Barratt and Lauren Review: Recommended Reads

Since it's summer and we've had time to do a little more reading than normal, Lauren and I thought we'd recommend some of the great books we've been reading lately. We'll tell you a little bit about what the book is like, why we think you should read it, and where at Urbana you can find it.

Lauren’s Recommendations

Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba (Y/MANGA/OBA)
The creators of Death Note return with this manga about becoming a manga artist. Can an enthusiastic writer and a reluctant artist make it in a tough industry? This series is wildly popular with the Urbana Otaku Manga Club and may even be part of a giveaway at the Anime Mini-Convention this month!

(5 volumes, ongoing)


Divergent by Veronica Roth (Y/Roth)
In a future dystopian Chicago, society has been divided into five factions. 16-year-old Beatrice must choose which faction to join—and decide whether to remain loyal to her family or true to herself. This is the first volume in a trilogy by a 22-year-old author and has been getting great reviews!



Plain Kate by Erin Bow (Y/Bow)
Kate Carver sells her shadow to a witch to save her life, but soon realizes that her act may bring danger to others. With her talking cat and a group of nomads, Kate must follow the witch and stop him before her shadow disappears completely. A gorgeous eastern European-inspired fantasy. (Barratt also loved this one.)

Barratt’s Recommendations

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (SF/Fforde)
In an alternate 1985, Literary Dectective Thursday Next investigates crimes against fiction. When a mysterious villain steals the original manuscript of Jane Eyre and begins wreaking havoc at Thornfield, Thursday must follow him into the book and try to set things right. Timetravel, vampires, and genetically reengineered dodos also feature in this teen-friendly English novel.

(Sequels: Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten, First Among Sequels, One of Our Thursdays is Missing)


Fruits Basket by Natstuki Takaya (Y/MANGA/TAK)
High school student Tohru Honda is living in a tent after her mother’s death when a popular classmate offers her a place to live. But his family is under a terrible curse: they are possessed by spirits of the zodiac and turn into animals when hugged by a member of the opposite sex. As Tohru finds herself being drawn into the family, she becomes determined to break the curse.

(23 volumes, complete)


Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart (Y/Lockhart)
Seattle high school student Ruby Oliver is entering her senior year. She’s still having panic attacks, her friend Nora still isn’t speaking to her, and she’s still making lists. But a huge fight with her mom and some strange behavior from her boyfriend might make this the worst school year ever (and, after the debacles of sophomore year, that is really saying something).

(Earlier books in the series: The Boyfriend List, The Boy Books, The Treasure Map of Boys)

Happy summer reading!