The Book Shire

book recommendations

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Sometimes you just need a little magic. Something different. Something that gets you believing in love/friendship/life again. Sometimes you just need [...]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DΓ­az

"Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd, a New Jersey romantic who dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of [...]

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

DearΒ Lord of the Rings,Β  Our time together is coming to an end. It's been another wonderful visit, and I'll miss you, but right now I just have to move [...]

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

I should start with a disclaimer: This is my favorite book. I know, I know, I don't often admit that I even have a favorite. Generally whatever book I'm [...]

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

There's beauty in simplicity. In my lifetime I've read hundreds and hundreds of books, from dense classics like The Iliad to every Dr. Seuss classic under [...]

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A good book changes you for a moment. A great book changes you for a lifetime. I'm frequently ashamed of how little I know about things. I've been reading [...]

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

"Most people lose the ability to see silver linings even though they are always there above us almost every day." When I first saw Silver Linings Playbook [...]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

"I really think everyone should have watercolors, magnetic poetry, and a harmonica." It's a beautiful sentiment, isn't it? I don't know why something that [...]

The Death of the Black-Haired Girl by Robert Stone

"People all want their suffering to mean something." In one of the last sentences of his newest novel, The Death of the Black-Haired Girl, Robert Stone [...]