Books I Loved That You Should Also Consider Reading, Too, As Well: Installment One

I shared lots of love for many books last year on social
media, and I want to start this year by mentioning all those wonderful reads on
here for easy, all-in-one-place consumption. There will be a number of posts,
five books at a time, in no particular order, over the next couple months. Here’s we go!

My Heart and Other
Black Holes, by Jasmine Warga

This was the first 2015 debut book I read (that wasn’t my
own), and I was only ten pages in when I thought, “Hot damn, the 2015 debut bar
is set high.” For a book that deals with such a dark subject matter—depressed protagonist
Aysel wants to commit suicide and is looking online for a partner to make sure
she sticks to her plan—this book has a surprising sense of humor. Don’t get me
wrong, it’s really sad and really painful, but like life, there are still laughs
woven in there amongst all the darkness. It makes the book even more human and,
as a result, even more moving.

The Distance Between
Lost and Found, by Kathryn Holmes

When I finished reading this one, I was astounded to learn
that author Kathryn Holmes had never lived through an experience like this.
It’s a lost-in-the-wilderness survival story and it plays out in this way that
feels so true-to-life, with every tiny detail, every injury, every missed meal
accounted for incredibly well. It has a wonderful emotional arc for main
character Hallelujah, too, who struggles to gain her confidence back after a
dude in her church youth group—who happens to be the preacher’s son—has spread
awful lies about her. There are definitely some religious themes, which I
thought might be off-putting, but they’re handled in thoughtful, interesting
ways that add to the richness of the story. I guess what I’m saying is: maybe
skip The Revenant and read this book
instead. 

None of the Above, by
I.W. Gregorio

It’s an amazing thing when you finish reading a highly
engaging piece of fiction and feel like you’ve genuinely learned something, too. This book expanded my mind and my empathy
without ever feeling preachy. Popular high school senior Kristin learns early
on in the novel that she’s intersex, meaning that, though she presents as a
female, she also has male organs. Soon the whole school finds out, and suffice
it to say, Kristin quickly becomes a lot less popular. The story is told in a
grounded, believable way, with characters you truly care about, so it never for
a moment feels didactic. That said, it does
force you to examine your own thoughts about gender, to wonder what you would do if you discovered this
about yourself or your partner, which is why I truly believe this book should
be required reading for every human being.

The Honest Truth,
by Dan Gemeinhart

This book is sort of a MG cousin to The Distance Between Lost and Found—it’s the story of a young,
terminally ill boy and his dog, making a trek up a mountain with the
potentially limited time the boy has left–and it’s just as beautifully done. I
cried a lot throughout this one and, even though I’m not a huge animal person,
when I got to the last page, I thought, “Man, maybe I should get a
dog,” which, trust me, says a lot about how terrific this book is. (It’s also worth
mentioning that Dan’s second book, Some Kind of Courage, comes out today!)

Everything,
Everything, by Nicola Yoon

You can actually feel the love bursting off the pages of
this book, which is a huge-hearted delight from cover to cover. It follows
Maddy—a girl whose compromised immune system means she’s never been able to
leave the house her whole life—and what happens when she starts crushing on
the new boy who’s moved in next door. The tone is unique, and Yoon nails
it—grounded yet playful, moving without ever being precious, and along with
the text, the book is filled with emails, graphs, and brilliant drawings by
David Yoon, who, yes, happens to be the author’s husband. (I’m telling you; the
love oozes.) As if all that’s not
enough, it’s unpredictable, too, always a step ahead of the reader. So, yeah,
if you like love and surprises and joy, this one’s worth a look.