Title: YouAuthor: Caroline Kepnes
Page Count: 422
Rating: A
Keywords: Thriller, Stalking, Mystery, Twisted
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: Absolutely not for children. Sexual content, stalking, and language.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.
There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.
As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.
Title: Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and MannersAuthor: Therese Oneill
Page Count: 307
Rating: B
Keywords: Humor, History, Women's History, Victorian Era
Genre: Non-Fiction
Younger Readers: Sexual content is discussed. Not for young children but nothing overly graphic is present.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Have you ever wished you could live in an earlier, more romantic era?
Ladies, welcome to the 19th century, where there's arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn't question.)
UNMENTIONABLE is your hilarious, illustrated, scandalously honest (yet never crass) guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood, giving you detailed advice on:
~ What to wear
~ Where to relieve yourself
~ How to conceal your loathsome addiction to menstruating
~ What to expect on your wedding night
~ How to be the perfect Victorian wife
~ Why masturbating will kill you
~ And more
Irresistibly charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and featuring nearly 200 images from Victorian publications, UNMENTIONABLE will inspire a whole new level of respect for Elizabeth Bennett, Scarlet O'Hara, Jane Eyre, and all of our great, great grandmothers.
(And it just might leave you feeling ecstatically grateful to live in an age of pants, super absorbency tampons, epidurals, anti-depressants, and not-dying-of-the-syphilis-your-husband-brought-home.)
Title: Hocus PocusAuthor: Kurt Vonnegut
Page Count: 324
Rating: D
Keywords: Apocalypse, College, Prison, Japan
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: Older audience
Synopsis from Goodreads:
From the author of Timequake, this "irresistible" novel (Cleveland Plain Dealer) tells the story of Eugene Debs Hartke-Vietnam veteran, jazz pianist, college professor, and prognosticator of the apocalypse. It's "Vonnegut's best novel in years-funny and prophetic...something special." (The Nation)
Title: PS, I Love YouAuthor: Cecelia Ahern
Page Count: 512
Rating: B
Keywords: Love, Loss, Self Worth
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: Not for young children but the content is not overly inappropriate
Synopsis from Goodreads:
A novel about holding on, letting go, and learning to love again.
Now in paperback, the endearing novel that captured readers' hearts and introduced a fresh new voice in women's fiction Cecelia Ahern.
Holly couldn't live without her husband Gerry, until the day she had to. They were the kind of young couple who could finish each other's sentences. When Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness and dies, 30-year-old Holly is set adrift, unable to pick up the pieces. But with the help of a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric assortment of family and friends, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed.
The kind of enchanting novel with cross-generational appeal that comes along once in a great while, PS, I Love You is a captivating love letter to the world!
Title: WickedAuthor: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Page Count: 300
Rating: A
Keywords: New Orleans, Fae, Supernatural, Apocalypse
Genre: New Adult Paranormal
Younger Readers: Detailed sexual content, older readers only
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans.
Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun… and for food. Her duty to the Order is her life. After all, four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she’d sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart.
Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He’s six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm. With forest-green eyes and a smile that’s surely left a stream of broken hearts in its wake, he has an uncanny, almost unnatural ability to make her yearn for everything he has to offer. But letting him in is as dangerous as hunting the cold-blooded killers stalking the streets. Losing the boy she loved once before had nearly destroyed her, but the sparking tension that grows between them becomes impossible for Ivy to deny. Deep down, she wants… she needs more than what her duty demands of her, what her past has shaped for her.
But as Ivy grows closer to Ren, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying secrets that could shatter the frail bond between them. There’s something he’s not telling her, and one thing is for certain. She’s no longer sure what is more dangerous to her—the ancient beings threatening to take over the town or the man demanding to lay claim to her heart and her soul.
Title: The Hammer of ThorAuthor: Rick Riordan
Page Count: 471
Rating: B
Keywords: Norse Mythology, Teens, Diversity, Friendship
Genre: Middle Grade/Young Adult Fiction
Younger Readers: Great for younger readers, along the same lines as Riordan's other mythology series
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Thor's hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon--the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn't just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can't retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer's return is the gods' worst enemy, Loki--and the price he wants is very high.
