Fiction
Nonfiction
“Screenwriting is Storytelling” written by Kate Wright, forwarded by Arthur Hiller, is a diverse, and engaging introduction to screenwriting with many lessons in plot and character development. Evaluating dozens of popular movies and providing insight into the art of creating a story, Wright gages screenwriting past simply making a scene eligible to an actor or director and expands the concept to the very origin of a script, the story. From this, Wright not only guides the reader through the process of making a handsome script, she as well includes the detailed aspects that create a subtle, yet concise, deeper meaning of a story.
The almost rigid, scrupulous manner Wright orders a story into, can be a well-fit reference book for those who have no issue abiding by a stricter structure, but can also be a downside for those who prefer a more Dan Harmon approach—following a simple guideline—with room for some wiggles.
Either way, the information Wright provides is undeniably useful. I’ve found a deeper appreciation for film/story genres that—frankly—I’ve never been much a fan of, and it’s through the arduous journey of creating a script from the ground-up, that a story can be truly appreciated, which Kate Wright does a fantastic job at being the tour guide.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurstson, is a contemporary fiction novel regarding the tale of Janie Crawford and her quest to find love. I like how the book introduces the characters in the beginning, after Janie's journey to find love, and then Janie tells her best friend about how she ended up where she was. Originally, her grandmother wed her to a man she was uninterested in. In fact, she was so uninterested in her husband that she ran off with another, more exciting man. The more she stayed with the exciting man, named Joe Starks, (she eventually married him), the more he hurt (physically/emotionally) her. Later, Joe dies, and she has little to no remorse over his death. A couple months later, she meets Tea Cake, and eventually falls in love with him. The part that I don't like about this book is that Tea Cake has a lot of warning flags, but they all seem to fly over Janie's head. I don't know if the author intended for the main character to be foolish or not, it simply shocked me how willing Janie was to devote herself to Tea Cake.
Moneyball, written by Micheal Lewis, is a narrative, nonfiction novel based on the miraculous 2002 season of the Oakland Athletics. Micheal Lewis was inspired to write about the Oakland A's because of the statistics behind the game. He realized that even though the Oakland A's had one of the lowest budgets in the MLB at the time, they were winning an unusually high number of games. What Micheal Lewis wanted to know was: why was the cost-per-win so low in comparison to other teams? Was the Oakland A's performance a fluke, or was it not?
Billy Bean, the general manager for the Oakland A's and his trusty statistician, Paul DePodesta can answer both. Billy realized that he had to look at the game differently to obtain an advantage over other teams. All the "good" players followed the money, leaving the unpicked players for the teams that could not afford the good ones. The problem was that Billy Bean could not afford the good ones. Paul DePodesta found a way to search through the seemingly useless pile of players to find stars. He realized that some player's traits, such as batting average, were overvalued in the market, while some, such as on-base percentage, were undervalued. DePodesta saw that a player, in the eyes of the market, with a low batting average was worth more than a player with a high on-base percentage. He realized that he could buy high quality players for less, and that is exactly what he did. I liked the book because it has interesting statistics in it, and it also highlights the ingenuity that went behind one of the best seasonal records in the MLB.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, written by Maya Angelou, is an autobiographical account of Angelou's childhood. When Maya is a young child, her parents divorce. After the divorce her parents send her and her brother, Baily to Stamps, Arkansas to live with their Grandmother, where her Grandmother, affectionately referred to as "Momma", runs a convenience store. Angelou, despite her self-consciousness, appears to have had a great childhood growing up in the store. After about five years, Angelou's dad unexpectedly comes in and takes Bailey and her to their mother, who was living in St. Louis. While there, Angelou is molested by her mother's boyfriend. The boyfriend is quickly murdered and Angelou feels responsible for the death.
I liked to book because Angelou highlights how anyone can do what they set their mind to, and even in bad situations a human can grow immensely.
I first read this book after it was recommended to me by a teacher, and needless to say, it instantly became a favorite.
Food: A Love Story is the second hilarious memoir by comedian Jim Gaffigan about - you guessed it - food. It covers the culinary distinctions throughout geographical regions of the United States, the difficulty of eating healthy in a world of delicious junk food, the conspiracy that lead to the creation of the Chimichanga, the shame at eating at McDonalds without children, and more. This book has it all. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wants a good laugh.
Reviewer grade: 9
With all that goes on in the world, politically and socially, it is important to seek out resources and educate yourself on the topics you care about. This book was that for me. I like how the author used her credibility as a doctor to share facts about abortion while also opening up a platform for individuals to tell their deeply personal stories. This book is heavy and heartbreaking and empowering. I can't recommend it enough.
Grade 12
In this book, you follow four childhood friends (shown from the perspective of Isa Wilde) as the secrets of their past actions come back to haunt them.
