I think this is the first book I’ve finished that the most people on my friends list have given 4-5 stars to.

There’s no point in adding a review to such a well known book so I will simply say, I did not realize this film had such an environmental bent. I can’t believe it was written in 1965. I really enjoyed it and it’s plain to see the influence of Dune on other writers is profound.

This is painfully slow and written in slang. Read this one because I'm going through all the Newbery winners and it was a slog. Onto better things!

French graphic novel memoir about a young woman's discovery that she has tumor related epilepsy. This is very well paced and does an excellent job allowing the reader to experience this journey first hand. The art is a little hard to follow, but that may be because I read it digitally.

Would pair well with another medical graphic novel memoir, RX, or Brain on Fire.

This is less a biography and more an irreverent overview of the American Revolution. The middle third of the book hardly mentions Lafayette it seems. It does provide a good overview of French intervention in the Revolutionary War.

Excellent non-fiction about the plight of a doomed whaleship. I had no idea when I started this that the accounts of survivors were in part the inspiration for Moby Dick. Recommended if you're interested in nautical stories, survival stories, or New England history. OR WHALES. VENGEFUL WHALES.

Really great book for middle grades about a girl from the Martha’s Vinyard community of Chilmark, where at the time this novel was set, 1 in 4 inhabitants was deaf. I knew nothing about the backstory but it was richly developed by the author and by the end I couldn’t wait to learn more. I’d recommend this if you or your younger reader is interested in deaf communities, Colonial New England, or Native American relations. Im surprised this hasn’t won any awards (maybe it has.)

This book was a delight. If you’ve ever wondered about an ancient civilization scarcely mentioned while reading about the Greeks or Romans, this is the book you’ve been looking for. It’s arranged in chronological order from ancient history past the fall of Rome. I loved the tie-ins with art history and the modern echos as well. It’s also a great source for the myriad civilizations mentioned in the Bible who aren’t the Israelites, such as the Philistines, Samaritans, etc.

Harrowing read about a man who served 40 years in solitary for a crime he did not commit. I’d read a little bit about Angola Prison in the past, where the author served his time. From the prison system to the complete reluctance by the governor and AG to intervene in any way, Louisiana utterly failed this man.

Did not enjoy this one.

This was overwritten for my taste. I put it down a few times. The prose is pretty, but I tired of it by the end of the book. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood. But it typically doesn’t take me a week to finish a book of this type.