Sunday, January 18, 2015

2015 YALSA Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge, Update #2


Having to go through Interlibrary Loan for this week's titles slowed me down quite a bit, but I did finally get a stack of books. I only completed two challenge books this week, but filled in the empty spaces with Dan Brown's latest, as well as the first two Harry Potter books (which I have read so many times that I consider J.K. Rowling to be a close, personal friend).


Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw

Shane Burcaw writes with honesty, humor, and often in graphic detail about what it's like to live with spinal muscular atrophy.  

My favorite quote: 

"Every single one of us has problems. That's part of being alive. The beauty begins when you connect with other people and realize that we're all in the same boat. Once we accept the fact that life is inherently difficult, we can move on and focus on having a good time despite the tough stuff."

The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

Maggie is torn from her life in Chicago and transplanted in a tiny town in Ireland after her mother remarries. She is lonely and isolated in her unfamiliar surroundings. Just when the new place starts to feel like home, tragedy strikes. Maggie sets out on a risky adventure to fulfill a dying wish. Maggie's coming-of-age story is peppered with observations about love and what it means to live.

My favorite quote:

"...that's what living people do. They shatter and rebuild, shatter and rebuild, shatter and rebuild until they are old and worn and stooped from the work of it."

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