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WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE BY SHIRLEY JACKSON

“I remember that I stood on the library steps holding my books and looking for a minute at the soft hinted green in the branches against the sky and wishing, as I always did, that I could walk home across the sky instead of through the village.”― Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle The novel is written in the voice of eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine “Merricat” Blackwood, who…

THE PARIS APARTMENT BY LUCY FOLEY

“Crazy to think there was a heatwave only a few weeks ago. I need a proper coat. But there’s always been a lot of things I need that I’m never going to get.”― Lucy Foley, The Paris Apartment “It’s not about where you came from. What kind of shit might have happened to you in the past. It’s about who you are. What you do with the opportunities life presents to you.”― Lucy Foley, The Paris…

MOBY DICK BY HERMAN MELVILLE

“There is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of man.”― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, the Whale Moby-Dick is a novel by Herman Melville, in which the narrator, Ishmael, befriends Queequeg, a South Seas harpooner, and together they look for a whaling crew. Eventually, they join Captain Ahab aboard the Pequot. Ishmael soon finds that Ahab had lost…

AT NIGHT ALL BLOOD IS BLACK BY DAVID DIOP

Winner of the 2021 International Booker Prize “We are more than brothers because we chose each other as brothers.”― David Diop, At Night All Blood is Black This story is about Alfa and Mademba, two of the many Senegalese soldiers fighting in the Great War. Together they climb dutifully out of trenches to attack France’s German enemies whenever the whistle blows. Until Mademba is wounded and…

HAMNET BY MAGGIE O’FARRELL

“What is given may be taken away, at any time. Cruelty and devastation wait for you around corners, inside coffers, and behind doors: they can leap out at you at any time, like a thief or brigand. The trick is never to let down your guard. Never think you are safe. Never take for granted that your children’s hearts beat, that they sup milk, that they draw breath, that they walk and speak and…

THE MOUNTAIN IS YOU BY BRIANNA WIEST

“The way you are self-sabotaging: Mindlessly scrolling through social media as a way to pass the time. What your subconscious mind might want you to know: This is one of the easiest ways to numb yourself, because it is so accessible and addictive. There is a world-altering difference between using social media in a healthy way versus as a coping mechanism. Mostly, it has to do with how you feel…

LOVELESS BY ALICE OSEMAN

“She’s happy with who she is. Maybe it’s not the heteronormative dream that she grew up wishing for, but… knowing who you are and loving yourself is so much better than that, I think.”― Alice Oseman, Loveless It was all sinking in. I’d never had a crush on anyone. No boys, no girls, not even a single person I’d ever met. What did that mean? Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone,…

LITTLE WOMEN BY LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

The story follows the lives of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. It details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, it is classified as an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel set in the civil war era. Meg, the oldest, is pretty but swayed by material temptations. Jo is a good-hearted tomboy and writer.…

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE BY CELEST NG

“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground and start over. After the burning, the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”― Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere In the placid progressive suburb of Shaker Heights, everything is meticulously planned, from the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go…

MALIBU RISING BY TAYLOR JENKINS REID

“Our family histories are simply stories. They are myths we create about the people who came before us, in order to make sense of ourselves.”― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Malibu Rising This book is set in Malibu in August 1983. On the day of Nina Riva’s annual summer party and the anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants an invite to catch the glimpse of the famous Riva siblings. Nina, the…

THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA BY T.J KLUNE

“A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with. You may not live on the island, but you can’t tell me it’s not your home. Your bubble, Mr. Baker. It’s been popped. Why would you allow it to grow around you again?”― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea Linus baker is a caseworker in the department in charge of magical youth. at forty, he…

NORWEGIAN WOOD BY HARUKI MURAKAMI

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood Norwegian Wood is a novel written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, in 1987. A nostalgic story of the complications of youth and loss. It is told from the first-person perspective of Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living…

THEY NEVER LEARN BY LAYNE FARGO

“It’s exhausting, being in my head. I wish I could stop thinking. I wish I could be like everyone else.”― Layne Fargo, They Never Learn Dr. Scarlett Clark, a successful English professor at small elite Gorman University, has a secret For years, she’s been killing boys and men guilty of assault and rape of other women, and she manages to easily get away with murder many times. Scarlett has been…

THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO BY TAYLOR JENKINS REID

“Sometimes reality comes crashing down on you. Other times reality simply waits, patiently, for you to run out of the energy it takes to deny it.”― Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a historical fiction written by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The novel follows Evelyn Hugo an iconic Hollywood star who is finally ready to share the truth about her…