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The Things They Carried - Ethen Bridgeman

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The Things They Carried - Ethen Bridgeman

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Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is one of those rare books that feels both brutally honest and strangely poetic at the same time. Even though it’s set during the Vietnam War, the stories focus less on battles and more on the emotional weight the soldiers carry—fear, guilt, love, and memory. O’Brien’s writing style is vivid and immersive, making even small details feel meaningful. What stood out to me most is how the book blurs the line between truth and storytelling, showing how people use stories to survive difficult experiences. The characters feel incredibly real, and the book captures the complicated mix of courage and vulnerability that defines them. It’s not a traditional war novel; it’s more reflective, more personal, and often surprisingly beautiful. I found it thought‑provoking and emotionally powerful, and it left me thinking about the cost of war long after I finished reading. Overall, I’d recommend it to anyone who likes books that explore human emotion as much as action.

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Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a powerful novel that highlights systemic racism, and dehumanization and alienation in a way of how society often ignores or erases certain people, through a series of the unnamed narrators recallings and his reflections from isolation. I connected with the theme of isolation in this novel both as a girl and as someone who doesn't always fit the image society expects, so it all felt very moving and real to me. One detail that really stood out to me was the fact that the Black, unnamed narrator or "invisible man" was creating a pure white paint, a vision of America, while no one acknowledged his work, showing both his racial invisibility and alienation in society at the time (which ended up leading to his long-term isolation). It was even more striking when I made the connection that the Sherwin-Williams color of the year for 2025 was a shade of white, which made the symbolism in this novel feel even more timeless. The book shows that the issues that Ellison explores are still relevant and true today, from prejudice to how society treats people as invisible. Ellison clearly demonstrates how people, especially people of color, can be dehumanized even when their work or presence is essential to society. The story is overall very thought-provoking and it definitely left a lasting impression on me. All in all, Invisible Man is a truly unforgettable novel, full of all kinds of well written truth, and it challenges readers to open up to a widened horizon of perspective and recognize the realities of society and the human connection within it. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is a young adult or older, and to someone who can look at the world through a wide-angled lens, able to put themselves into another man's shoes, mostly without bias.

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Where the Crawdads sing is a mystery book. This book keeps you intrigued and has an ongoing plot. It is one of those books that you can't put down no matter how much you want to. I love the way that the book goes back and forth in time in order for the reader to understand the whole plot and story line. Delia Owens does a incredible job of making the reader have a connection with kya. and feel sympathy for her and her situation. She is abandon by everyone in her life that she loved and is forced to survive on her own in the marsh. She falls in love with a couple of boys but she had a bad reputation in the town and no one was ever nice to her. On in the book kya ended up getting raped and then he showed up dead this made her the number 1 suspect and having the town in the court it made things really hard on her. you will have to read the rest to find out what happened. But I highly recommend it to anyone who is in to mystery or just a good book

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On his voyage through the North Pole, a man named Walton stumbles across Victor Frankenstein and listens to his story. Victor Frankenstein grows up in Geneva with his family and adopted sister, Elziabeth Lavenza. He leaves for university to study science. There, Victor becomes overly obsessed with life and death. Victor spends most of his time putting together a creature. This creature eventually escapes Victor and goes to Geneva where he kills William, Victor’s brother. Victor finds the creature in the mountains and listens to what the creature has been through. The creature is unable to make connections with humans, but despite this is very educated, having learned how to read and write. The creature demands Victor make another one so could have a mate. Victor obliges and starts, but quickly destroys the second creature in front of the first one, causing it to go into a vengeful rage. The creature goes on to kill Victor's childhood best friend, Henry Clerval. Henry goes back to Geneva to marry his adopted sister Elizabeth, but on the night of their wedding, she is murdered by the creature. This sends Victor on a quest for revenge. This quest would eventually lead him to Walton. The creature makes one last appearance standing above the lifeless corpse of Victor, where he vows to take his own life in the mountains so no one finds him and tries to replicate him.

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After reading Where the Crawdads written by Delia Owens, I was presently surprised by the amount of details in the novel. This book takes place in the deep marsh's of North Carolina, where the society expectations were very much different in the marsh compared to the town. In the novel, we get to know insight on a girl named Kya who had been abandoned by everyone who was ever in her life. After a man turns up dead, the whole town turns the blame on her for his death. Without spoiling it, I will say that this book was full of great details and moments of surprise. I loved this book mostly because it was easy to follow along, even with the drastic amount of flashbacks. Overall, I think this book is well written and very intriguing.

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Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women is an amazing example of a story that remains timeless and allows readers to take a moment and slow down to reflect on life itself. This is a story that is very important to me. This story follows the lives of the four March sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth, ad Amy. In my opinion, one of the best things about this book is how it explores the different personalities and values of each sister individually instead of just lumping them all together. These sisters grew up in Massachusetts during the Civil War, which their father served in. While their father is off at war, their mother guides her girls through tough times and struggles, while also helping them to become the best version of themselves.Throughout the novel, Alcott portrays themes like family, perseverance through times of challenge, and personal growth. Overall, this story left me with a lasting impression by reminding me the importance of compassion, resilience, and staying true to myself.

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Circe, by Madeline Miller follows a Greek witch Circe, who is the daughter of the son God Helios. The book shows her life before, during, and after her banishment to the island of Aiaia, and the reader sees how she changes as a person. This book was fun to read because of 2 factors: the pacing and how we as the reader got to see how Circe changed over hundreds of years. The pacing was creative because it was fast, yet I could also imagine the centuries going by between each event. It felt like I was actually in the story. Seeing how Circe changes over the book from her perspective was also interesting because the author revealed to the reader the meaning behind Circe's choices and the change of her mindset over the centuries she was on the island.

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After reading The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, has opened my perspective on the realities that happen to those who have served in war. This book features Tim O'Brien who writes war stories describing the events and tragedies he and other soldiers experienced during the Vietnam War. Upon reading the book, there was so much to take in as O'Brien presented the difficulties and hardships that they had to manage throughout. From describing the things they literally carried to the expanse of emotions they felt, war affected them physically and mentally. The author gives the reader periods of O'Brien from before, during, and after the war. Additionally, O’Brien would use repetition and imagery to describe a scene which made me feel as if I was there for myself. He would go into great detail and was written in a way that is easy to understand. Overall, I think this book was well written and went deep into the explanation of each topic. Mason M

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This is a brilliant post-apocalyptic novel, published in 2006 by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details a grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months. They struggle to cross a landscape blasted away, that destroyed industrial civilization and nearly all life. They keep moving on, heading south and walking towards the coast, fearful of remaining in one spot for too long. Even when they luck upon food or water or shelter, the man and boy continue to move onwards. I would suggest this book to anyone who loves post apocalyptic novels. It is very slow but if you search for deeper meanings, you will find too many to count. I would rate this book overall an 8/10, just because It was very hard to get into. But once you enter you can hardly put it down.

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The Poisonwood Bible      - Zane Bronwlee

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The Poisonwood Bible      - Zane Bronwlee

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This book, published in 1998 focuses on several subjects; including human rights, post colonialism, and exploitation through the viewpoint of a missionary family in 1959. I was very impressed with this books narration, as each chapter swaps through 4-5 different 2nd person narrators. Each narrator is a different child in the family, and in some chapters the narrator switches to the mother. The different viewpoints show the reader the ways in which the same event can be viewed by different people and can cause different conclusions. The book also focuses heavily on the history of the DRC, and the U.S. involvement in the country, which leads into deeper focus on human rights (specifically sovereignty). The story provides several alternate viewpoints to a real world event that can be useful in educating and expanding the minds of many people, I defiantly recommend this book to anyone.

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The Book Fahrenheit 451 was a very great book to read. This book focuses on a dystopian society that added an extreme amount of Technology and banned all books. the main character was a fire fighter who burned books but eventually began to get curious about what he was burning. this caused him to take a deeper look into it and ultimately throughout the book which led to him finding out the truth caused him to break away from society. This was a very good book because it forces you to think about hard topics like freedom of though and if technology is really good for us. I highly recommend your this book if you are somebody who likes books about characters going against the grain and rebelling from a evil society. the bigger message and the ending was also very sad but good i totally recommend this book to anybody who likes to think.

Enoch Assan

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This book looked on a society that was overtaken by a regime called Gilead, where the women were seen only for reproductive reasons and the men completely ruled. Offred is the main character and we follow her as she got split from her family and her rights, to the Offred we know as the handmaid. The Handmaid's Tale was a great book overall. I think it is a great read because it can help open our eyes to things that can happen in the future if we do not wake up and see the issues going on within our world. The thought of having a totalitarian society is extremely scary, but if we let things slide by our government this very likely could happen in the future. Offered was the main character and a great example of resilience and not letting something completely control you. She sought many ways to go against Gilead which is a great example of courage and strength, even in the subtle ways. This book is also very difficult and sad to go through because of the control the women were under and reading through the experiences where they could not stop the attacks against them. The women banding together to try and go against was also very inspiring and something I can reflect on in the future.

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Atonement is a redemption story with hints of a tragic romance. In it you can see how a child's perspective of the world can lead to unforeseen consequences. It uses multiple POVs, changing from the main characters through each part of the book, in which there are three. I was honestly kind of confused at the beginning because of the way it was written. A major plot point is how the main character Briony is a playwright/ novelist and struggles to find a way to express herself through her stories. It was an interesting read with the themes of war, survival, death, romance, and even some mystery. I struggled to visualize the scenes and the characters. As I continued to read and learn about them they became easier to visualize. The world building and characterization are well done and although I didn't personally like the ending that much, I did think it was overall a good book.

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Blair: Everything I Never Told You-Celeste Ng

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Blair: Everything I Never Told You-Celeste Ng

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Everything I never told you was a very good book. This book really keeps you turning pages to find out all of the deep secrets held within the Lee family. I did not like how it ended because the main characters death was deemed a accidental drowning and it literally was, I was really hoping she was going to make appearance. I did love the way it was written by going from past to present tense I feel like that created a whole image of why the lee family acted the way they did in the book. I did not like the fact that the mom did not get to be able to be a doctor because I feel like she should have been able to go back to college without running away. Another thing I did not like about the book is how negative all the characters were it was very depressing for allot of the book. I did like how I felt like it was an easy read and not to difficult and wordy. Overall I think that it was a good read though.

