Category Archives: The Must Reads

These are the books that I think are a must read.

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Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens

I was up until 2 in the morning finishing this book. Stevens had me glancing at my windows to make sure there wasn’t anyone there, and I’m still a little wary of answering my phone. I was on the edge of my seat at times, and I found myself trying to figure everything out as I read.

Sara’s desire to know who her birth parents are starts a reaction that makes for a fast-paced and thrilling read. Stevens is able to make you feel something for every character, even the bad guy. She creates interesting character relationships where everything may not be as it seems. It’s hard to see the twists and turns coming and I was constantly surprised.

This was a great book and I was so happy I decided to read it. I’m looking forward to reading more of Stevens’ books in the near future.

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I’m not really sure what my expectations were when I started this book. All I know is every single one of them was shattered.

This is not a book you can just breeze through and understand. It makes you really read and drown in the rods on the page. There is so much emotion in every word, you can’t just skim it. this is a book that demands you read it.

The whole book is narrated by Death as he “works” through World War II. He tells Liesel’s story as she grows up during the war. She begins as an orphan, heading to her foster home but becomes so much more.

The one thing that I loved and hated about Death telling the story, was how well everything was foreshadowed, or in some cases, announced. Knowing what was coming just made me dread it more, because I knew there wouldn’t be a different outcome. If Death announced something, it was coming. It just made the emotional shock value increase, and tied a connection between me and war going on in the book. People die in war. You can’t change that. Knowing what will happen is sometimes worse than not knowing.

As depressing as the subject matter of the book is, somehow, the book itself is never completely depressing. It is not morbid. Liesel provides what this book needs to save it from being a depressing read. She and her Papa’s relationship is one of my new favorites. The love they had for each other nearly jumped off the page. In between all the ugly in the book, there was good.

This book made me feel more than most books in recent memory. The story grabs you by the heart and does not let go. It squeezes hard and tugs at you, but through the entire story, you are being held captive by the words that play so important a part within the story itself. This is not a book for young adults. It is a book for anyone. It will leave an imprint on you long after you finish reading the last page.

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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I’m not sure I can find the words I need to describe this book. The one word that keeps coming to mind is “amazing.”

I’ll be honest. I put off reading this book for a long time because I wasn’t sure I would like the topics and subject matter. I was worried it would be trivialized or made simpler just to get the book out. I have never been so happy to be wrong. This book was real and touching, and I found myself crying several times.

The characters felt so real and flawed. But on the flip side, even the “villain” of the story had a good side. They were real people, written the way they should be. That is what made this book so readable.

This is a book everyone needs to read. It’s a tough subject to handle, but The Help uses that to create a funny, empowering, uplifting book. I cannot wait to read more from Stockett.

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The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

My cousin gave me this recommendation and I’m very glad I listened to him. This is one of my favorite books of the year.

It’s told from Enzo’s, the dog’s, point of view. It opens with a heartbreak, and concludes with a heartbreak, but everything between was pure magic.

I wanted to throw this book across the room in anger several times, and I wanted to cry, and often did, other times. Enzo brings humor and a unique way of looking at life to the story. You sometimes forget you’re reading about the word through a dog’s eyes. It just becomes a story about friendship and companionship.

I will tell everyone I meet to read this book. It tells an amazing story in a beautiful way and makes you look at life through new eyes. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

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The Twisted Thread by Charlotte Bacon

I was a little cautious when I started this book. Mystery/crime novels are always hard for me to get into, and I loose interesting in them quickly.

However, I was completely drawn into this book and the different stories Bacon was able to create and weave together. I found myself reading and rereading pages, just to make sure I was getting everything she wrote, all the hints she left for people to pick up on. I was pulling out my hair (figuratively) wanting to know what had truly happened.

It was an excellent mix of trying to find out who did it, and showing the secret lives of the students, and how their own world, as secret as they thought it was, did have some cracks in it, and yet seeing the teachers and professors be absolutely shocked at the extent of the secrets their students created. It showed the system of power some students are able to create in order to keep themselves safe.

