The Book Corner

My idea of a good night: my books, my journal, my wine.

Ever have trouble looking for a good book? Not sure where to start or who to even trust for a recommendation because you may like different things? I can't help with all of that, BUT I am more than happy to make my own suggestions for you!

What's my rating system?
1 Star- It was garbage. There's a chance I couldn't even finish it.
2 Stars- It was fine. I wouldn't recommend it, but hey, it was good enough to finish. Maybe there were a few redeeming parts.
3 Stars- I enjoyed it but have a few hang-ups. Not enough to not recommend it, though.
4 Stars- Now this was a good book and I definitely recommend it.
5 Stars- Freaking A-mazing (I give these out very rarely).

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So, we're in the midst of a toilet paper shortage, we're now home-schooling our children, we're working from home or worse, have been laid-off, we've had an earthquake with a million little ones to follow (okay, really only 650+), we're living in isolation, and we're in the middle of a global pandemic. The world is in crisis.
All I can say is... I hope you're finding a way to hang in there!

Since we seem to have more time on our hands than we have, maybe, ever, it's a great time to open a new book. So, grab a ticket, board the metaphorical airplane, and join me in some of the far reaches of the world... if only in the mind and heart.

My recommendation theme: YA Fiction
*In no particular order.
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One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
4/5 stars (Me)
4/5 stars (Goodreads)
YA Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for YA Fiction (2017), South Carolina Book Award Nominee for YA (2020), Evergreen Teen Book Award Nominee for High School (2020), and so many more...

This was a fun, quick read, pulling me in right from the very beginning! This is the story of four high schoolers who suddenly find themselves in the middle of the murder investigation of a fellow classmate. It was the characters that I loved most - each one so different from the next. I loved getting to know their personalities, discovering their secrets, seeing their dreams. And the murder-mystery element just made the story that much more fun and engaging. Everyone has something to hide... how far would you go to keep your secrets?


The Selection by Kiera Cass 
3.5/5 stars (Me)
4/5 stars (Goodreads)
YA Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction - Dystopia
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for YA Fantasy & Science Fiction (2012), Lincoln Award Nominee (2015)

Let me begin by telling you this is a 5-book series. BUT, only books 1-3 (The Selection, The Elite, & The One) are the original story. Books 4 & 5 are a spin-off story. And my recommendation is only for the original story (books 1-3). In a dystopian future society, America Singer, ranked low in the caste system, is chosen for The Selection - a group of 35 young women chosen at random to win the heart of Prince Maxon and be chosen as his future bride. America is both loveable and a train-wreck, but one you just can't look away from. This book is The Bachelor meets the Princess Diaries, and just like both of them... it's completely entertaining. I ate up those first three books like candy. 


The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel
4/5 stars (Me)
4/5 stars (Goodreads)
YA Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction - Dystopia
Georgia Peach Book Award Winner (2016), Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence Nominee for YA Fiction (2015), Missouri Gateway Readers Award (2017)

This book is also a series, followed by its sequel The Revolution of Ivy. I was hooked from the very beginning of this book and hated that I had to wait months for the second one to come out. An arranged marriage brings Ivy and Bishop together, and while he sets out to get to know her, to befriend her, to make a valiant effort at their marriage, she has a different goal: to assassinate him. It was the characters I loved most. I crushed on sweet, handsome Bishop, and watching Ivy grow into her own, I really rooted for her, just crossing my fingers that she'd come to her senses in the end. What this book comes down to is this... who do you put first, the family you were born into, or the one you marry into? And the ending... well... I was holding my breath.


We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
4.5/5 stars (Me)
4/5 stars (Goodreads)
YA Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery
Goodreads Choice Awards for YA Fiction Winner (2014), Georgia Peach Award Winner (2015), Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee for YA (2016), Lincoln Award Winner (2016), and SO many more...

This book took me by surprise in so many ways. First, I just flat-out loved it, which isn't often for mystery books for me, and second, it shocked the pants off me. That, that doesn't happen to me much. I loved everything about this book. What can be better than a damaged young girl, a handsome, political boy, a private family island, an accident... a secret.... I won't say anymore. Like the back says:
"Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE."



The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
5/5 stars (Me)
4/5 stars (Goodreads)
YA Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads Choice Award for YA Winner (2012) and Nominee for Best of the Best (2018), Georgia Peach Book Award Winner (2013), Audie Award for Teens Winner (2013), Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for YA Winner (2013), Evergreen Teen Book Award Winner (2015), and SO many more...

Yep, you're seeing it right... 5 stars! I loved this book, and it just swallowed me whole. It's the moving story of Hazel, the stoic, brave teenage girl with terminal cancer, and August, the fun-loving, easy-going young man who knows a thing or two about what it's like to endure. It's comical, it's endearing, it's honest, raw, and heartbreaking. What these two characters have, what they share, is so perfect that I wish I could hold onto it forever. What this story so poignantly and brilliantly shows us is that sometimes there is as much tragedy in living as there is in dying. Just thinking about this story now gives me all the feels all over again.


If I Stay by Gayle Forman
4.5/5 stars (Me)
4/5 stars (Goodreads)
YA Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for YA Fiction (2009), Georgia Peach Book Award Nominee for Honor Book (2010), South Carolina Book Award Nominee for YA (2011), Blue Hen Book Award for Teen Readers Winner (2011), and so many more...

This is another story that gave me all the feels. In the blink of an eye, a tragic accident changes everything for Mia, a musical prodigy with big dreams and a bright future. This story is raw and full of heart... it is the good in life and love. Ultimately our lives come down to the choices that we make... they are what define us. Mia's pivotal moment, everything she that is, comes down to one choice: to stay or to go. 

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Other YA books I love, but you already knew I loved so I didn't include them:
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Divergent trilogy by Veronic Roth
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Honorable Mentions:
Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan












1 comment:

  1. Here’s mine:
    Night by Elie Wiesel
    All The Light We Cannot See
    The Nightingale
    Salt to the Sea
    Boy in the Striped Pajamas
    The Book Thief
    I will also give mention to Farewell to Manzanar.
    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete