Recommendations for Young and
Not So Young Readers
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One final book list to help you with your holiday shopping! This edition of Book Gathering includes books from our YA and Adults sections that make great gifts. And of course, we have so many more favorites! Stop by and we will help you find the perfect gifts for all the readers on your list.
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Staff Reviews - Young Adult
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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
By Mackenzi Lee
It's the 18th century, and Henry Montague (Monty) is about to embark on his grand tour of Europe. Accompanied by his best friend, Percy, and his sister, Felicity, he expects to have a grand old time. However, his father is insisting that Monty behaves--no more drinking, flirting with boys, or other vices are to be had on this trip. Monty struggles to control himself, and their trip is thrown off-course after a party goes amiss. Suddenly, Monty and his friends must survive pirates, rogue highwaymen, and a politically corrupt Ambassador to the French crown. With just enough magic and wit, this fast-paced story is a refreshing addition to the YA world.
— Kelsie (RBB Staff)
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Long Way Down
By Jason Reynolds
Stark, gut-churning. Will's decided to take revenge on the man he is sure killed his beloved older brother. In the elevator, his past--or is it his doubt?--confronts him. Poetry is the perfect form for his abbreviated thoughts in this high-stress moment.
— Joan (RBB Staff)
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Strange the Dreamer
by Laini Taylor
Beautifully written, vividly imagined, ruthless, hopeful--
Strange the Dreamer
is everything I wanted it to be. This is a tale of magic, monsters, love, hate, vengeance, secrets, and imagination, just to name a few themes. Laini Taylor has done something brilliant here, not the least of which is the amazing plotting maneuver that makes this 530-pager perfectly readable
!
— Angela (RBB Staff)
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When Dimple Met Rishi
by Sandhya Menon
When Dimple Shah is accepted to a summer competition in San Francisco for coders and app development, she can't believe it. She never expected her traditional Indian American parents to let her go, so when Rishi, an Indian American boy proposes to her on the first day, she suspects her parents had taken on a matchmaking role. Dimple isn't ready for marriage- she wants to focus on her career as a coder and win the competition, Insomnia Con. Despite everything, Dimple starts to fall for sweet, caring Rishi - but will it cost her the competition? This has everything you want in a modern love story- romance, diversity, family, comedy, and a little bit of something known as kismet.
— Kelsie (RBB Staff)
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Never Coming Back
By Alison McGhee
We all have secrets. It's in the telling of our secrets that we become more aware of who we are. This brilliantly told story of Clara and her mother Tamar has us frustrated with the hidden past that Clara is trying to uncover. Why did Tamar send Clara away? The answer is eventually revealed, and we realize to what extent a mother will go for the love of her child. A kleenex, or two, will be necessary to have on hand while reading this wonderful novel by Alison McGhee.
— Julie (RBB Staff)
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Caroline: Little House, Revisited
By Sarah Miller
I grew up reading the
Little House
books over and over, and then to my children, and I've visited many of the LH sites so safe to say I'm a fan. I loved this book that retells the Little House on the Prairie adventures through the eyes of Ma, or Caroline. What the reader gains is an adult perspective of the hardships pioneers endured as they made their way west, seeking a better life. Caroline comes across as human, with real and conflicting feelings. She survives her life through courage and discipline tempered by a true love for Pa (Charles) and her children. The descriptions of the natural world of the prairie echo the poetic way Laura Ingalls Wilder herself wrote about it. The reader comes away with a very realistic idea of what this life entailed, but also of the beauty and satisfaction rendered by adventures into new territory.
— Susan (RBB Staff)
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By Lesley Nneka Arimah
I didn't know there were so many ways a story could break your heart. Each story a gem that can cut you to pieces. Arimah finds that moment when life turns and becomes something unimaginable just a moment before, in stories that take place in everyday life, to ones set in a mythic past or a speculative future. A completely captivating read.
— Joan (RBB Staff)
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Thousand Star Hotel
By Bao Phi
This is a powerful collection of poems by father, refugee, and activist Bao Phi. These poems confront racism and the “invisibility of the Asian American urban poor.” Phi is a Minnesota Grand Slam poetry champ and a finalist for the National Poetry Slam. You can tell! His poems have a vibrancy and power to them that pull you in and make you think.
— Beth (RBB Staff)
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The Hate U Give
By Angie Thomas
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Saints and Misfits
By S. K. Ali
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We Were Eight Years in Power
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Little Fires Everywhere
By Celeste Ng
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