Spring Break 2018 Reads

HAPPY MONDAY. 

And this Monday is actually HAPPY because, y'all, THERE ARE NO CLASSES. At least not for me. Is it like this all over the country?

WAIT. It's not. My sister is still in class...well...HAPPY MONDAY TO ALL Y'ALL OUT OF SCHOOL! To those who still have a couple weeks until the sweet taste of freedom, we're here for you; hold on just a little while longer.


We've finally made it to the point in the year where we can CATCH UP. I've read books for school; I haven't had time to read any just because I want to. I'm aiming to read at least ONE for fun. I actually still have homework {two papers, a review sheet, poetry reading, and two projects to start on} so this week is basically school without classes and and whole lot more driving.

Side note: I really need to put gas in my car. Yikes.

So what's that one book I'm trying to read?

HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES by Carmen Maria Machado

In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.

A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store's prom dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella Especially Heinous, Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgangers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.

Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.

OTHER BOOKS THAT LOOK AMAZING

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU by Lynn Slaughter 

"Although primarily a whodunit, this novel also focuses on important social themes high-school teens face. Lynn blends a page-turning mystery thriller with sweet romance and demonstrates the very real effects of grief, rivalry, sexuality, dating violence, and bullying on today's youth. Clara is believable, relatable, smart, snarky, brave, and conscientious. Her strong teen voice will resonate with a wide audience, and she is a perfect role model for teens who are dealing with similar social issues."

LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE by Claire Kann

"Alice is secretly asexual, and that’s the least important thing about her.

She’s a college student, has a great job, amazing friends, and is fine being single—nope, that’s a lie. Alice wants rom com-grade romance: feels, cuddling, kissing, and swoons galore—as long as it doesn't lead to having sex."

THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden

"As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed--this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales."

CERTAIN DARK THINGS by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

"Vampires, humans, cops, and gangsters collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance of making it out alive?"

FOR THOSE WHO'VE GOT A LATER SPRING BREAK 

EMERGENCY CONTACT by Mary H.K. Choi

"When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other."