Koncocoo

Best Native American Literature

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He expects disaster when he transfers from the reservation school to the rich, white school in Reardan, but soon finds himself making friends with both geeky and popular students and starting on the basketball team. The daily struggles of reservation life and the tragic deaths of the protagonist's grandmother, dog, and older sister would be all but unbearable without the humor and resilience of spirit with which Junior faces the world.
Reviews
"Love these stories because I learned so much about the Natve American culture and because they were so beautifally written."
"Wonderful book great for teens and adults alike,"
"It is the first book written by Sherman Alexie that I have read, but it won't be the last. Could high school lesson plans be constructed around this book?"
"Great story for teens & adults."
"Yes it was easy reading....excellent life messages."
"I enjoyed it."
"An excellent book for teenage & young adults living difficult lives."
"I will be reading his other books,but they are probably not as good as good."
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The Western Star (A Longmire Mystery)
The thirteenth novel in Craig Johnson's beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series, the basis for the hit Netflix series Longmire Sheriff Walt Longmire is enjoying a celebratory beer after a weapons certification at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy when a younger sheriff confronts him with a photograph of twenty-five armed men standing in front of a Challenger steam locomotive. "It's the scenery—and the big guy standing in front of the scenery—that keeps us coming back to Craig Johnson's lean and leathery mysteries." Whether he's squaring off against biker gangs or teasing out long-simmering feuds involving his closest friends, Walt Longmire is always the man for the job." Walt Longmire is strong but fallible, a man whose devil-may-care stoicism masks a heightened sensitivity to the horrors he's witnessed." "Johnson's trademarks [are] great characters, witty banter, serious sleuthing, and a love of Wyoming bigger than a stack of derelict cars."
Reviews
"I loved the atmosphere and narrative of the mystery on the train, as well as learning a little more about the young Walt, and his early days with his wife and as a deputy. Here are some things that just didn't ring true: - Is it really possible that a governor would release a serial killer who killed 6 women and several sheriffs and there would be no outcry??? I won't say more than that, so as not to give away the culprit, but none of that person's actions rang true to me, from being on the train in the first place to the exciting climax. I didn't mind that the end was a cliffhanger, like a lot of other people do, but I am disappointed that the books are falling back on conspiracies and international intrigue."
"I love the Longmire series....Johnson tried a different format this writing and it took a while into the story for me to get used to the jumps. back and forth in time."
"We settle back against the seat, lulled into comfort by the rhythm of the rails-ready for that "Walt" experience- only to find we are on a discovery mission... always in Walt's head- but within his constraints-we find something different here... a Walt who is yet formed... a Walt who wants to~be...We are left at the edge of a virtual precipice as we realize we've reached the end of the line and must wait for the next trestle to be built before we can glean some hard truth's and answers... all the while knowing that a gathering Hell by the name of, Bidarte' is inevitable..."
"But I can't wait for the next story."
"Walt flashes back to a time when he was a deputy to Lucian Conally."
"This is Mr. Johnson's latest and though it seems to be getting a little formulaic, it is still immensely readable and as always I never figure out the ending before hand."
"Only one bad thing to say about this book, it was a cliff hanger and the next book is not yet available."
"At first I was somewhat confused with the story within the story but soon found myself totally captured by the twists and turns of Longmire’s new (and old) adventures."
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The Cold Dish: A Longmire Mystery
Introducing Wyoming’s Sheriff Walt Longmire in this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Dry Bones , the first in the Longmire series, the basis for the hit Netflix original series LONGMIRE. "It's the scenery—and the big guy standing in front of the scenery—that keeps us coming back to Craig Johnson's lean and leathery mysteries." Walt Longmire is strong but fallible, a man whose devil-may-care stoicism masks a heightened sensitivity to the horrors he's witnessed." "Johnson's trademarks [are] great characters, witty banter, serious sleuthing, and a love of Wyoming bigger than a stack of derelict cars." "The characters talk straight from the hip and the Wyoming landscape is its own kind of eloquence." Johnson evokes the rugged landscape with reverential prose, lending a heady atmosphere to his story."
Reviews
"The way the book is written you feel right at home like you’re already a part of the story."
"I enjoyed the Netflix series and I enjoyed the book."
"I watched the TV series first and got hooked on Longmire."
"If you're a fan of the Longmire TV series, the books are a bit different, but even better."
"I have been a fan of the Longmire TV program for some time."
"Craig Johnson has created characters we want to hear more stories about."
"Thanks to Craig Johnson for his great writing and to Netflx for airing all the episodes."
