Never Let Me Go

Last month I posted about the Jessica Darling series...I would like to retract this recommendation.  After reading the other four books in the series I found each one more irritating than the last and the narrator to be more whiny and annoying.  I apologize if you took this advice.  I had no idea the other four books would be so much more disappointing.

However, I do have a new recommendation for you.  This week I read Never Let Me Go [Paperback].  This book is similar to that movie called The Island.  However, this was much more haunting and intense.  This book still lingers with me after finishing the last page.  I think about a world like the one portrayed in this novel.  A world where clones are raised to be organ donors and this is a fate they accept.  There is no running away or escape from captors.  It is quite the opposite.  These clones have accepted their future and this is about life knowing what you are and what you're destined to be and the scary realization that your life is worth less than someone else's.  I recommend this book!

Little Bee and Sloppy Firsts

This week I read two books you all might like.  It's pretty funny but these books are complete opposites of each other in every way possible.  The first book, Little Bee: A Novel, a New York Times Bestseller, is about a Nigerian refugee and this white family from London.  The story is harsh, depressing, and intriguing but the way it is told is completely fascinating and compelling.  It starts out in present day and introduces you to Little Bee and this white family in chapters alternated by narrator and the tense changes from past to present and back again.  I would suggest this book to anyone not faint of heart and committed to strong storytelling!

The second book this week is sarcastic and light-hearted.   Sloppy Firsts: A Jessica Darling Novel, is about a girl in high school who's best friend just moved away.  Meanwhile, she struggles with the challenges of a less than understanding family and the pain of high school.   Any one can relate to this story and can appreciate the ironic and smart writing by Megan McCafferty. It's been described as a Judy Bloom meets Sylvia Plath and I would say that is completely accurate!  This book won't be for most readers, but if you feel like a drive through memory lane of your own high school experiences this may be a fun read...