You Should Read
More than just a book review, my book blog offers notes and context, as well as close reading and creative writing possibilities. If you’re looking for a summary and spoilers, look elsewhere.
But if you want to learn how to be an attentive reader and how to a use a mentor text to improve your own writing, check out my You Should Read posts!
You Should Read JAMES by Percival Everett
Teaching Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was as much fun as getting my kids to clean their rooms, which is why I'm so thrilled about James.
You Should Read THIS STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY by Claire Messud
Messud’s novel explores what we can and cannot know about our family members and the ways in which families both shape and challenge our expectations of ourselves, of our futures, of how we want to love and be loved, to know and be known, to remember and be remembered.
You Should Read THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE by Rachel Beanland
Rachel Beanland’s characters fully inhabit their specific historical moment. Rather than using Trivial Pursuit-style historical facts and tidbits to drive their actions, Beanland allows their own personal desires to motivate them. The setting, rather than being a plot device, becomes what it should be: a backdrop.