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Category Archives: Book of the Month

Outstanding book of the month for July 2020

What I have enjoyed about starting this post at the end of each month is that it forces me to review what I’ve read and refile my thoughts about them and also rank them– not picking the top seven or top three, but really picking one that stuck out.

Behold, July’s outstanding book…. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron.

There are plenty of fans of retellings out there and if you are one of them, then make sure this one is on your TBR. The book is built on strong, memorable characters and challenging society (in this fantasy novel and in real life). It’s hard to separate Sophia and Constance, one readers meet Constance. Both have their motivations, Constance several generations removed from the stepsisters of Cinderella’s story, but Sophia wants to challenge the status quo of this kingdom, lorded over by the prince. She sees her friends readying themselves for the ball where they will be selected by a man who can then do whatever he pleases with her. Not only does Sophia not want to marry, she doesn’t want a husband. Erin has been her love for quite some time but is reluctant to run away from the kingdom with Sophia and is instead resigned to a life similar to everyone else’s.

And it’s Sophia and Erin’s first ball, that is one of several scenes in the book that are memorable. The ballroom itself appears in climactic scenes in the story to anchor the fantasy that most readers have of the Cinderella narrative. And Bayron turns it on its head, especially when the united pair of Sophia and Constance along with the fairy godmother raise Cinderella from the dead in another scene. How else can you alter your view of the sparkling, glass-slippered Cinderella than to raid her tomb and use a potion to reinvigorate her for a few minutes? Just as your version of a fairy godmother changes when the girls go into the White Wood and find her too.

Because not all that glitters… and one of the memorable quotes is what Sophia knew in her gut from the start but is slowly revealed as she goes on her quest to take down the prince.

I think sometimes we make the mistake of thinking monsters are abhorrent aberrations, lurking in the darkest recesses, when the truth is far more disturbing. The most monstrous men are those who sit in plain sight, daring you to challenge them.

Yes, the entire book is that powerful with a few crazy happenings in between. The feminist perspective with intersectional characters and a challenge of stories we hold dear not only feels so right for 2020, but also for our teens.

If Bayron now decides to do some more retellings, I’ll be waiting over here with my cup of tea.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on July 31, 2020 in Book of the Month, Cover Love, Fiction, Young Adult

Outstanding book of the month for June 2020

30 Jun

This solo book club choice is daunting each and every month! I’ve already shared a post about my adoration for the unpublished Punching the Air, so while I could make it my outstanding book of the month, there were a few others. I’m going to cheat here and give you a few of the other runners-up beside Zoboi and Salaam’s.

The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn
Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour
Heavy Vinyl: Riot on the Radio (Volume 1) by Carly Usdin

So, then there’s only one other and it’s a yet-to-be-published title that you should be on the lookout for.

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More Than Just A Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood

This romantic comedy is layered. It’s certainly a romcom, but there’s also a depth that belies the title. Danyal has the good looks but he also wants to be a chef and that doesn’t go over well with his Southeast Asian parents who would be shamed if he didn’t try for a job that makes more money and to them has more prestige. While he might be in love with his best friend’s twin sister, another girl enters the picture: Bisma. She has brought shame to their family after a sex tape makes the rounds in their community. Her brutal father feels the only way to marry her now is to pay the man and for him to know the story upfront. Would they make the best match?

The generational conflict is heartbreakingly real and executed as well as another favorite of mine: American Panda by Gloria Chao. Each includes a push and pull between parent and teen with the intersectionality of culture. But it’s also their Islamic faith, which if you’re looking to add books to your library’s collection that explicitly include teen faith, that further deepens the character-rich story with Danyal the shining (and very funny) star.

Plus who doesn’t love an appreciation of geekdom for which Bisma has oodles of it. And, an outspoken younger sister to mix up a little trouble for her too.

The realization of each character feels refreshing and that cover is the kind that needs to be facing forward. Once you get past gushing over cover, you’ll also need your Post-it’s because there were plenty of quotables to reflect on. Make this one an August purchase when it comes out on the 4th.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on June 30, 2020 in Authors, Book of the Month, Cover Love, Fiction, Upcoming Releases

Outstanding book of the month for May 2020

31 May

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Enacted last month, this is the post at the end of each month where I can review everything that I’ve read and choose my version of the book of the month.

EndofDays May’s winner is… End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by James L. Swanson.

Swanson is always a top pick for me because his love for history shines through his ability to write the most epic of stories. At this point, aside from some random law books that he’s edited, I have generally read every book he’s written for a civilian audience. I had read his YA version of End of Days called “The President Has Been Shot!”, so while I already had the foundational knowledge of the assassination, the fact that Swanson took a deep dive writing for the adult audience was still as intense as learning about it for the first time. There were several chapters and a handful of pages writing about the mere seconds it took Oswald to shoot JFK and each word, each sentence, and each page was like reading about years of time gone by. Swanson freezes time as he writes and picks apart the decisions, actions, and reactions by all involved.

And the presentation of the details imprints in a reader’s brain. I spent close to an hour recounting the insane details to my husband after I had finished– needing to tell someone else about what I had just learned. Swanson makes the case for all amazing nonfiction writers that should be writing narrative nonfiction read in school rather than a textbook. Gifted writers like Steve Sheinkin, Don Brown, Sy Montgomery, and Gail Jarrow.

The thicker history books whether they be biographies or narrative have become a bigger chunk of my reading and if you’re looking to learn, this is one of those that will bring you back (if you were alive on November 22, 1963) or put you there if you weren’t.