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Luke Rupert

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Luke Rupert

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The book project Hail Mary is a story centered around a man named Ryland Grace and his adventure through space. This story flips from the past to present pretty regularly throughout the book, but it keeps the reader very engaged throughout the book. It talks about Ryland Grace's past memories, and they slowly help him throughout the book. About half way through the book, Ryland Grace meets an alien named Rocky, they work together and end up discovering the fix to the astrophage problem together. This was very unexpected of me, because I knew absolutely zero things about the book before I started reading. Overall I would absolutely recommend this book to people who have not read it before, I loved it.

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Station Eleven by Emily St. John Madel - Ava Corker

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Station Eleven by Emily St. John Madel - Ava Corker

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I enjoyed this book a lot! I am normally into romance or dystopian books but Station Eleven did not disappoint. This book takes the character back and forth from two different time periods. One time period being before the outbreak and the second being after the outbreak of a deadly virus. This virus took out the majority of the population. This novel focuses a lot on the character, Arthur, and his life before death. I would highly recommend this book to people who are into theater or plays. There is a lot about Shakespear due to a group in the book called the Traveling Symphony. This was a group of people who traveled all around spreading their love for music and theater to the remaining population.

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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury- Nicole M.

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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury- Nicole M.

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The story of Fahrenheit 451 is about a more futuristic world however, instead of having the power and knowledge of books they choose to burn them. Any building or space containing books are burned to ash my Guy Montag and the rest of his fellow firefighters. Throughout the story Guy Montag comes across the rocky road of what curiosity can really do. He slowly leans into the idea of books being a more positive thing and started to gather some of his own. He then, although knowing what would happen, began to keep them hidden within his own home. Towards the end of the story Montag is searched and chased down in order to be found due to having such books. To clear the path of it all, the police begin to suspect people were catching on to the idea of what might be in books and they kill and innocent man who has the same looks as Montag to prove a point of what is to come.

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The book Circe follows the Greek goddess Circe throughout a major part of her lifetime. Circe is a daughter of Helios, the titan of the sun. However, she is one of his least attractive daughters, and is generally overlooked. However, that changes as she discovers her own talent in witchcraft. She is then banished to the island of Aiaia for the rest of her life. And although the scene doesn't change much, this book is far from uneventful. This book spans over many, many years, and she has many experiences with commonly known characters from Greek mythology (Icarus, Daedalus, Athena, Odysseus). Overall, this was a very fun book to read, and I would recommend this to anybody who likes reading books with mythological references in them.

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Daisy Jones and The Six -Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Daisy Jones and The Six -Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Daisy Jones and the Six was a great book to read. It followed the two main characters Daisy and Billy. You get to learn about both characters individually and then once they meet you get to watch their story unfold. Daisy had a difficult childhood growing up. Billy has his own issues he developed once he went on tour. As the audience you are able to see how their issue brings life to their music. All the members of the band play a significant role in the overall story. This is definitely a good book to read if you are interested in music or just a fast paced book.

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Ethan Smith

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Ethan Smith

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir was a very intriguing book. It started off with a man named Grace who woke up on a ship known as the Hail Mary, and he starts off not remembering anything about where he is, who he is, and what is going on. Throughout the book he slowly regains his memory. I thought this part of the book was really cool because the more that you know as you read, the more that the characters know as well. So it kind of feels like you are going through the journey together. Another thing I liked about this book was the lessons you learn as the book goes on. It teaches a lot of lessons that not only make the book better, but make the reader better as well. One thing I did not like about this book however was it did not really explain what life was like after Grace chose to sacrifice his world to save Rocky's. It kind of left the reader to make an inference by just explaining how Grace taught the population on Rocky's planet about a lot of stuff. Other than that, it did not really give an explanation. Overall though, I think this book was a very good read and I would totally recommend it for someone who likes action and science books!

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Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - Peyton McLendon

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Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - Peyton McLendon

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Catch-22 is a satirical novel set on the fictional island of Pianosa during World War 2. The book follows the perspective of a bomber names Yossarian, who does everything in his power to escape his responsibilities in the war. Overall, I liked the book but I felt that it was confusing in some parts or dragged on. The book is written in a non-chronological way, which I did like most of the time because it felt like lots of stories were happening at the same time. Other times though it felt confusing having to rely on the amount of missions the soldiers had to fly in order to find out where a certain part in the story takes place. Along with this, the story is good in what it talks about and what it satirizes, that being war itself. I think that the problem I have with the book is how much content there is that isn't directly related to the main story. There will be entire chapters that have a few important points, but other than that the chapter is a lot of filler text about a character that you just now learned about. This part of the book is what made it drag on to me, but overall I did like the book.

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Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - Laynie McGuire

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Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - Laynie McGuire

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is a mystery novel centered around Kya. She is the main character who experienced many hardships early in her life, such as her whole family abandoning her. Kya was left to survive in the marsh of South Carolina, and discovered her passion for learning about the marsh. As the chapters progress, Owens switches between time periods sharing information leading up to the murder being solved and the events that lead to it. As someone who does not like to read in general, this book was easy to follow along with and kept me engaged. I would recommend this book to anyone who finds it difficult to stay entertained while reading, anyone who likes reading mystery novels, but also people who like nature. I read a few chapters throughout the school day when I had time, and a little at home so I was able to finish it pretty fast. If I had to say one thing I did not like about the book was that sometimes Owens dragged things out too long. It was not often throughout the book, but occasionally I did feel like some parts could have been shortened without losing anything, but overall she made sure to have strong details. I would highly recommend this book for one of your Independent Novel Projects.

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Richard: Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng

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Richard: Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng

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Everything I Never Told You was a great book, mainly focusing on the disappearance of a young kid and the effects on others. Sadly when picking this book I didn't understand it's full content which leaves me to put a somewhat negative review. The book does inspire great feelings into the reader mainly based on family and also has a great mysterious air which I appreciated. The book also has a way of drawing one into reading further. Personally I didn't dive deep into the book to understand it better but it still leaves a nice feeling as of finishing. One massive problem which led me to not like the novel was the way it was written, it just didn't feel right. It was also hard for me to connect with any of the characters past the plain portrait that I imagined. I don't know if it was just how I read the book but it felt both engaging but lacking. Although my overview is negative I still recommend the book for people who are looking for a more sad or devastating type of book, personally not a favorite but still good.

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The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Baylee Richards

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The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Baylee Richards

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The Color Purple is a story about a girl in rural Georgia in the early 1900's. The girl Celie tells her story through her letters she writes as a way to cope with her trauma. It showcases how the people in that time were forced into arranged marriages, forced to endure abuse and hardships that most people in our time couldn't fathom having to live through and survive. The book really does make you rethink how fortunate we are in modern times, especially for women, because we have rights to get out of any of the situations we can end up in. It really pulls at your heartstrings, and it did really make me sad personally. The way the abuse is described, especially in the beginning with her dad is so hard to read and process, because of how its written. Walker did an amazing job to show the literacy level that Celie would have had in her time, and it all adds so much to the atmosphere of the story. I would read this book again, and I would encourage people who want a good, historically accurate story to read it as well.

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The Iliad is an Epic by Homer, about the end of the Trojan war. The book tells the story of Achilles and the Greek army. I enjoyed the book a lot. My favorite things about the book were the fight scenes and getting to see the gods interact with armies. The book was a little repetitive though. Some of the fights were also confusing with a lot of different names and repeating. I would have liked to see more of Achilles and his Mother, and the gods fighting. I also would have liked to see more of Achilles in the beginning of the book. Overall i would rate this novel an 8/10.

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The Road by Cormac  McCarthy - Blake Starr

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The Road by Cormac  McCarthy - Blake Starr

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This book is about a post-apocalyptic world were everything we know is burned to ash. The main characters are the man and the boy. We never get their actual names which adds some desensitization to their feelings. The man in the book only has one purpose, and that is taking care of the boy. He makes it very clear in the book that he would have gave up or became less humane like the rest, if he did not have the presence of the boy. We know that the boy gives the man a purpose or some hope but the boy also gives him a will to live. While the harsh environment and other people seem to harden the man, it seems to give the boy a since to keep goodness and humanity alive. The surroundings of the man and the boy truly shape who they became in this story.

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The Road is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed industrial civilization and almost all life. The novel was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 2009, directed by John Hillcoat.

A father and his young son journey on foot across the post-apocalyptic ash-covered United States some years after an extinction event. The boy's mother, who was pregnant with him at the time of the disaster, has committed suicide at some point after his birth.

Realizing they cannot survive the winter in northern latitudes, the father takes the boy south along county roads towards the sea, carrying their meager possessions in their knapsacks and a supermarket cart. The father is suffering from a cough. He assures his son that they are "good guys" who are "carrying the fire". The pair have a revolver, but only two rounds. The father has tried to teach the boy to use the gun on himself if necessary, to avoid falling into the hands of cannibals.

They attempt to evade a group of marauders traveling along the road but one of the marauders discovers them and seizes the boy. The father shoots the marauder dead and they flee the marauder's companions, abandoning most of their possessions. Later, when searching a mansion for supplies, they discover a locked cellar containing people whose captors have imprisoned them alive in order to eat them limb by limb, and flee into the woods.

As they near starvation, the pair discover a concealed bunker filled with food, clothes and other supplies. They stay there for several days regaining their strength and then carry on, taking supplies with them in a cart. They encounter an old man with whom the boy insists they share food. Farther along the road they evade a group whose members include pregnant women, and soon after they discover an abandoned campsite with a newborn infant roasted on a spit. They soon run out of supplies and begin to starve before finding a house containing more food to carry in their cart, but the man's condition worsens.

The pair reach the sea, where they discover a boat that has drifted from shore. The man swims to it and recovers supplies, including a flare gun, which he demonstrates to the boy. The boy becomes ill. When they stop on the beach while the boy recovers, their cart is stolen. They pursue and confront the thief, a wretched man traveling alone. The father forces him to strip naked at gunpoint, and takes his clothes together with the cart. This distresses the boy, so the father returns and leaves the man's clothes and shoes on the road, but the man has disappeared.

While walking through a town inland, a man in a window shoots the father in the leg with an arrow. The father responds by shooting his assailant with the flare gun. The pair move further south along the beach. The father's condition worsens, and after several days he realizes he will soon die. The father tells the son he can talk to him after he is gone, and that he must continue without him. After the father dies, the boy stays with his body for three days. The boy is approached by a man carrying a shotgun. The man tells the boy he and his wife have a son and daughter. He convinces the boy he is one of the "good guys" and takes the boy under his protection.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, McCarthy said that the inspiration for the book came during a 2003 visit to El Paso, Texas, with his young son. Imagining what the city might look like fifty to a hundred years into the future, he pictured "fires on the hill" and thought about his son. He took some initial notes but did not return to the idea until a few years later, while in Ireland. Then the novel came to him quickly, taking only six weeks to write, and he dedicated it to his son, John Francis McCarthy.

