We had our first Book Club of the school year on Wednesday, with the customary brownies and, unexpectedly, hot apple cider, due to the rainy weather.
Ms. Melinson began by sharing some of the new books the library has received, starting with sequels: the newest Lisa McMann book, Unwanteds Quest: Dragon Curse (who will be visiting next week!); Kingsbane, the second book in the Empirium trilogy; Finale, which is the final book in the Caraval series; Dark Age, a new book from the Red Rising series; and a new Pittacus Lore book, Return to Zero. Some other new books include poetry by the new Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo; The Haunting, which is described as the “scariest book you’ll read all year” and possibly the shortest; the buzz-worthy This Time Will Be Different; the new Margaret Atwood book The Testaments; and (shout out to Mr. G.) How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems.
Then Ms. Melinson talked about some of the books she read over summer: Becoming, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The State of Water, Citizen, Eternal Life, and Where the Crawdads Sing. Heloise also read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and described it as a “pretty story with an ugly side” and reminded her of My Antonia. She also read Flights, a collection of short stories about human travel, Italo Calvin’s Complete Cosmicomics, and The Handmaid’s Tale graphic novel, which she said is “so pretty” and does a good job showing not telling with the art. Heloise also read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and loved it and said the film was the worst adaptation ever.
Becca read the graphic novel version of Speak and enjoyed the anticipation from it and the “breathtaking” artwork. Spencer read The Count of Monte Cristo and couldn’t put it down, however, it took about 130 pages to really get into it. Ms. Renteria read Where the Crawdads Sing and was prepared to not like it due to how popular it is, but enjoyed it and called it “lyrical and beautiful”. She also read The Power and wanted to like it, but it wasn’t what she expected and found it to be violent and sad. Ms. Renteria is currently reading Inheritance, a memoir that brings up interesting revelations about identity and what it means to be a father.
Madame Meyers read Happiness, a non-fiction book about being present for moments in daily life. She’s also rereading the Harry Potter books, which she likes to reread every few years and still finds new information. Ms. Bauman read Eight Men Out after being inspired by The Great Gatsby and The Maltese Falcon. After reading it, she said she’ll never read the The Great Gatsby the same way again because of ‘romantic corruption vs. realistic corruption.’ Sarina read There Will Be No Miracles Here and enjoyed it. Samhita reread Diary of Anne Frank and finds it more depressing now that she knows more about Anne Frank’s life.
Check out all the books we discussed at Book Club on our Goodreads!
Books & Bytes 