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Best Books of the Month: June 2017

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Giveaways

Creating Great Choices: A Leader's Guide to Integrative Thinking
by Jennifer Riel, Roger L Martin

Release date: Sep 17, 2017

"The rarest of business books that teaches decision-makers how to think, not what to think. I found it superb and wholly original." - Malcolm Gladwell ...more

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Format: Print book

Giveaway ends in: a

Availability: 5 copies available, 712 people requesting

Giveaway dates: Jul 27 - Aug 15, 2017

Countries available: US

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Top Reviews This Week

Emma Giordano's review of They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

" I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH. I have been hyping it up for myself since about 2015 and it absolutely did not disappoint!

They Both Die At The End is a fascinating speculative-YA about living vs. dying. It also features a gay Puerto-Rican main character a I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH. I have been hyping it up for myself since about 2015 and it absolutely did not disappoint!

They Both Die At The End is a fascinating speculative-YA about living vs. dying. It also features a gay Puerto-Rican main character and a bisexual Cuban main character, and I am ALL ABOUT this ownvoices representation.

As always, Adam’s writing style is wonderful. His teens always speak like teens – the excessive but totally realistic amount of times Rufus said “mad” really spoke to the New Yorker in me. He excels in striking the correct balance between depth and comedy, and his talent for dark humor REALLY shined in this book. I didn’t know it was possible to laugh so much on the last day of two boy’s lives, but it happened.

Normally, I’m not a big fan of books that have super insignificant characters as an additional perspective, but I think it worked really well for this book. Throughout the novel, there are maybe 10 people additionally to Mateo and Rufus that get at least one chapter in regards to if they are dying or not today. Though I’m usually not pleased with this sort of format, it was executed extremely well. It gave us a lot of insight into how DeathCast has affected others, and it was interesting to see how so many of these seemingly unimportant character were connected to the larger part of the story.

I really loved both of our main characters. Mateo is the SMALLEST LIL BEAN, I wanted to protect him with my life. The way his anxiety manifests is very unique, unlike other fictional characters I’ve read before, and I enjoyed seeing him conquer his fears and gain control over his intrusive thoughts. Rufus, on the exterior, seem very rough around the edges, but he is actually a very compassionate, selfless individual. I think I particularly fell for Rufus hard because of that contrast between a boy hardened by trauma and a man willing to sacrifice everything for the ones he loves. Mateo and Rufus complement each other in the best way. Individually, they’re wonderfully-constructed characters. Together, they’re an unstoppable force.

I have to say, this book really transcended the pages for me. I wasn’t just concerned about the characters or the storyline, but it forced me to address my own fears regarding death. I’ve been facing a lot of severe anxiety related to death as of late, and They Both Die At The End made it impossible for me to shove those feelings down any longer. It was triggering in that respect for me, but it was more comparable to exposure therapy by compelling me to confront my issues rather than solely creating more anxiety, so ultimately, it was a positive outcome. I think it’s for that reason that TBDATE is such a powerful novel; Although Death-Cast doesn’t exist and presently we don’t have an exact expiration date, the feelings, the questions, the fears, and the rawness highlighted in this novel are all very real.

What I loved about Death Cast was how WELL DEVELOPED the world around it is. There are so many minute details about how society would be changed if we all knew we were going to die that I really appreciated seeing. I swear, I need another 7 sequels of stories set in this world because of how many possibilities there are! The only small issue I had with the novel is that I feel I didn’t understand Death-Cast that well. I understood that they can determine the day you will die with a combination of science and medicine and such, but my understanding ends there. I think I would have liked just a few more pages explaining how this totally new sort of technology worked!

All around, They Both Die At The EndAlso come hangout with Adam, Michael BookLion & I at his Lauch Party on September 5th at Barnes & Noble Tribeca @6 pm! You can find the rest of his tour dates at the link above.
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