in august, i read:
six of crows, by leigh bardugo (this is a YA novel that i suggested for my book club...and it was not the best YA novel i've read...not sure i would recommend this to others. six teenagers who live in a post-apocalyptic world and try to seek revenge and freedom by going on a journey. this author has written a ton of books so she must have a pretty good following but this one wasn't quite for me.)
the dorito effect, by mark schatzker (i listened to this audiobook, about how the food industry manipulates us and promotes fake foods. i found a lot of it really interesting - "natural flavor," for example, means nothing and is entirely artificial....in the process of getting bigger fruits and vegetables and bigger cuts of meat we have sacrificed flavor...all things i suspected but now have some research backing up. if you're interested in food ethics i would highly recommend this!)
shadow of the lions, by christopher swann (chris is a friend of mine from atlanta! i read his book because...how could i not. i expected it to be pretty good - it was making a lot of "best of" southern author lists this summer, but i did not expect to love it quite as much as i did. i would highly recommend this! set in a southern boarding school both during the narrator's time as a student and then again when he comes back to teach. it takes some pretty interesting twists and the writing is lovely. two thumbs up!)
the hate u give, by angie thomas (okay, this is the best book i've read all year and if it doesn't win the printz award for best YA book then the whole thing is rigged. highly highly recommend. the main character is a black girl who attends a private school...and then watches her friend - a black teenage boy - get shot by police. i LOVED the narrator's voice and the author's writing style and i found the topic incredibly important and relevant. read this!
