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Best Books of the Month: August 2017

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Want to Read

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Want to Read

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Want to Read

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All News & Interviews | Popular this month

Giveaways

The Leavers
by Lisa Ko (Goodreads Author)

Release date: May 02, 2017

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION!

"Courageous, sensitive, and perfectly of this moment: THE LEAVERS is everything I could hope for in ...more

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Format: Print book

Giveaway ends in: a

Availability: 1 copy available, 6863 people requesting

Giveaway dates: Sep 07 - Oct 04, 2017

Countries available: US

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Top Reviews This Week

Emma Giordano's review of Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

" CW: talk of suicide, murder/gore

THIS BOOK IS A TRIP, MAN. I definitely struggled a bit with this read. It's not exactly my cup of tea but I think it is so unique and genius that it has to get a good rating from me.

I really enjoyed the first two chapt CW: talk of suicide, murder/gore

THIS BOOK IS A TRIP, MAN. I definitely struggled a bit with this read. It's not exactly my cup of tea but I think it is so unique and genius that it has to get a good rating from me.

I really enjoyed the first two chapters of this book. E. Lockhart has a very sophisticated writing that can be hard for me to jump into, but the beginning was so intriguing with a girl on the run that I just wanted to read more. Then by the third chapter . . . we're back in time. Essentially, this story is told backwards. Every chapter skips back a week to a month BEFORE the events we've just read. As someone who does NOT like flashbacks in books, I almost set the book down but as we got deeper into the story, I started to really enjoy the process of reading a seemingly insignificant detail, discovering the significance later, and then making the connection as opposed to traditional writing.

I'm also pleased with this book as I think it is the only young adult novel I've ever read with a true unreliable narrator. (Or maybe it's that the storytelling is unreliable, but the protagonist is not one you can trust regardless.) I had to second guess my feelings on Jule every step of the way. Even after finishing, I'm still perplexed. The same goes for Imogen. I was constantly flip-flopping on which girl I trusted, which I liked, which I felt empathy for, and it made for a really unique reading experience.

I did find the plot to be a little dull at times. The scenes aren't all that exciting, they are fairly mundane, but it's the overall storytelling that kept me going. The way the book is written made the ordinary scenes feel more interesting than they actually are.

I don't know how strict of a "mystery" I would label this book because I don't believe it's a clear-cut "whodunnit" with a single crime to be solved. It's not the most suspenseful and there is not a ton of action/high intensity. I think it is a novel that has more of a psychological trip the forces you to question absolutely every sentence written. I also don't believe there is a huge plot twist because you sort of expect it, but it's the process of unraveling of the truth that I found to be more exciting than the actual reveal.

All in all, I found Genuine Fraud to be an interesting novel. I didn't LOVE it because the writing style, flashback and plot isn't really for me, but the way it is written is truly a novelty. I thoroughly enjoyed the freshness and uniqueness of the novel. If you're looking for a different, intriguing young adult novel that is more sophisticated than most, I think Genuine Fraud is worth giving a shot. ...more "
254 votes

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New Releases in History & Biography

Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History

A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman, and the Birth of Modern China, 1949

An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic

Big Machines: The Story of Virginia Lee Burton

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New Releases in Nonfiction

Believe Me: My Battle with the Invisible Disability of Lyme Disease

One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps

Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve

Project Semicolon: Your Story Isn't Over

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New Releases in Mystery & Thriller

The Missing Masterpiece (Dorothy Martin, #18)

The Mitford Murders (Mitford Murders #1)

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New Releases in Historical Fiction

A Strange Scottish Shore (Emmaline Truelove, #2)

The Highlander’s Challenge (Lairds of Dunkeld, #2)

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New Releases This Month

Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker

Harry Potter - A History of Magic: The Book of the Exhibition

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City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

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A Life in Books

Megan Whalen Turner

Thick as Thieves (The Queen's Thief, #5)

Bow down to YA royalty—Megan Whalen Turner is back with a new The Queen's Thief adventure. She shares the books that inspire her love of history and magic.

23 likes · 5 comments

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Good Minds Suggest

Ron Chernow

The author who inspired our Alexander Hamilton obsession is now focusing on the misunderstood President Grant with the aptly titled Grant. Here are his nominations for great presidential biographies.

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Recent Award Winners

The Hill
by Karen Bass
Rocky Mountain Book Award Nominee (2018)

Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles
by Shari Green
Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee (2018)

Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles
by Shari Green
Rocky Mountain Book Award Nominee (2018)

Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles
by Shari Green
Chocolate Lily Award Nominee (2018)

Wolf Hollow
by Lauren Wolk
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2018)

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