Rebound a book by Kwame Alexander goes through the story of Charlie Bell’s life. Charlie and his mother have not had the same relationship ever since his father passed. Charlie and his mother get into a huge fight due to them not being on the same page, the new changes in their life, and other things that are going on in their life. As the summer rolls around Charlie Bell’s mother is fed up and can’t take it anymore so she sends Charlie to live with his grandparents in Washington DC for the summer. After brief talk Charlie’s mother leaves and Charlie finds out his one task to do all summer which is to take care of the lawn.

I forced myself to read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka in one sitting on a school night and finished it at 1am. This will, therefore, consequently have great influence on my review.

To begin, the main character, Gregor Samsa, wakes up as an insect. His first instinct is thinking how he is going to go to work. Later on in the story, this proves to be the least of his worries since as the days go by, he still is unable to return into his human form. I would say the story does not necessarily become more compelling as it goes on due to the fact that it is not very plot-oriented, but rather character-focused. It is a classic that one never forgets after reading considering it is really original and widely referenced. The Metamorphosis clearly shows why the term “kafkaesque” emerged.

This is a story I believe everyone should read at least once since it is a classic, it is short (70 pages or so) and it is very influential on other works of art. Although I speak well of it, I am not sure I would exactly recommend it, but maybe that was the effect of reading it in a rush in one sitting. That is where my bias begins to be questioned. Overall, in my opinion, the story deserves its status as a classic, but it is not one of my favorites.

While reading Ready Player One I have found that the main character Wade is a more dynamic character than I expected. His passion being Halliday’s Egg Hunt drives his character’s evolution. Over his five years of being a gunter (Someone looking for the “egg”) he is mostly static, but then he shifts dramatically after discovering a key clue in the hunt for Halliday’s egg. This book is an absolute page turner if you give it a chance. I haven’t been able to put it down at some points. You have to read this book.

I would say that I’m in the best part of the book. It is the climax of the book. What just happened was that all of the main characters went to investigate their father’s past. Jane went to talk to their dad about his time with the cult, then they went to talk to their grandfather about why he left Harlan as a kid. Henry went to the cult to investigate, but he got kidnapped. This is easily the best part of the book because of how much is going on and how much is revealed. I am almost done with the book, so I’ll see how it all ends soon.

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk is an intriguing novel that follows a 12 year old girl as she grows up during World War II. All of the characters are well written and interesting. As you get further into the book, some of the characters start to change. You see sides of the characters that were not initially introduced, making them round. This makes the book difficult to put down because there is always something new to learn about the characters or the plot. The book is also full of mysteries that are slowly unpacked by the main character as she searches for answers. I am almost done with this book and I can’t wait to see how it ends.

So far the book The Secrets of Eastercliff by the Sea is about a family who gets invited to a dinner mysteriously and they must take their sock monkeys. Sock monkeys were given to them by their grandma at birth and she gave every grandchild one. So far the book is kind of slow and I’m starting to lose patience but I am trying to give the book patience to see if it gets better.

I am nearly finished with James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. This novel is very lyrical. The language the author utilizes is poetical, almost like food for the mind. This is a character-driven story, which I enjoy, and James Baldwin captures the human condition in such a way that it moves you. You see humans in their rawest portrayal, every emotion on the spectrum.

You might not necessarily identify with David, the main character, you might not approve of his decisions, but you’re left dumbfounded with the beautiful imagery and thinking that he describes. I, for example, do not relate to David in various aspects, but I understand him. You feel his grayness, his dull outlook on life. You feel his soul being stretched out between desire and morality, between choosing a life with Giovanni or choosing a life with Hella. The issue is that desire and morality begin to bleed into one another and we, as well as David, cannot seem to really distinguish them. As I mentioned before, I haven’t finished the novel.

The book is very raw and intimate in the sense that we feel everything. I could paint a picture of the setting very precisely, had I the artistic ability. The reader not only sees the physical location and the people, we see every light, every shadow, we see movement, we see expression. The beautiful depictions of Paris also enthralled me. To phrase it concisely, very lyrical and beautiful writing that makes one think of human behavior.

Paradise, WV, by Rob Rufus, is a book about a family whose father is a serial killer, or at least, that’s what people say. His family doesn’t believe that he is a killer, and now they’re trying to prove that he’s innocent. And after a girl that Jane knows mysteriously goes missing, the family decides to investigate their dad’s case. While the main characters, Henry, Jane, and Otis (Otis is Henry’s friend), are investigating his case, the news reports Henry and Jane might have been behind the recent killing. This gets them involved in a police case investigating their dad’s case.