I was intrigued by the premise of the story, but for the most part, the story was pretty boring and predictable. The concept of a lying game in the past was interesting and I was excited to see how would play into the story. The secret about what happened almost 20 years earlier seemed really overplayed to me. What actually happened didn't really seem as much of a big reveal as I thought it would be. The final twist at the end of the book wasn't anything special and I figured it out pretty quickly compared to other stories. The ending was anti-climactic; by the end of the story, I wasn't invested. The characters were fine: originally, they seemed relatable and human for the most part, but as the story progressed, I grew to dislike a couple of the main characters. Their actions seemed abnormal and irritating, and even within the context of the story, I still couldn't get over it. This could have been a better book, but the payoff wasn't there.
Reviewer's Grade: 11
When Breath Becomes Air is an autobiographical, nonfiction, story of Paul Kalanithi, a man who has worked his whole life to pursue his dreams. Kalanithi is a top neurosurgeon-neuroscientist a couple years away from graduating medical school. Even before graduating, million dollar offers pour in for Kalanithi to head new, top research facilities. However, disaster strikes: lung cancer. Kalanithi talks about his progression from seeing people in the patient's chair to being the one in the chair. Throughout his journey, Kalanithi informs the reader of the life cycle, the importance of hard work, and most importantly, family and love.
Here, you follow Jack Forman as he wages through his wife's unusual behavior and the nanotechnology her company created and developed.
For my first Crichton novel, I really enjoyed it. Watching Jack as he waded through his suspicious and the dangers he faces was a thrill to watch. While the characters themselves felt a bit bland, the plot, scientific mystery, and thriller aspects of the story make up for it. Learning about nanotechnology and different parts of programming was also fun to read, even if I didn't understand all of it. The pacing of the novel was done pretty well, from the beginning with Jack's wife, to the her place of work later in the novel. The way the danger was presented and changed was done well and kept me on my toes until the resolution. I recommend this for those who like thrillers and/or sci-fi.
Reader's Grade: 11
Little is known about the attack on Bob Marley on December 3, 1976, but Marlon James re-creates the incident as well as the characters before, during, and after the attack on the singer's life. Including over 70 characters, the story follows the first perspective of gang members, CIA agents, affairs, journalists, and others as the way of life in Jamaica spans from the 1970s to early 1990s.
This book is packed with colorful characters, story, and the way of life present in Jamaica back in the late 20th century. I enjoyed reading about the characters and how they revolved around The Singer (Bob Marley) and each other. For an incident that people know little about, James is able to create a wonderful picture about the possible involvement of various parties, the situation that influenced it, and what may have happened afterwards.
However, a (personal) issue I had with the book is the way it is written. Since the many characters are from Jamaica in the late 1900s, I had trouble understanding their dialect as they spoke. One character in particular, Bam-Bam, was especially difficult for me to understand, and this made it difficult for me to go through the story smoothly. Another problem I had was the layout of the text. Everything is in big blocks of text and dialogue is written in a way that I find odd and unorthodox. While there is nothing wrong with having a unique style, especially for the characters and story, it made it hard for me to understand some parts of the story and drew away from the experience I had with the book.
If you're into more realistic and introspective fiction, this could be worth your time.
Reviewer's Grade: 11
If you're looking to get educated on LGBTQ+ history, this is a great book to try. I loved hearing about some of the most influential figures of the LGBTQ+ movement and their impact on others. They persevered even through backlash from events like the AIDS epidemic and built a community where everyone is welcome to be themselves. Some parts can get slow to read, but the authors use modern language and humor to appeal to a variety of audiences and make history more entertaining. This book is so empowering, give it a try!
And Then There Were None is one of the best that I have ever read. I loved watching the characters, especially because of the incredible detail that Agatha Christie used to describe them and their unique personalities. They all seem real to me. The book itself was ingenious, incorporating suspense and making every character a plausible suspect and a possible victim. I found myself turning back pages to get the facts again and again, without having a clue as to who was the murderer. I recommend this book for ages 13+ as all of the details and situations can be extremely hard to process.
The second book of The Magicians trilogy continues with Quentin, Julia, Eliot, and Janet as kings and queens of Fillory before a quest throws Quentin and Julia back to Earth, and that quest being a snippet of a bigger problem for all magicians.
I enjoyed this book better than the first one. The world is more fleshed out, the plot is more interesting, and characters are more fleshed out (Quentin remains more or less the same to me, though). The biggest aspect of the book to me is Julia. In the first book, she is rarely shown and when she is, there is zero context on what was going on with her. In this installment, we get to see her backstory and her current character as the book oscillates between the current conflict and Julia's story during the events of The Magicians. Seeing her change and how it affects her (especially at the end of the book) is such a pivotal point of her dynamic with Quentin, as well as a driving force for the plot and world building (remember hedge witches?).
Other characters from the first book make their reappearance, along with some new ones, which bring some new life into the story . However, one character is largely excluded: Janet. While she appears in the beginning, she is left off the majority of the story. While the story doesn't necessarily need her, being a key character in the first book and a queen of the setting of the story, it would have been nice to see her more within the pages.
