It’s almost Valentine’s Day, y’all! Here at BookPeople, there’s nothing we love more than books. Here are a few that our booksellers have fallen for lately!
The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams
The Illness Lesson‘s premise really struck a chord with me. Clare Beams’ debut novel plays an eerie, off-balance minor chord progression, descending a newly-formed all-girls school into madness (from the male doctor’s perspective) or into frustration (from the female schoolteachers and children’s perspective). Both my heart and my tear ducts were full reading about something so personal and dear that I could never articulate as eloquently as Beams does in this book. We, the feminists, the chronic pain sufferers, and the metaphorical fifth Brontë sister who recognizes literary prowess (emphasis on the –ess), can stand in solidarity with the girls’ fear of an idiopathic disease, desperation for a genetic cause and diagnosis, and sense of belittlement toward intense, real-life physical symptoms. Beams’ unapologetic and empowering slice-of-life moments bring into consonance a stirring song whose verses, poetic as her words are, cannot be forgotten.
–Olivia
The Cactus League by Emily Nemens
Spring Training is here for the LA Lions, bringing a cadre of players, coaches, agents and hangers on to the desert-scape of Arizona. And for nine chapter-long innings we’re taken ’round the diamond looking to get the full story on fading baseball phenom Jason Goodyear from those who know him best and those who don’t, but think they do. It’s a story that, like a season of MLB ball, unfolds incrementally, full of dramatic peaks and valleys, and, when it matters most, reveals the character of those stepping up to the plate. Emily Nemens hits it out of the park with this no-doubt, moonshot of a debut. The Cactus League brims with heart and a ferocious sense of humor!
–Uriel
Once and for All by Sarah Dessen
Every few years or so I get in a reading slump so major that it will take months to finish anything and nothing sparks my interest. So I decided it was time for some engrossing YA to try and at least be reading something. Sarah Dessen did the trick. Dessen makes it extremely easy to get invested in her characters’ lives and backstories. She is very good to have on your side during a reading slump and I am seriously debating going to the library after I finish this review to see if I can find another of hers on their shelves.
–Lojo
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