In an interview with John Jurgensen of The Wall Street Journal, McCarthy described conversations he and his brother had about different scenarios for an apocalypse. One of the scenarios involved survivors turning to cannibalism: "when everything's gone, the only thing left to eat is each other."

The Road has received numerous positive reviews and honors since its publication. The review aggregator Metacritic reported the book had an average score of 90 out of 100, based on thirty-one reviews. Critics have deemed it "heartbreaking", "haunting", and "emotionally shattering". The Village Voice referred to it as "McCarthy's purest fable yet." In a New York Review of Books article, author Michael Chabon heralded the novel. Discussing the novel's relation to established genres, Chabon insists The Road is not science fiction; although "the adventure story in both its modern and epic forms... structures the narrative", Chabon says, "ultimately it is as a lyrical epic of horror that The Road is best understood." Entertainment Weekly in June 2008 named The Road the best book, fiction or non-fiction, of the past 25 years and put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "With its spare prose, McCarthy's post-apocalyptic odyssey from 2006 managed to be both harrowing and heartbreaking." In 2019, the novel was ranked 17th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best books of the 21st century.

On March 28, 2007, the selection of The Road as the next novel in Oprah Winfrey's Book Club was announced. A televised interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show was conducted on June 5, 2007, McCarthy's first, although he had been interviewed for the print media before. The announcement of McCarthy's television appearance surprised his followers. "Wait a minute until I can pick my jaw up off the floor," said John Wegner, an English professor at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas, and editor of The Cormac McCarthy Journal, when told of the interview. During Winfrey's interview, McCarthy insisted his son, John Francis, was also his co-author, as some of the conversations between the father and son in the novel were based upon conversations between McCarthy and John Francis in real life. McCarthy also dedicated the novel to his son, possibly as an expression of paternal love as well as a depiction of it, although he did not say as much in the interview.

On November 5, 2019, the listed The Road on its list of the 100 most inspiring novels. Although the text does not explicitly mention climate change, The Guardian listed it as one of the five best climate change novels and George Monbiot has called it "the most important environmental book ever written" for depicting a world without a biosphere.

Awards and nominations

In 2006, McCarthy was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in fiction and the Believer Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. On April 16, 2007, the novel was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. In 2012, it was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black.

A film adaptation of the novel, directed by John Hillcoat and written by Joe Penhall, opened in theatres on November 25, 2009. The film stars Viggo Mortensen as the man and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the boy. Production took place in Louisiana, Oregon, and several locations in Pennsylvania. The film, like the novel, received generally positive reviews from critics.

1. ^ Mangrum, Benjamin (October 20, 2013). "Accounting for The Road: Tragedy, Courage, and Cavell's Acknowledgment". Philosophy and Literature. 37 (2): 267-290. doi:10.1353/phl.2013.0033. S2CID 170548922 - via Project MUSE.

2. ^ Salomon, Somer (November 12, 2010). "Exploring Tragedy through Cormac McCarthy's The Road". Transpositions.

3. ^ Bernier, Kathy (December 3, 2016). "REVIEW: 'The Road' Is A Gripping Prepper Novel Full Of Tragedy, Struggle And Hope". Off The Grid News.

4. ^ "The Road by Cormac McCarthy book review - Fantasy Book Review". www.fantasybookreview.co.uk.

5. ^ Joyce, Stephen (December 31, 2016). "The Double Death of Humanity in Cormac McCarthy's The Road". Transatlantica. Revue d'études américaines. American Studies Journal (2). doi:10.4000/transatlantica.8386 - via journals.openedition.org.

6. ^ Michael Conlon (June 5, 2007). "Writer Cormac McCarthy confides in Oprah Winfrey". Reuters.

7. ^ Holcomb, Mark. "End of the Line - After Decades of Stalking Armageddon's Perimeters, Cormac McCarthy Finally Steps Over the Border". The Village Voice.

8. ^ "The New Classics: Books. The 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021.

9. ^ Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest Movies, TV shows, albums, Books, Characters, Scenes, Eipisodes, Songs, Dresses, Music videos & Trends that entertained us over the past ten years.". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84

10. ^ Julia Keller (March 29, 2007). "Oprah's selection a real shocker: Winfrey, McCarthy strange bookfellows". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008.

11. ^ "100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts". . November 5, 2019. The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.

12. ^ "Why the cultural response to global warming makes for a heated debate". The Independent. June 11, 2014. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022.

13. ^ "National Book Critics Circle - Honoring outstanding writing and fostering a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature since 1974". www.bookcritics.org. Archived from the original on February 5, 2007.

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The Road is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed industrial civilization and almost all life.

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy- published in September 26, 2006

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy- published in September 26, 2006

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In this Apocalyptic dystopian fiction, A father and his son have a treacherous journey in the unforetold horrors within this apocalypse caused by unknown catastrophes. What I like so much about this novel was the amount of mystery, we are never told the characters names or where they live or even what caused the radioactive world they live in. Its entirely up the reader to put in their own interpretations of the novel. There aren't even chapters in the book or chapter names. The book has a multitude of symbolisms and tragic very emotional moments. I wouldn't want to spoil it but fully expect to be engulfed in the story and finding it hard to find a stopping point. While i read the book it kind of felt like i was reading someones life just put in a journal.

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng is a suspenseful and mysterious novel based in the 1970s. In this time period it was hard for people who were not white/different race to fit in. This novel is based around one specific family in a small Ohio town who were Chinese American. And how one specific daughter carries all of the family trauma and stress on herself and it ends up overtaking her in the end. The story starts off on a turn talking about "Lydia is dead, but they do not know this yet." That set the whole tone for the story and allowed me to be very enthralled throughout the novel. I really enjoyed reading this and all the twists and turns it had. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who has a hard time paying attention to books and staying involved.

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy- Salter Mahan

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy- Salter Mahan

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I thought The Road was okay it was a little boring at times but I would rate it like a 7/10. The main characters are not named which adds a level of suspense. There are vivid descriptions throughout the book. The author does this to create imagery. I feel like this book is different from other post apocalyptic books. Other books in my opinion focus on like monsters and other unrealistic stuff. The Road is more realistic in my opinion. I would have liked a little more action in the book but I would still recommend this to a friend.

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The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck                                                                  Jack Palmer

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The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck                                                                  Jack Palmer

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I enjoyed this book a lot actually and would definitely recommend it to anyone that is interested in Historical types of things. There was lots of action going on throughout the entire time. I learned a lot about the history of the Dust bowl and the great depression through this novel. The focus was on a family who was forced to leave their farm because of the dust bowl. They became so poor that they had to go find jobs and opportunity in California. I was very interested in the book the whole time. I loved reading about all of the hardships and the journey this family took and I would reccomend it to everybody. It isnt a super long book either so that was another plus.

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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a dystopian novel that discusses the effects of censorship and how it can affect a society. There was a lot of symbolism in this book. The protagonist starts out as one of the main people who is responsible for all the sensorship and he has an epiphany that makes him realize what has been going on. He goes down the rabbit hole. I saw a lot of similarities between this book and the story of the matrix. Some of the general ideas and messages that I got out of this book were the dangers of censorship, and self-discovery. A lot of the book is written talking about Montag's inner thoughts. It does a good job of building suspense and making you want to keep reading until you figure out what goes on.

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Joshua Leverton - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

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Joshua Leverton - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

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I really appreciated reading "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as my solo novel. The story revolves around Huck, a teenage boy running away from his abusive dad, and Jim, an escaped slave, journeying deeper south to reunite with his family. Throughout the narrative, antebellum American perspectives on slavery are evident in the beliefs of numerous characters that Huck and Jim meet during their travels. I appreciated reading this book because many novels that depict an author's view of slavery typically conclude on a pessimistic note. At the same time, Mark Twain's "Huck Finn" finishes with a relatively favorable ending. I believe this is a must-read classic.

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir -Gunner Alred

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir -Gunner Alred

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Overall, I thought that this book was well-written. It had a great story, and even though it jumped from the future to the past quite often, the book always smoothly transitioned. I never got tired of either the past events or future events. About halfway through the book, the plot picks up, and keeps you wanting to read. My only problem with this book is that the end of the book leaves some to be desired. The story builds up to being able to take revenge, but the main character winds up taking a whole other route, even though he is given the other option. While this could still be a very good way for the ending, it just never worked for me. Overall, I still really enjoyed reading this book, and I may see the movie if it ever comes out.

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - Braxton Jerry

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - Braxton Jerry

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In the novel Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, the novel focuses on the daughter(Lydia) who disappears. The disappearance is confusing to the entire town. The town begins wondering why this happened to her and her family. The book goes through the entire family trying to figure out why she went missing. The book reveals secrets that Lydia kept from her family and secrets her family kept from her. Lydia is found in the lake near their home. Throughout the book, readers are trying to figure out how she ended up in the lake. We later figure out that Lydia's parents were unaware who their daughter really was and who she wanted to be. The book is really suspenseful and thrilling. I would suggest reading it and figuring out how she ended up in the lake.

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Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

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Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

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This book was an engaging mystery that I enjoyed reading. With the interesting incorporation of an octopus´s perspective used to tie in humor and missing parts to dramatize the revaltion at the end. It takes two broken characters and brings readers through how they both allow grief to control them, relationships they have, and living their everday lives. If you don´t like books that are formated from different characters perspective, this one won´t be for you. It won´t take that long to read if you actually sit down and give yourself an hour or two to read. I can´t really say too much about the book without ruining the plot, but there is situational irony throughout the book that keeps it intertaining. There is also details that Van Pelt cleverly waits to reveal to allow you to guess on which way she chooses to go. Meaning, if you like to make your own assumptions about books before the answers are revealed this would be a book to look into. There is also the reuniting of family in the novel, so it is pretty wholesome. Overall, this was a good read and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries and puzzles.

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In this dystopian novel, the Brave New World, the novel's plot revolves around Bernard, Lenina, and John the Savage. The novel introduces two city's. One filled with high-tech comfort were people are conditioned to embrace conformity, consumerism, and promiscuity, and the other a savage reservation filled with sickness, old age, and death. Lenina is a perfect example of the World State, the city which is filled with high-tech, she is perfectly conditioned to their ideas. John the Savage is from the Savage reservation, and has contradicting ideas from Lenina and the World State. John gets introduced to the World State, and when the ideas of both worlds collide, it crushes John who feels like an alien in both places. The novel express two different ideas through two different places, the theme ultimately is asking if sacrificing an individual's right to struggle for truth is a fair exchange for engineered comfort. Overall I thought the book was pretty good, however the different ideas that the World State has was weird to me at first. The beginning of the book was okay, but the middle and end are the parts I like the most and were the most action is. My favorite character was John the Savage, and his strong moral compass.

