Red Queen follows Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old girl in a world divided by the color of blood. Mare has red blood, meaning that she's a commoner whereas those with silver blood are the elite with supernatural powers. In this dystopian novel Mare discovers her powers and fights against the silvers.
House of Hollow follows Iris Hollow, a seventeen-year-old girl with a strange past. In this book, Iris tries to uncover the mystery that has haunted her family for years. One dark night Iris and her sisters disappear and return, but they aren’t the same as before.
Throne of Glass follows Celaena Sardothien, a teenage assassin who has spent the past year as a slave in the salt mines of Endovier. When the crowned prince shows up and takes her away she has to fight for her freedom in a competition to become the king’s assassin. However, dark forces are at play, and she might not make it out of the castle alive.
Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom, is a memoir recounting his reconnection with his former college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is battling ALS(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). As Mitch finds himself drifting from his former passionate self to a discontented individual, Morrie's illness serves as a catalyst for their reunion. Through their weekly Tuesday gatherings, Morrie shares lessons with Mitch about life, love, and death.
Persepolis is a unique book that doesn’t adhere to what is expected in literature. It combines the personality and ease of reading a graphic novel with the depth of a non-fiction book, particularly a memoir. Specifically, this book follows Satrapi’s life as she grows through the Islamic Revolution. As a child, she becomes rebellious and seeks better out of the Islamic government. Later in her life, she keeps some elements but is subdued in others.
This novel by Roy questions many parts of life and being. The story follows the life of a brother (Estha) and sister (Rahel) who grow up in Ayemenem. They witness their lives gradually fall apart after an incident in which their cousin dies and they are blamed for her death. Years of mediocrity and disappointment go by, with the book eventually ending with the reunification of the siblings after being separated and washed away of hope and life. A main point of discussion Roy has is the “love laws,” which was a theme I enjoyed hearing her thoughts about.
This anthology is a compilation of the works of poet Elizabeth Bishop. Her creations are clouded metaphorical representations of her life and resolve. The themes the works reach can be as simple as the simple observations of the environment to sobriety and alcoholism. It is clear by her writing that these messages are intended to be buried deep into the works, only discovered by those determined to find them and those who look through each work and her personal life with a magnifying lens. This is the benefit and limitation of her work.
Pride and Prejudice is a story of the Bennet family, set in England. The Bennet family’s offspring are exclusively daughters, which becomes a point of consideration as the parents look to marry off their daughters. With a local ball coming soon, they came upon a chance to find their daughter's wealthy partners who could sufficiently satisfy their needs.
This play by Shakespeare is a drama that views the destiny of Macbeth as he slowly marches into a pit of chaos. The play begins with three witches foretelling some of Macbeth’s fate. Realizing and worrying about his future, he becomes irritable, cautious, and destructive to those he perceives as threatening his bright future as a leader. He kills many to reach this goal, eventually being killed himself for such ambitions.
Check & Mate follows Mallory Greenleaf, a teenage girl who has stopped playing chess for good. But when her best friend drags her to a chess tournament where she beats the current world champion she can’t escape the world of chess.