"Finally got it to open on the super drive on my Mac, however, could not get it into my library."
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Best Coming of Age Fiction

The Queen's Poisoner (The Kingfountain Series Book 1)
King Severn Argentine’s fearsome reputation precedes him: usurper of the throne, killer of rightful heirs, ruthless punisher of traitors. Richard III is near-obligatory context for reading about King Severn Argentine; readers less fond of the Bard can refer to Kylo Ren instead. This is the first title in Wheeler’s projected Kingfountain series, about Owen Kiskaddon, initially the eight-year-old son of a traitorous duke being held hostage at the royal court of Ceredigion.
Reviews
"I'm a fan of Jeff Wheeler and have enjoyed his 3 trilogies in the Muirwood and Mirrowen worlds, and came into this book expecting The Queen's Poisoner to be much of the same, but it was surprisingly different and unique. Although Wheeler's writing style is clear throughout, unlike his other books, this story follows a child, 8-year old Owen, as the main character. As Owen begins to feel the magic of the Fountain, we get a lot of foreshadow, hints, and small demonstrations of what the magic entails, but the magic is not what drives the plot in The Queen's Poisoner-- it's the characters. Lastly, as with all of Wheeler's books, I enjoyed the clean aspect to his writing."
"I purchased this book as my Amazon Kindle First book for March; if there is a Fantasy book listed at all, chances are that's the book I'm going to go for. I felt torn between liking and hating some, which felt like a natural response to the characters Wheeler was developing (I did worry about this from the very beginning of the book, as Wheeler started us out with a list of characters that felt like it was intended to tell us who we were supposed to like and who we weren't; thankfully, the characters were much more developed as the story moved on). The supporting characters are equally well developed and each come with their own surprising traits; Wheeler did a fantastic job of presenting one side of the characters to you early on in the book, but letting you look deeper into who they were and what they were doing where other eyes couldn't see them as you moved further into the book. By the time I reached the end of the book, I knew that this was going to be a series that I would be eagerly waiting for the next book to come out for. While the story wrapped up this part of Owen's life well (you are told in a blurb after the end that the next book will occur 7 years from the end of book one, so it makes sense for the first book to not end in a cliffhanger), there are enough unanswered questions and possibilities yet to be answered or seen."
"If that wasn't bad enough, they are forced to give Owen to the king as his next hostage. While in the castle, he learns many dark secrets. He also learned that he had many in the castle who would do anything to protect him and keep him alive no matter what. I know I harp on a lot of narrators, but the ones who catch my attention really deserve it. If I'm being honest, I think she's the reason I mainly decided to stick with this book when I found it a bit dull."
"This series is my new addiction."
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Best Classic American Literature

Gone with the Wind
Since its original publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind —winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the bestselling novels of all time—has been heralded by readers everywhere as The Great American Novel. “Pushing the bounds of the Richter Scale, the nine stories in Last Day on Earth are going to shake up the story world."
Reviews
"Its a great novel on many levels: plot, characterization, narrative flow, and effective advocacy and support for a vanquished way of life (Mitchell does not pretend to be objective; she is fighting a rear guard action to defend the South she loved against the judgment of history; the reason she infuriated liberal critics from the moment the book was published to the present day was because she fought that action so effectively in this book.)."
"A slice of southern life, it's an intimate portrait of the mind set of the politics and culture of the times. The scene is set where the untouchable aristocracy of the South revels in the rich tapestry of entitlement, thinking themselves indestructible."
"In Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, it is the antics of two of our most popular southern birds that give the nature beyond Scarlett O’Hara’s bedroom window a curtain call: The mocking birds and the jays, engaged in their old feud for possession of the magnolia tree beneath her window, were bickering, the jays strident, acrimonious, the mockers sweet voiced and plaintive."
"A look into the life and times of a woman who never gave up during the Civil War and the reconstruction of the South."
"Though it doesn't go much into the actual fighting in the Civil War, it gives a glimpse what life was like in Atlanta, primarily, for the people who lived back then in Georgia."
"The story is beautiful and timeless and a great example of a strong-willed, independent woman who alienates her friends and family for merely learning how to survive."
"If you liked to movie you will love toe book."
"After I finished reading the book, I sat with it on my lap, staring into space trying to imagine how I was going to go on without seeing my ' friends ' anymore."