Title: Fifty Shades of GreyAuthor: E. L. James
Page Count: 530
Rating: C
Keywords: Twilight, Love, Sex, BDSM
Genre: Erotica Fiction
Younger Readers: Not for children, check the genre
Synopsis from Goodreads:
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.
This book is intended for mature audiences.
Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's StoneAuthor: J. K. Rowling
Illustrator: Jim Kay
Page Count: 256
Rating: A+
Keywords: Magic, Orphans, Friendship, Good v. Evil
Genre: Children's/Middle Grade Fiction
Younger Readers: I read this for the first time when I was 6. Language and sex are not an issue.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry.
Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined.
Full of sympathetic characters, wildly imaginative situations, and countless exciting details, the first installment in the series assembles an unforgettable magical world and sets the stage for many high-stakes adventures to come.
Title: The Bear and the NightingaleAuthor: Katherine Arden
Page Count: 312
Rating: A+++
Keywords: Russia, Family, Magic, Spirits, Fate
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: Material is not crass by any means, though does have an older tone to it.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.
After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.
And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.
As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.
Title: Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 10Author: Sui Ishida
Page Count: 216
Rating: B
Keywords: Japan, Ghouls, Crime
Genre: Manga
Younger Readers: Cannibalism/eating of humans may be disturbing to some children
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way—except their craving for human flesh. Ken Kaneki is an ordinary college student until a violent encounter turns him into the first half-human half-ghoul hybrid. Trapped between two worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers.
While Kaneki and his friends tangle with Ghouls from the Aogiri Tree organization, the Commission of Counter Ghoul’s ongoing investigations bring them dangerously close to discovering Kaneki’s secret.
Title: Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 11Author: Sui Ishida
Page Count: 216
Rating: B
Keywords: Japan, Ghouls, Crime
Genre: Manga
Younger Readers: Cannibalism/eating of humans may be disturbing to some children
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way—except for their craving for human flesh.
Ken Kaneki is an ordinary college student until a violent encounter turns him into the first half-human half-Ghoul hybrid. Trapped between two worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers.
Amid clashes between Ghouls and the Commission of Counter Ghoul investigators at Doctor Kano’s underground facility, Kaneki finds himself locked in battle with Special Class Ghoul investigator Yukinori Shinohara. When the battle subsides, the CCG discovers shocking evidence that leads them closer to discovering the truth behind Kano’s sinister plans.
Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsAuthor: J. K. Rowling
Illustrator: Jim Kay
Page Count: 258
Rating: A+
Keywords: Magic, Crushes, Friendship, School
Genre: Children's/Middle Grade Fiction
Younger Readers: Appropriate
Synopsis from Goodreads:
The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny. But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone, or something, starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects: Harry Potter himself?
Title: Jurassic ParkAuthor: Michael Crichton
Page Count: 448
Rating: A+
Keywords: Science, Dinosaurs, Theme Park
Genre: Science Fiction
Younger Readers: Some younger readers may have trouble with staying interested but the content is fairly clean.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
A billionaire has created a technique to clone dinosaurs. From the DNA that his crack team of scientists extract, he is able to grow the dinosaurs in his laboratories and lock them away on an island behind electric fences, creating a sort of theme park. He asks a group of scientists from several different fields to come and view the park, but something goes terribly wrong when a worker on the island turns traitor and shuts down the power.
Title: The PrestigeAuthor: Christopher Priest
Page Count: 360
Rating: C
Keywords: Magicians, Family, Grudges
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: Sexual content, not overly graphic though
Synopsis from Goodreads:
In 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose one another.
Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers, but with terrible consequences. In the course of pursuing each other's ruin, they will deploy all the deception their magicians' craft can command--the highest misdirection and the darkest science.
Blood will be spilled, but it will not be enough. In the end, their legacy will pass on for generations...to descendants who must, for their sanity's sake, untangle the puzzle left to them.
Title: Norse MythologyAuthor: Neil Gaiman
Page Count: 299
Rating: B
Keywords: Mythology, Retellings, Norse
Genre: Fiction/Mythology
Younger Readers: Some of the mythology is a bit graphic.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Introducing an instant classic—master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a dazzling version of the great Norse myths.
Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales. In Norse Mythology, Gaiman fashions primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds; delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants; and culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people.
Gaiman stays true to the myths while vividly reincarnating Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, the son of giants, a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator. From Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerges the gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to dupe others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.