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This novel is a very interesting read. It is a dystopian society set in the future of the time it was written. There is indeed a mildly less eventful story. But, that is replaced by great introspection and thought-provoking commentary. There is a very vivid setting created in this story. This detailed image conjured in the mind of the reader sets the stage for the commentary, themes, and events in the book. Additionally, there is a large amount of political commentary. Especially speaking upon totalitarianism and its effects. There is also a focus upon communism and capitalism and the tensions between the two. However, what was most impactful in my opinion was the deep philosophical questioning provided in the novel. These questions were inspired and produced due to the totalitarian regimes which the nation is under.

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Luke McKinney: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain 

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Luke McKinney: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain 

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Overall I thought the book was good, like a 6/10. I personally don't think trying to read the book is a good idea for someone that doesn't want to be confused, in regards to the dialect (The book takes place in the south during the 1830s so the charters dialect is hard to read). I listened to the audio book primarily and I had no problems understanding the book. The plot was alright; the beginning and middle were good, but towards the end it gets kind of pointless. Oftentimes in the book a something that seemed like a major event or something crazy would happen and the charters would barely acknowledge it. some parts of the book felt repetitive because half of the plot is Huck and Jim on a raft. The book did have lots of cool parts to it and most of the morals of the book were very obvious, making it ideal for the point of the reading.

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The book, "Atonement" is set in 1935 on the Tallis Estate in England. This book is mainly centered around the perspective of Briony Tallis, a young, naive girl who has a passion for storytelling. The book also offers the perspective of Briony's older sister, Cecilia, and her childhood friend Robbie. I enjoyed how this book offered multiple perspectives of the story. After Briony finds out that her cousin, Lola Quincey, has been violently assaulted, Briony falsely accuses Robbie of being the perpetrator based on a series of events that caused her to have misunderstandings on Cecilia and Robbie's relationship. This decision Briony makes as a young girl affects the trajectory of everyone's lives, causing her immense guilt and a longing for atonement. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone that likes historical fiction, romance, or tragedies. This book was interesting to read and made me think deeply about the impact that one decision can make.

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I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent reading the Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka's exploration of the loneliness that Gregor Samsa faces and the parasitism of his family on his wealth are saddening but rewarding as a reader. Small hints given for a character's characterization in an earlier portion of the story showing up later in the story happen quite a lot, and is sufficiently rewarding. Though the story is a translation from the original German, Kafka's style is still apparent and distinct throughout the work. The way story details are indirectly told throughout the story to the reader is interesting and engaging. What I most enjoyed when reading this book was trying to figure out Gregor Samsa's character. Gregor, as a character, interested me greatly. I would call his personality and inner thoughts regarding his family to be the most intriguing part of his character. How Gregor took abuse from his family while seemingly to not mind very much is very different than what I am used to, and sufficiently details a recurring theme of the story regarding one-sided love. Ultimately, I found this book a very rewarding and thoughtful read. I would definitely find a chance to read it if you haven't. Everything from the storytelling to the characterization is masterful and meaningful. I finally understand why The Metamorphosis is Kafka's most popular work.

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Haunting of Hill House By Shirley Jackson- Carmen Ferrell

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Haunting of Hill House By Shirley Jackson- Carmen Ferrell

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In this novel the focus is on one character and her search of belonging which then is taken over by the house. Eleanor's mental state is discovered by each incident happening within the house. Each character is linked to the incidents happening in the house, but Eleanor is the most vulnerable, which makes her the target for the house. The house focuses on her leading to see if the incidents are connected to her mental state or paranormal activity. This book has dark themes of loneliness and the paranormal, which keep you interested throughout the book. Her mental destruction is representative of humanity as a whole. I would recommend this book because it helps to understand a new perspective on people's psychological states.

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The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a 1898 horror novella that revolves around the main character, the Governess, who is set to care for two children in a Mansion in the small country of Bly, located in England during the Victorian era. Initially, I was quite overstimulated by how the governess just appeared out of nowhere with no context, along with James's not-so-exquisite use of punctuation, but eventually I built up to it. The more you read, the more confused you will feel at times; you'll wonder whether you've skipped pages by accident. Despite the book's category being horror, I'd say it's less horror and more of a suspense due to the immense amounts of ambiguity present in the book: from the characters themselves to questioning these things the governess sees, there's no end to how many possible interpretations this story can have coming from a single person. The story develops, and it all comes down like a trainwreck at the end, where your interpretation is finally settle,d and you will wonder what the real meaning of this book could be. This being said, it is not a bad book, but definitely not the best. Despite the influence it has had in the past 100 years, I'd only suggest reading this if you're a big fan of ambiguity.

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The Iliad by Homer is an epic about the later part of the Trojan war. The book tell the story of how Achilles left the war and then joined back in due to his friend dying in the war. It goes into how Achilles and Patroclus is scared of their death and the dangers of the war. On the opposing side there is Hector who is fighting for pride even when he knows how it could end. Personally I felt that there were times in which it was too many emotional characters. I also felt that it seemed like we didn't see enough of the Trojans. That can also go for some characters like Agamemnon and Helen of Troy. I would have also like a little more on the topic of why Achilles dropped out initially.

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the book the Iliad is pretty cool there is great epic fight scenes and big godlike characters there also are gods was pretty difficult to read but you find the rhythm and it becomes pretty easy the book starts off slow but picks up to a sprint fast and its really good also you gotta know about the stuff that happens before because it kinda through you into a war that's been going but it makes the story better the war truly isn't the main purpose it uses it to show the relationship and similarity that the sides have most of my favorite parts were when they weren't fighting book 6 one of my favorites I HATE Achilles but he one of the best characters the characters feel different from each other which is nice you really start to understand what drives the characters and root for or against them it shows the power of the gods very well and you can grasp how powerful they are pretty cool I would recommend it to people

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Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng

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Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng follows the struggles of a family that faces isolation, misunderstandings, racism, and even more challenges throughout their lives. In this book we see the perspectives of each family member and get to see their view on things they experienced in the past and present. We as readers get to truly understand why the characters feel the way they do and make the decisions they make. This story also touches on family struggles which adds to the intensity of the challenges the family goes through. Overall this book was a really good book. I enjoyed the plot twist and getting to know each of the characters. It was a bit slow at the beginning however it did pick up towards the middle and end. It was kind of sad but there were some funny and shocking moments. I would definitely recommend this book especially if you enjoy family drama.

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Carson Yarberry

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Carson Yarberry

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I am not typically big on reading novels, but this book was very interesting. The set up was very different than other books. There was very little dialogue and the dialogue that was there didn't have any quotation marks. The story mostly focused on the dark and cold setting of travelling south after an unnamed apocalypse. The characters did not have names, they were just referred to as the Man and they Boy. The characters were very inspiring because they never gave up on their goal. They were in constant danger and bad weather, but they pushed on to the end. I would recommend this book to someone who enjoys a mysterious journey.

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Mason Stallings

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Mason Stallings

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This was my favorite book I have ever read. I normally do not enjoy reading books but once I started this book I was hooked. The introduction really good because it hooked me from the start. As soon as I started reading I wanted to figure out why such and such was happening. This book was packed with so many details and I felt like I was right there with Grace throughout the whole book. I really liked how brave Grace was he risked his life multiple times. He did this to save many life's which is really inspiring. I would personally suggest this book to anyone who wants to read an amazing book.

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In the Novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses the characters Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy to show the overcoming of societal expectations. In this specific time period, women were expected to marry for money and a comfortable home. Elizabeths choice to rebel against these ideals shows that she cares more for character. Throughout the novel we are introduced to the different characters. Both of the main characters pride kept them from seeing each other's true character. Once they both put pride aside, they saw each other for who they truly are. This novel truly is one of my favorites. Although the old English language is hard to understand, this is a beautiful and timeless love story. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in period piece literature or anyone who likes to read love stories. My favorite thing about reading this book was learning the humor that was used back in that time period. I found the old English interesting and would like to read more books with that kind of language.

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The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson

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The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a gothic horror novel, published in 1959. This book is widely considered the pioneer of psychological approaches to haunted houses and the supernatural. It follows the journey of Eleanor, and 3 other guests who are researching the Hill House. While the haunting begins as supernatural, it morphes into something else entirely as the book progresses, delving into themes of mental health and trauma. This book explores important themes in a unique way, and was revolutionary for its time. Although this book does explore very important themes, I found it was not very frightening. This is because it focuses more on the slow build up of terror, rather than jump-scares or shock. It was also very slow and took me a while to get through.

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Project Hail Mary; Andy Weir - Liam Ware

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Project Hail Mary; Andy Weir - Liam Ware

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I was frankly very impressed with this book. I was very drawn in from the beginning, largely by the science aspect of the book. I loved the in depth explanations of the scientific processes. From the physical sciences, like the engineering and the chemistry, to the microbiology and alien biology, the sciences were very well done through out the book. My only complaint is that some of the science doesn't make sense, and that a lot of it doesn't feel fully attainable. For example, the way the Hail Mary is powered and the main conflict of the story, the Astrophage, seems to differ in power output through the book. In addition to that, the power methods for the Hail Mary don't make the most sense to me, but that field is entirely beyond my scope of understanding. My main problem was how the book ended. While it was a funny, feel good ending that catches you off guard, it was a little frustrating not getting to see the results of Doctor Grace's efforts back on earth, seeing if Earth survived and what happened while he was gone. Overall, Project Hail Mary is a great book and I would highly recommend it.

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is a fascinating Gothic horror novel that is much more sophisticated and in depth than I initially would have assumed. I quite enjoyed the format and premise, and thought that the in-universe explanation as to how the information in the book was transcribed was quite clever. The book differs vastly from the adaptations seen in other places, which made it much more interesting to read. Additionally, the book is quite short, meaning it is good for light readers (Of which I am not, but I enjoyed it anyway). The book creates a fascinating dichotomy between the two major characters. Additionally, the sequence of the plot and the way the events evolve create a smooth and suspenseful flow. In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book and you should read it.

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I found this book to be an easy read as it was simple yet meaningful. It didn´t have many super dramatic scenes or things that were really interesting so I did find it a little difficult to stay interested throughout the book. I did however enjoy the simplicity of it. It was definitely a good book for beginner readers like myself. The symbolism in the book was great. The description of the characters was also good. I probably would not choose to read this again but it was not a bad book by any means. I would recommend this book if you´re looking to start getting into reading or simply just want an easy read.