This a definitely a good edition to the series, and with the ending and some loose ends, I wonder how the final book will tie everything together.
Reader's Grade: 11
This is a compelling story of the popular World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the serial killer who took advantage of it. Set in the late 1800's, David Burnham and H. H. Holmes receive equal attention in alternating chapters between the fair's fascinating architecture and the growth of a heartless killer. I liked reading about the trials and errors of the fair and technology in the 19th century. Also, Holmes' terrifyingly calm demeanor added suspense to what would happen to his victims. It is a cool turn-of-the-century book, but the shift between monotone construction and graphic murders was an interesting style that isn't for everyone.
Grade 11
Simply Philosophy is a collection of different ideas and concepts about a ton of topics, also showing different points of view.
This book remains one of my favorites because it takes ideas from famous philosophers in history, and then explains them in ways that are easier to understand. It uses helpful graphics and real-life examples to explain detailed concepts. One of the ideas I liked the most was from René Descartes, explaining why humans can never be sure that anything except their consciousness exists. The book was also very organized, putting similar ideas in the same sections.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a play that was wrote in the 1600’s. The play starts off with the death of Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, and the mystery of how he died. Hamlet feels that he should avenge his father, but never acts on the way he feels. He continues this habit in his relationships causing them to be full of mistrust and in the end, betrayal. This play contains many themes that teach a big lesson that individuals can apply to their lives today. I recommend this book to anybody that wants a murder mystery with multiple plots twists.
I wavered between a 4 and 5 star review here, but my reviews are based on storytelling ability, not necessarily how little I enjoyed hearing about the details of Auschwitz. This author did a fantastic job of telling the stories of nearly 1,000 women while letting some of their personal accounts lead the pace and tone. Though the characters were hard to keep track of at some points, there was constant clarification of individuals to develop empathy for the girls in the Holocaust. There was also some groundbreaking information on the sexist disparities between records of the female experience in Auschwitz- as soon as you think life couldn't have been worse for these prisoners, it is revealed that women were treated the absolute worst. Definitely worth the read if you can stomach the tragedy.
This is a delightful book with great diversity and a unique topic of life on the radio. I loved how Shay and Dominic's personalities complimented each other throughout the story, especially as Shay experienced misogyny and the two worked to combat it. The romance was light-hearted and side conflicts like grief were refreshing to hear about. One thing I disliked, though, was Shay's reaction to an age gap of five years between her and Dominic. She constantly threw in "old jokes" and generational-gap comments despite them both pretty much being millennials. It made the age gap more of an issue than it would have been without such dialogue and even contradicted the author's message against unfair gender norms. Would an age gap like this have been discussed if Dominic was the older one? Other than that, this book got me back into NPR and podcasts so I recommend this any day!
Grade 11
1984 is kind of a dystopian novel written in the 1940's about the 1980s. It's not the "Hunger Games" type of novel (which I also don't really like), where a bunch of teenagers overthrow the corrupt government. It's about a middle aged man living in a society where a Stalin-like figure rules. It is kind of a depressing book, and for the most part is kind of slow and uneventful. Overall, while this book makes some interesting points, I don't know if I would recommend it.
Songbirds is about the disappearance of domestic workers in Cyprus--women who had no choice but to leave their families in Sri Lanka or Vietnam or the Philippines and find work as maids in the homes of Cyprus's wealthy class. Nisha, whom the story centers on, is a Sri Lankan woman who has faced much loss. She comes to Cyprus, leaving her daughter behind, and becomes a mother figure for Aliki, the daughter of a somber, grieving widow named Petra. Though Nisha has such an impact on the people around her, especially Petra and Aliki, she is merely seen as a maid, overlooked, taken for granted. In a parallel plot line, Yiannis is a poacher who hunts songbirds for a living. He and Nisha have a secret relationship, which would jeopardize everything if discovered by Petra, and when he finally tells Nisha about the poaching, she is deeply disappointed in him, though Yiannis doesn't stop his senseless killing of songbirds. One night, Nisha goes missing. What ensues is a long, agonizing search in which the police refuse to do anything and Petra begins to realize that she relied on Nisha for nearly everything and didn't appreciate her while she was there. Petra and Yiannis team up, determined to find out what happened.
In my opinion, this story could've been told so much better. The metaphor of the songbirds was far too loud and became redundant and irritating. Lefteri could've more effectively woven together the plot lines of Petra and Yiannis without being so blunt with her metaphor. However, I did find it very interesting--and saddening--to learn about the missing domestic workers of Cyprus. Just as in The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Lefteri brings to light real issues that go beyond news coverage and should be talked about but somehow aren't. These maids are just as human as anyone, having sacrificed lives in their home countries for the benefit of their families. I would have enjoyed this novel more if the pacing had been faster and the plot hadn't been so repetitive; the characters also weren't the most likable.
I wouldn't necessary recommend this book, but the premise is worth knowing.