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Best Humorous American Literature

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask. In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. Fortunately, such people can turn to Randall Munroe, the author of the XKCD comic strip loved by fans of internet culture. For Munroe, who writes with a clarity and wit honed over eight years of writing captions for his webcomic, the fact that a question might be impossible to solve is no deterrent to pursuing it.” —Wall Street Journal Speakeasy blog. while dealing with relationships and the meaning of a computer-centric life, xkcd has become required reading for techies across the world….The Internet has also created a bond between Mr. Munroe and his readers that is exceptional. "With his steady regimen of math jokes, physics jokes, and antisocial optimism, xkcd creator Randall Munroe, a former NASA roboticist, scores traffic numbers in NBC.com or Oprah.com territory. [A]t its best [xkcd] isn’t a strip comic so much as an idea factory and a shared experience."
Reviews
"I love the blog and was really looking forward to this book, but buying the kindle edition was a mistake."
"This is a great way to enjoy older questions and answers over again, updated, and to share them with new people, and the new questions and answers - never featured on the website - are delightful; I won't spoil it for you, but my favorite has to be the answer to "If a bullet with the density of a neutron star were fired from a handgun (ignoring the how) at the Earth's surface, would the Earth be destroyed?" If you have even a passing interest in science and ever enjoy daydreaming about the fantastic or the ridiculous, this book is for you. Gift season is coming up; thanks to this book my Christmas shopping will be a great deal easier."
"Randall Munroe hits that oddball humor sweet spot with zany questions and actual, scientific--and most importantly, interesting--answers."
"Randall Munroe's XKCD is a cornerstone of the World-Wide Web, and he brings the same intelligence and overabundance of careful research here to absolutely hilarious (and often randomly awesome or terrible) questions."
"Best bathroom book ever... and I mean that in the very best possible way you can imagine."
"Whether it's taking a dip in a nuclear reactor cooling pool, or halting the earth's spin just to see what would happen, Monroe accepts the intellectual challenge and delivers with gusto."
"They're hyperlinked, and you can use the links on the footnote to jump back But the page bounds move slightly every time, and notes near the top activate the Kindle options rather than the footnote."
"I've always enjoyed the amazing amount of research and calculations required for Munroe's writing, and his ability to break it down in a fairly easy to understand way."
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Best Asian American Literature & Fiction

Little Fires Everywhere
– Paula Hawkins. From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You , a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. “Witnessing these two families as they commingle and clash is an utterly engrossing, often heartbreaking, deeply empathetic experience…It’s this vast and complex network of moral affiliations—and the nuanced omniscient voice that Ng employs to navigate it—that make this novel even more ambitious and accomplished than her debut…Our trusty narrator is as powerful and persuasive and delightfully clever as the narrator in a Victorian novel…It is a thrillingly democratic use of omniscience, and, for a novel about class, race, family and the dangers of the status quo, brilliantly apt…The magic of this novel lies in its power to implicate all of its characters—and likely many of its readers—in that innocent delusion [of a post-racial America]. She toggles between multiple points of view, creating a narrative both broad in scope and fine in detail, all while keeping the story moving at a thriller’s pace.” — LA Times “Riveting…unearthing the ways that race, class, motherhood and belonging intersect to shape each individual…Perhaps Ng's most impressive feat is inviting the reader's forgiveness for Mrs. Richardson –– a woman whose own mission for perfection, and strict adherence to rules ultimately become the catalyst for the maelstrom that ensues.” —Chicago Tribune. “Like Sue Monk Kidd or Madeleine Thien, Celeste Ng has a carpenter’s sure touch in constructing nested, interconnected plots…There are few novelists writing today who are as wise, compassionate and unsparing as Ng, about the choices you make, the ones you don’t, and the price you might pay for missed lives.” — Financial Times. “Like Everything I Never Told You , Ng’s excellent debut, the book plots its way into a smart, accessible conversation about race and class. “Ng writes with the wisdom of a hundred lives lived, churning out complex characters mostly sympathetic, sometimes loathsome, but all startlingly human.” — HarpersBazaar.com. “Fans of novelist Celeste Ng’s debut, Everything I Never Told You , and devotees of her resistance-ready Twitter feed can rejoice…The story drifts effortlessly between characters; each is full and memorable as they coax the novel to its fiery climax. “Couldn’t be more timely… Little Fires Everywhere might just be the signpost that we need, pointing a way forward with the gentle suggestion that sometimes doing the right thing means breaking some rules.” – Paste “Compelling… Little Fires Everywhere invests all of its emotional energies