For this week’s Bookstr Team Tuesday, we’re featuring our Outreach team member, Rebekah Mann! From heartwarming and emotional historical fiction to fantasy filled with romance and action, her recommendations will reach those interested in either genre.
Rebekah embraces all the ways to read a book. From paperback, hardcover, e-book, and audiobook, she appreciates their unique functionalities as long as she’s able to immerse herself in a good story. Characterization is also important to Rebekah; if there’s enough intrigue about the characters at the beginning of a story, she’s hooked! I can relate to this as I’m sure every book lover can, too. These next picks have amazingly strong-willed characters! As we dive into her recs, you’ll find that Rebekah’s excitement as she gushes about each book will entice you to give these a read-through yourself!
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
I see a lot of myself in the March sisters. Despite it being set during the Civil War, I think even modern-day girlhood is so perfectly represented in this story. It’s like Barbie Land in a book, with feminism, female rage, and pretty dresses. Multifaceted women make for the best stories, and this book is a prime example of some ups and downs women experience throughout their lives.
Little Women is a classic tale of sisterhood. In the March family, there are four sisters. Meg is the oldest and most mature, Jo is an aspiring writer and a tomboy, Beth is shy, and Amy is clever for her age. Each sister has their own set of dreams that make it difficult to achieve when their father has gone to war. With their mother working to support her family, the sisters wonder amidst their games and laughter, will their father return safe and sound?
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Being a journalism major, I’m bound to love the journalistic element of this story. Skeeter is a huge inspiration for me in regard to how she paves her path for her writing career. I love how much care she puts into telling the stories of the Mississippi Black Women, and how aware she is of her community mistreating them. The bravery shown by the women who share their stories of receiving mistreatment is another aspect of this story I can’t help but admire.
The Help is a historical fiction involving black maids entangled in the lives of their racist employers in 1960s Mississippi. Aibileen and Minny are the maids who traverse the delicate line between silent obedience and an emotional outburst the longer they work for their entitled employers. Skeeter, a recent graduate wanting to be a journalist, is seen as a disgrace for not being a married woman yet. But with her desire to help reveal the truth behind the lives of workers such as Aibileen and Minny, there is about to be a change in their town. Eat my shit is the book and movie’s famous line that embodies a sense of justice realized.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I know practically everyone raves about this book and I’m not unique for loving it, but I have no shame in loving things that are highly praised. This book is spoken about so much because of how addicting it is. The fantasy world is complex but also easy to understand, the action moments are portrayed and delivered perfectly, and the enemies to lovers’ romance supports the plot without overtaking it. If you’re looking to get into fantasy reading, add this to your list.
With the enchanted school setting of Harry Potter mixed with the brutality of the dragons in Game of Thrones, Yarros Fourth Wing creates an immersive world. Following Violet Sorrengail, she expected herself to be part of the Scribe Quadrant, loving to read and learn of the history of their world. However, with her short height and weak body, she doesn’t have what it takes to be a fierce dragon rider like her mother. But with a forceful push, Violet goes to Basgiath War College, a dangerous institute with the underlying message, Survive to graduate or die. If a dragon doesn’t burn Violet alive first, surely her classmates will end her.
The Selection Series by Kiera Cass
This is the series that really planted the seed for my love of reading way back in middle school. It also got my foot into the door of exploring dystopian worlds without being too intensely dystopian and hard-core. It’s basically the Bachelor but within a monarchy, and has a love triangle, so what’s not to love? It’s easy to digest but still has substance, so from time to time, if I’m in a reading rut, picking this up for a quick re-read will help me out of it.
Every girl dreams of becoming a princess. To wear beautiful gowns, live in a palace, and marry a handsome prince. But in the sophisticated version of The Bachelor, America Singer is forced to compete in the Selection, where girls are called to win the attention of Prince Maxon. America already loves someone else and doesn’t need the comfortable life of royalty. At least that’s what she tells herself. Getting to know Maxon the longer she’s part of the competition, does America want the fairytale life, or will she choose to return to Aspen if he’s still waiting for her?
Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard
Similar to the Selection series, Red Queen helped introduce me to fantasy worlds, so it’ll always hold a special place in my heart (and bookshelf). Without having been so obsessed with this in my young adult years, I don’t think I would have the same love for books like Fourth Wing and Throne of Glass.
In this fantasy series, the red-blooded Reds are peasants and workers for the elite silver-blooded Silvers — royalty with immeasurable powers. Mare Barrow is a Red who hates all Silvers, as she lives in poverty. Finding herself working at the Silver Palace, Mare soon discovers that her red blood holds the power to disrupt the natural order of the Silver monarchy.
The Red Queen series, like the Throne of Glass series, is a political intrigue of badass protagonists making way to overthrow evil kings while getting their hearts broken. It’s worth a read to find out if Mare finds peace after the chaos.
It’s not a coincidence that Rebekah’s recommendations all have female leads. With strong characteristics that make these protagonists carry their story’s weight, it’s worth a read if Rebekah looks up to them!
I hope you enjoyed this week’s Bookstr Team Tuesday. Make sure to check out our IG stories for a fun Q&A with our wonderful colleague.
To learn more about Bookstr’s lovely team members, click here to meet Meghan Flaherty and her magical recommendations!
For fantasy books like Fourth Wing, click here to head to our bookshelf Fantasy Lovers Paradise: Epics, Romances, and More on Bookshop.org!
