For one this isn’t a history book, but it recounts historical events/stories about race and anti-racism.
I really don’t know how to review a non-fiction work. I picked this up for my library’s summer reading challenge since I needed a non-fiction book and this seemed interesting. I’ve actually seen Emmmabooks talk about this last year during the Black Lives Matter Movement (I know it is still on going, but it feels like in the past year it really took off). I was a bit nervous that this would be dry and boring, but this was definitely engaging. There is a lot of things we don’t really know that went on in our history because White people wanted to cover things up or viewed African Americans in a stereotypical way. I thought this was very thought provoking and a fast read.

Juno thinks she knows Winnie and her family. After moving in with Winnie and her family she thought Winnie is perfect, she has the perfect marriage, and the perfect child. However, is things as what it seems?
I really enjoyed The Wives from this author. This book was just okay. The twists were well done. I sometimes got confused on who was who at times, but that could be because I was listening to the audiobook. This book was a bit forgettable.

El goes to a dangerous school named the Schoolmance. It has many monsters and you must go places in groups. The school won’t let you go until you graduate. You either graduate or you die.
So, I read this Thanksgiving week of 2020 and gave up after 36 pages because I was bored and felt like the writing was doing a lot of telling instead of showing. I kind of still agree with that statement (minus it being boring). Fast forward to June 2021, I was browsing Libby for audiobooks and decided let’s give this book another chance. I’m glad I gave it a chance again because I really enjoyed this time and obviously this time I actually finished the book instead of just making it to page 36. I enjoyed the friendships and the world building of the school. Can’t wait for the sequel, which I may just do as an audiobook again.

Nora doesn’t like her life, so she commits suicide. Between life and death there is a library. There is a book of regrets and you can undo your regrets and try on that life. Nora goes through her regrets and goes through different lives and learns an important lesson.
This book was just beautiful. I loved how unique it was. I just wanted to keep listening to it because it was so great. I enjoyed all the alternative lives Nora got to try on and how she created new regrets and overcame some regrets. I love the message this book sends. My only gripe about this book is that sometimes it felt redundant. Overall I enjoyed this story and recommend it to everyone to read.

The Queen Will Betray You is the sequel to The Princess Will Save You, which I loved a lot last summer. Luca is trying to claim his birth right and needs to bring down the Warlord. Him and Amarande have a plan. Amarande makes it back to her homeland, she is taken by her mother, the Runaway Queen and is imprisoned in a tower. Her bastard brother is to be King. Will she be able to escape? Will Luca be able to take back his birth right? Will Queen Ines bring war with her?
This book has a lot of action at the end like The Princess Will Save You. I love how badass Amarande is and how she always has a plan and takes action. Ferdinand was a nice addition to the cast and I loved how honest he was when you thought maybe he could be a villain. I loved the villainy of The Runaway Queen and her schemes. The escape was nicely done and I sympathized for Tallifer. I was thinking to myself most of this book I don’t think this series is over, there is no way this can all be done in this book. This book was supposed to be a two book series, but I just looked on Amazon and it says there will be a third book and I felt like there would be with how this book ended. So, yay. You all have to pick this series up!

Deja and Josie have been working at the Pumpkin Patch for years and they are going off to college. This book takes place on their last night working at the Pumpkin Patch. Deja creates a mission to get Josie to ask out the girl who works at the Fudge Shoppe. He’s been crushing on her for years. They go all over the place looking for her since she keeps going to different places to work due to the place being swamped. Will they find her?
I picked this up for a graphic novel challenge for summer reading. I was going to go with Heartstopper, but it had a lot of holds, so I went with this since I loved Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I thought this book was going to be cheesy, but it was pleasantly good. It was so funny and I enjoyed the chase they went on. I totally guessed the ending though. Also, I liked how there was a LGBTQ character in the book.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
It’s 1991. Maddy has been murdered by the Campus Killer. Charlie was her roommate and friend and is depressed. She decides she wants to go home and get away from college from where everything happened. She puts up a flyer at the ride board and a guy named Josh says he will take her. On the night she is picked up by him, she starts to get suspicious of him based off his license and plot holes in his story. Can she survive the night?
I feel like Charlie was stupid with some of her decisions. Also, I guessed the ending. I did like the twists and felt like the writing was well done.

Elsa is 25 and gets pregnant by Rafe. Elsa’s dad leaves Elsa at Rafe’s families farm and Elsa and Rafe must marry. From there, Elsa learns to love farming and hard work. Years later, the depression occurs and they are in the dust bowl. Her husband, Rafe wants to go to California, but Elsa says no, so Rafe leaves her and their two children. Fast forward a bit and Anthony, the youngest son has dust pneumonia and that makes Elsa pack up and leave for California with her children. She finds that life is even harder in California.
This story is told in dual point of views from Elsa and her daughter Loreda. The only other Kristin Hannah book I’ve ever read has been The Nightingale and that was sad and I was scared this would be sad. I did enjoy The Nightingale though. This was still sad, but I highly enjoyed it and loved it. I sympathized so much with the characters. My heart broke a million times with this story. The prejudice was just awful and it was so awful what they all had to face in California. It’s so hard to imagine. This book will stick with you for a long time. Pick it up.

Simon is writing emails to a mysterious boy named Blue, who is also gay like him. Simon is not out yet and Blue isn’t out officially. Blue is his pen name. Martin, the class clown stumbles across the emails between Simon and Blue. Martin blackmails Simon and Simon has to try to hook up both Abby and Martin. If he can’t, then Martin will out him. What will happen?
I’ve been wanting to read this for a while. I saw the movie when it first came out and I couldn’t watch the movie for a while without guilt because on the day I went to see it, I had a feeling I should have called my grandfather and the next morning I got a phone call saying my grandfather who raised me passed away. So, watching the movie was hard for me and I couldn’t think about reading the book for a while. I’m finally in a place I can actually watch the movie. I finally picked this book up for a library challenge for summer reading for a book to movie. This book follows the movie pretty well, but has changes too. I highly enjoyed it and want to read the other books now. I really love Simon and his friends. This book was so great.

Nina never grew up with a father and never knew him. She finds out who her father is after he dies of a heart attack. He is extremely wealthy and has a ton of children that range in ages. She finds out she has more family than she has ever known. At the same time, she meets a man named Tom and is unsure of him, but likes him. She always has to make plans for the day and can’t break them. She suffers from anxiety and works at a bookstore. Reading is her passion.
I picked this up for the humor challenge for summer reading and because I loved Other People’s Houses by this author, which was a hilarious book. Like, I can’t get over the time the kid said she wanted to grow up to be a toilet. Like my favorite book scene ever. So, I thought this book would be a fun read too. This book is marked as humorous, however I didn’t find it as funny. It was still good and I loved all the family relationships she made and overcoming anxiety to be in a relationship. Still a good read though.