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The Summer I Turned Pretty (*cough cough* and extremely annoying) - By Julia

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The Summer I Turned Pretty (*cough cough* and extremely annoying ) *This review contains some mild spoilers, however, no major plot twists are revealed. When Jenny Han’s, The Summer I Turned Pretty, was first recommended to me I was really excited to read it. I had heard good things about the book and many of my friends had read and enjoyed it. I was expecting a fun YA novel with a cute romance. Little did I know I was also signing up for a 276 page book about a whiny toddler *ahem* teenager mulling over how life’s greatest issue was obviously her boy drama. This book could legitimately be summarized in one sentence: Main character cannot decide which guy she likes best and generally acts like a whiny 3 year old for 99% of this book. The Summer I Turned Pretty is a story about a girl named Belly and her summers at a beach house. Every summer her, her brother Steven, her mom Laurel, her moms best friend Susannah, and Susannah’s two sons Conrad and Jeremiah go to spend the summer at a p
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To Ersatz or Not to Ersatz, that is the Question

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Note: This blog contains several spoilers from the novel and examines the word “ersatz,” which appears repeatedly in the novel. Ersatz means “fake” or “substitute” in German (for example, “Ersatzlehrer” means “substitute teacher”). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the basis of the famous 1982 Ridley Scott film, Blade Runner ) is Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel about a bounty hunter named Rick Deckard living in post-apocalyptic Earth, year 2021, where everyone is emigrating to Mars. His job is to kill or “retire” any rogue “androids” that have illegally made their way to Earth. Androids are genetically modified human clones, produced mainly for working in harsh conditions to colonize planets. The most recent “model” of android—the Nexus-6—is so human-like that it is nearly impossible to detect the difference from people. The novel’s main question—how can you tell the difference between humanoid and truly human?—is the same question we are asking today about how to coexist with the in
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Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America - Sarah Thomas

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  Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America is a great nonfiction book for anyone who is interested in sociology, public health, law, or human biology.  The author, Mary Otto, explains how dentistry evolved from a simple trade to a healthcare profession. She describes the great gap between dentistry and medicine, how the mouth is seen as separate from the body. Otto brings our attention to the inequality in healthcare by showing us how many individuals struggle to get the oral treatment they need. The author shares all aspects of dentistry, from public health to cosmetics, to help you understand how important the field of dentistry is to overall health and wellbeing. After reading this book, I could see the field of dentistry in a different way. Dentistry is much more than just pulling teeth.  One of my favorite things about this book is that Mary Otto uses the stories of real people to explain facts about dentistry. So instead of just reading
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When You Trap A Tiger: A Journey into Magical Realism

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  Hello! I'm Sloane, and I am reviewing When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller. I read this book a few years ago, and was reminded of it when I saw it sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be opened again. Although it's mostly intended for middle-grade readers, it's a fantastic book! Our main character is Lily. At the beginning of the book, Lily goes with her mother and sister to move in with her grandmother, or her halmoni. They had been living in California, and decided to move because Lily's halmoni is ill. When a magical tiger presents herself from her halmoni's Korean folklore, and her halmoni reveals that she stole something from the tigers, Lily has to uncover more hidden secrets buried deep in time. She makes a new friend and hatches a plan to trap the tiger, in hopes she'll get answers to heal her halmoni. Lily stands up for herself after being invisible for so long, occasionally accompanied by the mysterious, riddle-speaking tiger. I also enjoyed Lily'
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