in the relationship between mothers and their children…in Ng’s precisely rendered perfect suburb.” – Vox. “Ng’s taut class drama is calibrated for fireworks.” – New York Magazine , Books to Read This Fall “Written with deep empathy and vivid characters who feel true to life, Little Fires Everywhere is a captivating, insightful examination of motherhood, identity, family, privilege, perfectionism, obsession, and the secrets about ourselves we try to hide.” – Buzzfeed. “There are few modern writers as brilliant at capturing the complexities of a family as Celeste Ng…The book is smart, nuanced, and exhilarating—but more than anything, Little Fires Everywhere is a gorgeous exploration of motherhood in its many forms, and the many different paths that women travel to get there.” — Shondaland.com. “Ng’s uncanny ability to embody multiple viewpoints makes for a powerful, revelatory novel.” – BBC.com, Ten Books to Read in September. “Ng has one-upped herself with her tremendous follow-up novel… a finely wrought meditation on the nature of motherhood, the dangers of privilege and a cautionary tale about how even the tiniest of secrets can rip families apart… Ng is a master at pushing us to look at our personal and societal flaws in the face and see them with new eyes… If “Little Fires Everywhere” doesn’t give you pause and help you think differently about humanity and this country’s current state of affairs, start over from the beginning and read the book again.” --San Francisco Chronicle. “Ng’s talent for depth of story and character development shines and will stay with you long after you’ve finished the book.” — Richmond Times-Dispatch “Immersive and thought-provoking…Hang on and prepare to be mesmerized as you meet two families in idyllic Shaker Heights, Ohio.” — The Missourian. “A multilayered, tightly focused and expertly plotted narrative…A deeply impressive novel with the power to provoke and entrance.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune “One of the best novels of the fall is an emotional tale about motherhood, class and so much more… Everything I Never Told You , was good, but this is better.” —AARP.org “Mesmerizing…The result is a deftly woven plot that examines a multitude of issues, including class, wealth, artistic vision, abortion, race, prejudice and cultural privilege.” —BookPage “Ng’s best-selling first novel Everything I Never Told You proved her deft hand at crafting family dramas with the deep-rooted tension of a thriller, a skill she puts to pitch-perfect effect in her latest entry…that is equal parts simmering and soulful.” —HarpersBazaar.com “A quiet but powerful look at family, secrets, and running from the past. “Ng’s stunning second novel is a multilayered examination of how identities are forged and maintained, how families are formed and friendships tested, and how the notion of motherhood is far more fluid than bloodlines would suggest…[A] tour de force.”— Booklist (starred review). “This incandescent portrait of suburbia and family, creativity, and consumerism burns bright…. As in Everything I Never Told You , Ng conjures a sense of place and displacement and shows a remarkable ability to see—and reveal—a story from different perspectives. -- Peter Ho Davies, author of The Fortunes "As if it wasn't totally obvious from her stunning first novel, Little Fires Everywhere showcases what makes Celeste Ng such a masterful writer. Celeste Ng is a powerful and poignant writer whose attention to detail is pitch-perfect. An Amazon Best Book of September 2017: With her first two novels, Celeste Ng has established herself as a writer of rare sensitivity and talent. Ng is a master of family and societal dynamics, shifting perspectives, and the secrets that we try to protect—and readers who loved her debut will recognize the author in this second novel, even as she continues to stretch herself as a writer.
Reviews
"The first 100 pages (one-third of the total book) just cover a lot of character study and plot set-ups. The plot focus about a Chinese baby abandoned at a fire station and the subsequent court battle when the single mother surfaces six months later to try to reclaim her daughter from the family in the process of adopting her, was really, really well done."
"Moreover, as the story progresses, it mines the undercurrents and conflicts unfolding in the neighborhood, and the inexorable events that ensue when an itinerant mother-daughter move in and casually defy every rule in the well-ordered, tony Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. Elena Richardson was an ambitious journalist, but subverted her talent and success (now writing trivial articles for the community paper) after marriage to her attorney husband. She inherited property from her parents in the modest part of town and now rents it out to less fortunate individuals with, what she believes, is strong character and willing submission to Shaker Heights principles. Mia repurposes objects into unique formats and themes, photographs them, and uses techniques that reflect her perceptions of the world around her, which invites the reader into startling and intimate motifs. She furnishes a sly portrait of suburbia, where the cracks and fissures that aren’t present in the manicured houses and streets are nevertheless rupturing the very misguided families that the rules aim to defend."
"Ng has the ability to write beautifully crafted sentences while she develops her characters in an equally talented manner."
"I cannot say enough good things about this book."
