A Novel Idea

Hello! Calling all readers and all wannabe readers (did anyone else just start singing Spice Girls?)

I LOVE TO READ!!!!

It seems almost too perfect that I ended up in an English major in college and am now an English teacher, but... 

I just love to read... and discuss what I'm reading and why I LOVE it!

NOW- if you don't have time or the patience to read books but you wannabe a reader... skip these book reviews and go to the bottom where I talk about some neat apps!

So, on that note...

Here are some of the novels I have been reading lately and a teeny blurb about them. 

Hopefully you will find something you're interested in reading! 

First off- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely. This book is one for the ages.

If you have been interested in the "Black lives Matter" movement then you will be interested in the story within this book. Although this book is fiction, Jason Reynolds used a lot of his own experiences growing up to fuel the message of this book. Rashad, an African American teenager with good grades and in the ROTC, is mistaken as a shoplifter and is arrested and beaten by a white police officer and ends up in the hospital near death. The story, told from the perspectives of Rashad and a white classmate, Quinn, follows the issue of race and the inner decisions and discussion that each of the boys has to face. 

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult... this is a tearjerker. If you've read her stuff, you're guaranteed to like it, and if you haven't and you like this, you have a plethora of other books you can choose from. Again, this book deals with race and prejudice. Told from the perspective of 3 different characters, Ruth, an African American Labor & Delivery nurse; Turk, a white supremacist new father; and Kennedy, a white, but not racist lawyer. It follows the story of Ruth caring for and then being taken off the care of Turk's newborn son. When things don't go well for the baby, Ruth gets blamed... what happens next is for you to discover!

Better by Atul Gawande- Atul Gawande made himself famous writing about the medical care and systems available and talking about his own practices. This book discusses the medical practices we currently have and how to make the medical care and policy that inform it BETTER. It seems like a daunting topic- but the writing is novel-esque and very accessible. If you're in for something a little bit more informative- this might just be it!

3 more books you might be interested in and that I can highlight another time:

SO... for those of you who wannabe a reader and just don't have time or energy- here are some apps for you!

First off- I LOVE the kindle app. I can buy a book and read it on my phone, ipad.. almost anywhere. If you're a reader and you can't fit books or pay for the full one- USE THIS!

OR if you're too cheap to buy them at all- you can use your library to read/listen to books through:

OVERDRIVE!

Seriously, check this one out! Saves so much money!

Also, maybe you want the content of reading but you just don't have the time or patience to get through a book- check out:

Blinklist- It gives you some great summaries of books so you can "read" a book in about 20-30 minutes. Self-help books- I'm coming for ya!

Finally, one of my favorite things:

Cleaning, driving kids to appointments or practice? Running errands? 

Audible is golden for getting through books. I especially love that I can speed the reader up (not always advised). I can get through books SOOO fast!!

Seriously, check it out if you haven't.

So, what other apps and books do YOU love? Leave your comments Here!