Molly's Book Digest

Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity  has been inducted into my Book Cover Hall of Fame/Infamy! See the Hall  here . I finished Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity , by Elizabeth Clark, on Jul 27, 2018. Published by Farrar Straus Giroux, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity a 5 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 5 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 6 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would not recommend it to a friend. I would not recommend it to a classmate. I wouldn't reread this. Notes: I tried very hard to like this. Very, very hard. But I couldn't do it. Reason number one? The main character is annoying. She's really self-centered and is actually a terrible friend. Which is basically what the book is about, which (even though she's fictional) kind of drives that point home. And even at the end of the story, wh...

I finished  The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue , by Mackenzi Lee, on Jul 29, 2018. Published by Katherine Tegen Books, I got this book from a bookstore. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue an 8 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 6 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 7 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would definitely recommend it to a friend. I would definitely recommend it to a classmate. I would reread this. Notes: I picked this book up on a whim — we were at the bookstore and it looked good — and it did not disappoint. This book was a classic adventure story turned on its head. It was funny, interesting, and, best of all, the characters had real flaws. It really annoys me when the supposedly flawed characters are basically perfect. This happens even more frequently in movie adaptations, but books are fairly often guilty as well. Anyway. This was a great book, and me...

I finished  The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things , by Ann Aguirre, on Jul 26, 2018. Published by Feiwel and Friends, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things an 8 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 6 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 6 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would not recommend it to a friend. I would not recommend it to a classmate. I would reread this. Notes: This was really nice. Just like the last book I read, this was about a girl with dark secrets, but unlike that one, this was ultimately uplifting. It offered redemption, and even if that's slightly unlikely, it made for a wholly satisfying story. And another thing — since the main character had turned into a so-called good girl, she didn't make any of the stupid mistakes you could see were going to turn out badly. She didn't party aggressively, and she was enthusiastic abo...

I finished The Female of the Species , by Mindy McGinnis, on Jul 24, 2018. Published by Katherine Tegen Books, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated The Female of the Species a 7 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 9 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 6 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would definitely recommend it to a friend. I would definitely recommend it to a classmate. I wouldn't reread this. Notes: This was a lot darker than what I expected, but all the same, I really liked this book. But be warned: this is not for the faint of heart. This on Goodreads.

I finished Life Is A Joke: 100 LIFE LESSONS (with punch lines) , by The Javna Brothers, on Jul 22, 2018. Published by Workman Publishing, I got this book from a friend/relative's library. It's a paperback, written in prose. It's nonfiction. I rated Life Is A Joke: 100 LIFE LESSONS (with punch lines) a 5 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 5 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 4 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would not recommend it to a friend. I would might recommend it to a classmate. I wouldn't reread this. Notes: This was an interesting way to write a self help book: basically, they took jokes too seriously and gave lectures about them. As the book progressed The jokes got less and less funny and the messages got more and more conflicting. Still, it was nicely written and fun to pass the time with. Here's my favorite joke from the book: Roses are grey. Violets are grey. I am a dog. This on Goodreads.

I finished Wonder Woman: Warbringer , by Leigh Bardugo, on . Published by Random House Teen, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated Wonder Woman: Warbringer a 7 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 5 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 6 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I might recommend it to a friend. I would might recommend it to a classmate. I would reread this. Notes: This was a fun book to read, although Diana and Alia really should have had a romance. It was totally set up for that, but whatever. This isn't my book. Anyway. I'm not generally an action fan, but this was okay. Your basic 'choose courage' book, but at least it was well written.

I finished the Game of Love and Death , by Martha Brockenbrough, on Jul 17, 2018. Published by Arthur A. Levine Books, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated the Game of Love and Death a 6 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 5 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 6 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would not recommend it to a friend. I would not recommend it to a classmate. I wouldn't reread this. Notes: Meh. This book tried too hard, and honestly, I wasn't that into it in the first place. The ending was predictable. The characters were clichèd. It might have been good were I a year or two younger, but my (not really very) jaded mind got bored.

I finished Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus , by Dusti Bowling, on Jul 11, 2018. Published by Sterling Children's Books, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus a 6 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 6 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 6 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would might recommend it to a friend. I would not recommend it to a classmate. I wouldn't reread this. Notes: This was perfectly meh. It did get kind of pep talk-y and cheesey at times, but overall it was pretty good. It isn't a teen book, despite being shelved as such, but whatever. It was okay.

I finished Losing the Girl , by MariNaomi, on Jul 09, 2018. Published by Graphic Universe, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written as a graphic novel. It's fiction. I rated Losing the Girl a 6 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 7 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 6 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would not recommend it to a friend. I would might recommend it to a classmate. I wouldn't reread this. Notes: This was…ambitious. And what really worked were the different styles of art for different characters. The plotline, though? It was uninteresting to me. Maybe it's something that will get better as the series goes on?

I finished What to Say Next , by Julie Buxbaum, on Jul 07, 2018. Published by Delacorte Press, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated What to Say Next a 6 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 6 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 7 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would not recommend it to a friend. I would not recommend it to a classmate. I might reread this. Notes: There were quite a few points that seemed horribly clichèd, like when we find out that [spoiler alert] Kit was driving during the crash. [end spoiler] The author wrote, in the A/N of one of her other books, that she'd had a similar experience to the main character, and this story parallels that one in a lot of ways, so it seems like the main character is basically her. And that's fine, except I'm getting the feeling that her other books are kinda like that. Anyway. I don't think I'd read anything els...

I finished This One Summer , by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, on Jul 05, 2018. Published by First Second Books, I got this book from a public library. It's a paperback, written as a graphic novel. It's fiction. I rated This One Summer a 6 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 7 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 7 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would might recommend it to a friend. I would might recommend it to a classmate. I might reread this. Notes: This was really dark for a kids book. I understand why it was shelved as teen.

I finished The Up Side of Unrequited , by Becky Albertalli, on Jul 07, 2018. Published by Balzer and Bray, I got this book from a public library. It's a hardcover, written in prose. It's fiction. I rated The Up Side of Unrequited a 8 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, a 7 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and a 8 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would definitely recommend it to a friend. I would definitely recommend it to a classmate. I would reread this. Notes: This was set in the same universe as Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and it was actually a lot more tied in than I expected. Also, Becky Albertalli really seems to get the teenage brain a lot more than most YA authors. Maybe it comes from being a therapist?

I finished Lost At Sea , by Bryan Lee O'Malley, on Jul 05, 2018. Published by Oni Press, I got this book from a public library. It's a paperback, written as a graphic novel. It's fiction. I rated Lost At Sea a 7 out of 10 on how satisfying it was to read, an 8 out of 10 on its level of sophistication, and an 8 out of 10 on the quality of the writing. I would definitely recommend it to a friend. I would might recommend it to a classmate. I might reread this. Notes: This was an odd little book, and it was done in a style that didn't quite match the tone of the book. Still, I really liked it.