Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Yes, yes. I know. I'm really late reading this. Most people read this book 4 years ago when it came out. My list of books to read is about that long, so if I ever read a book the year it came out, it's a miracle. By the way, that happened with All the Bright Places. Which means it's a great book and you should read it.

Mindy Kaling is really funny and I like her a lot. She is real and approachable in this book, unlike the last memoir I read, Yes Please by Amy Phoeler.

Mindy comes across as an actually real person. Making mistakes and laughing at them. The format of the book is fantastic and this was well worth the read. Another miracle will occur if I can find time to get to Tiny Fay's book.

River Secrets

This is another YA novel in one of Shannon Hale's series. Once again, I read it to make sure it's appropriate for my 4th grader. Although there is lots of talk about violence and some romance, there's nothing I deemed inappropriate for her. I was on the fence about it though since the themes are more mature. Ultimately, one of the reasons I love Hale is that her books are an in between of traditional YA and Juvenile Fiction. It's not as graphic and mature as The Hunger Games, but it's no Percy Jackson either.

The war between Tira and Bayern is over and in an effort at promoting peace, ambassadors were exchanged from both countries. Tira did not accept the Bayern as well as hoped for and there is an attempt at a coop and a restart of the war. Each one of Hale's novels has most of the same main characters in them, but they all focus on one of the characters in depth. This one is about Razo and why he is valuable to the Bayern army when he's so physically weak and small.

The story was great and believable. I enjoyed this one as much as the others.

All the Bright Places

Oh my word. This is a fantastic book. Beautiful and tragic. Sweet and funny. And Important. 

You shouldn't know a thing about it until you read it so don't try to know what it's about beforehand. Then you can deliciously discover the lives of Finch and Violet, two teenagers in high school. Violet is a popular girl and Finch is on the fringe. He's the musician who's a little odd.

You will feel many things throughout this book. It's lovely and difficult. It's full of heaviness, so its not a light read but it is an important one. I'm hesitant to say what the book is about for fear of 1. Ruining the surprise ending of a good well written important book. And 2. You won't want to read it anymore.

This is a favorite of mine now not just for the story or the writing, both of which are suburb. But also for the content. It's a piercing, funny, frustrating, sad book that is also a call to action. I highly recommend this book especially if you like messy endings. But even if you like happy endings because there is a bigger picture I this book than just the book. A bigger message that everyone should be aware of.

It's a YA, but it definitely not appropriate for elementary aged kids. Think along the lines of Me Before You and The Fault in Our Stars.

Palace of Mirrors

Cecilia is a normal village girl, but she has an important secret. She's actually the true princess. In order to keep her safe, the queen kid her before she and the king were murdered by power-hungry enemies.

She decides to spill her secret to her best friend, Harper. When danger comes to their village and her life is in danger, she and Harper decide to make their way to the city and go to the castle to tell the fake princess who she really is.

This book is a great follow up to Just Ella and I think it's a great series for young girls to read mainly because it's well written, creative, and not boy-centric.

Just Ella

Just Ella is the first book in The Palace Chronicles from Haddix. It's a modern, feminist take on the story of Cinderella. Prince Charming turns out to be shallow and Ella does not want to marry him. The book is about her trying to find her own life in the midst of the danger of trying to live in a palace of royalty who only cares about themselves. It's a great book for elementary girls. And 36-year-old moms.

The Forgotten Sisters

I didn't read The Princess Academy though its supposed to be great. I picked this up to make sure the series is still appropriate for my 10 year old and just to get a pulse for the kind of books she likes (she loved The Princess Academy). Apparently she and I have similar tastes. This was a really cute story and I love the feminist theme running throughout all her novels. I appreciate that the female characters in here are smart but without making the male characters dumb. They are empowered. And they can do things men can do and sometimes better. I love that they are strong role models yet have soft hearts and are honorable. Great book and I highly recommend for upper elementary girls.

This is about Miri having to leave to be a tutor to the King's cousins, Astrid, Felissa, and Sus. They live in a swamp and have learned to fend for themselves, even though they are royalty. It's a well written and creative book.

The Visibles

This book is good. Not great-read-it-right-away. But good. It's about Summer, a girl who loves science in high school and wants to follow in her dad's footsteps and become a medical researcher. However, her life falls apart and that shapes her future. Her mom leaves the dad and Summer. The dad gets diagnosed with depression and it's severe. Summer decides to drop out of college and move back in with her father so she can help him with ECT treatments he's going to try.

This is a good book for book clubs since it's full of life lessons. Our childhood affects our adulthood. Our parents are flawed. Our dreams sometimes don't get fulfilled. I enjoyed the book a lot.