I read this book in 1984 or 1985 and still the details of certain scenes are frozen in my mind. As I followed the narrator’s experiences with drugs I became thoroughly stunned and frightened. For me this tale was more than effective during the heyday of "say no to drugs"... it was compulsively readable, and for a middle school student, just knowing enough and scary enough to feel like a great secret.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

All of what I love about this book won’t fit here. To be not long-winded: It is a writing that provides true relief to those of us who shudder at feelings of emptiness and/or inadequacy. Instead of tools to banish such uncomfortable states, Epstein offers the Buddhist approach: allow it all, tolerate it all. Yet he is also a psychotherapist and therefore weaves his chapters with first-hand hope and expertise about how to accept like Buddha and confront like a well, like a therapist.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

At first glance it may seem that some people are just parodies of a certain type of person. In this book Jonathan Franzen makes it impossible to ‘figure out’ and dismiss any of the characters. They are drawn broadly and then in close up. It’s not sentimental and Franzen doesn’t force the issue (most of the time the story just rolls out in a fun, swashbuckling way) but I was saddened and moved by the truth that everyone was once a child, everyone has so much more to them than meets the eye, and being one’s own ‘best’ self in a family (or elsewhere) can be so infuriatingly difficult. Meanwhile, I loved the humor in here; I was laughing throughout.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

There is a flavor to Tolstoy's writing - it feels light and almost fluffy in delivery - extremely easy to digest. Yet it is also deliciously complex, and one is left feeling moved and elated. The tone and the events may be wrenching at times. Teeny details about love, marriage, loyalty (and other huge themes) are written with satisfying clarity. I was surprised: a novel written over 100 years ago reads as fresh as though written last week - super duper good.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

When I first read this as a young ‘un I was barely aware of who Michelangelo was and what he did. This book, although fiction, gave me much reason to be awed by the great Italian painter and sculptor. The passages where I. Stone describes Michelangelo working on the The Pieta or The David are moving and inspiring. Maybe Irving Stone indulges in melodrama – but a big life deserves a big story.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

In this perfect (not used lightly!) collection of essays, Joan Didion delivers the poignant, the lost, and the blurry aspects of Southern California. Her style of non-fiction writing is rightly celebrated; it is a singular joy to read how she sees, what she hears, the subtleties she never misses. I remember first reading this in college and thinking, ‘my god, I didn’t know writing could be like this.’ It is so very good.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

James Wood’s enjoyment and excitement about reading is pretty infections. In tight little chapters, he makes one gratifying point after another. This book is not instructional; it is rather an unabashed celebration of the craft and surprise behind this huge thing called fiction. James Wood pulls this off, I think, because he himself is such a talented writer. It is one thing to learn about why and how something works, and quite another to learn it as though one is treated to a bunch of delicious secrets.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

Maira Kalman’s drawings, paintings and embroidery are super charming and often comical. I like the way she writes about historical events and personalities on one page, then goes into depth about a diner menu on the next. The thoughts and observations she shares feel casual yet personal. Her own personality seems to come through everywhere. Not that I know her, but she seems smart, thoughtful, and delighted with so much.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

Jane Austen’s brand of sharp social commentary infuses this wonderful classic. No character escapes her highly sensitive ear for dialogue and mannerism. Elizabeth Bennett (not yet 21) is the central character, and Mr. Darcy is her unlikely (and therefore likely) suitor. Although set in Victorian-era England, this book covers something timeless: vulnerability, fear, and courage in the face of romance, family, and humankind.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

A very fun and well written novel with a ‘who-dun-it’ aspect to the plot. The characters are varied and all amazingly fleshed out and memorable. Collins is perhaps better known for ‘The Woman in White’, which is also fabulous. Read both.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

Capote went to extra, rather journalistic lengths to cover the story of a Kansas robbery and murder by two men in the late 1950’s. Although the crime itself is very ugly (a man, a woman, and two of their teenage children were victims), the book itself is well organized and elegantly written. One of the alleged killers, while behind bars and awaiting his fate, comes to speak candidly to Capote and therefore to the reader as well.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

This is the follow-up to Lehane’s Gone Baby Gone. The principle players are Kenzie (tough-guy private investigator) and his wife Angie (tough-gal P.I.-turned-mom-turned-P.I.). As they team up to locate the Harvard-bound teenage girl who has suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, both Kenzie and Angie confront cold and violent criminals… as well as their own dubious pasts! Fun quick reading.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

1) The drawings are clear and not too overstuffed or hectic (this is a plus!)
2) Our hero is sorta likeable but also sometimes a jerk (nothing I can relate to but fascinating – just kidding)
3) The dialogue is familiar yet fresh and rarely false
4) Romantic intrigue and disappointments are played out pretty convincingly and often with painful honesty
5) The clothing and hairstyles are right on – satisfying!

Recommended by Jeeyeon

Yoots (AKA: Youths) today are precious, smart, hilarious, inventive and downright spunky. Here is proof! This book is filled with extra-wonderful samples of sassy students’ totally wrong (and totally great) test answers.

Recommended by Jeeyeon

This book is hilarious. No Asian American kid is ecstatic about his/her fresh-off-the-boat giveaways. And if one’s parent (mom here) has an aspect of fobiness, we probably were sometimes embarrassed (or mortified). But this book shines a bold and unapologetic light on the Asian mom in America situation. I’ve never felt so proud.

Recommended by Jeeyeon