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Best Hispanic American Literature & Fiction

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
But Oscar may never get what he wants. A book that decisively establishes [Díaz] as one of contemporary fiction's most distinctive and irresistible new voices." He cuts his barn-burning comic-book plots (escape, ruin, redemption) with honest, messy realism, and his narrator speaks in a dazzling hash of Spanish, English, slang, literary flourishes, and pure virginal dorkiness." His narration is a triumph of style and wit, moving along Oscar de Leon's story with cracking, down-low humor, and at times expertly stunning us with heart-stabbing sentences. That Díaz's novel is also full of ideas, that [the narrator's] brilliant talking rivals the monologues of Roth's Zuckerman — in short, that what he has produced is a kick-ass (and truly, that is just the word for it) work of modern fiction — all make The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao something exceedingly rare: a book in which a new America can recognize itself, but so can everyone else." a mixture of straight-up English, Dominican Spanish, and hieratic nerdspeak crowded with references to Tolkien, DC Comics, role-playing games, and classic science fiction. The great achievement of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is Díaz's ability to balance an intimate multigenerational story of familial tragedy. It's Dominican and American, not about immigration but diaspora, in which one family's dramas are entwined with a nation's, not about history as information but as dark-force destroyer. In Díaz's landscape we are all the same, victims of a history and a present that doesn't just bleed together but stew. ". The Dominican Republic [Díaz] portrays in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a wild, beautiful, dangerous, and contradictory place, both hopelessly impoverished and impossibly rich. Not so different, perhaps, from anyone else's ancestral homeland, but Díaz's weirdly wonderful novel illustrates the island's uniquely powerful hold on Dominicans wherever they may wander. "Now that Díaz's second book, a novel called The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao , has finally arrived, younger writers will find that the bar. Oscar Wao shows a novelist engaged with the culture, high and low, and its polyglot language. If Donald Barthelme had lived to read Díaz, he surely would have been delighted to discover an intellectual and linguistic omnivore who could have taught even him a move or two." — Newsweek "Few books require a 'highly flammable' warning, but The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz's long-awaited first novel, will burn its way into your heart and sizzle your senses. Díaz's novel is drenched in the heated rhythms of the real world as much as it is laced with magical realism and classic fantasy stories." this fierce, funny, tragic book is just what a reader would have hoped for in a novel by Junot Díaz."
Reviews
"A terrific story which sucks the reader in and holds on to you until the final page."
"Interesting."
"I do not care for the bad language in books but I know that is necessary in order to capture the real person(s) in a culture. It is from this exposure of a family being taken into the power of Trujillo and his evil that lays the foundation for Oscar. This is the story of an extremely troubled young man, not unlike countless thousands in our society today."
"Love love love this book and Junot Diaz."
"Díaz uses tone and point-of-view brilliantly as he weaves together languages, cultures, and characters."
"The main character, Oscar, was easy to sympathize with and I fell in love with his passion immediately. As a somewhat closet nerd myself, I saw myself at his age falling in love with all the classic sci-fi, the first time I discovered Roleplaying games, spending hours lost in your imagination."
"This book is excellent, there is so many layers to it."
"I was really excited to read a book about modern day people with similar interests to me - science fiction, superheroes, fantasy."
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Best American Fiction Anthologies

My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South
Keenly observed and written with his insightful and deadpan sense of humor, he explores enduring Southern truths about home, place, spirit, table, and the regions' varied geographies, including his native Alabama, Cajun country, and the Gulf Coast. -- New Orleans Times-Picayune , praise for the author. -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution , praise for the author --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Reviews
"As the meal cooked, the essence of the cracklin's would melt through the pone of the bread, and when it was done she would cut it into triangles and serve it with pinto beans and stewed squash and slice Spanish onions and pickled pepper so hot it would blind a baby if he rubbed it on his eyes." I won't even repeat his description of a place called "Harold's Barbecue" because if I do both you, dear reader, and me are going to have to go eat something and I've got to finish this review. But it's not all about the food.. it's the cadence, just the way of being in the South that's so unique and seems so strange when I fly back there from (crazy) California and feel the humidity and smell the biscuits."
"Rick Bragg's books and humor usually delight us, but he missed the mark somewhat with "My Southern Journey.""
"I read his book, "All Over But The Shoutin'" and have not enjoyed such great southern storytelling in a long time!!"
"Having been born in Florida and having lived in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee; I consider myself as Southern as Southern gets."
"If you are not reading Rick Bragg, you are missing the most beautiful and atmospheric prose ever put to paper."
"The vibrant colors of his family, from Ava and Charlie to his Momma and his brothers, all the way till you can almost taste the food you read."
"My only exposure to Rick Bragg had been in southern Living Magazine."
"And after you have laughed your ass off and cried your eyes out, you share your love of what you read on Facebook, and then call and email your friends and read then passages until they call “uncle” and promise to get it."
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