- Sunrise on the Reaping – Suzanne Collins
“Sunrise on the Reaping follows 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy during the 50th Hunger Games (Second Quarter Quell). Set 24 years before Katniss, the story explores Haymitch’s struggle, his strategic fight against the Capitol, and the brutal, tactical nature of the artificial arena.”Â
Suzanne Collins brings back the world of Panem in this new book on the topic of Haymitch’s (Katniss and Peeta’s mentor for the 74th and 75th annual Hunger Games) Games, which was the Quarter Quell that reaped twice as many tributes. In this book we get a closer look at who Haymitch was before he turned to alcohol for comfort. This book is a masterpiece of literature, especially when you realize how Suzanne makes references to what Katniss and Peeta thought that they knew when they re-watched Haymitch’s games before the 3rd Quarter Quell. For any fan of the Hunger Games, this book cannot be missed. It will shock you, gut you, and awe you all in the same flip of a page, and it is really a phenomenal addition to the franchise.Â
- Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid
“Follows Joan Goodwin, a 1980s physics professor and one of the first female NASA astronaut candidates. As she trains in Houston, she falls into a secret, passionate romance with fellow astronaut Vanessa Ford while navigating intense professional pressure, family obligations, and a dangerous 1984 space mission.”
Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and the Six (one of my favorites) definitely does not miss with her newest novel, Atmosphere. This book cleverly combines the thrill and suspense of disaster going wrong in space, the culture that was prominent in the 1980s, especially for women in the astronaut field, and love in a time when homosexuality wasn’t accepted. This book made me feel all kinds of emotions while I was reading it, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes this kind of story. It’s definitely earned its place on my shelf of favorites.Â
- Not Quite Dead Yet – Holly Jackson
“Not Quite Dead Yet” follows 27-year-old Jet Mason, who, after a brutal Halloween night attack in her Vermont home, is left with a fatal brain injury and roughly seven days to live. Refusing risky, near-fatal surgery, Jet investigates her own attempted murder, uncovering deep-seated family secrets, town corruption, and a web of lies.”
This book is the most unique murder mystery book I have ever had the pleasure to pick up. Taking the tried and true angle of someone trying to find a murderer, it takes it up a notch by making the investigator the victim. Jet is a unique character, defining her final week to live by setting out to discover who exactly gave her this timeline, uncovering old secrets, relationships, and more in the process. Partnered with her childhood friend, and neighbor, Billy, Jet navigates the complicated history of her small town while being looked after by Billy as her condition worsens over the course of those seven days.
This book has quickly become one of my favorites on my shelf, and definitely one that I’m quick to recommend to any of my friends who mention that they’re looking for something new to read. Holly Jackson is by far one of my favorite YA authors, definitely do not miss this book!Â
- Katabasis – R. F. Kuang
A dark academia fantasy following Cambridge post-grads Alice Law and Peter Murdoch, who descend into Hell to rescue their deceased mentor, Professor Grimes.
I’ve been on the hunt for a long time for a new fantasy book that gave me just as much joy and excitement as the ones I picked up as a kid gave me (I’m thinking of Lord of the Rings, Six of Crows, etc.), and Katabasis was the perfect book for the job. While it is a highly academic book, weaving in bits and pieces of academia that I’m honestly not too sure what it means, it does so in a very easily digestible manner. The characters are lovable, and their journey through Hell for a recommendation letter from their professor is certainly a very unique spin on a trope that has been done before. There are so many mentions to other religions, mythologies and more that make the book relevant to any reader. For fans of the author’s other work, The Poppy War Trilogy, Katabasis is the perfect addition to any collection, and is such a gripping story.Â
- Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton
Paleontologists Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, and mathematician Ian Malcolm, are invited by billionaire John Hammond to tour a new theme park on Isla Nublar featuring cloned dinosaurs. Chaos ensues when a tropical storm and sabotage shut down the power, freeing predators and forcing the group to survive.
Jurassic Park is one of the most popular franchises that we’ve grown up with, but most people have never read the books that inspired the 1993 movie. For me, the movies were a recent discovery of mine, and I loved them so much that I needed to read the books that inspired them, and was blown away by the difference in details that were lost in the production of the movie from the novel. The book is gritter, nastier, and more detailed about the cloned dinosaurs and the reality of Islar Nubar. While the characters are the same as those in the movie, you get to know them on a much more personal level. I loved the book so much, and would recommend it to any fan of the movies, because as we all know: the book is better.