Books. They are an escape from our current reality; an escape from the struggles we face in our everyday lives. For some, the books we read provide characters who are easy to relate with. They become our friends and a look inside our true selves. Books have the ability to change our personality. They may begin to change the decisions we make and how we may act in certain scenarios. The following book reviews are

Have you ever felt alone? Abandoned within your own home? Then the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleo Hosseini may be a book you empathize with. According to the cover of A Thousand Splendid Suns it is a “breathtaking novel set against volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years – from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban – and puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country into intimate, human terms. It is a story of two generations of two characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives – the struggle to survive, raise a family, and find happiness- are inextricable from the history playing out around them.”

In my opinion, this book takes a strong stomach to endure the experience of the characters’ struggles throughout the story. This book is disturbing in the eyes of a woman as the book is surrounded by a male dominant and sexist culture. However, reading this book really opened my eyes to the ongoing world outside the safety of my own small town.

The book Sharp Objects written by Gillian Flynn is a book full of twists and turns. According to the cover of Sharp Objects this book describes a girl, “fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return ot her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims -a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story – and survive this homecoming.”

This book was one I wanted to put down, but I could not bring myself to do so. It is disturbing on a whole new level that can make your insides clench, however, the story hooks you in. Overall, this book reels you in from start to finish with constant gut-wrenching scenarios that make you question the meaning of life. I would recommend this book to those who are not faint of heart, and enjoy a good thriller/mystery. Disclaimer- this book is recommended for mature readers due to some graphic scenes.

Watchers by Dean Koontz is about a top-secret government laboratory which produced two genetically altered life forms. One is a magnificent dog of astonishing intelligence. The other, a hybrid monster of brutally violent nature. And both are on the loose.

I absolutely adored this book! As a constant book reader, I have never had a book give me as much satisfaction as this one. Watchers  is definitely a book you cannot judge by its cover. Along with it being a science fiction book, it also contains small doses of romance and thrill. I would recommend this book to anyone ages 15 and up.

According to the cover of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime written by Mark Hadden, “Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Cristopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.”

This book, at first, was not a favorite of mine, however, the more I read it the more I began to enjoy it. I just loved how you as the reader felt like you were being taken into the adventure along with the main character. I would recommend this book for all audiences at least 13 and up.

According to the cover of The Queen’s Gambit written by Walter Tevis, “eight-year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. But only until her first game of chess. Then, her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. By the age of sixteen, she’s competing for the U.S. Open championship. But as Beth hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation grows more frightening, and the thought of escape becomes all the more tempting. Engaging and fast-paced, The Queen’s Gambit speeds to a conclusion as elegant and satisfying as a mate in four.”

This is another book I adored. I had also watched the Netflix limited series on it which made everything all the better. As a chess player, I was able to relate to some of the dilemmas she went through, and the reputation she had to maintain. This book had a very satisfying ending, and it kept me hooked from start to finish. I would recommend this book for ages 16-17 and up.