Food for Bookworms

Like any bookworm, I could spend hours in the bookstore choosing what to read next.  However, sometimes there isn’t time to spend hours looking through stacks of novels between shelves.  It also can be difficult to find suggestions if you prefer to read on an e-reader, so I often find I have read most of the “suggested” books.  Here are some suggestions to shorten your search so you can get reading over the weekend or holiday break. Happy reading!

If you like The Help, try: 

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman 

Beth Hoffman’s debut novel tells the story of CeeCee, a young girl who is orphaned after the death of her mentally unstable mother.  In a whirlwind, she is whisked off to live with her Aunt Tootie in Savannah, Georgia.  There, CeeCee meets Tootie’s housemaid, Oletta, and an array of her colorful neighbors.  Aunt Tootie and the others are the epitome of southern charm and accept CeeCee with open arms.  In the Savannah sun, CeeCee learns to confront her hurtful past and what it feels like to have a true family.  Hoffman’s writing is as sweet as a Georgia peach and will leave you crying, laughing, and smiling.

Also check out: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

If you like Speak, try: 

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

One of the most despairing events of today is school shootings.  Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult takes a reader through everything before, during, and after the nineteen minutes that changed a small town and many people in it forever.  Told from an omniscient point of view, the story alternates between the viewpoints of many different characters.  One such character is Josie Cormier, the popular “it girl” who is present at the shooting, and whose mother, Alex, is the presiding judge on the case.  In addition to Josie’s and Alex’s accounts, the story is also told from the points of view of Peter Houghton, the shooter, and his mother, as well as others.  Picoult’s emotional, detailed writing paints the story in a way that will forever change the way you view school shootings and the effects of your actions, big and small.

Also check out: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

If you like The Book Thief, try: 

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah’s Key tells the story of a young Parisian girl, Sarah, whose family was arrested on Vel’ d’Hiv’ during World War II and the woman, Julia, who sixty years later is trying to piece together her story.  Sarah locked her brother in a cupboard before the French police took them away, telling him she would be back soon.  Her family is then sent away to a concentration camp.  Julia is an American writer living in Paris.  She is assigned to write about the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, in which 13,152 people were arrested by the French police under the authority of the Nazis.  As Julia unearths one of these victim’s, Sarah’s, stories, she discovers her connection to the young girl and begins to contemplate her own life.  The picture Rosnay crafts of Paris shows the mysterious taboo surrounding this event in French history.

Also check out: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls