Tag Archives: book review

“When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi Book Review

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“What is the meaning of life?”

When Breath Becomes Air: Kalanithi, Paul

When Breath Becomes Air is a memoir by Paul Kalanithi. Paul Kalanithi was a very successful person, had a loving wife, completed multiple degrees, and won multiple awards. He was a neurosurgeon, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the peak of his medical career. He decided to write this book in months preceding his death, when he was already terminal. He thought he can thus make an important contribution to the society. Readers are invited into his journey that intertwines the realms of medicine, mortality, and the search for meaning in life. His memoir serves not only as a personal testament but also as a guide for readers to contemplate their own lives and values. It challenges readers to reflect on their priorities and aspirations, urging everyone to live life with a purpose.

Through his introspective journey, Kalanthi explores literature and philosophy, seeking answers and understanding of life’s toughest questions. He faces mortality with courage. He is a doctor who transitions from treating patients to becoming one. He thus provides a unique perspective on illness and healing. He shares his experiences navigating the medical system from both sides of the hospital system. He sheds light on the medical school experience and the life of a medical professional. Additionally, central to Kalanithi’s narrative, is his relationship with his wife, Lucy. Their love, their journey together in the face of realities of illness and mortality, underscores the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Through this story, we are reminded of the power of human connections, life’s fragility, and the importance of embracing each moment. Reading this book is truly an exercise in empathy. It encourages us to contemplate the legacy we wish to leave behind. Kalanithi reminds us to live fully, love deeply, and seek meaning in every breath we take.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: A Burning by Megha Majumdar

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I read this book for English class this year, and it was a very intriguing book. The book is an adventure that involves three perspectives, Lovely, PT Sir, and Jivan. Lovely is an aspiring actor who finally finds some success after years of trying. PT Sir is a PE coach who finds success within a political party. Jivan is a woman who witnesses a terrorist attack and is framed for it. The perspectives of Lovely and Jivan are told in first person while PT Sir’s perspective is told in the third person.

The book shows corruption and internal conflict between the characters. Although they all have separate lives, they are somehow related through Jivan’s court case. Sacrifice is a big theme in the book. For example, Lovely becomes popular through her acting career,. She is left with the choice of either helping Jivan’s case or being successful in acting. She chose to ditch Jivan and become successful with acting, although it was a hard choice.

Another big theme is corruption, and this is shown through PT Sir’s actions when he gets power. Bimala Pal, the political party’s official instructs PT Sir to testify against innocent people in order for him to gain more power through the political party. PT Sir accepts and puts multiple innocent people in jail.

Overall, this book shows the reality of the court system in some countries. A lot of innocent people are put in jail for false accusations, and in this case, Jivan ends up unfortunately being put to death because of it. I would recommend this book to everyone as it is pretty fascinating to see the characters’ development. It takes place very recently, so the book incorporates technology like phones and Facebook.

-Albert X., 10th Grade

A Burning by Megha Majumdar is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

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Composed of multiple vignettes, The House on Mango Street features a young Mexican American girl named Esperanza who struggles with poverty, maintaining her culture, and fighting against the traditional roles of women in this society. As she grows up, Esperanza begins to truly come to terms with her identity, creating a sense of belonging, as she realizes that Mango Street will always be a part of her and her life.

The House on Mango Street is a beautiful story that travels through different moments in Esperanza’s life, using poetic and inspirational phrases to illustrate Esperanza’s struggles, feelings, and dreams of a future where she is truly free. With vivid imagery, descriptions, and symbols, Sandra Cisneros truly encapsulates the struggles of women of color and those struck with poverty, giving a voice to the stories of people who are often overlooked.

As Esperanza struggles to maintain her freedom against a harsh, traditional society, Sandra Cisneros also highlights the consequences and cruel reality that many women face in this society, becoming trapped in a constant cycle of abuse from their fathers or husbands. While also showcasing how writing has helped Esperanza tell stories that have never been heard before as well as escape from the circumstances forced upon her, Sandra Cisneros presents the lives of various women in this society and the confinements they find themselves in.

Overall, I would definitely recommend reading The House on Mango Street if you’re interested in learning more about Esperanza’s life and struggles or analyzing Sandra Cisneros’s poetic and symbolic writing style within the book.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

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Dear Mr. Henshaw is a short novel by Beverly Cleary. An eleven-year-old boy named Leigh Botts lives with his mother in a tiny house that used to be someone’s summer cottage. Ever since second grade, Leigh had written letters to an author named Mr. Henshaw every year. Finally, Mr. Henshaw writes back to Leigh and asks him a series of questions. This book is a compilation of Leigh’s letters to Mr. Henshaw, along with excerpts from Leigh’s personal journal.

Leigh’s letters to Mr. Henshaw reveal many personal challenges. Leigh’s parents are divorced, and his father is negligent. Leigh is also struggling to fit in at his new school. Among other problems, someone is stealing Leigh’s school lunch. To make matters even worse, Leigh finds out that his dog had disappeared during a snowstorm. Leigh blames his father for this loss, and does not know if he can ever forgive his father for his negligence.

