Category Archives: Book Reviews

Atomic Habits by James Clear

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Typically this isn’t the book I would generally want to read because I don’t think it’s entertaining reading about psychological ideas. However, this book came across me when I saw it at my friend’s house and asked to borrow it. The beginning of the book made it to the point where it wasn’t tolerable to read that I ended up sectioning different parts every night for me to read in order to just get it out of the way.

As time went on, I kept an open mind reading this book, to see that the information was only trying to help me. Atomic Habits turned to be one of my favorite reads this year. I’ve learned so many valuable lessons through this book especially how to maintain/break habits.

James Clear cleverly uses athletes, comedians, big brand companies to help the reader get a grasp for how they became so successful. He documents a four step process to make habits more versatile in the daily use: making it obvious, making it attractive, making it easy, and making it satisfying. Just by reading about how to maintain a habit, inspired me to start fixing a routine and lifestyle that best suited me.

If you are interested in a book that can truly changes your perspective of life I recommend reading this book. Habits are more then they seem and help dictate the way you decide to live your life.

-Madison C.

Atomic Habits by James Clear is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

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The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster tells the story of young Milo, who thought that learning was useless and never stopped to smell the roses. Milo only focused on getting from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible. And when he did reach Point B, all he would do was lie around and complain that he was bored.

Until one day, Milo finds a mysterious package in his room addressed to ‘Milo, who has plenty of time’ Milo, having nothing better to do, opens the strange gift. Inside, is a tollbooth, instructions, rules, coins, cautionary signs, and a map. Milo pays the tollbooth and drives his toy car to a very strange and confusing place.

After traveling past the city of Expectations (where everyone starts out but few go beyond), he meets Officer Short Shrift, who thinks everyone is guilty and won’t believe otherwise; the Whether Man, who never comes to a decision; the Which, who was sentenced to jail for abusing words; and many more. Milo realizes that the only only way to bring peace and order to the Kingdoms of Wisdom is to rescue the Princess of Sweet Rhyme and the Princess of Pure Reason.To accomplish this, Milo and his loyal friends Tock (a watchdog who goes tick) and the Humbug (a boastful beetle who doesn’t like to learn) have to travel up the Mountains of Ignorance and rescue the princesses from the Castle in the Air.

During Milo’s journey he’ll learn decisiveness, the importance of hard work, the value of time, that things aren’t always as they seem, and that it’s worth the effort to gain some new knowledge. Every character and setting in The Phantom Tollbooth has a clever meaning, and people like Alec Bings and Canby have very insightful wisdom to share. The Phantom Tollbooth is a very creative book, and I would highly recommend it.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: Animal Farm

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Animal Farm is a novel written by George Orwell and published in 1945. Animal Farm is about a group of mistreated and malnourished animals on a farm that is run by an alcoholic farmer that neglected his duties as a farmer. The fable reflects the events leading up to the Russian Revolution and into the Stalinist era of communism and the Soviet Union in the form of animals on a farm.

The book starts off with Old Major, oldest and wisest pig telling all the animals that he has a dream of a society where the animals would have control of the farm and everyone would have equal jobs and roles in the farm. A day passes and Old Major passes away and the rest of the animals decide to make Old Major’s dream come true and decide to start a revolution and kick the farmer off his own farm. The animals create a set of rules that make them all equal and have the same rights. The pigs are appointed to run the farm because they are the smartest and the pigs decide to slowly change the rules of the farm for their own benefit. The animals begin to run the farm and discover that the pigs are slowly becoming more human-like which was exactly what they didn’t want to happen.

I really liked this book. It is very interesting how the society slowly evolves and the pigs begin to manipulate the rules for themselves.  I found it interesting how every character and type of animal each have their own traits that represented an aspect of the Russian Revolution and Stalinist era. Animal Farm is a true classic novel that I would recommend to anyone interested in reading it.

Animal Farm by George Orwell is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Charlie Bone and the Red Knight by Jenny Nimmo

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Charlie Bone and the Red Knight is the eighth and final book in the Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.  The main character of the series is Charlie Bone, a boy who possesses magical power.  He attends a school called Bloor’s Academy, which is a school for children with special endowments.  In this thrilling conclusion to the series, the Bloor family is searching for a lost document.  The document contains a secret so important that the Bloors will stop at nothing to find it before Charlie.  Charlie hopes to obtain the document, because it would reveal the destiny of the heirs of the Red King.