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It was a great read with a surprising amount of symbolism and I can see why it's so popular for book reports. The book had enough literary devices in it that every page has something for me to write about, I could just remember quotes. on top of that it was just a fun read, the Dystopian aspects got really heavy In the end making it fell like an actual apocalypse, and watching Guy lose his actual mind was like a train wreck you didn't wanna look away from. all in all a great book easy to write on and a fun read even if it was a train wreck of a world. The way the characters spend most of their time looking into themselves honestly opened my eyes on how internal thoughts should be written. Bradbury delves into what I can only describe as a hatred for lack of thought, any thought whether it be bad good or just normal the book calls out how the world lacks it, and Bradbury shows every single type and why it's necessary. altogether Bradbury makes a great counter argument to the whole "I'll never use any of this in the real world" when people talk about learning anything, there's no piece of info that you shouldn't want, and if you don't want it then you haven't found the right type.

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Project Hair Mary By Andy Weir - Christian Dearasaugh

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Project Hair Mary By Andy Weir - Christian Dearasaugh

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This book completely changed my perspective on reading novels. The story of Ryland Grace exploring the great vast space was so intriguing and entertaining. The focus on one person and his search for the key to saving the universe. The introduction for Ryland was so intriguing and interesting for my brain. The idea of giving up everything you know for the key. And giving up his only way home to save his friend. Andy's story portraying Grace as the hero reminded me of my dad which was really heart warming.

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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a very compelling novel that covers the themes of a creator's responsibility toward's their creations, as well as the dangers of unchecked ambition. As someone who hadn't seen any adaptation of the story I was really excited to read this before knowing everything, and it surpassed my expectations. The characters were especially moving, with Victor and his creation having a very interesting dynamic that was quite enjoyable to read. The monster in the story offers an emotional anecdote in the second volume that gives me more empathy for a non-human character than I have ever felt. On top of this, the novel also has some great imagery, giving you in-depth looks at the characters as well as the beautiful scenery that Victor traverses through the novel. The pacing kept me engaged throughout the book, however the prologue was a little slow, especially if you go into the book with the expectations of getting directly into Victor's story. Even though the prologue seems slow when you begin reading, it's easy to see why it's included, and how the themes of Walton and his voyage to the North Pole directly relate to Victor's ambition. Overall the novel is a great read and despite some older English, not too hard to read.

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In this post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, we follow along the journey of the man and the boy throughout this world. Both unnamed, they struggle to survive in this world as they make their way south to find warmth and safety. My first thought when I saw this book was zombies or a pandemic, but the cause of the apocalypse was unknown. Throughout this book they had to make a lot of hard decisions, most splitting life and death. Most of this was to protect one another and dealing with harsh climates made it worse. The world and the roads were full of ash, darkness, and the unknown. This book was full of the ruined humanity that the world has seen, there are so many symbols that the author uses to foreshadow what happens at the end. This is a really good book and you never know what is going to happen next. Definitely recommend.

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WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A searing, post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son's fight to survive, this "tale of survival and the miracle of goodness only adds to McCarthy's stature as a living master. It's gripping, frightening and, ultimately, beautiful" ( San Francisco Chronicle The New York Times 's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-and each other.

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The Road (Oprah's Book Club) [Cormac McCarthy] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Road (Oprah's Book Club)

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A Thousand Splendid Suns- Khaled Hosseini 

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A Thousand Splendid Suns- Khaled Hosseini 

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A Thousand Splendid written by Khaled Hosseini is a great read about two women who go through many troubles in the country of Iraq. Mariam a girl who was conceived out of wedlock so Mariam and her mother were sent out of the city to live so they did not hurt the image of Mariam's father. Also Laila who was born into a loving great family but killed by a talaban rocket strike. They both go through troubles and end up marrying the same man. This is not just any man he is cruel and abuses them throughout their marriage. At first the two girls don't like each other but over time they bond and start to defend each other. Then towards the end the beating gets worse and worse. Then Laila figures out that her husband lied to her about a close friend dying when he didn't really die. Then their husband Rasheed tries to beat Laila for rebeling and Mariam kills Rasheed. After that the talaban kills Mariam for murder. Laila then marries her close friend who returned.

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Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, Carson Stell

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Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, Carson Stell

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Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a dystopian political fiction written regarding the effects of extreme censorship within a first world society. This idea of extreme censorship reflects issues in modern day society, and serves as a lesson for the importance of free thought in daily life. Although this book is quite short, barely under 160 pages, the message is perfectly defined within its words. The major disconnect between this society and our own is that the "Firemen" of this world burn and destroy books in order to promote censorship and remove bad feelings from its populace. The story follows Guy Montague, a fireman who is struggling with his own feelings of self identity and internal happiness, who decides that the answer to his problems is the very thing he has used his life to destroy, and with this decision, goes on a (what would be deemed terroristic by its government) journey of self discovery with the help of the people that he has met. I found this book to be very impactful to my view of the world and the effect that technology has upon it. I found that the idea of being emotionally caged is very representative of the world in which we live. Technology is a very apparent catalyst within this novel that defines its censorship (the censorship is derived through the usage of technology) and is used to dull the internal senses of the people that live within this society.

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- Laynie Staggs

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- Laynie Staggs

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In the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, the wonder of the mind and supernatural incidents are discovered. The focus on one person and her search of belonging takes a turn with the introduction to the House. Introduction of each character, linking them to different incidents in the house, but focusing on Eleanor. Her mental state is discovered during the duration of the stay with each incident. The House prays on the mental state of each person, leading to questions on if each incident is their mental state or paranormal activity. Eleanor is praised the worst, breaking her down to the worst. Ending in a tragic incident from the length and mental state of this specific character. I think people should read this book because it helps discover how it is hard to accept being in a different mental state than others. The search for something missing can lead to the worst and this shows how.

Very smart man right here ^

Great Job =D

Yes

oh yeah a major theme is breaking societal norms

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson book

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This was an overall well written book and I enjoyed it. I would definitely say that this book starts out really slow, and takes a while to get into. While the book is setting the scene in the beginning, you meet the main character "Winston" and you find out the style of the government that controls the rest of the story. There are a lot of complex ideas throughout the story that take a lot of thought, so although it may seem intimidating, I think that it is a good read. Throughout the story, Winston commits many small acts of rebellion against their version of the government, "The Party" to try and feel like he wasn't as oppressed by them as he really was. All of this leads up to a large event at the end of the story that really makes up for how slow the story goes in the beginning. I believe this story was way before its time, being written in 1949, it displays a lot of complex ideas that can be seen still today. Overall, this was a really well written book and I found it really interesting. If you enjoy dystopian and political fiction then this would be a good book for you!

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Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - dayzee jones

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Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - dayzee jones

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The novel Catch-22 follows a pilot named Yossarian, who flies planes in the war. He is based in the island of Pianosa, where him and many of his peers fight together and face many different challenges. These challenges include adversity against the war, authority, relationships, and loss. The action starts up very early in the book, so you don't have to wait. Also, there is tons of symbolism that is helpful when writing the essay. The book contains a lot of paradoxical material, which is extremely helpful when looking at the main theme. My opinion of the book is positive, because while sometimes the book was hard to follow due to the way it is written, it is funny and a great story. If you have confidence that you can follow along in books well, then I recommend this to you.

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Lessons in Chemistry is an impactful novel that I would recommend. It features a character named Elizabeth Zott who is a brilliant chemist who faces heavy discrimination in a male-dominated field in the 60's. After losing her research job, she unexpectedly becomes the star of a tv-cooking show. She uses her platform on TV to teach women about science and empower them to change their lives. I found the book's theme about gender equality and standing up for yourself very inspiring. The story is both heartbreaking and funny, making it a very captivating read. The writing style reflected by Garmus highlights the unfair challenges women faced during that era. I would highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys stories about strong, unconventional women.

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Remarkably Bright Creatures- Alexis Holtz

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Remarkably Bright Creatures- Alexis Holtz

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Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt was a very interesting novel. It told the story from multiple points of view that changed each chapter, mainly coming from the main characters as well as how the Octopus perceives their lives through the tank. This book explores extreme topics of grief and finding indentity, as well as how what's around you is a deep reflection of your life on the inside as well. Tova spends her life in a small town as an isolated widow who works the night shifts in the aquarium cleaning, when she stumbles upon a new friend. Throughout the book they each have trials and have to open their understanding to the world around them and to overcome their struggles. Overall, this book was amazing at expressing the importance of getting through grief and how much of a task it really is, as well as being heart-warming, emotional story.

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The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson | Thomas Mullins

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The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson | Thomas Mullins

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In the novel, The Haunting of Hill House written by Shirley Jackson, the story is based about a house that provides a symbol throughout the work of the book as corruption. The main character, Eleanor, struggles with her personal life at home, and she is treated poorly by her own family. That is until she receives an offer from Dr. Montague, a doctor looking to do an observation on Hill House's supernatural abilities. Multiple different people are invited to Hill House, but only 3 people show up to Hill House. Because the book is given from the perspective of Eleanor, we see her thoughts only about Hill House. Eleanor hears different noises like doors shutting, shadow people, voices, and loud noises in general. It is evident that the house preys on fear and weak psychological state of mind. Eleanor being the weakest, was the number one target for Hill House. Overall, the book was great with the suspense and anticipation it provides. I would recommend it.

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The Things They Carried - Jaxon Reynolds

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The Things They Carried - Jaxon Reynolds

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This book was really fun to read. It went very in depth about the soldiers personal lives. I really liked how the book showed the individual things special to that character. The way it was written made me want to know what happened next so it kept me interested. The topic of war is interesting to me especially in movies, and I feel like this book did a great job of making it interesting. I like how the book talks about things that you don't always hear about in other war movies or books. Showing the characters life outside of the war shows us what side effects war might have on soldiers that aren't talked about often. When some of the men die in the book it seems more real because we see the characters change permanently due to the death of their friends. It was fun to see how the characters lives changed throughout the war and the book.

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Circe by Madeline Miller - Garrett Girdler

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Circe by Madeline Miller - Garrett Girdler

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In the novel Circe, Madeline Miller tells the story of a minor Greek figure, but on a much wider and much more detailed scale. The story spans over hundreds of years, telling the tale of Circe's long life as she meets other characters throughout Greek mythology. At the beginning of the story, Circe is not very confident in her abilities, remaining in the shadow of her father. But as she becomes more powerful and confident, Circe is shaped into a strong, independent figure. Circe is a novel where Madeline Miller uses very strong, emotional, figurative language throughout, and her ability to capture the raw, powerful emotions of Circe is, in my opinion, one of the book's strongest points. While the novel does have other minor characters, but the majority of the focus is on Circe as a character and her growth and development throughout the story. Miller also has very interesting and captivating interpretations on various events throughout Greek mythology, contextualizing them from Circe's perspective. As a whole, Circe is a novel that, literary wise, feels like an older classic, but is still a fresh new take that came out in the last decade.