This book deals with many difficult topics. I was surprised by the subject matter of this book because Beverly Cleary’s books usually have a light-hearted and playful storyline and tone. On the other hand, this book has a somber tone overall. It deals with weighty issues that may be difficult for some people to read about. However, I feel that the author dealt with these issues very well. This book is very realistic and well-written. Many people can relate to the challenges that Leigh is coping with, and I appreciate the tender and bittersweet emotions that are conveyed in this book. The book is well-deserving of the Newbery Award and I would recommend it to almost anyone, with a warning that it deals with sensitive issues.

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

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The Great Gilly Hopkins is a Newbery Honor award-winning book by Katherine Paterson. The story is told from the perspective of eleven-year-old Gilly Hopkins. Gilly is a foster child who idolizes her birth mother and wants to live with her again. Life has been difficult for Gilly because she has been forced to live with many different foster families instead of with her birth mother. Gilly is intelligent but difficult to manage. She takes her anger and frustration out on others and does not get along well with her foster families. Gilly has developed a reputation for being rude and uncooperative, and her behavior only seems to be getting worse.

As the story begins, Gilly is sent to live with yet another foster family. Her new foster mother is Mrs. Trotter. Trotter is different from the other foster mothers that Gilly has lived with, but Gilly is determined to escape from this new foster home. She comes up with a plan to try to get her birth mother to come and take her away from Trotter. The scheme does not go as planned, but Gilly comes to realize that the Trotter home is not so bad after all.

This book is quite well-written. The characters are interesting and the story is entertaining. However, I did not enjoy everything about this book. I found Gilly to be quite annoying and even unlikeable at times, although her misbehavior is an important element of the story. Also, Gilly sometimes uses inappropriate and offensive language that I did not appreciate for a children’s novel, even though Gilly and the other characters are portrayed in a very realistic way.

Overall, this book flows well and is quite engaging. Despite Gilly’s brash behavior and improper language, I sympathized with her challenges. Her rudeness and anger seem to be natural reactions to the difficult circumstances of her life. I appreciate that this book also includes kind and loving characters who demonstrate patience toward Gilly. This book shows that there are good people in the world, despite all of the bad things that can happen.

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a dystopian novel about a teenage girl, Katniss Everdeen, living in a society where the Hunger Games are held every year. A boy and a girl, known as Tributes, are chosen by Panem, the capital of what was formerly North America, to participate in the infamous Hunger Games. As a result, all twelve of the Capitol’s districts are completely under its control. Every citizen is required to see the youth fight to the death until just one remains. Katniss Everdeen’s sister is chosen as a tribute but Katniss volunteers to take her place as the girl tribute from District 12. When it comes to making decisions between love and survival, Katniss Everdeen only has her hunting skills and keen senses to help her.

I LOVE the Hunger Games Trilogy SO MUCH! I was addicted to reading this book to the point where I had to force myself to put the book down and go to bed. While reading, Collins leaves you on a cliffhanger after each chapter. Also, I enjoyed how Collins described Katniss’ emotions, as I could relate to them. 

I didn’t dislike anything about this book. I highly recommend it to people who like action and a good dystopian novel! I have seen the movies at least 5 times and there is nothing negative I could say about this trilogy! 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

the-hunger-games

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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The Secret History

I recently saw the movie, The Goldfinch, and when I learned it was based on a book I knew I had to read it. After researching the book I realized that the author, Donna Tartt had another book called The Secret History, so I decided to read both of them.

Set in New England, at Hampden College, a transfer student Richard Papen is the protagonist coming from an average middle-class household, Richard is thrown into a world of classic literature and wealthy individuals. Richard joins an exclusive class with only five other members studying classic literature. He believes that to connect with his classmates, he needs to disguise himself as wealthy. He succeeds, and the six of them begin to grow close. Richard soon discovers that this eccentric group of misfits he’s joined has more secrets than what meets the eye.

I liked this book I think that the characters and storyline were well-developed. These characters all have unique characteristics that make them seem real to the reader. I thought that Tartt’s use of Richard’s observant nature to establish the setting and characters was ingenious. The twists create an incredible amount of suspense throughout the second half of the novel. Another thing that I liked about this novel was the realistic nature of the main characters when I was reading, I felt that I connected with the characters and understood their point of view and overall nature. I also enjoyed the overall vibe of the story it felt like a “dark academia” and eclectic type of novel.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys realistic fiction or likes classical literature. Although it does have some dark undertones and is quite lengthy, it is a fun read with lots of twists. I would also recommend Donna Tartt’s other book, The Goldfinch, which has some similar themes that The Secret History reflects.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin

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Recently, I read Your Inner Fish, a book about the evolutionary origins of mankind, as well as talking about the research that the author directly went through in order to gain more information about how humans came to be through evolution, as well as how surprisingly, we share some similarities with prehistoric fish (as the title implies).

