The Hate U Give ~ Angie Thomas

Rating: 10/10 Thomas's timely novel about Starr and the BLM movement blew me away with her powerful and honest tale. Starr is a typical girl in High School, cares about what he friends think, what shoes she wears, and how she can keep her brothers out of her business. She excels in school, is a …

How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child ~ Sandra Uwiringiyimana

Rating: 10/10 A memoir from Sandra's perspective, How Dare the Sun Rise is the story of Uwiringiyimana's childhood in a war torn country and her family's immigration to the United States as refugees. Uwiringiyimana grew up in the DR of Congo and later moved to Rwanda as a refugee, ultimately emigrating to the us. She …

Girl in Translation ~ Jean Kwok

Rating: 10/10 Girl in Translation is the fictionalized story rooted in Kwok's own history. A young Chinese mother and her daughter emigrate Hong Kong for New York. Told from the perspective of the daughter, Kimberly Chang, American life is not as expected for these women. They were given a work visa from Kim's aunt and …

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle ~ Barbara Kingsolver

Rating: 10/10 This book inspired me, for sure. I have only read one other of Kingsolver's books so far, and that is The Bean Trees, which I also remember enjoying. I picked this book up on a whim, shortly after I started reading A Dirty Life, a farming memoir. I was charmed by Kingsolver's family approach …

Manhood for Amateurs ~ Michael Chabon

Rating: 9/10 I have only read a few of his books so far, including Summerland and Telegraph Avenue, but I have felt inspired to read more of Chabon since I finished the first book of his that I picked up.  Manhood for Amateurs is a memoir/series of essays written about his experiences of boyhood and …

Me Talk Pretty One Day ~ David Sedaris

I've learned a couple of things about myself with regards to David Sedaris over the years. First of all, I introduced myself to Sedaris with one of his newer books, How to Discuss Diabetes with Owls and since then have been working my way backwards. I was certainly hooked with that first book, and I …

A Court of Wings and Ruin ~ Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 😍😭😲😂😍😍😍 I cannot begin to review ACOWAR without first reminding myself and you of it's predecessors, A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) and A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAF). There will be spoilers. At this point, it simply cannot be helped. But believe me, there are so many themes, motives, nuances, there …