In an effort to keep up regular blog posts, as well as read frequently (after all, the best writers are readers), I’ve decided to have my own little book club of sorts. Every Sunday, I plan to discuss the book or books I read the previous week, offer suggestions, and hopefully engage in feedback from you all.

For a little over a month now, I’ve been on an extreme reading binge. My Uncle Buddy passed away on August 16 after suffering with heart and other health issues. This was a particularly difficult time for my family for many, many reasons. In fact, I’d be willing to say that this was the hardest things I’ll ever go through.

Grief is an odd thing. It takes the form of so many emotions: a burning ball of anger in your stomach, a lump of overwhelming sadness in your throat. How we handle grief is even more strange. Being in Atlanta and away from my hometown added another obstacle in dealing with the loss. For example, when I found out Uncle Buddy died, I cleaned our apartment for three hours (it was spotless to begin with) and spent the rest of the day wandering aimlessly and tearing up in Barnes & Noble. I picked up Divergent by Veronica Roth, and I really haven’t stopped reading since.

Since he passed away, I’ve escaped into amazing stories.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
Paper Towns by John Green
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

I’d give each one of these books at least 4/5 stars.

I discovered the genius that is Gillian Flynn. I haven’t enjoyed reading a writer’s voice this much since I read Harry Potter. Flynn tends to write about bad women: the women are the ones capable of some truly manipulative and heinous actions. Sharp Objects and Gone Girl left me jaw-dropped and speechless. Dark Places almost gave me nightmares.

Since it’s Emmy night, I’d like to take a moment to COMPLETELY FREAK OUT about the movie adaptations of Gillian Flynn’s novels.

“Gone Girl” will be directed by the same director of my favorite TV show at the moment, “House of Cards.”

“Dark Places” will feature Corey Stoll, who happens plays congressman Peter Russo in “House of Cards.”

I am so unbelievably excited about this.

However, I will be the first to say: READ THESE BOOKS. Most of them are in the process of becoming films/will have a film adaptation in the future. Don’t wait to see the movie. Read the book. Always, read the book. Always. And watch “House of Cards.”

Anyway.

If you want to read anything by John Green, especially The Fault in Our Stars, get ready to cry hard. This book will make you laugh out loud and sob louder. I didn’t enjoy Paper Towns as much as the other books, partly because I couldn’t relate to the characters. It’s still a great book, though.

Divergent and Insurgent are fun, fast-paced, exciting stories that are similar to the Hunger Games, but not really. The third book will be released on October 22, and I may have already pre-ordered it on my Kindle.

I finished Ender’s Game this afternoon. If I ever become an English teacher and have the power to control summer reading, I think I’d put Ender’s Game on the list. There’s a plethora of literary elements in that book…symbolism, foreshadowing, irony, etc. It’s definitely a science fiction novel, but I think anyone would enjoy it.

Happy Reading!