My only qualm with this book was the jumping perspectives, and while I understand why it was done, it still was slightly distracting.

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Legacy by Cayla Kluver

I got my copy of Legacy and couldn’t wait to read it. Forbidden-type romances really draw me in. There’s just something about two people you know should be together, and yet they can’t that makes me crave more words.

Legacy didn’t disappoint. It started a little slow, but I quickly got into in and found myself willing Alera to find her voice and really use it, to tell her father exactly what she wanted. Don’t get me wrong, she was already strong to begin with, but she was still very compliant and gave in to her sheltered world, not questioning things she should. When she started asking questions, the new strength she found was amazing.

Narian was able to make her see that there was so much beyond the walls she had been living in, a completely different world from the one she currently resides in. He told her that woman can have power, and should. The future should not be left up to the men only, and Alera needed to add her voice into the mix.

My heart was breaking towards the end of the book, and I cannot wait for the next book in the series to see how Kluver handles the future of her characters.

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Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

I am always hesitant to start books that are the first of a trilogy, and have years left to go before the final conclusion. However, this book came highly, highly recommended and I decided to read it right away. And then ended up reading twice in as many days.

I am so glad I did. I love stories that involve Greek mythology. There are so many different stories and sides to those stories that you can take it anywhere. While Angelini took a few liberties with the mythology, she was able to explain why she changed it and had it make sense.

I feel like I can’t give it the review it deserves without giving too much of the story away. But I’ll say there is something in it for everyone, and I will be rereading it many times over as I eagerly await the next and last book in the series. They can’t be released soon enough.

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Where She Went by Gayle Forman

If I Stay dealt with Mia’s choice. Where She Went deals with the aftermath. It’s three years after the accident, and true to his promise, Adam lets her be.

Adam is a celebrity, known for his band. Mia is a rising cello star at Julliard. In a twist of fate, one night Adam goes to Mia’s concert, and feel all those emotions and feelings that never really left him when he let Mia go.

After the concert, he meets Mia and she begins to show him her New York, and he falls in love with her all over again, and fast. They only have this one night to reconnect, but they want it to work so badly.

It’s whirlwind love, but it’s written in such a raw and powerful way that you can’t help but fall in love all over.

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Hate List by Jennifer Brown

As someone in Colorado at the time of Columbine, and can remember that day and the ones that followed, this was a book I felt very compelled to read.

Valerie’s boyfriend went on a shooting spree through the school. His victims were ones that he and Valerie had put on a “hate list.” It was a way to release steam for her, but for him, it was more. So when the truth comes out after the shooting, it’s hard to not blame Valerie for at least part of it, even though she was the one that got in the way and stopped Nick from hurting more people.

Valerie makes the brave decision to go back to the high school for her senior year. She’s faced with the uncertainty of acceptance and having to face all those people that knew they were on the list. The school has been changed and soon, one of the girls that had been on the list reaches out to her, and helps her find some acceptance within the school and with herself.

I was moved to tears at the end of this book. It was one of the most emotional ending I have ever read, and I applaud Brown for tackling this subject with grace and respect and writing one of the best books I have ever read.

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Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Yet another first in the series books. And yet, this one was different. I’m not hanging on the edge of my seat, wishing the next one would come out already.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to read the next part of the story. But the end of this book was just so…good. There was enough of a conclusion where I’m not ripping my hair out wanting to know what happens, but I’m invested enough in the story to run out and get the next book as soon as I can.

Elder and Amy’s relationship confuses me a little, in that I can understand Elder’s fascination with her, but I’m not sure yet how it can turn into something more in a believable way. I’m looking forward to seeing if Revis can accomplish this.

I give major props to Revis for coming up with a storyline that is unique, and yet not so different that everyone is struggling to find a way to connect. There’s enough of the classics within the book that it’s easy to find a way to connect with a character and find the story possible and believable.

It was a little frustrating how Elder simply believed Eldest without any questions, but I can see why he would. He grew up knowing nothing different, but he does start to question authority and it’s refreshing once he does.

Overall, a great book and I can’t wait to see how Revis handles more of the future.