As the final installment of the series, War of The Cards was everything I wanted and needed it to be. Oakes did a fantastic job continuing to refer to Lewis Carroll’s classic tale of Alice and Wonderland without being too dependent on the original story. There was so much action present in this book which makes up for the stagnant second book of the trio. Unfortunately, I can’t give much of a summary without spoiling the plot, but if you like fantasy books or retellings of classic literature, this is definitely a series you should read!

As I was reading this collection of essays and poems, I kept making mental notes of which ones were my favorites. However, I quickly realized that every piece of writing was being stored away as my "favorite". I am assigning this book to you, regardless of your ethnicity, race, or background. The topics discussed in this compilation of writing are ones that are often ignored, deliberately or not, by those who are not black. It is your duty as a fellow human being to take the initiative to access these issues and luckily, this book is a great step towards doing just that.

I really enjoyed this short book! As one of the few books that I actually own, I can see myself coming back to it as I grow older. Obviously, some scenarios were more relatable than others, but that is the beauty of this read. It was written for many different types of readers — young, old, male, female, religious, or non religious — and gives a very basic understanding of some of the most renowned philosophers and their theories. Then it connects those theories to modern day scenarios and helps the reader see how they can use philosophy to overcome hardships. I highly recommend this one for anyone looking for a short, enlightening read!

The format of this book is so unique! This story is made up of letters, comics, transcripts of voice recordings, news reports, and photographs. With all the different types of media coming together to tell the book, I got through this one pretty quickly. A small town built around a state prison serves as the setting of this novel. Most of the members of the community have family members who work in law enforcement and/or for the prison. There is a chain of events that occur (starting with two inmates breaking out of the prison) that show the community members that those in law enforcement are not always the good guys as they had once thought. Messner, the author, does a fantastic job handling the many issues with law enforcement today. It is a YA book and I actually think this would be a fantastic resource for many preteens and early teenagers to begin to explain the current political climate. The content is very timely and I believe they would relate to the three narrators of this story, as they are around the same age.

The most important characteristic of this book to note before reading is that it is YA Fiction. This means that there are going to be some parts of the novel that adults find immature/hard to relate to. However, this book was not written for you (20, 30, 40+ somethings). I only wish that there was this type of representation in YA Fiction when I was part of the genre's target age group. The main character in this story, Nishat, is Bangladeshi and not only that, she is a proud and confident young woman of color. This is the type of character YA Fiction was missing back in 2013 when I started reading the genre. There was representation, but there was always doubt that came with those "differences" - (example, a black character feeling unsure about her hair because it looks different than her white friend's hair). Not only is Nishat confident in her culture, but she is also confident in her sexuality. In the very early chapters of this novel, she comes out to her conservative Muslim parents as a lesbian. While they have their own reservations about her sexuality, Nishat never once questions why she feels attraction towards women rather than men. It is this self-assurance that makes Nishat such a powerful protagonist. Instead of dwelling on what makes them different, Jaigirdar, the author, uses her character's differences to empower them. I highly recommend buying this book for yourself and any YA aged readers in your life.

I took the time to really reflect on this book before posting my review. I originally gave it two stars, but then I changed my rating to three stars. Overall, I do think this novel had a lot of potential. The settings, both in Saint X and New York City were beautifully described and the main characters were developed quite well. However, there was a lot of rambling. I felt that there could've been some major editing done to this book and the way Schaitkin, the author, writes just wasn't for me. I do want to acknowledge that this is her debut novel and my experience with this story would not put me off to any of her future publications.

To be completely honest, I was hesitant to pick up this book when I realized the protagonist, Mickey, was a police officer. There is some serious tension between the police and society right now and I didn't know if I could handle tackling that issue both in my "real" life and in my reading life. However, [a:Liz Moore|6879446|Liz Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1484153944p2/6879446.jpg] does a fantastic job of highlighting the corruption that is present in the profession and does not paint all officers as "good guys" or "bad guys". This story mainly focuses on the rampant amount of opioid addiction in the Philadelphia suburbs. Mickey and her sister, Kacey, both grew up around drug users and even lost their mother to an opioid overdose. Their lives are shaped by these experiences, but their adult lives are dramatically different. Mickey becomes a police officer in order to provide for herself and her son. She regularly interacts with those who are drug users and responds to calls regarding overdoses. On the other hand, Kacey becomes addicted to opioids herself and eventually turns to sex work in order to afford her drug habits. When Mickey drives through the suburbs, she regularly sees her sister working the streets. The story begins when Mickey does not see her sister on her usual corner for a few weeks. She becomes worried that something has happened to Kacey, whether that is a fatal overdose or that she has become a victim to the spree killer the Philadelphia PD is looking for. Mickey sets out to find her sister and make sure she is okay. I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys suspenseful reads. All of the characters are really well developed and the plot kept me entertained throughout the entire story. Add this one to your list!

Despite being a fan of true crime, I did not enjoy this one. It is an interesting concept for a book as the author is the ex-brother-in-law of Joseph DeAngelo and he writes about his experiences with him prior to his arrest. He regularly trusted DeAngelo with his children and never suspected him to be the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer. However, the execution of the story was not done well. I feel like the author ran out of things to write about after 100 pages and turned to writing about infamous serial killers who committed similar crimes to DeAngelo. Overall, there are probably better books to read if you are interested in learning about the reign of terror of the Golden State Killer. (I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed above are my own.)

This was my first Baldwin novel and I really enjoyed it. While it was first published in 1974, it literally could have been written today in 2020. If Beale Street Could Talk highlights the relationship between Tish and Fonny, both young adults in New York. Fonny is falsely accused of a heinous crime and is held in prison awaiting his trial. Because he is a young black man, his trial keeps being postponed and the law enforcement simply does not care that he is in fact innocent. Tish finds out that she is pregnant with Fonny's child and turns to her family to help her get Fonny freed before she gives birth. Baldwin does an excellent job with creating the characters of this short novel and I feel like it would be an injustice to rate this title anything less than five stars. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.

Tan France, the style guru from the Queer Eye reboot, does an amazing job with this memoir. It honestly felt like I was sitting and listening to Tan tell me about his life rather than reading about it. His personality shines through in his writing and he actually is very funny. As one of the more reserved personalities on the show, I did not know he had such a great sense of humor! Tan tackles many prominent issues including being an openly gay Pakistani man, racism, and discrimination against Muslims. In addition to these topics, he also writes about his business in the fashion industry and style trends that he has seen throughout his life. This is the third Queer Eye related book I have read this year (I recommend both Jonathan's memoir and Antoni's cookbook as well) and I look forward to getting to Karamo's memoir soon. Bobby - I need you to release your own book so I can "get to know" all of the Queer Eye guys!