

Understanding must have shown on my face.

He continued to explain to me in slow French to just keep walking. Those who tried to get one to sign something like that usually would have swiped my purse while my hands were busy.

I nodded a merci and continued on. Thinking back on that moment now though, when I glanced down towards that clipboard that young woman was holding, it had quite a few signatures on it. I wonder how many did not simply keep walking.

A Warm Welcome

I arrived in Paris at the Orly airport to get onto the Orlyval, and then the metro. At one point, unsure if it was my stop I needed to get off at, I asked the woman across from me in the packed train if this would be my stop coming up. With creased eyebrows, she nodded. "Oui."

Getting off the train I looked around. It was most certainly not my stop. It was more certainly, an hour walking from the stop I should have waited to stopped at.

Back into the metro I went, the one ticket man there taking pity on me enough to have me purchase another new ticket to get where I was going.

Where is...Right there? Of course I knew that.

While in the Tuileries Garden walking back from my visit to the Effile Tower, I looked around and finally stopped to ask a girl who had her feet sticking in the fountain along with many others.

"Where is the Louvre?" I asked the line in my practice and re-practiced French.

Still unimpressed, she pointed over my shoulder. The Louvre was right in front of me.

Off to See the Mona Lisa

After finding the Louvre I wandered in through one of the halls and promptly got lost within the Greek marble statues. By the time I figured out how to get out and find the correct entry towards the statue of Nike, and eventually see the crowded room of the Mona Lisa, I was very dehydrated from a day walking in the sun without water. Weaving through the crowd I nearly passed out. Ultimately the six euro bottle of water was purchased.

Let this be a lesson to always stay hydrated, even when attempting to complete a very full itinerary.

Thank You, Highlighter T-Shirt Man

I got on the RER C heading out to Versailles out of the Notre Dame station. After asking multiple people who couldn't understand my terrible French, I ended up hopping on the next train. I sat by the window on the second floor of the train where it was barely even filled. The only others on the train with me were a group of men, scattered through the seats and yelling and loud French to one another. It was the loudness that back in the states I would assume also meant slightly intoxicated, even if it was only about eight in the morning.

I held my bag close and continued looking forward, hoping that I would be able to hear the muffled voice overhead that would tell me that I had made it out of Paris and into the royal city of Versailles. The voice overhead did say something and the last of the people, the men got off the train. Once they got off, they yelled back at me to do the same.

"Last stop. Last stop," they told me in broken English. And here I was hoping that I didn't look like a complete tourist of sorts.

Heart pounding I descending from the train and onto the gray cement platform, looking around where to go next. I was certainly not in Versailles. Asking a young girl waiting for her train, she knew I was supposed to be getting on the two. Where was the two? She could only shrug.

Looking around obviously more confused than I usually would let on, a large man in a bright orange t-shirt looked at me. He had a large gym bag across his chest.

"Tu vas à Versailles?"

"Oui!" I said right away, understanding as he spoke slow. I asked back, "Tu vas à Versailles?"

"Oui," he said. Pointing to the train across from us that people were finishing boarding.

I ran through the little tunnel connecting the two platforms and hopped on the train just before the doors closed. The man did behind me. "Merci." I thanked him. Oh, I still thank him whenever I think about the kindness sometimes we forget in the world around us when there are also scary loud possibly drunk French men also around us.

I See London I See France

As I walked down the street, I stepped over a sort of vent in the ground. The skirt of my purple floral dress flew up in the air, exposing whatever comfortable travel underwear I had packed before I could stop it, a true Marilyn Monroe impression. I yanked it back down to my thighs and walked that way all the way down the block until I was pretty sure whoever saw it happen wouldn't notice my reddening face.

A Fitting Flight Home

I sat in the airport, my head pounding, the back of my neck sweating as if an oncoming migraine believed that the best time to come on was while I was waiting for my last minute flight back from Paris to Marseilles. I continued to wait and want to puke as my flight was delayed...and delayed again...and again. I must have looked pretty bad considering the airport was packed and no one sat next to me while waiting if they could help it.

But I did make it back to my temporary home in Provence.

And now after plenty of these misadventures, I have come to terms more or less of getting lost. If it happens, we are going to get home eventually. Somehow.

With my class after the fantastically wonderful Carrières de Lumières, we made our way up to Baux castle in Les Baux de la Provence.

 This town I can only imagine had to have hosted a medieval film or two in its lifetime.




Then again though, I am not sure if I could have wandered as well through the ruins of the castle and lavender fields in such cumbersome day to day attire.

Ever since I read one of my favorite books, The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, I have been searching for the next romcom to make me excited to read and read and read. Honestly, I figured that I would have to wait until her next book came out, stranded in a reading desert wasteland until then, but then came along The Kiss Quotient.

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan--from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he's making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic... 

From the first page I started reading one late late night, which was a very bad bad idea, I was hooked. Right off the bat, the characters were so perfect and sweet. Our main character, Stella Lane was perfectly unique and held a voice that I had yet not heard when it comes to a perfect romance such as this as she attempts to teach herself all she needs to know about relationships and sex. Since at age 30, at this point practice is what's going to make perfect, right? Thus, brings in our heroic Michael who also happens to be the occasional escort who is propositioned to help her out.