The Book starts with Shubin introducing and explaining his experience with using fossil evidence to determine the origin of mankind, travelling around multiple locations in the world and multiple fossil sites looking for clues. The book also goes over the influence of geography on how they look for fossils, with different rock layers signifying older fossils. The author also talks about different traits we have in similarity to other animals throughout the book. Furthermore, the author also goes over the usage of embryology, or the comparison of the embryos of two different species in order to find similarities to prove common ancestry. In his research, the author found that the human embryo had several similar traits with a shark embryo, implying that we are in some way related to a prehistoric fish. The author also covers the fascinating subject of using DNA to determine changes in an animal throughout the world’s long history, and also talks about the degree of similarity human DNA has to other species, as well as more fundamental theories such as the theory that the mitochondria was once its own independent organism, but later combined with others to form the cell structures we know today.

Overall, I think this book was very interesting, because of the fact that the author was able to make otherwise boring and complex topics interesting by explaining it in a simpler way. I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in learning more about topics in biology.

Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin is available to download for free from Libby.

Paper Towns by John Green

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I first read Paper Towns when I was 14, and it quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. I would consider this book to be a “classic” that any teenager should read. John Green writes about the teenage experience in a way that many pieces of media fail to capture. Paper Towns follows teenagers Quentin Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spiegelman. Quentin, being neighbors with Margo since they were kids, watches Margo from afar, and she never seems to notice him. One day, Margo approaches his window with the promise of an adventure. The next day, she goes missing.

On their adventure, Margo and Quentin drive through their hometown of Orlando Florida in the middle of the night on a sort of scavenger hunt, and it places the reader right into the action. I love this scene, and I think it is the perfect introduction to the rest of Margo’s journey.

This book is full of adventure, mystery, and anticipation. It is funny, and witty and keeps you on the edge of your seat. All the characters are loveable and relatable, and by the end of the book you’ll either love or hate Margo’s quirky personality. The last chapter is a long adventure, with twists and turns, and one of my favorite endings I’ve ever read. The concept of a “Paper Town” is explained, and it’s something I had never heard of before, but it was really cool to learn about. Throughout the book, you get to see the characters evolve. Quentin, who was perceived as uncool and dorky seems to find himself, and Margo, who was a stereotypical popular girl, shows her true personality as she spends time with Quentin and his friends.

Ultimately Paper Towns is an essential novel for teenagers and a classic in the YA genre. This book is perfect for any age, and I believe everyone should read it at least once in their life. Someone recommended this book to me when I was younger and browsing the YA section at a bookstore, and I thank the person who gave it to me.

Paper Towns by John Green is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

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Having started my World War One unit in my history class, I remembered I had read a book on it. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a historical fiction novel I read all the way back in November for my English class. We were given the choices of either reading a book about World War Two or a book about World War One. I made the decision to read the one about World War One, realizing I had barely any information on it in my head. 

All Quiet on the Western Front is set in Germany during World War One following Paul Baumer, his friends and other young men. Throughout the novel, they are slowly losing the spark of fighting they had when they first started. The novel goes in depth on the lost ideologies of war and how they were tricked into becoming patriots of their country, unknowing of what they are fighting for. It’s a gruesome story of loss and reveals the realities of war and what it is like being out on the front lines.

At first, I didn’t really find the novel all that interesting. I am not usually one to watch war films or read war related books. I’ve always been more of a fantasy kind of person. But as I read through this novel, I found more to the simplicity of what I had deemed to be “just a war story.” The novel focuses highly on the small moments outside of war, what happens during battles, what happens to others and the aftermath of war on people. Remarque does a great job on illustrating scenes with her descriptions of the battlefield and the conditions of war back then. We see it when we travel with Paul as he experiences different battlefields, the pain of coming back to and leaving his family, and losses of friends and family. I enjoyed reading this point of view as through Paul’s eyes, I was able to see and live through the emotions and intensity that were experienced in trench warfare and war in general.

However, seeing the ideology of the soldiers fighting in the war was what really interested me. It was the fact that they were young men that didn’t know what they were fighting for that really got me thinking. The strength of nationalism and propaganda on the younger generations is incredibly useful in getting them to do what others want, despite them not truly knowing what they are signing up for. They risk losing their lives and they completely lose their innocence, childhood, and will to live fighting for something they don’t understand; a theme touched throughout the entire novel. I found this theme to be the most striking, something I still remember now even though it’s been a while since I’ve read the book.

While I was skeptical of this book at first, All Quiet on the Western Front was a delightful read. It was difficult at times, because of the strange pacing, but looking back at it now, it really helps to add to the story and pacing of war. I also got to learn more about World War One and what it was like. I definitely recommend this book, for knowledge and the historical portion of it but also because it’s an interesting and emotional read.

-Nicole R. 

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.