Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland- Book Review

 

Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland- Book Review

Author: Stephanie Butland

Publisher: Headline Review

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18BwzDg-FzZnkb-D8DM7n-nUQML9jZ1hlAn-rVe8fDP0/edit?tab=t.0

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XMNflTXQLyZ3pXKAEX9fdfMz17g73hbU_qvPmUvHMrs/edit?tab=t.0

Publish Date: March 30, 2023

Rating: 4/5

Summary(blurb): Dear Lost for Words: 

We are trying to stay at home... I am enclosing a cheque and I hope that you will use it to send us some books. Please choose books that we might think are wonderful. 

- Rosemary 

Loveday Carew's beloved Lost for Words bookshop, along with the rest of York, has fallen quiet. At the very time when people most need books to widen their horizons, escape from their fears, or enhance their lives, the doors are closed. Then the first letter comes. 

Rosemary and George have been married for fifty years. Now their time is running out. They have decided to set out on their last journey together, without ever leaving the bench at the bottom of their garden in Whitby. All they need is someone who shares their love of books. 

Suddenly it's clear to Loveday that she and her team can do something useful in a crisis. They can recommend books to help with the situations their customers find themselves in: fear, boredom, loneliness, the desire for laughter and escape. 

And so it begins.

**This book review may contain spoilers**

Out of the Shadows- a short story

Out of the Shadows- a short story. 

Loosely based on All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Hope you enjoy :D

Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo- Book Review

 

Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo- Book Review

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publish Date: 2013

Rating: 4/5

Summary(blurb): It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.

**This book review may contain spoilers**

Thorn- a short story

Thorn

a short story by Daniel Jin.

(Very very very) loosely based on Beauty and the Beast. Hope you enjoy :D

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah- Book Review

   

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah- Book Review

Title: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

Author: Trevor Noah

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau

Publish Date: November 15, 2016

Rating: 4.5/5

Summary(blurb): TREVOR NOAH's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother-his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. 

**This book review contains spoilers for this book. If you still want to read the review, go ahead. However, I strongly recommend you to read this book before reading my review.

 

Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card- Book Review

Title: Shadow of the Hegemon

Author: Orson Scott Card

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publish Date: 2000

Rating: 4/5

Summary(blurb): The War is over, won by Ender Wiggin and his team of brilliant child-warriors. The enemy is destroyed, the human race is saved. Ender himself refuses to return to the planet, but his crew has gone home to their families, scattered across the globe. Battle School is no more. 

But with the external threat gone, the Earth has become a battlefield once more. The children of the Battle School are more than heroes; they are potential weapons that can bring power to the countries that control them. One by one, all of Ender's Dragon Army are kidnapped. Only Bean escapes; and he turns for help to Ender's brother Peter. 

Peter Wiggin, Ender's older brother, has already been manipulating the politics of Earth from behind the scenes. With Bean's help, he will eventually rule the world.

**This book review may contain spoilers**

 

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho- Book Review

Title: The Alchemist

Author: Paulo Coelho

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publish Date: 1988

Rating: 4/5

Summary(blurb): Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations. 

 Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.

**This book review may contain spoilers**

 

The Therapist by B. A. Paris- Book Review

Title: The Therapist

Author: B. A. Paris

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publish Date: January 2021

Rating: 4/5

Summary(blurb): When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, an exclusive gated community, it is everything they've dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive... 

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with the therapist who lived there before. Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened. But no one wants to talk about it. And her neighbours are hiding something... 

The million-copy Sunday Times bestselling author B A Paris returns to her heartland of gripping psychological suspense in this powerful tale of a house that holds a shocking secret.

**This book review may contain spoilers**

The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell & Freedom Writers- Book Review

The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell & Freedom Writers- Book Review

Title: The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them 

Author: Erin Gruwell, Freedom Writers

Publisher: Broadway Books

Publish Date: September 1, 1999 (this 20th anniversary edition in 2019)

Rating: 3/5

Summary(blurb): In 1994, an idealistic first-year teacher in Long Beach. California, named Erin Gruwell confronted a room of "unteachable, at-risk" students. She had intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust. She was met by uncomprehending looks none of her students had heard of one of the defining moments of the twentieth century. So she rebooted her entire curriculum, using treasured books such as Anne Frank's diary as her guide to combat intolerance and misunderstanding: Her students began recording their thoughts and feelings in their own diaries, eventually dubbing themselves "the Freedom Writers." 

Consisting of powerful entries from the students' diaries and narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an unforgettable story of how hard work, courage, and determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students. In the two decades since its original publication, the book has sold more than one million copies and inspired a major motion picture. And now, with this twentieth-anniversary edition, readers are brought up to date on the lives of the Freedom Writers, as they blend indispensable takes on social issues with uplifting stories of attending college and watch their own children follow in their footsteps. The Freedom Writers Diary remains a vital read for anyone who believes in second chances.

**This book review may contain spoilers**