Lose Yourself in the World of Books
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls in Pants, Forever in Blue I have been best friends with Tibby, Carmen, Lena and Bridget for more than half my life now. The summer before I turned fourteen, I was attempting to walk to the Barnes and Noble of Virginia Beach… Continue reading Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares
I picked this book up a few years ago at my favorite local bookstore (where I now work). It was shortly after I moved to the southeastern part of Pennsylvania and I was really lonely, trying to make friends and I was drawn to the story (and admittedly the cover – I’m a sucker for… Continue reading My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
I’ll readily admit that Ella’s dark green dress on the front cover of the first paperback edition was what first caught my attention. But given my established record as a lover of fairy tale adaptations, it should come as no surprise that this is the book that started my obsession! Synopsis How can a fairy's… Continue reading Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
A few years ago I was looking for new books to listen to on my long work drives and picked up Eleanor & Park, having seen it all over the book stores and hearing lots of wonderful things about Rainbow Rowell’s work. I almost didn’t bother listening to it after the first 5 minutes –… Continue reading Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, Fourth Comings, Perfect Fifths Jessica Darling helped me survive high school. I was first introduced to the delightfully snarky, sarcastic and spunky teen heroine of Sloppy Firsts when I was a freshman in speech and debate practice after school one autumn afternoon back in 2003. A frenemy of mine… Continue reading Jessica Darling quintet by Megan McCafferty
Anna and the French Kiss #1 This book came very highly reviewed on Goodreads and seemed like a fun quick in-between book to read while I was student teaching. I figured it wouldn’t require much thought and could help me related to students. But I have since discovered that “young adult” consists of two subcategories… Continue reading Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Upside-Down Magic #1 One of my coworkers really enjoyed the Upside-Down Magic series and recommended, as a former teacher who worked with students with unique learning needs, I would appreciate it as well, and she was right! Synopsis It's never easy when your magic goes wonky. For Nory, this means that instead of being able to turn… Continue reading Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle & Emily Jenkins
I finally realized why I read so many books about young women during World War II. My grandmother grew up in Nürnberg during this time and she has never spoken about her childhood. From what my father has told me about her experiences, I wouldn’t talk about it either. I read so many books because… Continue reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows Millennials, my generation, are defined in some small part by their relationship with Harry Potter. Almost all of us have a story about when we were first introduced the the boy wizard who changed our reading… Continue reading Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Essays and Stories Fantasy author Brian Staveley once told me he was haunted by the yellow coat on the cover of The Opposite of Loneliness, and for good reason - he was one of Marina Keegan's high school teachers. He knew her before the rest of the world knew her. The Opposite of Loneliness would never had been… Continue reading The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
Celebration of Books 