Charlie faces many conflicts in this book.  For example, he confronts a magician with a sword that has a mind of its own.  Another man secretly tries to drown Charlie’s parents.  Charlie even encounters a powerful sorcerer from the past.  Charlie and his friends must combine their powers to overcome the evil forces fighting against them.  This leads to many exciting episodes, including an attempt to retrieve a powerful mirror from Charlie’s evil aunts, a dangerous mission to rescue one of Charlie’s friends from the past, and a huge battle between a sorcerer’s army and the Children of the Red King.

One of my favorite characters in this book is actually the Red Knight himself.  Not much is known about him at first, except that he rides a white horse and he wields an invincible sword.  However, his true identity is eventually revealed.  This became one of my favorite and most memorable scenes in the book.

Jenny Nimmo originally intended to write only five books for the Children of the Red King series, but fortunately she decided to write an additional three books.  This book is the last of the series, and a wonderful conclusion to this set of books.  This is my favorite book in the entire series, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has read any of the other books in the saga.

Charlie Bone and the Red Knight by Jenny Nimmo is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

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Frances Janvier, the head girl and top of her school since 7th grade, has been determined to go to one of the most prestigious schools in England: University of Cambridge. On the downlow, she listens to her favorite podcast, Universe City, and draws fanart for the show. She never imagined her life as anything other than being a workaholic, earning good grades, and studying in university for the next few years of her life. However, everything changes when she is asked to collaborate with the creator of this podcast using her fanart. And later when she discovers out that Aled, a quiet boy a year older than her whose sister she used to be friends with, is the creator of Universe City. As the story unfolds, Frances finally discovers what it is like to have a true friend and embraces herself as more than a studious and intelligent person. But will all be destroyed over a revelation no one thought would occur?

I, personally, give Radio Silence the rating of 7/10. It wasn’t an excellent read in my opinion (which could be influenced by the book not being in the genre I usually read). However, I do recommend everyone to read it. It isn’t a typically love story between a boy and girl and shows the importance of true and beautiful friendship. It only shows many deep themes of finding one’s true identity, motivation, and connections with other people. It has shown me a different perspective to a genre of stories I never believed could be interesting to read: the main point highlighting the significance of one’s relationships other than romance. It is very rare for me to relate to characters in a book but this book definitely brought up some experiences I have had in the past and made the book all the more better. There is also a lot of representation that I didn’t expect but loved very much. I hope, if you read it, you enjoyed it as much as I did!

-Saanvi V.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Avery is an average, but intelligent, girl from Connecticut. Her mother died, and her father couldn’t care less about her, but her half-sister Libby (same father, different mother) cares deeply about Avery. One day, however, Avery receives an invitation to the reading of the will of the late Tobias Hawthorne, who she discovers has a net worth of 46 billion dollars. She is both surprised and confused when she receives the majority of Tobias Hawthorne’s vast fortune, despite never having known him, or even heard of him and his family, until now. However, it is revealed that Tobias Hawthorne left a puzzle behind for them to solve. Meanwhile, there are still some people who are upset about Avery’s newfound inheritance and seek to get rid of her in any way possible. She now has no idea who is really on her side and who seeks to get rid of her. Avery is now not only facing a difficult puzzle with vague clues, but she must also now watch out for any attempts others may take to harm her. 

I liked this book because of the constant suspense and the unexpected events. This was a very unpredictable book, and there were multiple riddles presented by the clues. I enjoyed attempting to solve those puzzles and following along as the characters figured out what everything meant.

The Inheritance Games is part of a series consisting of 2 books, with the third book being released later this year. They all follow the same storyline, of the aftermath of Avery receiving the unexpected and large inheritance.

-Peri A.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Great Hibernation by Tara Dairman

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What would you do if your parents suddenly fell asleep and you could not wake them up?  Now personally, I would probably cry for half an hour than get up, watch TV and cook brownies from a box (the batter is the best). But thankfully that has not happened to my parents, unfortunately that did happen to the fair children of St. Polonius-by-the-Fjord. After eating the traditional bear liver, the parents and everybody over the age of 12 years, 4 months and 6 days, fell into a deep sleep. Immediately the mayor’s son took control and had every child take over their parents job, appointments and basically life. Jean Hubby, the main character and awesome older sister, and her little brother Micah suddenly live their parents’ lives. When Jean goes to the storage room to find some food, her job was working in a restaurant (it was not her mother’s job, find out why in the book), she stumbles across something that explains the Great Hibernation. Once again Tara Dairman wrote a treasure that had me whipping each page. Not only did she show diverse and hilarious characters, she incorporated real problems that people face every day. This book is a great read that I loved. I recommend this book to anybody and everybody. 

The Great Hibernation  by Tara Dairman is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

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Craftfully weaving suspense, fast-paced dialogue, and humor into this classic yet unique whodunnit murder mystery, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole novel.

First published in 1926, Christie admitted that this was one of her favorite novels that she’s ever written, and its popularity quickly helped establish her title of The Queen of Mystery. Per usual with Agatha Christie’s books, I loved how the characters were all developed perfectly, their personalities growing almost life-like as the story and mystery went on. The first-person narrative and detailed descriptions ground you in the story, and the plot twists will have you reading until the very end.

Hercule Poirot, Christie’s famous detective, adds a level of wit and cleverness to this book like no other, challenging the reader to try and figure out exactly how his mind works, and solve the mystery along with Poirot.

This has definitely been my favorite Agatha Christie book I’ve read thus far due to the revolutionary breakthroughs it brought into the mystery genre, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

“The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it.”

-Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd  by Agatha Christie is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

The Silent Patient Review

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Author: Alex Michaelides 

Pages: 325

Genre: Thriller, mystery

The Silent Patient begins with a glimpse at Alicia Berenson’s picturesque life through her diary. This famous painter is married to a renowned photographer and lived the perfect life in a nice house in London. However, Alicia’s perfect life does not stop her from shooting her husband five times in the face when he returns from work. After this crime, she never speaks a word again. Five years later, psychotherapist Theo Faber finds a job opportunity at the psychiatric ward Alicia is being held and takes the job in order to examine Alicia with whom he has been entranced since her story stormed the press. Theo is determined to discover the events of that night as well as Alicia’s motive to brutally kill her husband. We get to follow him as he investigates personal aspects of Alicia’s life like her friends and family. However, each character introduces new information that makes her motive appear ever more convoluted.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While it was a bit of a slow start as we hear about Theo’s life and mundane daily activities, the end is worth the wait. As the story continued, I too found myself anticipating the reasoning behind Alicia’s actions and definitely was not disappointed. There were a lot of hidden details throughout the book that made the resolution much more intense and mind-blowing. I would recommend this book to all readers, for while I do not particularly read many thriller novels, this one was very good.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

A Phở Love Story by Loan Le

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(Phở is a flavorful Vietnamese soup that consists of thin rice noodles, tender meat, fresh herbs, and broth infused with cinnamon, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cloves, and black cardamom.)

This book perfectly encapsulates the feeling of being a Vietnamese-American growing up in America. From the food descriptions to the subtle references to Vietnamese culture, this book made me feel right at home while reading through Bao and Linh’s story.

Once upon a time, there were two phở restaurants across from each other. Within each one was a family, one with a daughter and one with a son. The families, the parents especially, were extremely competitive with each other, to the point where one might wonder if this competitiveness was natural. They often tried to outdo each other. If one restaurant decided to upgrade their flooring, the other restaurant would immediately have their flooring redone to make it look even better than the other restaurant’s.

Bảo Nguyễn, the son of two Vietnamese immigrants, works at his parents’ phở restaurant. He’s in his senior year of high school but has drifted, and continues to drift through life with no purpose or goal. That is, until he discovers that he can express himself through writing and journalism.

Linh Mai, the daughter of two Vietnamese immigrants, works at her parents’ phở restaurant. She’s in her senior year of high school as well, but unlike Bảo, has a goal in her life. She wants to pursue art in college, and eventually, as a career. However, one major obstacle prevents her from doing so: her parents. They believe that she’ll never be happy with that life because she won’t be paid as much as she would if she was to become a doctor or an engineer.

As you can probably guess from the title, their paths intersect and they fall in love. Loan Le wrote about all the things that make food, food, and it was so visually descriptive that I found myself craving a bowl of phở at 2am in the morning. Bảo and Linh have a forbidden love, in which they know they aren’t allowed to be in love with each other but they still are. This is because of the long history their parents have with each other, and the reason for the unnatural competition between the two restaurants. However, they find ways to make their love work out, with stolen kisses in the empty art room at school, texting with each other late at night, and going out on “restaurant reviews” that end up feeling more like dates.

I would recommend this book for anyone who likes rom-coms, or anyone who would like to learn about a bit of Vietnamese culture in an easily digestible YA novel.

In conclusion, I would rate this book a 10/10 because of the combination of the cute love story, the visually descriptive writing that allowed me to fully experience the book, and the overall great storytelling!

– Isaac M.

A Phở Love Story by Loan Le is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.