Last Month in Boozy Book Club
We talked One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus and if we are still capable of being into Young Adult books or not (maybe not). Final rating?
This book was a fun and easy read. It had some problematic themes (suicide and slut shaming among them), and it’s four main characters were so much alike that unless you were listening to the audio book, you would have had a hard time telling them apart.
So three out of five wine bottles it was.
We got real serious about What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton, which apparently prompted some truly hilarious YouTube comments on the video. Seriously, you have to see them.
But we gave that sucker a FULL ON FIVE WINE BOTTLES!
Yes, we loved it that much.
What’s Next in Boozy Book Club
We are busy getting suggestions from our members in the Facebook group about what they would love to read next. I thought I would share some of the books here, so everyone can get an idea about why they might be good choices. Then, if you have joined the group, you can head over there and vote in the poll to decide what we read next! The top two books will be our November picks.
Hopefully all of you who are getting these at the library will have time to read. We will do this hangout in December.
The Hate You Give
Angie Thomas’ first book debuted at the top of New York Times Bestseller List and has 54K reviews on Goodreads. It’s already picked up for a movie starring Amandla Stenberg. It’s been touted as should-be required reading for high schoolers, but also a book that transcends the YA category. So many of you have already read it, but I’ve seen comments that everyone would definitely read it again.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
All the Crooked Saints
If you’ve never read a Maggie Steifvater book, you are missing some great world-building and fantastic writing. Here’s the official summary of her newest, All the Crooked Saints.
Here is a thing everyone wants: a miracle.
Here is a thing everyone fears: what it takes to get one.Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.
At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.
They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.
Jane, Unlimited
Kristin Cashore wrote one of my favorite YA fantasy series (seriously hottest YA sex scene ever in the first one), and she’s back with a new novel with Jane, Unlimited. Take a look at the official summary:
Jane has lived a mostly ordinary life, raised by her recently deceased aunt Magnolia, whom she counted on to turn life into an adventure. Without Aunt Magnolia, Jane is directionless. Then an old acquaintance, the glamorous and capricious Kiran Thrash, blows back into Jane’s life and invites her to a gala at the Thrashes’ extravagant island mansion called Tu Reviens. Jane remembers her aunt telling her: “If anyone ever invites you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you’ll go.”
What Jane doesn’t know is that at Tu Reviens her story will change; the house will offer her five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her untethered life. But every choice comes with a price. She might fall in love, she might lose her life, she might come face-to-face with herself. At Tu Reviens, anything is possible.
The Buried Giant
If you didn’t know, the author of this book, Kazuo Ishiguro, just won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He wrote The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, and I’ve had a gorgeous copy of The Buried Giant since 2015, and haven’t read it yet. If you aren’t into young adult, this one is your vote!
“You’ve long set your heart against it, Axl, I know. But it’s time now to think on it anew. There’s a journey we must go on, and no more delay…”
The Buried Giant begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years.
Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in nearly a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge, and war.
The Ghostwriter
If you are into the mystery/thriller/suspense side of things, you might be into The Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre.
Four years ago, I lied. I stood in front of the police, my friends and family, and made up a story, my best one yet. And all of them believed me.
I wasn’t surprised. Telling stories is what made me famous. Fifteen bestsellers. Millions of fans. Fame and fortune.
Now, I have one last story to write. It’ll be my best one yet, with a jaw-dropping twist that will leave them stunned and gasping for breath.
They say that sticks and stones will break your bones, but this story? It will be the one that kills me.
How Do I Vote, Beth?
Glad you asked. Join Boozy Book Club on Facebook, and vote in our poll. Remember, the top two books are the ones that we will read in November.
Can’t wait to start reading with all of you!
