But I don't like to read...
From non reader to media specialist
“The thing I realize is, that it's not what you take, it's what you leave.” ― Jennifer Niven, All the Bright Places
If you don't like to read, you are reading the wrong books..
I didn't read my first book without an assignment until 9th grade, the teacher let us choose our own books. Yes, it was an assignment, but we had the flexibility to choose a book that we felt would be interesting. I choose Where Are the Children by Mary Higgins Clark. Since then, I haven't stopped reading.
I want to help everyone reconnect with their initial love for reading. I usually start by asking a few of the following questions.
What is your favorite TV show?
What do you like to do in your free time?
What is the last movie you saw that you enjoyed?
I'm going to post suggestions of books I've read and would love any suggestions you might have too.
Subscription boxes for book geeks and techie geeks.
Owl Crate
Loot Crate
A curated collection of awesome items from the best pop culture franchises delivered to your door every month.
Comic Mystery Box
Get 16 collector's comics - new issues, back issues, #1 issues, and variants. At least $60 worth of comics in every box. All comics are first prints in new condition.
Young Adult Fiction
Now is not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge—aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner—is determined to make it through yet another sad summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a talented artist who has just moved into his grandmother’s unhappy house and who is as lonely and awkward as Frankie is. Romantic and creative sparks begin to fly, and when the two jointly make an unsigned poster, shot through with an enigmatic phrase, it becomes unforgettable to anyone who sees it. The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.
Star Wars: Midnight Horizon by Daniel José Older
What they uncover on Corellia turns out to be just one part of a greater plan, one that could lead the Jedi to their most stunning defeat yet….
Ground Zero by David Gratz
September 11, 2001, New York City: Brandon is visiting his dad at work, on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center. Out of nowhere, an airplane slams into the tower, creating a fiery nightmare of terror and confusion. And Brandon is in the middle of it all. Can he survive -- and escape?
September 11, 2019, Afghanistan: Reshmina has grown up in the shadow of war, but she dreams of peace and progress. When a battle erupts in her village, Reshmina stumbles upon a wounded American soldier named Taz. Should she help Taz -- and put herself and her family in mortal danger?
Two kids. One devastating day. Nothing will ever be the same.
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Summary: Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom
As the walls of Mel's compartmentalized world crumble, she fears the worst--that her friends will abandon her if they learn the truth about what she's been hiding. Can Mel bring herself to risk everything to find out?
When We Collided by Emery Lord
Review:
Vivi didn’t know Jonah would light up her world.
In an unflinching story about new love, old wounds, and forces beyond our control, two teens find that when you collide with the right person at just the right time, it will change you forever.
The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Amazon
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him—at least not yet. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change.
Kids of Appetite by David Arnold
It begins with the death of Vic’s father.
It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle.
The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it. But in order to tell their story, Vic and Mad must focus on all the chapters in between.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . . After. Nothing is ever the same.
Every Last Word by Tamara Stone
Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.
My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga
There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution.
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre
But love doesn’t mend all broken things, and sometimes life has to fall apart before it can be put back together again…
Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan (Book 1)
One girl’s story of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and her precarious grasp of hope
Fantasy and Science Fiction
A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses Book 4) by Sarah J. Maas
Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other's arms.
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
A strange darkness grows in Allward.
Even Corayne an-Amarat can feel it, tucked away in her small town at the edge of the sea.
She soon discovers the truth: She is the last of an ancient lineage—and the last hope to save the world from destruction. But she won’t be alone. Even as darkness falls, she is joined by a band of unlikely companions: a squire, an immortal, an assassin, an ancient sorceress, a bounty hunter
Together they stand against a vicious opponent, invincible and determined to burn all kingdoms to ash, and an army unlike anything the realm has ever witnessed.
Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
When a shocking catastrophe in hyperspace tears a ship to pieces, the flurry of shrapnel emerging from the disaster threatens an entire system.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ranson Riggs
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.
A horrific family tragedy sets Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive.
Michael Vey by Richard Paul Evans
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
One touch is all it takes. One touch and Juliette Ferrars can leave a fully grown man gasping for air. One touch and she can kill.
No one knows why Juliette has such incredible power. It feels like a curse, a burden that one person alone could never bear. But The Reestablishment sees it as a gift, sees her as an opportunity.
Juliette has never fought for herself before. But when she’s reunited with the one person who ever cared about her, she finds a strength she never knew she had.
Historical Fiction/Nonfiction
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Vianne Mauriac's husband, Antoine, heads for the Front. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.
Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan and she falls in love as only the young can...completely.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.
In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. When her father takes her mom to the hospital, Rill is left in charge, until the police show up. The children are thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are told that they will soon be returned to their parents. They soon realize the truth, they are never going home.
This story is based on one of America's real-life tragedies. Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Bruno meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different from his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Fall of Giants (The Century Trilogy #1) by Ken Follett
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette’s brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family.
Movie Released August 11, 2017
The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
A memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine. Parents and family members who never thought they could get inside the head of their autistic loved one, at last, have a way to break through to the curious, subtle, and complex life within.
Using an alphabet grid to painstakingly construct words, sentences, and thoughts that he is unable to speak out loud, Naoki answers even the most delicate questions that people want to know. Questions such as: “Why do people with autism talk so loudly and weirdly?” “Why do you line up your toy cars and blocks?” “Why don’t you make eye contact when you’re talking?” and “What’s the reason you jump?” (Naoki’s answer: “When I’m jumping, it’s as if my feelings are going upward to the sky.”)
“We read to know we're not alone.” William Nicholson
Adult Fiction
The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda
Family of Liars by E. Lockhart
A windswept private island off the coast of Massachusetts.
A hungry ocean, churning with secrets and sorrow.
A fiery, addicted heiress. An irresistible, unpredictable boy.
A summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.
Welcome back to the Sinclair family.
They were always liars.
The Judge's List by John Grisham
He is a judge, in Florida—under Lacy’s jurisdiction.
Children's Books
Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds illustrated by Peter Brown
He eats them on the way to school.
He eats them going to Little League.
He eats them walking home.
Until the day the carrots start following him...or are they?
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka illustrated by Lane Smith
Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd
For parents and children alike, here is a modern bedtime story about bidding our gadgets goodnight. Don't worry, though. They'll be waiting for us, fully charged, in the morning.
Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski illustrated by Lee Harper
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
What could be fun about that?
After all, if a book has no pictures, there's nothing to look at but the words on the page.
Words that might make you say silly sounds... In ridiculous voices...
Hey, what kind of book is this, anyway?
Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz illustrated by Dan Santat
His craving for meat sends Wolf to classes at the dojo, and soon he’s ready to try out his new moves. A little girl and her tiny granny should be easy targets--right?
Not if Little Red has anything to say about it! Kiya!
The Full Moon at the Napping House by Audrey Wood and Don Wood
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best?
Websites for Reading
What you can do on Goodreads:
- See which books your friends are reading.
- Track the books you're reading, have read, and want to read.
- Check out your personalized book recommendations. Our recommendation engine analyzes 20 billion data points to give suggestions tailored to your literary tastes.
- Find out if a book is a good fit for you from our community’s reviews.
Books to Movies
The Lockwood & Co. Series, by Jonathan Stroud
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Dear Edward, by Ann Napolitano
Patriot Academy Media Center
Mrs. Katy Richards
Email: krichards@jcboe.net
Location: 419 W Dumplin Valley Rd, Jefferson City, TN 37760