Title: Howl's Moving CastleAuthor: Diana Wynne Jones
Page Count: 429
Rating: A
Keywords: Magic, Castles, Curses
Genre: Children's Fiction
Younger Readers: Appropriate
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.
Title: The Loneliest AlphaAuthor: T. A. Grey
Page Count: 424
Rating: A
Keywords: Paranormal, Werewolves, Mystery, Murder
Genre: Erotica
Younger Readers: Refer to the genre
Synopsis from Goodreads:
One look will change their lives forever.
Lingerie designer Alicia Clarkson just had to open her stupid mouth. Now thanks to trying to defend a fellow pack mate, Alicia’s been blindfolded, tied up, and carted off to the new alpha of the Oregon pack—Gavin MacKellen.
However, the blindfold doesn’t come off so soon as Gavin reveals he’s searching for a mate. But Alicia’s curiosity gets fired up when Gavin refuses to reveal his face to her. Just what happened to him? He talks to her from shadowy corners and behind closed doors. The man is as illusive as a squirrely fox. But Alicia doesn’t play games and the quiet spoken, hoarse voiced alpha doesn’t stand a chance against her. They settle on an agreement, thirty days for them to get to know each other because that’s the only way this cowboy alpha will have it.
Gavin MacKellen needs a mate. But he knows no good woman would ever want to look at his face after the incident he suffered. After one look at Alicia Clarkson all his plans fly out the window. The woman’s beauty has stunned him damn near speechless. She torments his thoughts and Gavin finds himself yearning to know everything about her. He admires her creativity and intelligence, the cool way she handles herself in stressful situations. Most of all, he aches deep in his chest to taste her lips. Those beautiful sweet lips, but in order to kiss her without showing her what a monster he was, he has to get creative.
A relationship forms and as love threatens to grow between them Gavin struggles to cope with his physical appearance in the face of the beautiful Alicia. Will she be the one to stand in the face of a monster and accept or will she turn her back on him as everyone else has?
Title: The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and DisappearedAuthor: Jonas Jonasson
Page Count: 384
Rating: C
Keywords: Retirement Homes, Adventure, Gangsters, Elephants
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: Language not appropriate
Synopsis from Goodreads:
It all starts on the one-hundredth birthday of Allan Karlsson. Sitting quietly in his room in an old people’s home, he is waiting for the party he-never-wanted-anyway to begin. The Mayor is going to be there. The press is going to be there. But, as it turns out, Allan is not… Slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, we learn something of Allan’s earlier life in which – remarkably – he helped to make the atom bomb, became friends with American presidents, Russian tyrants, and Chinese leaders, and was a participant behind the scenes in many key events of the twentieth century. Already a huge bestseller across Europe, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a fun and feel-good book for all ages.
Title: The Dark Days ClubAuthor: Alison Goodman
Page Count: 482
Rating: A
Keywords: Ladies, Demons, Society
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Younger Readers: Appropriate for Middle Grade and Teens
Synopsis from Goodreads:
New York Times bestseller Alison Goodman’s eagerly awaited new project: a Regency adventure starring a stylish and intrepid demon-hunter!
London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?
Title: The Last of AugustAuthor: Brittany Cavallaro
Page Count: 336
Rating: B
Keywords: Sherlock and Watson, Art, Mystery, Illness
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Younger Readers: Sex, drugs, rape, and language are all present
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Watson and Holmes: A match made in disaster.
Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are looking for a winter-break reprieve after a fall semester that almost got them killed. But Charlotte isn’t the only Holmes with secrets, and the mood at her family’s Sussex estate is palpably tense. On top of everything else, Holmes and Watson could be becoming more than friends—but still, the darkness in Charlotte’s past is a wall between them.
A distraction arises soon enough, because Charlotte’s beloved uncle Leander goes missing from the estate—after being oddly private about his latest assignment in a German art forgery ring. The game is afoot once again, and Charlotte is single-minded in her pursuit.
Their first stop? Berlin. Their first contact? August Moriarty (formerly Charlotte’s obsession, currently believed by most to be dead), whose powerful family has been ripping off famous paintings for the last hundred years. But as they follow the gritty underground scene in Berlin to glittering art houses in Prague, Holmes and Watson begin to realize that this is a much more complicated case than a disappearance. Much more dangerous, too.
