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Dept. of Speculation The plot of this novel isn’t all that groundbreaking. It’s a book about domestic life and all of its ups and downs. What’s amazing about Dept. of Speculation is the language. It reads almost like a book of poetry. And at just about 200 pages, it’s a very quick read. |
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Boston Girl
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The Shoemaker’s Wife
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When I Was Five I Killed Myself A redeeming story for every child who has been wrongly accused, terribly misunderstood, and horribly betrayed by the adults in their lives. |
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Diary of an Oxygen Thief An honest and darkly humorous portrayal of the pain that accompanies heartbreak, and how that affects not only ourselves but all those we encounter thereafter. |
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What Light A deeply moving, heartwarming love story that is guaranteed to leave you feeling hopeful and inspired. Asher tackles the important themes of redemption and forgiveness, showing us that we can let go of past mistakes and overcome our failures. This is the perfect holiday romance for the YA reader in your life! |
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The Girl on the Train A Good suspense thriller. |
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The Nest Intriguing, domestic and dysfunctional family plot that is faced with an inheritance from the father’s trust. Does it bring out the best or worst in people… Must Read |
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Homegoing – Maryann R. |
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The Summer Before the War – Maryann R. |
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Lilac Girls – Maryann R. |
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The Life of God (as Told by Himself) Picked up this book when we |
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A Man Called Ove – Regan |
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The Hike Drew Magary, once again, creates a unique new world that entices all readers — including ones |
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something to food about: It may surprise you that Questlove has written a book about food, but it’s not all that alien a concept for him. Questlove has always been very analytical about his career and interests. This is just an extension of that. The book is devided into a number of interviews with chefs, and the focus of the discussions tends more toward the creative process itself. It’s fantastic to see him tease out philosophy from food, and his footnotes are often great annecdotes. |
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When Breath Becomes Air – Neera |
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The Organized Mind: Externalize as much as you can from your working memory |
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The Boys in the Boat – Regan |
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Weapons Of Math Destruction Don’t let the fact that this is a math book scare you off; the writing is clear and non-technical. Covering thing topics from colleges to credit, Cathy O’Neil lays a solid foundation for her opinions on how algorithms can sometimes leave real human lives behind when calculating things for the greater good. This book provides a clear insight into the data that industry will only become more influential in the future of our lives. Be warned, this was the scariest book I read this year.
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Grit – Sew Yeng |
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Raising Ryland: This quick read is a fascinating take on an issue few people know anything about. It tells the |
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Paper Girls If you liked Stranger Things and the 80s material its based on then this is the comic for you. It follows a group of girls (who deliver newspapers) as they accidentally get caught up in an alien/monster/time traveler invasion, and try to deal with imperfect home lives.
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B Planet The titular planet is actually a prison planet for women who are deemed “non-compliant” by society. That can include anything from being too opinionated, too brown, or too fat. Not just for women, this book will speak to anyone who has ever felt like they’ve had a label forced on them and been deemed an outsider. |
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The War That Saved My Life – Amber |
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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate – Amber |
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The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy – Amber |
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A Hungry Lion, or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals – Amber |
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Blue & Bertie – Amber |
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Mr. Tiger Goes Wild – Amber |
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Gaston – Amber |
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School’s First Day of School – Amber |
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They All Saw a Cat – Amber |
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Sneezy the Snowman – Colleen |
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Banjo and Ruby Red – Colleen |
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Wonder / Auggie and Me: Three Wonder Stories Wonder is a fabulous book for kids of all ages. It really teaches empathy and understanding in a completely fresh and non-preachy way. You’ll get to love the characters and want to read more. Auggie and Me uses the same characters to tell other sides of the story, including the antagonist of the original novel. It’s an interesting take on a story, since the author never intended for there to be a sequel to Wonder. |
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365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts 365 Days of Wonder is a great take on a quotations book for kids. There are some very subtle references to the other stories, but it’s also a great stand-alone piece of nonfiction for children who aren’t big readers but still want to be inspired. |
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Autumn Street Autumn Street was a great historical fiction tale told from the viewpoint of a six-year-old girl. Despite this fact, it somehow manages to be mature in both its writing and subject matter. The main character, Elizabeth, manages to be insightful even though she doesn’t understand many of the things happening in her life. It’s vintage Lois Lowry in the best way. |
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Little Bird
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The Invisible Boy
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Hey, Little Ant
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One
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Maps
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Little Bird’s Bad Word
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Red Sled
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– Colleen |
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Arrival Though it is set entirely on earth, Arrival invokes comparisons to recent more cerebral and less action-packed space adventures such as The Martian and Interstellar. The main character is a linguistics expert, tasked with attempting to bridge the language barrier between humans and a newly arrived alien race while contending with the increasingly itchy trigger fingers of leaders around the world. Problems are overly simplified, and there’s a particularly awkward segment towards the end that defies belief, but overall the study of communication between species from the ground up is fascinating. |
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An older movie (2015) but worth picking up for anyone who finds excitement in investigative journalism. Not a traditional thriller, with no knife-wielding madmen or sharp-toothed marine creatures, but with a focus instead on the uncovering of past crimes: the cover-up of sexual abuse of minors within the Roman Catholic Church. The reporters pore over newspapers and reports, find leads, talk to parties of interest, talk up the interest that the topic will generate so they’ll be allowed to pursue it…it’s investigative grunt work, neither heart-thumping nor spine-tingling, but engaging interest from beginning to end. |
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Disney set a new industry record with its box office sales in 2016, thanks to strong showings from movies like Captain America: Civil War, Finding Dory, Doctor Strange, Moana and the latest Star Wars: Rogue One, but Zootopia remains the cream of the crop. Witty, humorous, upbeat and above all timely, Zootopia offers a fun-for-the-whole-family outing starring furry investigation buddies Judy the bright-eyed bunny cop and Nick the sly fox conman, who deal |
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“You think you’re done with the past, but the past is not done with you.” A gripping psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen! |
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– Neera |
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– Sew Yeng |
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