Of course, these lessons that Stella has in mind aren't all that simple. As they begin, a friendship and love interest quickly forms between the two that felt tangible to my the moment they were introduced, and only increased from there, making me root for Stella and Michael no matter how many cringe filled moments came by. Sometimes so cringey that I had to put the book down and take a deep breath for my secondhand embarrassment to subside.

In the end though, through the cringes and the laughs and all the emotions that brought this book together in a way I absolutely needed in this point and time; this book was about love and acceptance and I loved it.

I cannot wait to see what Helen Hoang writes next. Bring on the romance and the fluff and all the goodness.

...and the sweet Michael Phans of the world.

About the Author

If there is ever a memoir to read, this might be it. For the writing, for the story...I realize now why so many people in school years ago said it was one of the only books they read out of the class library. What I don't understand is, why didn't I?

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever. Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home. 

Maybe it wasn't meant to come into my life until this moment. Maybe a lot of things I suppose, but after reading The Glass Castle, I am so very glad I was able to read this memoir that felt like a sort of real life fairy tale and nightmare all fixed into one big bowl of life.

This book no matter how beautiful though, this book is anything but a simple easy sort of story. Starting within Jeannette's childhood moments from when she was three years old and boiling hot dogs on the stove to staring up at the sky and claiming a star for her own, with the beauty came moments of rage from her drunken father who loved the family none the less and a mother who had the saying that art was worth more time than eating or getting food for the same family.

I breezed page by page of this life set before me in ink, no stopping until I reached the end.



By Jeannette's later childhood, set in Virginia where quite a bit of the book takes place near where the father grew up, along with her brother's and sisters this memoir turns into almost a survival story for a different sort of life not tangled in running from tax collectors and going hungry. Jeannette became determined to stay where she was. Determined to become successful, the kids banned together and forth even more memories and hope of a life they believed they deserved to live. I cheered them on through each step forward and back on their journey to New York City where the story continues on and on...

It is hard I think to review a memoir sometimes when you can or can't relate. It is not your life, but it is a moment to be glad you got a beautifully fractured glimpse into it.

I am glad to have gotten a glimpse into this story.





Recently a film came out based on the book. While I will admit to enjoying the memoir a whole lot better than the film, since I thought they took too romanticizing the life situations a little too much, the trailer is pretty great.

The school reading list. Just the thought it makes me say "ugh" and roll my eyes. No matter how much I love to read and have for so many years, the school reading list of the classics still managed to make my eyes glaze over if they were assigned vs. for pleasure reading. Still, so many of those books written up on the school syllabus throughout middle and high school yet a bad wrap. So, ever care to give a few another, or perhaps their first try?



Whether or not these books are on your required reading list this year going back to school, here a few great books that I ended up loving, reading them long after the bell rang for summer break.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

What's it About?

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

Why Must You Read it?

I am sure you have been the movie. The one with Leonardo DiCaprio? If not, DEFINITELY pick up this book right now and prepare for greatness. Great Gatsby seriously is one of the best American Lit novels from the first time I read it to now. A wannabe writer, a mysterious man, and a deadly love interest is sure to please.

The Giver by Lois Lowery

What's it About?

Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community.

Why Must You Read it?

This is a classic novel that reads like a favorite dystopian YA. Or utopia? You decide whether to see the world in black and white or let in color like Jonas begins to within a world where love is not quite concrete enough, but reason to fight and live forward in hope for a better world.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

What's it About?

A young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.

Why Must You Read it?

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn seems to fly under the radar, but ever since I read it before entering high school, before I even knew it was a classic, it still manages to be one of my favorites as it enters the life of a young girl creating a portrait of beautiful life even in the cruel light it sometimes manages to shine on us.

Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

What's it About?

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

Why Must You Read it?

If you are getting ready to binge the Hulu award winning series, best to pick up this story to prepare. The story haunts me to this day from when I read it one summer a few years ago and makes one really think about the world women live in today and if we are getting a little too close to becoming a Republic of Gilead. Luckily, we have plenty of people like Offred ready to fight back and question what is right. This is the dystopia for the feminist generation.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

What's it About?

Anne Frank's extraordinary diary, written in the Amsterdam attic where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years, has become a world classic and a timeless testament to the human spirit. Now, in a new edition enriched by many passages originally withheld by her father, we meet an Anne more real, more human, and more vital than ever. Here she is first and foremost a teenage girl—stubbornly honest, touchingly vulnerable, in love with life. She imparts her deeply secret world of soul-searching and hungering for affection, rebellious clashes with her mother, romance and newly discovered sexuality, and wry, candid observations of her companions. Facing hunger, fear of discovery and death, and the petty frustrations of such confined quarters, Anne writes with adult wisdom and views beyond her years. Her story is that of every teenager, lived out in conditions few teenagers have ever known.

Why Must You Read it?

Anne Frank's diary is an insight into the mind of a person that may have been never seen. When I read this book along with my class, there was not one of us who was bored or weren't as into the story and the history that went along with the life of Anne Frank as our teacher was. The writing is wonderful and so is the feeling of spirit Anne left behind in each word.

And my brother's recent must read you may have seen in a common high school classroom...

1984 by George Orwell

What's it About?

Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life--the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language--and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell.

Why Must You Read it?

When I asked my brother why everyone must read it he gave to long of a reply to coherently type. Let's just say he loved it and thinks it gives a fantastic commentary not only of when the book was written, but society today. Plus, the plot was pretty awesome.



Has anyone else given those books left behind in high school libraries a second shot since they left, or care to now? Any favorites I left out in my tiny list?