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Isaac Theis

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Isaac Theis

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This book takes place in the year 632 AF, or 2540 AD on the Gregorian calendar. In the 600 years between modern day (1930s when the book was written) and the time the book starts, there has been a great world war. The war resulted in the deaths of millions and the destruction of many. After this war, a new world order called the world state is set up to insure happiness for all and to create a functioning Earth. This involves a quota that each country and citizen has to purchase in goods and materials. With these new quotas, comes new societal norms, such as the shaming of monogamous, committed relationships, the destruction and banning of all forms of media before the World State took over, and genetically manufactured humans that fit into a caste system. Alongside this, the World State has managed to cure all diseases as well as stop aging, which inherently renders religion useless, as nobody is afraid of death anymore. People are required daily doses of this drug named Soma, it is used to keep people happy, if anybody feels sad then they take a dose of Soma. In this society, there is a caste system introduced to go along with the genetically manufactured humans, the Alphas are seen as the top of the top and get designated the hard, technical jobs. The Betas who are one below the alphas but still important and powerful. Then there are the bottom 3 casts, the embryos of the bottom casts get blasted with radiation, injected with liquor, and cloned 76 times to create physically inferior children. The Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons (in that respective order) are the ones who do all the dirty, hard jobs that make society function correctly. The story is told at first from the point of view of Bernard, an alpha of underwhelming stature. In this world, alphas are supposed to be tall and strong, height is seen as a sign of power, however, due to Bernard’s stunted growth, he is looked down upon as an alpha and seen as unattractive by females. He isn’t just odd in a height sense, he also has these feelings regarding polygamy and not committing, he wants a well committed, single person relationship, something that hasn’t been around in centuries. He falls in love with a woman named Lenina, the two of them constantly struggle between the want of commitment from Bernard and the free partner, orgy loving Lenina. After enough time, Bernard convinces Lenina to take a holiday with him, in which they visit a place called the Savage Reservation. It was rumored that the head of the London human hatchery had visited there with a woman years ago, but came back without her. The Savage Reservation consisted of humans living the old way, they got old, they got sick, they died, they had old books and movies, they had god. While on this trip, they meet a woman named Linda and her son, John. Bernard comes to the realization that Linda is in fact the woman who the director took with him all those years ago. Once back in the UK, the director of the hatchery informs Bernard that he will be exiled, however this takes a turn when it is revealed that John and Linda both came back, after a confrontation and John revealing the director as his father, the director has no choice but to step down and resign in disgrace. When word gets out about John being in the Brave New World, everybody lines up to meet him, they have him on TV, but in order to talk to him, they had to talk to Bernard first. Because of this, Bernard got propelled into stardom, nobody disrespected him, everybody loved him for the first time. This then takes a turn when John decides he doesn’t want to be a thing for people to awe and gawk at, he starts denying people conversations and in turn it kills Bernard’s reputation. The story then switches to John’s point of view, as he tries to navigate this new world. He hates seeing clones of people everywhere he goes and it all comes to a head when he is in a hospital and sees groups of people prepared to take Soma, he loudly tells them not to take it, that soma is poisoning them. This creates a mini riot that is suppressed  by the group getting gassed with Soma. John and Bernard are then brought before Mustapah Mond, the leader of the new world. He explains to them that all the rules they have in place are there to keep people happy, he explains that they sacrifice emotion and spirit for world happiness and peace. After this speech, John and Bernard are forced to be punished, Bernard is exiled and John is kept in the brave new world. Throughout the rest of the book, John is struggling to adjust to his new world, he also develops feelings for Lenina but once again, she is programmed to not commit. His life takes a turn for the worse when he moves to a remote lighthouse, trying to get away from everybody and everything, but the media follows and crowds form. In the middle of it all, Lenina comes forth and starts talking to him. John, a man of commitment and religion, engages in conversation but is appalled when Lenina takes her clothes off and tries to have sex with him. Outraged, John beats Lenina senseless, his hate fueled by this new world and taken out on her in front of this crowd. However, the crowd doesn’t become disgusted with John, they are so excited by the violence, a mass orgy breaks out because of it. The next day, the press arrives at John’s house, only to find him hanging, he kills himself out of shame and rage toward the Brave New World. I overall very enjoyed this book, the switch in narration was nice to show the difference in past and present. The ending threw me for a loop,I wasn't expecting anything like that, the hero losing almost never happens so I was just shocked. The overall message of censorship and the dangers of erasing the past really hit home, especially with what's unfolding in the world at this point in time, I feel like we are closer and closer every day.

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Everything I never Told You by Celest NG-Lacey Hardy 

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Everything I never Told You by Celest NG-Lacey Hardy 

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Everything I never told you by Celest NG is a suspensfull novel that follows the story of a young girl named Lydia who goes missing. The main question of the story is was she murdered or did she commit suicide? The novel goes into not only Lydia's life, but also her siblings Nath and Hannah, and also her parents James and Marylin. The novel reveals several secrets that Lydia had kept from her family and secrets her family kept from her and each other. At the beginning of the novel the police drag the lake that was near the Lee's home and finds Lydias body. So now the question becomes did someone push her in or did she go in willingly, knowing she can't swim. Lydia's parents learn that they truly never knew their daughter and now never get a chance to apologize. The main suspect in the investigation is a boy named Jack who Nath and Marilyn are certain have something to do with her death but no one else is. This novel is super thrilling and interesting with all the secrets and plot twists and its an engaging read. I was hooked into this book and couldn't put it down for days. 10/10 would recommend.

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson-Macy Carlton

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson-Macy Carlton

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The Haunting of the Hill house by Shirley Jackson is about Dr.Montague who invites a bunch of psychically sensitive individuals to Hill house, to study supernatural phenomena. Only 3 people show up out of all the ones that were invited. The book is given from Eleanor's perspective. As they stay in the house they experience things they cannot explain like voices, shadowy figures, doors that shut on their own, and loud noises. The house seems to prey on their psychological state, making them question whether it is paranormal activity, or all in their head. The house had attached itself to Eleanor, the weakest one with the weakest psychological state. She was always questioning herself, and the others around her. Throughout the story it explores fear, isolation, and the impact that supernatural has on people minds. I liked the book and would recommend it. The only thing was it had a lot more descriptions, so you did not get to see a lot of paranormal events happening.

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Patroclous was exiled as a young boy, for accidental murder of Clysonymus. He was sent to the court of king Peleus, where he met his future lover, Achilles. They had gotten closer, Patroclus following him around to his lyre lessons and eventually to his fighting lessons and practices. They had begun to “experiment” with each other for lack of better words, and this ended up with them becoming inseparable. Achilles was sent to Chiron to continue his training, with Patroclus following behind him. There the two of them continued deepening their relationship with each other, Patroclus learned how to practice medicine while Achilles learned to improve other skills. They were called back home, and were informed of the capture of Helen, of Sparta. Thetis attempts to keep Achilles from the war, by sending him to the island of Scyros, where Achilles disguised himself as a dancer.  Here, Achilles ends up having a kid, who later would be named Pyrrus.  Odyesseus and Diomedes arrive at this island, and end up revealing who Achilles was pretending to be. Patroclus ends up following Achilles into the war, when they were finally invited by Odyesseus and Diomedes.  due to the love that he feels for him. Achilles is prophesied to be the strongest warrior, after killing Hector he would find his demise shortly afterwards. The war consists of conflict between both of the armies, and conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon, the leader of their army. Achilles had tried to take all of the prizes that were women, due to Patroclous asking him to. They met Briseis here. Here, Achilles learns how strong he really is. He learns to enjoy the adrenaline rush that he gets from killing. Patroclous starts to dislike him for the enjoyment that he has gained from killing. Patroclous had learned to keep himself busy by helping out with medicine, to help keep his mind off of the impending doom that Achilles would face. Agememnon had taken achilles prize Briseis, which had begun the conflict between them. Achilles had protested this by refusing to fight for Agamemnon. Due to Achilles absence, the opposing army had  been able to gain enough movement to meet them at their camp's border. This resulted in Patroclus begging Achilles to do something, of which he did nothing, because he had talked to his mother about making them lose due to the loss of Achilles as a fighter. Achilles flat out refused to fight, so Patroclus took his army and fought in his place. Patroclous made his way to the other army's wall, due to everyone thinking that he was Achilles and being fearful. Patroclus decided he could climb the wall right then and retrieve Helen, so he had begun to climb the wall. He was thrown off by Apollo. He was thrown off twice, and this caused his armor to come off. When the opposing army found out that it wasn't Achilles, The Trojan prince Hector killed him. Achilles found out about this, and he crumbled. For many days he just stayed by Patroclus' side, and then he went and fought against them. Achilles went to kill Hector, and in his path killed everyone who was in his way. Hector was wearing Achilles armor that had been given to Patroclus when he went to fight in Achilles place. He killed Hector, and then tied his body to the back of his chariot and dragged his body back to camp. Hector's father came back to their camp asking for his son's body back to properly bury him. Both Thetis and Patroclus had spoken to Achilles asking him to either return his body to his family or to burn it so it could have a proper burial. The next day Achilles finally burned patroclus body, asking the greeks to mix their ashes together when Achilles finally passes. Achilles goes on to kill memnon, the king of aethiopia, then the horsewomen penthesilea. Achilles goes on to kill Priam's youngest son Troilus. After this, paris strings a bow from atop the walls and kills achilles.  The sea nymphs take Achilles body to burn, while a lot of the people attending his funeral didn't cry at all. They ask thetis what to do with the ashes, but she says she doesn't care. So achillies ashes was mixed with patroclous and was buried together. Pyrrhus had decided where to bury his father, but was confused as to why he was buried with another person. Pyrrhus had met briesis   and asked why Achilles had refused to fight because of her, and learned that Achilles never slept with her. He was told that achilles was in love with Patroclus. Pyrrhus had told her to come closer, and briseis had attempted to kill him. She stabbed him and then ran to the ocean, swimming away. She would have been out of the reach of any normal person, but pyrrhus spear had hit her and killed her. Troy had fallen with Pyrrhus help. He kills Priam and finds Hector's wife. He ends up killing her child by smashing it against the wall. The night before everyone packs up camp, Pyrrhus demands a sacrifice in Achilies name. He decided that the trojan princess was a good fit and slits her throat as a sacrifice. Odyseous tells Pyrrhus how much Patroclus meant to Achilles, trying to convince them to add Patroclus' name to the grave. Patroclous was stuck in limbo per say, and was living as a spectator at the grave. He was stuck there until thetis came to visit, where he was able to convince her to add his name through showing the memories he had of Achilles.  He was able to rest at peace with Achilles in the afterlife.

