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Recommended Reading
YWP! If you have books to recommend, share them in the Book Club! Add short reviews (1 or 2 sentences is all you need!), and we'll add them to this "Recommended Reading" series through the school year. Also, see Iris's Bookshelf for more book reviews! [Illustration: "A Place to Escape" by catgato, YWP]
You might also like stand-alone novel Daughter of the Deep, also written by Rick Riordan. (I also HIGHLY recommend the new Percy Jackson TV show on Disney Plus.)
- RECOMMENDED by DotToDot
I recently read The Song Of Achillies, which is a book written from the point of view of Patroclus. It follows Achillies and Patroclus through the beginning of the Trojan War, and it's full of torn emotions and gods. I definitely recommend!
RECOMMENDED by abigail_and_bean
I like Katherine Applegate's books. That includes The One and Only Ivan, The One and Only Bob, The One and Only Ruby, and the soon-to-be-released, The One and Only Family. These books are amazing with perspectives from animals and an easy-to-read format. She talks about people hunting and trapping animals. I highly recommend her books!
RECOMMENDED by Dippy_Cat
Any Rick Riordan book is amazing! I recommend Percy Jackson and the Olympians if you haven’t read the series yet. I’m rereading it for the 3rd time, and I’m starting Trials of Apollo after finishing Heroes of Olympus. Rick’s awesome storytelling mixed with your average Greek mythology just simply go together like Grover and tin cans. If you like something that involves lots of laugh-out-loud humor, sweet and sour moments that will make you die inside, and food, then PJO is definitely for you! :)
I just want to share a book that opened up my eyes to certain issues with internet media and its use called Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. It is non-fiction that was written by a professor named Neil Postman. What makes this book so interesting is not only the significant and relevant points made by the author, but the fact that it was written in 1985 before the majority of the media we consume now was created. Even back then, Postman addressed problems with our electronic media consumption that continue to ring true today. It may get a little boring at times, but I promise that it is a worthy read!
RECOMMENDED by Adeline_17
One of my favorite books is The Cruel Prince, written by Holly Black; it is a book about a girl named Jude who was taken from the mortal world and forced to live in the faerie world with the fey. There she faces challenges being a human until she is given a job that could give her the power she had been hoping for. If you like young adult fantasy and a bit of romance then this is the book for you!
RECOMMENDED by Fainting Goat
One of my favorites is a book called I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver. It's about a kid who gets kicked out for being nonbinary, and then has to go live with their estranged sister. It's a little emotionally heavy, but it's so good.
RECOMMENDED by ivy.vine
I recently read Arcadia by Lauren Groff. I highly recommend, I really got sucked into her prose and unconventional novel structuring. There are sooo many things to talk and think about in this novel. I would love to plug Lauren Groff, another one of her novels, The Vaster Wilds, just made it on Obama's top books of 2023 list. Go check her out!
RECOMMENDED by QueenBee
I really liked A Duet for Home, Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger (there's a graphic novel out too now!), The Swifts, and of course Harry Potter.
RECOMMENDED by ominouspoet
RECOMMENDED by GertietheGremlin
I read this book once called The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James. It is fantastic. It follows a girl stuck on a spaceship and her journey to a new planet. This book takes classic sci-fi premises and pairs them with suspense, wonder, and heartache. A must read!
RECOMMENDED by Geri
I recently read The Great Gatsby for the 2nd time, and I really like it. It's accessible and easy to understand; while still being impactful. All the things Fitzgerald writes about like consumption, greed, and delusion are still relevant today. Has anyone else read it? What do you think?
RECOMMENDED by wildcat
If you like mystery and books that will give you a laugh, read The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman! There are four of them, and I’ve read three. I loved them all, can’t wait to read the fourth! It’s about a group of elderly people in a retirement home solving local mysteries – it’s hilarious, heartbreaking, and hooking all at the same time. I feel that it really gives you a perspective on the difficulties and challenges of aging, but also shows you that age doesn’t have to stop you.
RECOMMENDED by Sawyer Fell
After being in a year-long book slump, I have finally read a book. And it is fantastic! The Stranger by Albert Camus is relatively short, a little humorous, and overall a very immersive read. If you are starting to read classic books or want to, this would be a great start. If you have read it, let me know because I am obsessed and love talking about it.
RECOMMENDED by ominouspoet
I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and it's one of my favorite books. It's about a boy named Charlie who's going into high school, and it's all about him navigating his life and friends and the trauma he's faced.
RECOMMENDED by Anna_banana
I just finished reading Macbeth for school and honestly, it is very good and I do recommend it. The writing style takes a while to get used to but it will make more sense as you go on.
