Life of Bry

Social distancing is in full effect, you’re bored, can’t leave the house and you already finished all seven episodes of the roller coaster of a documentary Tiger King. So, now what?

It’s a great time to get lost in a good book!

My goal already for 2020 was to read more books, and I’ve kept myself to it. I’ve had a list of “must-read” books that I slowly have been ticking off, but I also loved to browse Barnes & Noble on my lunch breaks to find some random reads before COVID-19 reared its ugly head. 

If you’re looking for a new book, here are some that I loved and one that wasn’t so great.

Paper Towns and Turtles all the Way Down by John Green

I’m combining these two books simply because they share the same author and are very typical “John Green” novels. Both are YA novels that involve complex teen characters going on grand adventures in everyday life. 

Paper Towns follows high school senior Q and his journey to decipher clues in order to find the adventurous girl-next-door who’s missing after a night of revenge. The novel is a thrilling read — a definite page-turner — however, it all felt extremely unrealistic. I kept saying to myself, “This isn’t what high schoolers are like at all!” But, then again, that’s what Green does best. He puts average teens and puts them in extraordinary situations. Also the ending pissed me off. No spoilers, just know that it made me mad.

Now, Turtles All the Way Down is what I consider a masterpiece. The main character is 16-year-old Aza who struggles with OCD, all while she and her best friend attempt to solve the disappearance of a local millionaire. The twist is that the millionaire’s son is Aza’s childhood friend and crush. 

This novel is so pleasantly uncomfortable. At points, it even made me squirm from how uncomfortable everything was. But that shows how perfect a job Green did with presenting the life of someone with mental illness. It isn’t a comfortable thing to live with and it doesn’t make Aza less than. I saw glimpses of myself in Aza, and the mystery of the missing millionaire was just an added bonus. This is a MUST READ.

Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudie Gray

Back in November, I finally cracked and watched ALL of the Star Wars movies, leading up to seeing Rise of Skywalker in theaters in December. While I remain in the small percentage of people who genuinely enjoyed the sequel trilogy, I absolutely adore Princess Leia in the originals.

That is what led me to impulse buy this book during one of my lunch break B&N trips. The novel follows 16-year-old Leia preparing for her challenges of mind, body and heart to become the next leader of Alderaan. However, as she strives to complete these challenges with her big heart and mischievousness, she becomes more focused on the odd behavior and clandestine affairs of her parents. Full of strange planets, galactic escapades and young love, the story is full of twists and turns that keep readers on their toes.

Princess of Alderaan highlights the youthful spirit and emergence of a rebel warrior. It also brings about a love interest for Leia who is the antithesis of Han Solo. But you’ll have to read it if you want to see why.

Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford

This book in particular was recommended to me by a B&N employee. I’m not sure why I gave him that type of vibe that I wanted an unsolicited recommendation, but I bought it anyway and was pleasantly surprised.

Each chapter of the book encapsulates a day in the life of 15-year-old Jeff after he wakes up in a mental ward of a hospital after a failed suicide attempt. Readers get personal diary-like entries of Jeff’s inner struggles as he wrestles with denial of needing professional help, judgement of his fellow patients and refusal to admit the reason he made the decision to try to take his own life. 

This is a heavy book with comedic undertones that allows for the message to fully embrace readers. However, it does still punch you in the gut while reading and floods you with emotions. Warning — it made me cry.

OK, it’s time for the book I strongly disliked.

this is where it ends by Marieke Nijkamp

This was another impulse lunch break buy that I hoped would be an interesting take on a challenging subject. It was awful.

The book spans the 54-minutes of a school shooting, where the shooter traps the students and staff in the auditorium during an assembly. It has POVs of several students during the traumatizing events, including a troublemaker who skipped the assembly to snoop, a track athlete who was practicing outside when shots were fired, the shooter’s sister and a few others that I honestly forgot. 

Overall, the story is messy and confusing. It has too many perspectives with indistinguishable voices, making it hard to connect with or care about any of the characters. In the end, it felt like the book trivialized the situation at hand with unrealistic scenarios and a simplified “villain” that doesn’t get proper character development.

It’s an addictive read covering a timely and powerful subject, but falls flat and leaves readers wanting so much more. SKIP IT.

Up Next …

I’m currently reading The Book Thief, which has been on my list for a very long time. However, I haven’t gotten far enough in it to have a full opinion on it yet. 

I also have a whole shelf of books that I bought and have yet to read, but if anybody has any suggestions, send them my way!

Some books on my to-read shelf currently … 

• You (Caroline Kepnes)
• Divergent (Veronica Roth) — I read the first book years ago, so I finally bought the rest of the series.
• The Maze Runner (James Dashner) — Same exact thing as Divergent
• The Coin Heist (Elisa Ludwig)
• Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs) — I read two of them during college, but got busy with other things and never finished.  
• The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (Alexander McCall)