If I Stay

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

On a day that started like any other, Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, admiring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. In an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left. It is the most important decision she'll ever make.
                                Miranda Petrosky- Beautiful! Inspiring! I can picture so much that happens in this novel. I have had a personal experience with a significant other that made this story so emotional for me yet so REAL. I bought the second book so I could know what happens next. I would HIGHLY recommend this novel, it's so amazing!

Rating 10 out of 10

American Sniper

American Sniper by Chris Kyle

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyles kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan (“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle’s masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

A native Texan who learned to shoot on childhood hunting trips with his father, Kyle was a champion saddle-bronc rider prior to joining the Navy. After 9/11, he was thrust onto the front lines of the War on Terror, and soon found his calling as a world-class sniper who performed best under fire. He recorded a personal-record 2,100-yard kill shot outside Baghdad; in Fallujah, Kyle braved heavy fire to rescue a group of Marines trapped on a street; in Ramadi, he stared down insurgents with his pistol in close combat. Kyle talks honestly about the pain of war—of twice being shot and experiencing the tragic deaths of two close friends.                                     Miranda Pemosky- This book was sad, I had watched the movie before I had read the book and it was an extraordinary movie! I love that the novel was written by Chris Kyle and then continued after his death. This is an amazing story that would be great for anybody!


Rating: 10 out of 10

Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.                       
                             I didn't love this book as much as everyone else seemed to. I thought it was funny especially the first half. The plot was interesting, but it got boring to read after a while and I didn't really want to finish it.


Rating: 7 out of 10

Warriors Don't Cry

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals

Beals chronicles her harrowing junior year at Central High where she underwent the segregationists' brutal organized campaign of terrorism which included telephone threats, vigilante stalkers, economic blackmailers, rogue police, and much more.

                                 This is a very good, well written book that plays with your emotions. The characters are easily relatable and you fall in love with them instantly. I would recommend this book to anyone who finds segregation and integration of African Americans interesting or is looking for a good book to read. The reason I rated this book with an 8 is due to the fact that it was slow getting into the book, but once I did I could not put it down. I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

           The real deal! a coming of age novel that truly depicts a slice of high school. Andrews cleverly blends the worlds of two socially awkward boys with a dying girl. As it turns out they end up liking each other and becoming friends. It's witty, it's clever, it's real.

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.



                                Nikki Tomci- The book was an amazing story and unlike the typical cancer story, it wasn't all sad. Randy explained how he gained his optimistic point of view throughout his life, which provided me with motivation to be kind and make a change in my life. It's a lot like "Tuesday's With Morris" which was also a very good book. I'd recommend this to any reader.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

                    This is probably my favorite book ever. The characters are so relatable and amazing. The love story is so real. Also the fact that it is set in the 1980's is super cool. I couldn't put this book down!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Zac and Mia

Zac and Mia by A. J. Betts

"When I was little I believed in Jesus and Santa, spontaneous combustion, and the Loch Ness monster. Now I believe in science, statistics, and antibiotics."

So says seventeen-year-old Zac Meier during a long, grueling leukemia treatment in Perth, Australia. A loud blast of Lady Gaga alerts him to the presence of Mia, the angry, not-at-all-stoic cancer patient in the room next door. Once released, the two near-strangers can’t forget each other, even as they desperately try to resume normal lives. The story of their mysterious connection drives this unflinchingly tough, tender novel told in two voices.                         Austin Shaw- Mia is 100% to the point and doesn't hold back and I love it! The story was cool, but it wasn't "The Fault in our Stars", but I expected that. The ending was okay... Really the best thing was Mia and her being so raw and uncut. I'd say it's worth a read if there is nothing else on your current list.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Food Rules

Food Rules: An Eaters Manual by Michael Pollan

Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings a welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food.


               Really great quick read for getting into healthy eating. All the rules are pretty simple and easy to understand.  It's kind of like someone took everything you know about healthy eating mixed with some things you didn't know, made it easy to understand and stuck it in a book.


Rating: 7 out of 10

The Program

The Program by Suzanne Young

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

                       "The Program" was by far the best book I have ever read. The characters were so detailed and interesting that it made the book so much better. Any books that deal with topics similar to this one, are books that I would DEFINITELY read. 

Rating: 10 out of 10

A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes of the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

                          Mary Joy- This book will appeal to anyone with even the slightest taste for fantasy. It is full of interesting and very realistic characters who's conflicts keep the suspense high, and of course the author's penchant for killing off the main characters and tossing in entirely unexpected plot twists will keep the pages turning. Over all "A Game Of Thrones" is a great book for anyone who wants a good read and is not daunted by the sheer length.

Rating: 9 out of 10

The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill-prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

                    I recently finished "The Paris Wife' and I absolutely couldn't put it down. Paula McLain does an amazing job at making Hadley's love story fell like your own. I grew attached to her romance with Hemmingway because she was so descriptive. She painted a vivid image of their spontaneous life. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to be swept off their feet by indulging in the magic that was Hadley's and Ernest's relationship, but can deal with the heart break of a tragedy.

Rating: 7 out of 10