New Reads:
1. You and Me and Us by Alison Hammer - This was a very poignant and heartbreaking read. You know from the beginning that the story doesn't have a happy ending, and it deals heavily with terminal illness. It was largely a story of mother and daughter, Alexis and CeCe, building up a relationship when they had not been close for many years. Faced with losing the man and father that they both loved, they had to figure out how to live their lives, as painful as it was. This is a sad story that still has hope and I really loved it.
2. What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter - This was a cute and fun YA book. I spent a lot of the book wondering when Halle's double life as Kels would be revealed to Nash. I figured it would probably lead to unnecessary drama that could have been avoided by just telling him earlier. I still liked the book a lot despite the lack of communication and drama. The romance was cute and the friendships were fun, and I loved Halle's relationship with her little brother Ollie.
3. Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein - While labeled as a romance, this book was really more of a contemporary novel that had a romance. The romance was second to the main story about Avery growing back into herself again and training hopeful Olympic gymnast Hallie. To me, the best part of the story was the relationship between Avery and Hallie and how much Avery cared about her and her success and was able to find meaning in life again through training her. I thought Ryan and Avery's relationship was good overall, but it wasn't my favorite part of the book. He definitely made some mistakes throughout but showed he was a good guy later on in the book. I really enjoyed this book.
4. The Shadows by Alex North - This was a good mystery with several twists that were shocking. One was really the most shocking since I had been misled by the book into thinking something different was the case. I liked getting to read Amanda Beck's perspective again, and I also liked Paul as a character. This book includes both the present and Paul's past days in high school when the original crime occurred. This mystery kept the pages turning.
5. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne - This book was a powerful story that took place from 1945 to 2015, covering Cyril Avery's entire life. It took some time for me to really get into this book, but once I was sucked in, the 500-plus pages went by quickly. Cyril dealt with a lot over the course of his life. This book was ultimately about all types of love - between spouses, lovers, friends, family, adoptive family, etc. All of the characters and their relationships were treated with care, and the characters all felt complicated and real.
6. Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford - I don't read much nonfiction (this is my first one of this year) and this is the first memoir that I have read in a long time and it definitely makes me want to go and read more memoirs. I was so sad for young Lacy in this story and what she went through. Her school failed absolutely failed her by sweeping her sexual assault completely under the rug, despite being mandated reporters. Lacy seems like a really strong person, and I am glad she was able to tell her story now. Her story was heartbreaking in many moments, from her assault, to the bullying that occurred afterwards, as well as physical repercussions of what had been done to her. I think this should be required reading by anyone who works in a secondary school setting. Aside from being important, this book is also in general one of the best books that I've read recently. Lacy tells her story in a compelling way that pretty much reads like fiction, and I had to remind myself that this was a true story.
7. What You Wish For by Katherine Center - This was a sweet read with good characters and a positive message. It dealt with some pretty serious issues, so I wouldn't call it a "light" read. I really did not like Duncan at first, but once I understood him, I liked him a lot more. Sam was a good character to read as well. She was a school librarian who put her heart into the job. She was definitely dealing with some baggage from her past dealing with her family, which led to some of her present insecurities.
8. Once You Go This Far by Kristen Lepionka - I always enjoy a good Roxane Weary mystery, so I enjoyed this book. The mystery in it was very complicated, with a lot of key players to keep track of. I was definitely not expecting all of it. I didn't agree with a couple of political views expressed by characters, but this didn't detract from my liking of the book. I am hoping that there will be more books about Roxane in the future, since there have been new revelations regarding her family and relationships that I would like to know more about.
9. The Girls by Abigail Pesta - A book I read earlier this month, Head Over Heels, contained a fictionalized version of parts of this story in it, which was the decades-long abuse of gymnasts and other athletes by Olympic doctor, Larry Nassar. This book is a well-researched piece on that, and many of the women affected by it. It was horrifying to read how far his reach extended into a community, and how many lives he hurt. The coaching by John Geddert was also touched upon, and it is terrible to read how abusive he was to his athletes.
10. Unbelievable by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong - This book, despite being nonfiction, read like a novel, telling the story from several different perspectives. One of these was from police detectives, making that portion of the story seem like a police procedural. It was a sad story for Marie especially, who was not believed by police about something horrible that had happened to her and instead was charged with falsely reporting the crime. It was great to get to see justice unfold later though, and for her to finally be backed up for the fact that she wasn't lying.
11. Know My Name by Chanel Miller - This is a powerful and emotional memoir written by the victim in the Brock Turner case. I remember hearing about this case at the time. This was well-written. Chanel did a great job conveying her story and what she felt throughout. I appreciate her strength in writing this book, and imagine that it couldn't have been easy to write.
12. What Made Maddy Run by Kate Fagan - This was a heartbreaking book. I remember hearing about Madison's story during my senior year of high school. The author treats the hard topics in this book with sensitivity, and the ideas she expressed about social media were important and relevant. I could have done without some of the interlude chapters about the author's life, but some parts of those were interesting.
13. I Have the Right To by Chessy Prout - This was a powerful memoir. It was interesting to read this book in the same month as Notes on a Silencing, since both books were about St. Paul's School, but focused on stories that were over 20 years apart. It was sad to see the lack of progress that had been made in the school culture since Lacy (Notes) went there. It was nice to see Chessy speak out after what she went through. She seems like a great person. The best part of the book was how supportive her family was, including her little sister who didn't really understand what was going on with Chessy for parts of the book.
14. Forever Liesl by Charmian Carr - As someone who has always loved The Sound of Music, I enjoyed reading this story by the actress who played Liesl. It was warm and she looks back fondly on her memories from the movie. I enjoyed getting to hear some behind-the-scenes things, and hearing how she and the "von Trapp children" really did become like a family.
15. Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner - This was a fun and quick read that sucked me into the story and the characters. I enjoyed the dynamics between the characters. I especially liked Emma and how much she worked at her job and cared. There were many little things that she did that showed that. The behind-the-scenes of a show and interactions with paparazzi were interesting to read as well. Despite being a cute, fun read, there were also some serious issues presented as well, and many scenes were emotional.
16. She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey - This was an interesting read of investigative journalism. I enjoyed seeing what was involved in the process of finding sources, fact checking, and getting sources to go on the record. It is clear that a lot of work goes into one news article. There were some powerful stories in here.
