Generation Z Goes to College was a book I read primarily for work. As the new generation arrives on-campus, I realized I needed to know more about who they were and what to expect for the foreseeable future. Because the generation is so new, I think there are still some pieces TBD. Also, I own that I am a millennial as I say this, but I do feel like sometimes the worst of my generation becomes the contrast for the newest generation. Obvs, anyone is going to profess to be different than what society harps on, but only time will tell if these are enduring trends. Anyway, #endrant. I did find this to be a helpful read. There were some good pieces to help me think about how I might need to educate different to better accommodate the wants/needs of this new population of students. There is still more learning for me to do on the topic, but this was a good start for sure.
Read this book if - You're looking for an introduction to Generation Z. You work with college students/young adults in some capacity.
The Midwife's Confession was by an author who I've come to really love. Diane Chamberlain writes in the vein of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarity, etc. And yes, I totally hate when people say "This is just like blah blah blah," and then I just went and did that thing. Apologies. Anyway, this one is about a woman who commits suicide. Her friends are shocked, and they try to piece together her past to figure out what happened. In looking through her things, they find an unfinished note which begins their journey back as they discover there was SO MUCH of their friend's life they didn't know. This one is told in both the present and the past as secrets are revealed. I'll be honest that it wasn't my favorite DC, but it kept me reading.
Read this book if - You like any of the aforementioned authors. You like fiction with some twists and turns along the way.
The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs was by Matthew Dicks, the author of one of my all-time favorite books - Memoirs of An Imaginary Friend. Timeout: If you have NOT read Memoirs of An Imaginary Friend, read that rn. This one is about a woman who has an outburst at a PTA meeting. She then realizes she has some unresolved ish, and she goes back to her hometown to figure that out. This one was just okay for me. On the one hand, there is this humor in going back home. On the other hand, there is this heavy guilt that Caroline is carrying around that bubbles to the surface. It was hard for both to exist in the same space for me.
Read this book if - You enjoy books that remind you that high school NEVER ends.
Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness immediately caught my eye on the New Books shelf, but never materialized into what I wanted it to be. As someone who has an awkward streak, this seemed like a great read for me. Going in, I thought the book was going to be more application-based. Instead, the book was more anecdotal in nature. It talked a bit about Mortified which is a podcast I adore, but I didn't need a book to recap that for me. I wanted this book to tell me how to shape and reframe my own awkwardness. Rather than being the self-help I felt the cover flap promised, it was more the author talking about her own journey. That's cool, but that's now how it was totally sold, and I was left wanting more.
Read this book if - You want to read someone doing a field study in how awkwardness shows up.
