Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Your Last Five Books

I've been doing a lot of reading in the past few weeks, getting through novels a lot quicker than I usually do. I thought it might be fun to list the last five books I've read because I recommend each one of them very highly.

8th Grade Superzero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch
Up From The Blue by Susan Henderson
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

I also noticed a similar theme in these vastly different books: a desire to be a better person. A desire to be someone new.

An 8th grader who wants to redefine who he is, not the kid who puked in the lunchroom, but who changed an entire community.
A woman willing to go to incomprehensible lengths to make a difference in a stranger's life.
A woman desperate not to change the course of her life who soon discovers that she must in order to find happiness.
A young girl desperate to be accepted by two parents with very different views about how she should think and feel.
And the 'popular' mean girl in high school who finds herself with 7 chances to find out who she really is as she struggles to get the last day of her life 'just right'.

I think we must be living in a time when people are redefining who they are. They want to do the right thing and be better people. Our literature must reflect that.

So, what are the last five books you read? Do you see any similar themes?

5 comments:

  1. right now i'm reading "dogs of babel" and i'm really loving it. you can whiz thru it in just days.

    i just finished, "i am not a serial killer". interesting. not my typical read, but i did like it.

    thank u so much for putting those books up b/c i read a lot and am always looking for more! :)

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  2. The last few books I've read all had some sort of mystery/conspiracy that unravels toward the end. That's part of the reason that I kept going. :)

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  3. I've been reading more dystopian stuff, with themes of "here I am, trapped in this restrictive world" kind of stuff. Funny how different themes emerge in what we read!

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  4. Kerri, I am putting Dogs of Babel on my list. Too weird for me not to read.

    Sandy, I love big reveals and, yet, I never seem to read mysteries. I might have to change that.

    Lydia, I never knew I was a dystopian fan until I read "The Adoration of Jenna Fox." Now I want more, more, more!

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  5. What a cool exercise. Last five = Lament, The Sky is Everywhere, The Sweetheart of Prosper County, Looking for Alaska and Hero. Somebody dies or has died in all of them. That's the first commonality that comes to mind . . . interesting thing to think about. Thanks.

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