Sid Overpeck is currently reading…

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

“I chose this book because Gabriel Márquez is one of my favorite authors and partially because it will help me with Quiz Bowl! I think its a great story and I’m interested in learning about Latin culture at the time,” says Sid. The description of this book is “In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is heartbroken, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs—yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.

Nat Sanchez is currently reading…

The Jail is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Incarceration by Jack Norton, Judah Schept, and Lydia Pelot-Hobbs

“I chose this book because the title seemed interesting to me. I am interested in social justice and enjoy reading nonfiction” says Nat. The description of this book is “Nearly every county and major city in the United States has a jail, the short-term detention center controlled by local sheriffs that funnels people into prisons and long-term incarceration. While the growing movement against incarceration and policing has called to reform or abolish prisons, jails have often gone unnoticed, or in some cases seen as a “better” alternative to prisons. Yet jails, in recent decades, have been the fastest-growing sector of the US carceral state. Jails are widely used for immigrant detention by ICE and the U.S. Marshals and as a place to offload people that prisons can’t hold. As jails grow, they transform the region around them, and whole towns and small cities see health care, mental health care, substance abuse, and employment opportunities taken over by carceral concerns. If jails are everywhere, resistance to jails is too. The recent jail boom has sparked a wealth of local activist struggles to resist and close jails all across the United States, from rural counties to major cities.The Jail Is Everywhere brings these disparate voices together, with contributions from activists, scholars, and expert journalists describing the effects of this quiet jail boom, mapping the growth of the carceral state, and sharing strategies from recent fights against jail construction to strengthen struggles against jailing everywhere.”

Aubrey Newton is currently reading…

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

“I’m reading this book because I read the other Hunger Games books and the movie is coming out soon. I like it, I guess. I liked the character development of the main character, Haymitch,” says Aubrey. The description of this book is “As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.”

Faith Ballance is currently reading…

In a Shallow Grave by James Purdy

“I chose to read this book because of it’s LGBTQ+ representation. It’s sad but I like religious symbolism and anti-war descriptions. The writing is very beautiful,” says Faith. The description of this book is “A soldier named Garnet Montrose returns home to coastal Virginia bearing a grotesque injury which is nauseatingly repellent to anyone who sees him. He hires two young male caretakers, Quintus Pearch and Potter Daventry, who look after his disability. They also act as a go-between with Garnet’s childhood sweetheart, now the widow Georgina Rance, delivering her messages in a desperate attempt to restart their interrupted relationship. With vivid Gothic imagery and drama, Purdy explores the varieties of love and the powerful transformations it can make in anyone’s life. Readers will not soon forget Garnet, Quintus, and Daventry for the genuine human love that they share—and reject—and how they discover their way in the world.”