RECOMMENDED by Anna_banana
I am currently reading a poetry book called Home by Whitney Hanson. I am rereading this book for the 5th time after having it for a month. It is about the hard journey of heartbreak. Her poems make me feel cozy while I explore her carefully picked-out words. Her book somehow makes me truly feel like I'm in the world of writing and her book is a garden of newly planted interest. Highly recommend this book for those who are finding themselves wanting to immerse themselves in the culture of poetry.
RECOMMENDED by Amelia_v
I am reading Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu in my literature class right now. This book shows how many ways you can stand up for your fellow female classmates against sexual harassment. I have always loved this book because the main character Vivian is very shy, and quiet, and yet she starts the movement! Let's just say I always cry at the end (it's a good ending).
RECOMMENDED by emi_art_now
I'm just gonna say it, Heartstopper by Alice Oseman is SO GOOD! such a wonderfully sweet graphic novel with one of the loveliest teen romances I've ever read about. Highly recommend.
RECOMMENDED by origami5432
One of my favorite books is The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. It's perfect if you're looking for one of those books with all the story lines connected in some way. It gives off great late fall, foggy day vibes.
RECOMMENDED by Goldenrose
I just read Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, and I highly recommend it! It's the perfect mix of romance, heartbreak, and mystery that makes it so hard to put down.
RECOMMENDED by Isidora June
My favorite reads:
Jane Austin - Pride & Prejudice - Sense & Sensibility - 4 Stars
Delia Owens - Where the Crawdads Sing - 4 Stars
Madeline Miller - Circe - The Song Of Achilles - 5 Stars
Homer - The Odyssey - The Iliad - 3 Stars
Lisa See - Island Of The Sea Women - 5 Stars
Read them!
RECOMMENDED by willameden
I just finished Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. It was a fantastic read, I couldn't put it down! I would suggest the book to anyone who is into lots of drama between characters.
RECOMMENDED by GertietheGremlin
I am a huge sci-fi nerd and I felt compelled to share my favorite piece of science-fiction I have read to date. It is called To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars by Christopher Paolini. It is truly a gorgeous book and I couldn’t put it down.
RECOMMENDED by Writer1326
I just read an amazing book series called The Daughter of Sparta by Claire M. Andrews (who is also a local VT author)! As someone who doesn't read a lot of retellings of Greek mythology, I LOVED this one. The main character was just the perfect amount of brave and selfless, meanwhile still having moments of selfishness and fear. I highly recommend it!
RECOMMENDED by Isidora June
I just read a beautiful piece of literature. It was entitled Circe and was written by Madeline Miller. It followed a goddess from Greek mythology, who was exiled to an island for an act of crime. The stories told in that book changed my life in a way, and I plan on reading it more than once. Five stars.
AND IN RESPONSE:
RECOMMENDED by Geri
I read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and it's also really good! She's a great storyteller.
RECOMMENDED and REVIEWED by charvermont
Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
A death, an unexpected appearance, and a just-as-much unexpected disappearance are what confronts our protagonist, Antonia Vega, in Alvarez’s novel about finding oneself and one’s community. Antonia finds herself aiding many different people in her own moment of need, but finds her way in the helping of (and being helped by) others.
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
A mystery set in the art dealing world of Los Angeles that unfolds itself in the setting of an airport lounge, over the course of just a few hours. Our protagonist bumps into long-ago college acquaintance, Jeff Cook, at LAX, and as they find out their flight is delayed, Jeff takes it upon himself to share the dark life story he has never revealed to anyone except for just now, in this moment. A must-read.
Foster by Claire Keegan
We are in rural Ireland, and a young girl is sent to spend the summer away from her own family, and with a different, unknown, and unfamiliar family. Over the course of her few months with the couple that takes her in, a deep love blossoms that is the truest of its kind. A heartwarming yet simultaneously heartbreaking story.
Weather by Jenny Offill
One of the only current realistic fiction novels that actually sees and reveals our world as what it is: already past the point of no return. In Weather, Offill’s main character exemplifies climate anxiety (with a dabble of political anxiety) in a way that is too often hard to find in today’s novels. Weather offers a stark and honest point of view on the changes that are happening to our world.
Euphoria by Lily King
Three anthropologists, two who are married, are struggling through a twisting love triangle that follows them all over the world. Finding that they can’t escape each other, the only option is to find their way through and out of their circling orbits.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved classic and Pulitzer Prize winner, To Kill a Mockingbird, revolves around the prejudice, hate, and heartlessness that surrounds young Scout’s entire world in the 1930s. All through the eyes of a young kid, To Kill a Mockingbird has the perspective that many don’t.