Olivia recommends: A Fine Romance: Falling in Love with the English Countryside by Susan Branch
Genre: Memoir
Reading level: Adult
Summary: Who doesn’t love photos of beautiful flowers and cottages?
Olivia says: Susan Branch has a very eloquent way of writing. Her hand painted watercolors that adorn each page help to paint the pictures of her adventures in the UK exploring the English countryside. I couldn’t put it down!
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Olivia recommends: Educated by Tara Westover
Genre: Memoir
Reading level: Adult
Summary: Westover recounts overcoming her survivalist Mormon family in order to go to college, and emphasizes the importance of education in enlarging her world.
Olivia says: The author did a fantastic job of describing all her hardships in order to do what she felt was right to better her future.
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Audrey recommends: It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood
Genre: Graphic novel memoir
Reading level: YA to adult
Summary: Zoe, in the throes of a quarter-life crisis, uses cartoons and storytelling to reframe how she views her life.
Audrey says: This short volume obliterates the limits of what a graphic novel can do and what art is for. Comics are how Zoe makes sense of the world around her: adding structure, finding narrative, changing perspective, and starting over from the beginning. Zoe draws herself in many different forms: a teenage loser, a cutesy cartoon, a barely-sketched outline, sometimes even a worm. She exists as both character and author on the page, arguing against her own narration. If you also stumble across questions like “what am I doing?” and “what’s the point?”, you won’t necessarily find answers here, but you will find someone who knows the journey it takes to answer them.
This title is available at Foster Public Library.
Olivia recommends: Spare by Prince Harry
Genre: Autobiography
Reading Level: Adult
Summary: This is Prince Harry’s biography from childhood to adulthood. The book goes into detail about the many trials and tribulations he faces as a member of the royal family.
Olivia says: I recommend this book because it as extremely eye-opening. It is easy to believe that the royal family is perfect in every way based on what the media portrays. Prince Harry’s side of the story was told well and is honestly very believable. I have a totally different picture in the my head of the family he as born into and the reason why he needed to get himself, his wife and two children out of the spotlight and somewhere more safe. I recommend listening to this book over reading it, as hearing his voice tell his own story makes the reader have a more sympathetic ear toward his cause.
This book is available at Foster Public Library.
