Books Blog

Here are some questions to think about when writing your book review:

The Plot & Characters
Is the story exciting and believable? Is it a story you can get involved in? Are the people in the story believable? Are you interested in finding out about them? Can you picture the characters in your mind?

Is it a Good Read?
Once you’ve read the beginning, does it make you want to read more? How do the characters talk to each other? Does it seem real?

What it Looks Like?

It’s also touching, and tragic, so keep the tissues handy.
I’m talking about The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It's about two teens dealing with various aspects of cancer. As with most of his books, I’m totally smitten. The banter between characters is very highbrow. I don’t know any teenagers who really talk like Green’s characters, but he’s a skilled writer and his characters are enchanting and well-developed. This is a must-read for adults and older teens.

• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - Two friends, orphaned by war, join the battle against flesh-eating monsters. This book is gripping and hard to put down!
• A Girl Named Digit by Annabel Monaghan - Full of romance and suspense, this book features mathematical eighteen year old genius, Digit, who is recruited by the FBI to foil a terrorist plot.

Two of them – Bringing Up Bebe and French Kids Eat Everything – follow the same general arc. They were both written by American mothers who found themselves raising children in France. Although initially disoriented by the experience, both women found much to admire and emulate about the French way

I have a fascination with stories told from the outsider's perspective, or stories told with an unexpected slant. It has always been a dream of mine to get a degree that studies fairytales just so I could spend years and years and years reading and rereading the same stories told different ways, but I digress.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, is a mysterious tale that takes place in the Alaskan wilderness of the 1920's. Seeking isolation and peace, Jack and Mabel, an older couple, endure the Alaskan wilderness all the while mourning the fact that they are childless.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid started out as a web comic on funbrain.com and it was so popular that the book series was born. Part of the appeal of these books is that they look and sound like the actual diary of a kid.

Mr. Saunders worked at the Rocky Mountain News for 54 years as a copy boy, police reporter, city hall reporter, and feature editor and covered the broadcasting beat as critic and columnist for more than 40 years. In 1993, Saunders was named Colorado Journalist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists. A former president of the Denver Press Club, he's a member of club's Hall of Fame. He currently writes a Monday TV-radio sports column in The Denver Post.

“I showed my work to my high school teacher and they told me I couldn’t bend the truth like that.”

I don’t have one particular The Story, but a lot of minor ones. I get them confused. “Now, who was it that called me a slack-jawed yokel? Not that guy—he was the one who said I was a talentless hack.”

This year’s Denver Pride celebration will be held on June 16-17, and is sponsored by the The Center, the GLBT community center of Colorado. The weekend of events includes a Family Field Day and a parade. While you plan on celebrating your pride at the festivities later this month, check out some of these books, both fiction and nonfiction, especially geared towards glbt teens: