Above Us Only Sky by Michele Young-Stone

Above Us Only Sky (2015) by Michele Young-Stone was a beautiful, emotional book. I loved the relationship between the main character and her grandfather, and the way the story kept referring back to the experience of the grandfather and his family during violent, dangerous times of upheaval when he was a child. 

The conceit -- that the women of this family had a genetic 'gift' of being born with wings (a gift that is of course viewed with suspicion and medical alarm) -- was a lovely one that was woven well into the story without it being the main topic. This wasn't a fantasy book, but rather a fiction book about family and heritage with a fantasy twist (sometimes called magical realism).

I'm excited to read Young-Stone's new book, Lost in the Beehive, coming out this April, which looks like it will focus on friendship and mental health issues with just a twist of magical realism very similarly to Above Us Only Sky.

“I felt guilty because I was upset by the loss of one friend when the Old Man had lost nearly everyone he loved. Loss, I soon learned from him, is not measured in numbers. It's not comparative. It's in here. I'm touching my chest now.”

Keep reading! Beth

Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns (2008) is John Green's third solo book, and I think his best of the ones I've read so far. It was sweet, funny, exciting, compelling, interesting... it had it all. Mystery, 'romance,' suspense, fear, longing, heartache and heartbreak, dead bodies, final exams, and a road trip. What more could you want?

I really, really loved all these characters -- they were fun, funny, well-rounded, complete characters. It was a pleasure to live in their world for a little while. The road trip part was the best -- I was crying laughing at one point, and I really wished it had lasted longer.

The thing I loved the most about this book was that it was about a boy and a girl, and love, relationships, etc. but it wasn't REALLY about that -- it was about growing up and figuring out who you are and what you want, and accepting other people for who they truly are, and just figuring out people. So lovely!

The movie version was a pretty good adaptation -- of course not as complex and well-rounded as the book, and they left out some of my favorite parts of the book, but a nice movie in its own right. Good movie, great book!

"[E]ach of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen -- these people leave us, or don't love us, or don't get us, or we don't get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel starts to crack open, the end becomes inevitable... But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And it's only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through the cracks and into others through theirs... [O]nce the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out."--Quentin (p.302)

See my review of John Green's first two books here.

Keep reading! Beth

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns) (2012) by Mindy Kaling is a super funny, very sweet book broken into many small chapters.  

As expected, Mindy has a wonderful voice that is at the same time endearingly self-deprecating, honest, and hilarious. I loved the insights into her life, though the format of segmented essays (while very easy to read) meant that she didn't delve super deeply into any one topic. But I didn't need this book to be a full autobiography or a sordid tell-all about her life, and it wasn't.

This was simply a collection of very funny observations and anecdotes covering lots of little bits of her life that certainly gave me greater insight into Mindy Kaling the person (not to be confused with her character from her show The Mindy Project - Mindy Lahiri. this is why I don't get when people name characters after themselves). And it made me laugh -- a lot! What more can you ask for?

"[M]y parents dressed both my brother and me according to roughly exactly the same aesthetic: Bert from Ernie and Bert. Easing them out of dressing me in primary colors and cardigans (seriously, I was a child who wore cardigans) and getting them to let me grow my hair out past my earlobes was a first huge step that took years." (191)

Keep reading! Beth

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project (2013) by Graeme Simsion was a sweet, surprising story about a man with many idiosyncrasies who struggles with accepting his own limitations in a world that (frustratingly) does not operate in the logical, orderly way he requires.

When I first started this book, I was really worried that the author would mock the main character and use his different-ness as comedic relief. But Don was an incredibly sympathetic character and I enjoyed his story immensely, especially coming from his unusual but understandable perspective. The Rosie of the title was a very interesting and decently complex character, who had her own plot developed outside of being the main love interest in the story -- always appreciated.

I loved that, since the reader was treated to Don's thought process but not Rosie's, he came off as the more likeable character, despite his own social issues contrasted to Rosie's "normal-ness". My only very small complaint is that the ending seemed a little rushed, but then again the point of the story was really about the journey and not the ending, which left the main characters in a satisfying way. To that end, I have waffled about whether or not to read the sequel, The Rosie Effect, since finishing The Rosie Project. I really liked this as a self-contained story and am very reluctant to get into another story that might muddle the waters, so to speak. For now, I was happy to have read this as a very good, heat-warming, stand-alone novel.

"It was also obvious that Rosie had very poor taste in coffee -- or she had done as I had and ignored the label 'coffee' and was enjoying it as an entirely new beverage. The technique was working brilliantly." (201)

Keep reading! Beth

Lumberjanes by Grace Ellis and Noelle Stevenson

Lumberjanes by Grace Ellis and Noelle Stevenson Volumes 1 & 2 (2015) are very fun graphic novels, especially for young girls and those who are young at heart!

The main concept is a group of girls (whose age is somewhat ambiguous, but I'd say maybe junior high school-age?) attending summer scout camp. Both volumes are all about friendship and girl power, with some fun fantastical and mythological elements thrown in for good measure. The dialog felt very Gilmore Girls-esq, with intelligent pop culture references (including one of my favorite shows, River Monsters) and rapid-fire exchanges. I especially loved the references to lesser-known but still important women from history; in every case I was interested enough to research each reference and learned a lot about some very cool women, such as Annie Smith Peck and Sister Rosetta Tharpe!

Volumes 1 & 2 together comprise one major storyline, so I recommend reading them together. Though the details of the story are at times a little silly and/or glossed over, the point is really much more about the girls working together as a team to save the day and it does that very well. Though the illustrations were a little rough at times, the artwork was still fun and funky, and really fit in with the story.

Overall, this series promises to be very fun, and would be a wonderful introduction to graphic novels for young girls!

“Did you have a plan?"
"I thought adrenaline would take over but it did not."

Keep reading! Beth