Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Best of the Bunch: December 2014


The hosting of the monthly Best of the Bunch linkup has been handed over to me to relaunch. Find out the best book I read in December, and share your own favorite in the linkup below!

This month, I didn't have any 5-star reads out of the 8 books I read, but I did give two books 4.5 stars:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals

I liked both of these a lot, but the best was definitely...


Written by one of the Little Rock Nine, this book showed me how little I knew about the history of school integration or what that experience was actually like for those involved. Thanks to the detailed diary Melba Pattillo kept as a teenager, we get an almost day-by-day account of what she went through in her year at Central High School. It's horrifying, as you might expect, but even more so than I expected. Perhaps most valuably for readers who are experiencing their own share of school bullying or other hostile environments, she shares her techniques for dealing with the torture she endured, from what didn't work to what helped her regain a measure of power and control. Except for my frustration with the inclusion of a million introductions before the actual story started, I really liked the audiobook version of this and would recommend it. Either way, this is worth a read.

What is the best book you read this month? Let me know in comments, or write your own post and link up below!

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