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Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens

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Billie (the main character) lives in a small town where each year a worthy woman wins the “Corn Dolly.” Billie knows she will never be chosen to compete for it since she is not the type of girl or woman who gets picked. She is the preacher’s daughter, but she’s also part of the group of teens, the Hexagon, that started her father’s church on fire. Billie loves her friends, taking comfort in their ease with one another. Still, when her best friend Janie Lee confesses that she has a crush on Woods, Billie is devastated. Billie isn’t quite sure what she wants though, could it be that she loves Woods too? Or maybe Janie Lee? As Billie wrestles with her sexuality in a small town, she discovers unexpected allies, new friends, and the power of being yourself. As someone who grew up outside of a small town, Stevens captures small-town life beautifully, from the comfort of knowing everyone to the suffocating nature of everyone knowing you. The micro-world of the small town is so well dr...
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You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

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This book was beyond inspiring and just dead on truthful. It is the type of book that you need to read when you have that dream you want to come true, but you just continue to doubt your capabilities that you can actually do it. The exercises, such as rewriting letters of all the excuses by replacing them with affirmations or making a vision board to actually see our dream to remind us daily why we have been placed on this earth, are all good tools to help remind us to stay committed. Jen Sincero kept it all the way honest with her blunt yet humorous approach. I'm ready to be the Badass I know I am, and live the life I know I can and will. 9/10!
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Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger Jr.

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The book “Ragged Dick” is a book everyone should read. It shows what hard work and perseverance can turn into—even for a boot-black street boy. The main character in the book, Ragged Dick, is a homeless orphan boy of New York in 1860 who supports himself by blackening boots on the streets for 10 cents a shine (remember this is taking place in the 1860’s). Ragged Dick signifies how generosity, honesty, and hard work can lead anyone to great opportunities, and connect us with the right people that will also help in achieving our success in life. In the world we live in today, we learn how hard it is to get a high paying job and how a degree can help us acquire a promising career; Ragged Dick shows us how being patient, sticking with right morals and honest work will guide us to a successful path. Although we can expect a harsh road ahead, with consistency and perseverance, we will get to a fruitful destination. As you read the book, you will notice the pattern Alger created through hi...
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Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

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I became so engrossed with Eat, Love, Pray that I dreaded the dwindling pages left to read because I knew that the book was almost over. This would mean I was done with this great experience, but it was so well written that I still couldn't wait to finish it. Elizabeth Gilbert is such an easygoing writer. You wish that you had a best friend a lot like her as you continue to read the book and get to know her. This book took familiar topics—family, relationships, and faith—and explored them through unexpected angles. She divorces and explains facets of that process and the effects of the divorce process that were particularly illuminating. She then takes on the three simple tasks of eating, praying, and loving in three amazing locations of Italy, India, and Indonesia, respectively. After failing to find this in a paperback resale shop or the library, I was later grateful to have my own copy. I've never underlined so much in a book before. Re-reading some of my own note...
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Paper Towns by John Green

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Paper Towns is my first John Green novel. I know, I know. I’m so late, but now I have the advantage of buying and reading almost all of his books straight away, which I will do because I’ve decided that he’s awesome. His books have been on my “to read” list for a while but I was a little apprehensive about picking them up. I worried that they would just be typical young adult realistic fiction novels that involve a lot of romance, break-ups, and teen angst but Paper Towns isn’t like this at all—it’s so much more than that. The mystery aspect of the novel was a complete surprise as I tend to avoid reading book descriptions properly. I did skim over the “…middle of the night—dressed like a ninja” part, which I thought sounded a little silly. I was wrong. If I were standing next to Quentin (male lead) when Margo (female lead) happened to come by that night, I would have stared at her in awe. I’m not a rebellious person at all but Paper Towns really did bring out my rebellious side...
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Life of Pi by Yann Martel

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I first read this book four years ago. Then it struck me as an instant classic—one of those books that connect us to our essential selves, our humanness. It plucks ideas out of our souls and puts them on paper for us to ponder and discuss. This particular classic is especially artful in that a broad range of readers can enjoy the allegory at many levels of interpretation and be satisfied with it as a gripping story as well. My favorite thing about it is it takes us back to childhood adventurous tales and fables. The author’s choice of descriptive words captivates attention, making us feel like we are in the setting of the story. The author also developed the story in such a way that made it believable yet leaves us wondering about everything we have just read in the end. It was so much more than a story of survival and nature.  I have read and listened to the story a number of times over the years and I find Martel's fantastic imagination and level of detai...
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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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I have a tendency to not review classics when I read them. Mostly because everything to be said about them has already been said. So I’m going to keep this brief. The Great Gatsby will always have a fond place in my heart as it is the first classic that I read, understood, and enjoyed. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing is one of the most beautiful I have ever read. When he describes things, he does not just tell the reader what something looks like. He captures the essence of the thing itself and manages to conjure emotions and atmosphere out of the mundane.  You don’t have to be a genius to appreciate the themes and the context of the book. They are laid out on a platter: love, longing, dedication, wealth, morality, jealousy , tragedy. You will find it all in this novel.   Hope is a major theme. There is no one quite like Gatsby and his unwavering hope that the world he has dreamt up for himself, will become reality. If I had to put a label on this book, I would lab...
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