So, Darren tagged me in a Fall Books thing, and only listed 5 books, and seeing as I never got tagged in the 10 Books that changed your life thing, Ive decided to just go and combine them into Raelees favorite books/what I read in the fall. These are my absolute favorites, but I love almost every book I read. Here we go: 1. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George: I have my mothers copy of this book, and its just perfection. The book follows a girl named Kat, who grew up on a plantation in Barbados, who then moves to a New England colony. Its all about how she adjusts, and to me, it focuses on how to work with people who think and act differently than you. (This may or may not also be a plug, since Bellevue College is producing the show this spring). 2. The Joys of Love by Madeleine Engle: This book was actually released by Engles granddaughters after she died. It follows an actress named Elizabeth at a small summer theater. ITS SUPER CUTE, but also has this beautiful effect of making me contemplate my own life while reading it. I generally read this twice a year; beginning of summer, and around the first snowfall. 3. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli: This is an amazing book that was really popular back in middle school, but its still a favorite. Its nice and short, and the difficulty level is really up to you. If you want it to be a simple high school story, then it is. If you want to analyze it till you are exploding with metaphors and allegory, you can do that too. 4. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray: I love this book so so much. A plane full of beauty contestants crashes on an abandoned island. This book is a beauty of a satire. Watch the contestants struggle with the patriarchy; stealing things from their dead friends; blow stuff up; and all while having time for that bikini contest. It took me a couple chapters to really get into it the first time, but it is perfection now. 5.Skies Over Sweetwater by Julia Moberg: Another short one, following Brydie who is one of the lucky women to train as a WASP during WWII. Each character has her own trope; the poor farm girl, rich kid, the Chinese-american whom everyone thinks is Japanese and has to deal with a crap ton of racism, the girl who is seemingly perfect, etc. This book is glorious. 6. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. (I dont need to explain this do I?) 7. Its Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini: a book focused on dealing with mental illness, written by someone who had mental illness (who ended up committing suicide due to said mental illness), its intense stuff. And its heartwarming. And its comforting. And its perfect. (Was also made into a movie, but the movie is pretty mellow compared to the book). 8. Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier: This author is great at spinning fairytales that are complex, and interesting, and dont feel childish at all. I first read this book in middle school, and ended up buying my own copy so I could read it over and over. The book is very loosely based on The 12 Dancing Princesses (my favorite fairytale; girls drugging male escorts so they can go dancing at night, um yes). But also has some Princess and The Frog and its just so beautiful, and her imagery is so spot one, ugh. Check her out even if this one doesnt interest you, because she is great. 9. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck: I dont really know why I love this book so much, but I do. A girl is sent to live in the country with her crazy grandma during the 1937 recession so she wont be a burden to her parents. About as long as Sweetwater, following Mary Alice deal with a grandma who likes to steal pecans, trip children, and has a boa in the attic. Lighthearted, especially considering this next one: 10. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown: I really dont know why it took me so long to read this book, but I picked it up on a bookstore run with Aud, and I didnt have any fingernails by the end of the week. So so good, a historical, artsy mystery. Ugh. Perfect. Next up: Angels and Demons. Bonus: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr; A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett; The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold; Surprise Island by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I tag: Sara, Brogan, Rachel, Dean, Mary, Brooke and Adelaide (You dont have to do it, only if you want to, also I couldnt remember who had done something like this, so I just went for it.)
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 03:26:34 +0000