What they learn might change everything they know about their families, themselves, and each other.
Title: The Missing OnesAuthor: Patricia Gibney
Page Count: 424
Rating: B
Keywords: Ireland, Mystery, Church, Murder
Genre: Mystery
Younger Readers: Sexual assault, language, and drugs are all present
Synopsis from Goodreads:
The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.
The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. ‘I wonder which one of us will be next?’
When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how?
The trail leads Lottie to St Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal.
As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger?
Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice.
Fans of Rachel Abbott, Karin Slaughter and Robert Dugoni will be gripped by this page-turning serial killer thriller, guaranteed to keep you reading late into the night.
Title: The SilkwormAuthor: Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)
Page Count: 455
Rating: B
Keywords: Private Investigator, Writers, Murder
Genre: Mystery
Younger Readers: Sex and language present
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Private investigator Cormoran Strike returns in a new mystery from Robert Galbraith, author of the #1 international bestseller The Cuckoo's Calling.
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.
When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before...
Title: Career of EvilAuthor: Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)
Page Count: 492
Rating: A
Keywords: Private Investigator, Amputation, Serial Killer
Genre: Mystery
Younger Readers: Stalking, murder, sexual assault, and language all present
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Cormoran Strike is back, with his assistant Robin Ellacott, in a mystery based around soldiers returning from war.
When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.
Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.
With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…
Career of Evil is the third in the series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A mystery and also a story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives.
Title: Gone With the WindAuthor: Margaret Mitchell
Page Count: 1057
Rating: A
Keywords: Civil War, Love, Growing Up, Historical
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: Some education on the circumstances of the setting would be necessary first. Rereading this at 22, I understood far more than I did at 12/13
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Gone with the Wind is a novel written by Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia, and Atlanta during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. It depicts the struggles of young Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of the poverty she finds herself in after Sherman's March to the Sea. A historical novel, the story is a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, with the title taken from a poem written by Ernest Dowson.
Gone with the Wind was popular with American readers from the onset and was the top American fiction bestseller in the year it was published and in 1937. As of 2014, a Harris poll found it to be the second favorite book of American readers, just behind the Bible. More than 30 million copies have been printed worldwide.
Title: Big Little LiesAuthor: Liane Moriarty
Page Count: 465
Rating: A+
Keywords: Family, Middle Class, Domestic Violence, Friendship, Mystery
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: Language, violence, and sexual content may be too mature for young children to immature Middle Grade. Mature teens would likely be able to handle the story.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).
Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.
New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.
Title: The HobbitAuthor: J. R. R. Tolkien
Page Count: 389
Rating: A+++
Keywords: Magic, Middle Earth, Adventure
Genre: Fantasy
Younger Readers: Perfect for children, younger than the core LOTR trilogy
Synopsis from Goodreads:
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent.
Title: Gizelle's Bucket List: My Life with a Very Large DogAuthor: Lauren Fern Watt
Page Count: 256
Rating: B
Keywords: Coming of Age, Friendship, Addiction, Dogs, NYC
Genre: Memoir
Younger Readers: The writer does discuss some sensitive topics such as her mother's drug and alcohol addiction. Nothing is exactly inappropriate, just may raise some questions and strong emotions. Conservative readers may be uncomfortable with the casual discussion of sex, though it is not detailed.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
The playful, epic adventure of a 160-pound English Mastiff and the twentysomething girl who grew up alongside her—Marley & Me for a whole new generation.
Lauren Watt took her 160-pound English Mastiff to college—so of course after graduation, Gizelle followed Lauren to her first, tiny apartment in New York. Because Gizelle wasn’t just a dog; she was a roommate, sister, confidante, dining companion, and everything in between.
Together, Gizelle and Lauren went through boyfriends, first jobs, a mother’s struggle with addiction, and the ups and downs of becoming an adult in the big city. But when Gizelle got sick and Lauren realized her best friend might not be such a constant after all, she designed an epic bucket list to make the absolute most of the time they had left.
Bursting with charm, this unique, coming-of-age story of a girl making her way through life is a testament to the special way pets inspire us to live better, love better, and appreciate the simple pleasures. Gizelle’s Bucket List is the humorous, poignant lesson our pets teach us: to embrace adventure, love unconditionally, and grow into the people we want to be.
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