Here are some book recommendations for your Winter Break reading needs. Courtesy of Reference Student Assistants!
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
This book is an intimate and inspiring memoir by former First Lady, Michelle Obama. She invites readers into her world, and chronicles the personal experiences that she’s had throughout her lifetime. Not only does she provide an open and honest insight about her roots, she also describes how she found her voice, her time in the White House, her public health campaign, and many other accomplishments. She even gives advice to her readers throughout the book! My favorite quote is, “Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done.” If you admire Michelle Obama like I do, you will love this book!
-Jacqueline Cao
2. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness has traits from various literary genres, touching heavily on non-fiction, fantasy, and allegorical/metaphorical topics. The premise of the novel is on the pessimistic side. It tells the story of a young boy named Conor O’Malley and the monster that visits him every night in order to get the truth about Conor’s feelings regarding his mother’s terminal illness. The monster tells Conor stories every night, each story a lesson of how life can be unfair but full of rich experiences. The writing style of the book is intriguing as it sounds formal and elegant when the monster talks, but reverts back to a casual tone when Conor talks. Though at times it can be a painful read, it is an incredibly beautiful and thought-provoking one. Each story that the monster tells goes against a lot of popular beliefs or romanticized feelings towards well-known stories and instead offers some reality.
Here are some of my favorite quotes:
- “Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both.” ‘
- “You do not write your life with words…You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”
- “To say you have no choice is to relieve yourself of responsibility.”
– Juliana Molina
You can also search for and request these books via Link+ if available.