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Don’t you just love it when a book’s outsides are a positive little reflection of how awesome its insides are? Let’s just call this little post what it is — a PSA/book jacket porn post dedicated to a few good books I’ve read in the past few months: Wonder by RJ Palacio and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews.

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I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love the way the final print turned out. Chad Beckerman, Ben Wiseman and Brian Levy definitely know how to create some book eye candy, inside and out.

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I read Me and Earl back in December (thanks NetGalley!), and can’t remember the last time I read a book that made me laugh so hard and so often. Greg, the book’s narrator, is the kinda weird teen I hung around in high school. He’s unabashedly self-conscious and his self-deprecating sense of humor resonated with me more than I’d like to admit. But to be honest with you, it was Jesse Andrews’ authorthoughts interview here on TCG that made me realized I will probably purchase and read anything this man writes.

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I love disrobing books. It’s rare to find titles underneath. Especially in SHINY GREEN.

The art on the back of Wonder made me a smile a little bit:

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I would be a liar if I said I didn’t have feelings for this book. You know the kind of feelings I’m talking about. The kind of feelings that make you want to be a better person. The kind of feelings that make you want shove this hands into every literate kid you know (and adults, for that matter).

I posted a few gushy sentences on Goodreads, too. (Are we friends? If we’re not, we should be.)

To call this book charming, endearing or uplifting just doesn’t feel right. The words aren’t STRONG enough. Also, to simply say this is a “beautiful little book” just doesn’t feel like I’m doing this book justice, either. This isn’t the kind of novel that has you flipping pages because it’s plot-driven and every short chapter ends on a mini cliffhanger. Reading about life from the perspective of several different kids that focus on one remarkable little boy made me curious to know which side of the story I’d read next. 

If I were to gush about a character other than Auggie, it’d be his fierce yet gentle big sis, Via. That girl had guts. I love my sister, but she’s definitely the big sister I wish I had growing up. If you’re looking for a book that’s going to make your heart swollen with a plethora of emotions, it’s this one. I simply couldn’t walk away from this book with a slightly different outlook on life. Simply wonderful.

A quick addition to this list is Daisy Whitney’s The Rivals, which isn’t pictured here, unfortunately. (Our cover convo can be found here, though.) It’s an incredibly moving and empowering book — so definitely a recommended read.

Regardless of cover-love or not-so-love, any books that’ve stuck with you over the past few months that you’ve enjoyed?

Bryan Williams