May 2022 Host:  Colleen

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Summary

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin―and his world―forever.
From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.

 

 

April 2022 Host:  Stephanie

Treasure Island b Robert Louis Stevenson

Summary

Treasure Island set in 1881-1882 is an adventure novel narrating a tale of buccaneers and buried gold.  Its influence is enormous on popular perceptions of pirates, including such elements as treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners, the Black Spot and one-legged seamen bearing parrots on their shoulders. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels.

March 2022 Host:  Jenny

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Summary

An Amazon Best Book of May 2021: As Ryland Grace awakens from a coma, he doesn’t know who he is or where he is, but a mix of calculations, deductions, and slowly returning memories enlightens him: He’s a junior high school science teacher on a small space ship. His mission? Save Earth. As in The Martian, Weir makes science and problem solving not only cool but absolutely essential to survival, delivering an electrifying space adventure that yanks at both the gut and the heart strings. Readers will absorb facts about gravity and heavy metals even as Grace races against the clock and builds an unexpected partnership while hurtling through the cold depths of space. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review

 

February 2022 Host:  Nancy

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Summary

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Everyone who is going to die on a given day gets a call to let them know; not the when, or the how, or the why, but just notification that they will die on that day. Mateo and Rufus each get that call and are facing their last day without a loved one. But there's an app for that. Combining a well-realized alternative present with a lovely romance, Silvera's latest delivers what readers want in a book about dying teens. There's no avoiding the cliches that go along with the idea that an impending end makes life more meaningful, but recasting a Lurlene McDaniel-style doomed teen romance with Latinx queer boys and having the societal changes wink at those clichés softens them and makes a better storytelling device. The overarching structure of meaningful coincidences making a magical day in New York has its predecessors—Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Nicola Yoon's The Sun Is Also a Star being prime examples—but this title is a deft exploration of that trope. Silvera continues to masterfully integrate diversity, disability, and young queer voices into an appealing story with a lot of heart. VERDICT While most of the elements and themes of this work are not new, they are combined, realized, and diversified expertly in this title. A must-have for YA shelves.—L. Lee Butler, Hart Middle School, Washington, DC  I personally LOVED this book but there were others who did not.

 

January 2022 Host:  Stephanie

Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

Summary (from Amazon)

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.

Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end---but instead she discovers it is only just beginning.

With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that "few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel's story.

 

 

November 2021 Host:  Megan

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Summary

An Amazon Best Book of September 2020: An everyday apartment open house becomes the stage for Backman’s latest novel, when a bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. As the title hints, each member of the group bares his or her own anxieties, not just about the hostage situation, but about their individual lives. Backman is a funny, charming story teller, and Anxious People is a fine showcase for his talents as a writer. There are twists and surprises. There are editorial asides. Beneath it all, there is a deep sense of warmth and empathy. Backman is particularly gifted at creating a community of memorable characters and opening up their mental states to readers. And many readers of Anxious People will in turn reflect on their own anxieties. Ultimately, Backman seems to be telling us that—though it be a messy, ambiguous world we inhabit—we can turn toward one another to find calm and assurance. This is a novel that can, and should, be embraced by anxious people everywhere. –Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review

 

October 2021 Host:  Jaci

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Summary

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of November 2018: Liane Moriarty is back with another delicious page-turner, but this time her characters don't discover their lives unexpectedly transformed by a surprising event—they deliberately buy into a ten-day spa package with the hope that they will emerge different, happier people. A few days of silence, lots of yoga and mindfulness, and absolutely no alcohol seem to be working wonders, at least for middle-aged novelist Frances Welty, who is recovering from an online swindle and a career crash. The other eight participants have astonishingly similar positive reactions to their regimen at Tranquillum House…at least until they discover why. Moriarty is at her best when she's diving impetuously into her characters' heads, exposing with affection their rushes to judgment, their contradictions, and their moments of grace and generosity. The "aha" moment that has won Moriarty so many fans with Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty never quite materializes, and some readers might roll their eyes at the multitude of chapters at the end that attempt to tie everything up nicely. But in the end, it's an optimistic novel, showcasing how our shared flawed humanity is also our greatest strength in the face of duress, as long as we can create common ground. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review