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng- Emily Keegan

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng- Emily Keegan

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In the novel Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, the story focuses on a disappearance of the daughter of a young family. Although, this book explores the intertwining and secretive pasts of each family member discovering the true feelings of being "normal" in society. Each family member reflects on society normal whether through their race, sexuality, or affairs to discover the true significance of the missing child. This book was extremely sad to me, I felt most of what was expressed and hinted at was very significant to those who feel they don't belong in the society today. This story was very interesting, and I loved being able to figure out the hidden secrets and the mystery of the disappearance as well. I would definitely recommend this book to those who can understand the absurdities of societal expectations. One thing I was not fond of in this novel was the character decisions and plot of the family mainly because of their lack of compassion and empathy, although this was intentional in the novel and overall is essential to develop the story and a specific piece of the plot as well. Overall this book definitely made me feel strong emotions for it, and I would definitely reread this book.

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Brody Wilcox

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Brody Wilcox

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy follows the life of a man and a boy, both unnamed as they trek through a post apocalyptic world. At first when I saw this I imagined they would be facing, zombies or something of that sort, the usual when you think of a post apocalyptic book. But, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were no zombies. I think that is what makes this book so different from the usual post apocalyptic book, is that the man and the boy are trying to survive against the world itself. Humanity has turned to ruin, there are hardly any resources left to survive on, and ash fills the air making the climate brutally cold. The man and the boy are forced to make hard, split-second decisions that ultimately could mean life or death if they choose wrong. There are many symbols and McCarthy uses foreshadowing to create a big ending in the book. I think this book was a really fun and intriguing read, and different for those who are interested in the post apocalyptic genre.

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Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - Delilah Puchta

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Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - Delilah Puchta

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Where The Crawdads Sing is a coming of age novel that follows a young girl throughout her life and shows the resilience she has to have. It was a great read and a book I would recommend to anyone. Throughout the book the author built tension and suspense keeping the reader wanting more. It gave descriptive details and created a relationship with the characters. It flips back and forth between different timelines but eventually they all come together. Throughout reading the book you can see why the author does that and the way it helps to build the tension and anticipation for the reader. The young girls life that you follow is full of hardships and suffering. She is forced to make decisions not based off choice but based off necessity to survive. The book is a great read and keeps you entertained throughout. I would recommend it to anyone who likes suspense and detailed books that also flip timelines.

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The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a emotional retelling of the events of the Trojan War. We see the events unfold through the eyes of Patroclus, a young outcast. The story follows the close bond between Patroclus and Achilles, a Greek Hero. The book deals with themes such as love and the battle for honor, and also death. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys those themes, and also enjoys action. The book starts out slow, as the war hasn't begun yet, but once it starts, the book gets more fast-paced. If you are looking for a book that will make you tear up, this is the one. The relationships shown throughout the book are portrayed greatly. Overall, the book was amazing and I will be reading it again.

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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was a fictional dystopian book set in futuristic America. For being published in 1953, the book had very scary parallels to the world today. I think this is one of the many aspects that made the book so interesting to read. The main concept behind this book is that all novels are banned. This is to eliminate conflict, because by banning all books, all the different ideas were also being banned. This allowed for the futuristic government to heavily censor the media and news the citizens were hearing - and in effect, controlling the thoughts and ideas in those individuals. A Firefighter, who was raised to hate and burn books, turns rebellious and learns maybe books aren't so evil after all. Fahrenheit 451 follows Firefighter Guy Montage, and his journey on discovering the negative effects of too much government censorship and the importance of individual thought and preserving history.

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The Road, Cormac McCarthy - Isaac Kelly  

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The Road, Cormac McCarthy - Isaac Kelly  

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The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, is a very suspenseful and drawn out story, but is kind of slow. I enjoyed the story and how we see the characters relationship grow and their journey become more devastating. I really liked the idea of a father/son relationship throughout the burned wasteland. We see how the father and son grow, and we also see their difficult struggles. Its emotion filled with suspense, and all the devastating hardships. Showing how their journey questions their Morales and how hard it was for the father to raise a strong yet smart and caring son in a world of hopelessness. I wish there was a little more action and depth though, it feels like there are many moments of long descriptions, to create imagery, but it also makes the book feel more slow and drawn out. This book is still very well put together and definitely a recommended read.

Overall the book was a very good story with really strong themes to show signs of hope and purity, just a little slow but still suspenseful and flavorful.

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Overall I loved this book. It was a little slow getting into it but just keep reading and everything will start making sense. It has a lot of twists and exciting moments. However, there are a couple of boring parts but they don't last too long. The main character Winston is a very interesting man to follow and I enjoyed getting to learn more about him and his story. Although, if your not willing to do a lot of thinking this book is not for you. To be able to really enjoy this book I would try to get everything you can out of it. It covers a lot of exaggerate topics that can be seen in our world today. The place which this book is placed in, Oceania, is a terrible place to live, and we get to see how Winstion handles it. If you like politics, psychology, thrillers, or adventure books you´ll probably enjoy this book.

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 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir- Kailia Hutchins

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 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir- Kailia Hutchins

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I had a lot of fun with this novel. It is a sci-fi novel, but there isn't too much science jargon that's hard to understand. It's a good introduction to the genre if you are someone who has never read any books from it before. I thought the characterization of the main characters was unique compared to other novels. The main character is genuinely a good person who grapples with hard decisions outside of himself instead of him trying to justify his own morality to the other characters. When he does have his moment of reflection on his past choices, he is able to look past his mistakes and focus on making the next best decision. The novel was a little slow at first with very basic physics that was built up to be some large scientific discovery, and a lot of the science is way too fictional, but it's still a good read. There is a larger emphasis on the journey the characters take physically and psychologically, than the actual science. The Martian by Andy Weir has a stronger focus on the science than the character's growth. If you're someone who doesn't like science but you still want to give sci-fi a try, I recommend this novel.

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Where The Crawdads Sing is a coming-of-age story written by Delia Owens. It follows the development of Kya, a young innocent child. This book flips between the point of view of Kya, and two sheriffs that solve a murder. Within this story, readers feels sensations of empathy and anger, learning just how much childhood development impact someone's adulthood. The book itself was easy to read, follow along, and has simple details that still make the story worth readig. The book has a small portion of romance, but not enough that it pulls the focus away from the main story. The book itself was relatively cheap, so if someone decides to buy it and ends up not liking it, it's not a major loss. I enjoyed the ecology aspects of the book, and would recommend this book to any nature-loving people.

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Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens- Sadie Saunders

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Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens- Sadie Saunders

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is about a young girl, Kya, who is abandoned by almost everyone around her. She is is forced to survive in the Marsh, which is her home. The people of Barkley Cove treat her as a nobody, and Kya figures out how to make something of her life anyway. Through her hardships, Kya is accused of murder. This novel took several twists and turns, which kept me constantly turning the pages. I read this in less than a week, and wish I could read it for the first time again. It is absolutely amazing compared to the movie, which is also great. Aside from the great story that keeps you entertained, this novel has so many symbols, and different meanings that compare to real life on a daily basis. I would 100% reccomend this book.

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The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is set in the near-future totalitarian society of Gilead, in around the year of 2005, which has replaced the United States after environmental collapse and declining birth rates. In this patriarchal society, women have been stripped of their rights and divided into social classes based on their reproductive and domestic functions. Prior to reading this book, I did not know much about the story of Offred, or only interpreted her story based off of what I have heard from the television adaptation. This novel details Offred's tragic story through a broken narrative that makes readers feel as if they are Offred at times. Atwood does an amazing job on implementing fear and confusion among the readers, emotions that the characters themselves are forced to feel. The variety of themes explored in this book, such as the fear-driven totalitarian society, demonstrates civilizations we may see in our modern world. I highly recommend this book to anyone passionate about women's rights and birth rights in general, or anyone looking to see their contrasting point of view. This book had me on the edge of my seat at some points, wondering what Offred would do when facing deadly challenges. If you have a hard time picking up a book, the beginning might be hard to grasp onto, but as Offred's story develops, you will easily urge to know more.

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The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Addison Gray

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The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Addison Gray

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The Color Purple was a good book that I would recommend. It was a hard book to read just because of the graphic nature of the scenes and some of the language used. But, there were good lessons about finding yourself throughout the book. I also thought that Walker did a good job with writing it and thought it was good from the personal perspective of letters. It made it easier to connect to the readers and audience members. It shows a different perspective of femininity from a woman's voice during a time that normally wouldn't be heard. It covered topics such as abuse within a society prejudiced against and how it effects how you view yourself. I also really enjoyed the character development and personal touch to Celie and how we see her thoughts and words to God and to those around her.

Overall, I would recommend this book to people who are willing and able to read some violent scenes but see the beauty that can come from that.

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Eli Mallett

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Eli Mallett

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Project Hail Mary is a combination of Science Fiction, Self Discovery and the Human Condition. Throughout the book you will read about the main protagonist floating through space with the weight of his entire world on his shoulders. He discovers his purpose and what his mission is and along the way he finds surprising help with his cause and makes very difficult choices along the way. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is into either science fiction books or stories about self discovery.

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng- Mia Sothall

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng- Mia Sothall

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng is a very tragic yet interesting story that captures the social struggles of racism and discrimination against the social norm. This book flipped from time period to time period throughout the course of the read. This was one of the things i really did not like about to because while it was a unique way of setting up the book and it allowed readers to wonder and infer, it was sometimes hard to keep up with and slightly confusing. Other than this the book kept me on my toes and was so unexpected. Because of the writers choice of words and and descriptive language you could really feel how every character felt and see what every character thought. Overall, I thought this book was alright but probably not one I would go back and read again.

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng- Mia Sothall

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The Grapes Of Wrath (John Stienbeck) - Taylor Crum

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The Grapes Of Wrath (John Stienbeck) - Taylor Crum

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In my op pinon I believe that this is a good book. It is more of a historic fiction novel witch is important to know if this is not your favorite genre but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It goes through the struggles of a family in the Midwest during the time of the dust bowl and puts in to perspective what it was like to live during that time. This book helped my appreciate the life that I live now and what I might take for granted on a day to day basis. There were many challenges thought the book that you might not expect since we never see it in today's society. The book was very well written and easy to follow through and the use of different perspectives from different characters help show what everyone is feeling so that the reader can grasp everyone's thoughts and feelings. Overall I would recommend the book and can confidently say that you will not be disappointed if you read this book.

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The Stranger by Albert Camus (Cayden Pavatt)

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The Stranger by Albert Camus (Cayden Pavatt)

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The Stranger by Albert Camus is a novel set in the 1940s in France. The story starts with the main character, Meursault, having a major life issue and us seeing the first glimpse of his emotional detachment. Meursault goes through many different things throughout the course of the novel. Meursault has a very mundane life, and he goes about it very simply without any major disputes. Meursault can not seem to build any real emotional bond with anyone, which proves to be a driver of his decisions, and ultimately his downfall. This novel shows a theme of society alienating those who don't meet their standards and those who have no emotional attachment to others have no care about what happens to others. I enjoyed reading this because it gave me a view on what life is like for someone like that. I have never seen life through the eyes of someone other than myself, and reading this gave me the chance to do that. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys realistic novels, and anyone who enjoys psychological books. I also recommend it to anyone who just wants to look at the world through a different light. I enjoyed the deep insight to Meursault's mind that Camus presented, and how it was such a good visualization that I could imagine being there for every word I read.

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Daisy Jones and The Six- Taylor Jenkins Reid- Scarlett Johnson

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Daisy Jones and The Six- Taylor Jenkins Reid- Scarlett Johnson

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While I am not the most knowledgeable in literacy, this book helped me understand a lot of things in literature that I have usually struggled with. The novel is more like an interview with all of the characters. The novel focuses on the story of Daisy and how she struggled throughout her entire life. She had realtionship problems with minor character, Billy, which lead to frustration for the reader but also tension and ultimately led you wanting more. The novel goes through music descriptions which makes youf eel like you can hear the songs that the band wrote and performed. The whole band is like on chaotic family that is just trying to survive together. This is a very investing and powerful book. It also highlights real world problems like drug abuse, controlling relationships, and alcoholism. This work of literature is a rollercoaster of emotions and love stories, this is definitely a must read.

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"Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell - Halle Whitley 

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"Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell - Halle Whitley 

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This novel was a book I genuinly could not put down. It was a really good read into the dystopian world of a town ruled through a totalitarian government. Orwell's novel highlighted the idea of a controlling government and the affect it had on the civilization. At the beginning of the novel, it was a little harder for me to get into and get an understanding of what was going on, but once I understood the detailing behind the chapters, it was a very good read. The novel is the type to mess with your mind and really explores a life where the governments manipulation shows the disaster it can cause. I feel that this novel should be read to make people aware and knowledgeable of how dangerous a life like this could be, and even alter the way they think. Overall, I think that this book was a very good read for the more maturity population, though the themes explored in the text is something I belive that people should read to better understand the way of living a life with no identity and under the control of an unwanted figure.

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All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr- Jacob Fehnel

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All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr- Jacob Fehnel

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All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is Set during World War II, it is the parallel tale of Marie-Laure, a blind French teenage girl, and Werner, a German orphan radio technology prodigy, whose paths cross in the final minutes in occupied France.

One of the novel's strengths is its humanization of both sides of the war without resorting to moral degration. Doerr highly sensual and poetic, often placing the world of senses itself in the role of a kind of actor most notably through the intensified world of touch and hearing accessible to Marie-Laure. The nonchronological structure and short, alternating chapters are effective in building suspense and emotional tension, even when there is a jagged pace at times.

Even where a few of the reviewers find fault with the conclusion as sentimental and others that parts of it upon (especially the diamond subplot, the Sea of Flames) extend beyond in the symbolic than the actual movement, these as well render the novel its own mythic coloration which distinguishes it from much of historical fiction.

At its essence, All the Light We Cannot See is a poignant journey of determination, the unexplainable connection between individuals, and abiding hope when all lights seem to be out.

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Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - Noah Lord

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Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - Noah Lord

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I don't read often but this is the best book I have read in a long time. Kingsolver did such a great job making Damon real, observant and hilarious at times. His introduction to drugs, and his description of how they make you feel, made me think the author has spent time with an addict in their life. Some of the reviews I read talked about how the ending of the book was boring and made people want to stop reading the book. I personally think that the ending was wrapped up a little to neatly but also well for Damon and the story line. I also loved the people in his life that he cared for so deeply, and who kept rooting for him, despite all of his many bad choices.

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The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - Keaton Weinbrenner

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The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - Keaton Weinbrenner

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The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, is a book that really sticks with you. It's about a teenager named Holden Caulfield who tells his story in his own words. The book takes place over just a few days after Holden leaves his school. What makes this book special is how real Holden's voice feels. He talks like a real teenager, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and often confused about the world around him. He uses words that teens used back then (the book was published in 1951), and you can almost hear him speaking to you. Holden is dealing with growing up and he doesn't like a lot of what he sees in the adult world. He thinks many people are "phony" meaning not being true to themselves. Throughout the book, he wanders around New York City, meeting different people and thinking about life. The story is simple on the surface, but underneath it's about bigger things such as trying to hold onto innocence when everything around you is changing. That's what the title means (Holden explains it in the book).

Holdens thoughts about people and society still make sense today, even though the book was written over 70 years ago.

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Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - Zandrea Story 

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Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - Zandrea Story 

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Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid is an emotional novel told in the format of a fictional oral history. It follows the rise and fall of a 1970s rock band, capturing the energy, chaos, and passion of the music industry during that era. Through interviews with the band members, managers, and those close to them, the story explores fame, creativity, addiction, love, and the complicated relationships that drive artistic success. In my opinion, the book is incredibly engaging and unique because of the interview-style format. It made the characters feel real, and I found myself emotionally invested in their journey. The writing captures the spirit of the ’70s perfectly, and the themes are deep without being heavy-handed.

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Afterlife by Julia Alvarez - Madison Gregg

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Afterlife by Julia Alvarez - Madison Gregg

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Afterlife is a good and thoughtful book about grief, family, and responsibility. The author tells the story of Antonia who is a widowed writer, as she faces different challenges. What makes this book special is how Alvarez puts together personal struggles with social issues such as immigration and cultural identity. Antonia struggles and challenges she goes through are universally relatable. The book gives you a deeper connection with the characters and their experiences.

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Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid -Reese Peterson

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Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid -Reese Peterson

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Daisy Jones and The Six follows the life of a young singer and song writer as she runs wild along the LA strip. She joins a band known as The Six and must navigate fame, addiction, and forbidden romance with the lead singer, Billy Dunne. This book is written in the style of an oral interview, allowing for viewpoints from all the characters. I feel as though this made the book especially unique and interesting to read. Not only does it allow readers to get a glimpse of what the world of rock and roll was like during the sixties and seventies, but it also touches on timeless topics like the battle of addiction, navigating fame, and the destructive side of love. While Daisy and Billy's love lives are a major topic of this book, it is not your typical romance. This romance is messy, painful, and forbidden. Overall, I feel as though this book is an easy read due to the unique formatting and has themes that anyone can relate to. It is definitely a page turner and will leave you wanting more.

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Honestly, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver was really something else. Most will look at the page count being over 500 pages and think "no way someone can have that much to talk about", but in my opinion, for all the content that was displayed in this book, 500 pages was not nearly enough. The amount of twists and unfortunate events that take place in this book will leave you shocked. At absolutely no point during this read was I ever bored. The point of this book was to bring light on foster care and the life of those who grew up in it, as well as to give a new perspective on drug abuse; which I think this book did a wonderful job at. Kingsolver did an amazing job at making the reader feel exactly like Demon, through his thought process and his actions. She flowed through the retelling of his life effortlessly, making it quite an enjoyable read. The way she showed the growth of Demon's mindset was absolutely incredible, almost seamless, but if you were to go back and read it for a second time, you'd see the subtle changes in mentality as Demon starts to get older. I'd 110% recommend this book to anyone looking for a raw, and almost heartbreaking read. It's one I wish I could read again for the first time.

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- Krista Kollias

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- Krista Kollias

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The Haunting of Hill House was a very intriguing and interesting novel to read. I enjoyed being able to be taken along with each step of these characters as they stayed in this house. Shirley Jackson did good of giving each characters background story leading into their stay. Jackson also gave us the background of the house and the deep mysterious backstories it had. This helped to show that even though it was just a house, it manipulated and tormented the characters causing psychological distress. This book dove deep into the psychological and mental well beings of these individuals and how it affected each of their stay. I would recommend this book to everyone, because it helps to understand a new perspective on peoples mental states.

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson was a very intriguing read. It tells the story of Eleanor Vance and her journey through the haunted mansion that is Hill House. This book has dark themes implicit of loneliness and the paranormal, that keep you interested throughout the whole book. Her mental breakdown is representative of humanity as a whole. This book can be a difficult read for those who are squeamish or easily scared, as it is a horror book. But other than that I would recommend this book for a majority of people. Being a fairly easy read especially for the time period it was written in with an interesting topic.

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Project Hail Mary was a great read about an astronaut saving the world from an alien eating the sun. This is one of the longest books I have read so it did take me a while but it was very rewarding to finish. I also thought that the way part of the story was told through the main character getting flashbacks was very interesting. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the slightest in Sci-Fi.

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In the Time of the Butterflies- Madison Crum

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In the Time of the Butterflies- Madison Crum

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In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical novel that tells the story of the Mirabal sisters (Patira, Dede Minerva, and Maria Teresa) who live in the Dominican Republic uner the oppressive regime of Rafael Trujillo during the 1950s. This story goes on to show the differences of the sisters and the different lives that they live which all lead them back together in order to fight for their freedom and the freedom of their people. Overall, I thought that this book was good for the most part. I really liked the multiple POVs and how the story managed to get the essence of each of the sisters while also bringing their stories together so that the readers could see the interactions that they had with each other. The only thing that I might have liked to be different in the novel is for the beginning of it to be a little more action packed because it was a little slow in the beginning which made it hard to read.

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To Kill a Mockingbird is a story set in the town Maycomb Alabama. The narrator is a young girl named Scout Finch. We see Scout have to face hard hitting topics such as racism, injustice, and prejudice. We see Scout go from a young kid who believes everybody is good to realizing that people are extremely complex and not everybody has good things at heart. I really enjoyed this book because many of the things the characters had to face applied to me in my real life. Although I couldn't relate to many of the points the principles the author includes in this book actually changed how I see people. This book reminded me of how powerful a book can be, regardless of when it was written.